Some follow-up questions about baptism and forgiveness. See Part I for the first installment of this article. Matthew 3:11 “I baptize you with water for repentance…”- Could this be saying you receive repentance through baptism? It could be saying this, but at least two things argue against such a reading. First, repentance is typically something…
by Craig A. Smith, Ph.D. I remember a campus minister friend of mine who once had a family offer to support his ministry entirely, meaning that he could forget the time-consuming task of raising support and keeping in regular touch with supporters from all over the country. The only catch was, he had to agree…
Professor Francesco D’Andria claims that archaeologists working in the Turkish city of Hierapolis have uncovered the tomb of St. Philip the Apostle.[1] While details of the excavation are still sketchy, the claim appears to be based on inscriptions found at the site which coincide with long-standing tradition that Philip was buried in the area where…
Bias & The Bible Christian apologists often claim that the Bible is subjected to an unfair bias when it comes to tests of historicity. As the claim goes, historians typically assume that historical claims by other ancient texts (i.e. letters, trade records, historical treatises, etc.) are accurate until proven otherwise, whereas they assume the Bible…
by Jeff Stauffer As any fan of TV court drama knows, converging lines of evidence produced from varying sources usually strengthens the case against the accused. We do this all the time without really knowing it as such. Suppose you’re a parent of a teenager who is out late on a Saturday night. His track…
by Craig A. Smith Every kid who’s spent time in Sunday School classes knows there’s a select group of Bible stories that get all the airtime: David whups Goliaith, the animals board the ark by twosies and Jonah gets himself swallowed by a big fish. These are the anchor stories in just about every Sunday…
by Johnny Cisneros Jesus is God. It’s the most central and most controversial belief of the Christian faith. How did the gospel writers support such a claim? They documented Jesus’ mighty deeds. Sure, other biblical characters performed wonders (1 Kings 17:22–23). But Jesus is unique because He does what only God can do. When He…
Christians often wonder if the reliability of Scripture is purely a matter of faith or if there are other ways of demonstrating the trustworthiness of God’s Word. The answer to that question is a resounding yes, there are many other lines of evidence which support the accuracy and reliability of the Bible. For instance, a…
by Craig A. Smith, Ph.D. So here’s an interesting set of observations to mull over. According to Tal Ilan, who studied Jewish inscriptions from 330 BC to 200 AD, the most popular names for Jewish men in first century Palestine were as follows (with the number of individuals known to have had that name): 243…