How to Defend your Faith-Apologetics Session 1 : Part 2 of 4 (Apologetics 01/07/24)

Episode 24E01b – How to Defend your Faith – Apologetics Session 1 (Part 2 of 4)

(Transcript from Dr. Kip Wehrman 01/07/2024)

Let me give you a couple of Church Traditions that most of us probably take for granted that are not in the scriptures.  This is picture from Britannica of the apostle Paul.  I am guessing that some of us have heard that Jesus miraculously changed the name of Saul the oppressor to Paul the disciple on the road to Damascus.  Acts Chapter 9.   Any of you heard that before???

Yet Saul is still called Saul until Acts 13:9 when he starts being referred to as Paul.  Luke writes, “Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him “– Acts 13:9 (NKJV).  This was on the island of Cyprus when Saul and Barnabus confronted a sorcerer. 

After this Paul is always called Paul in Acts.  We don’t know for sure but there is no record of Jesus changing his name.  It is more likely Saul was his Jewish name and Paul was his Greek or Roman name.  People do this today.  Often someone from China will use an AKA (also known as) or moniker or pseudonym when speaking to English speakers.  No evidence of that Saul ever stopped being Saul and he was also always Paul.

What about this one?  Classic Christmas Nativity.  I know we had one of these when I was a kid.   Do you know what is wrong with this picture????

There is so much wrong with this.  First, the wisemen come much later, probably two years later, not at the birth.  And spoiler alert, it wasn’t wintertime since the shepherds were in the field by night.  So, the animals would not be in the barn or stable.  So probably no animals at the birth.  That’s not what a manger looks like.  And oh, the original language does not mention an Inn or a stable.  Church traditions we cherish but they are not in the Bible or from the Bible.

Is Jesus the name above all names.  Well Jesus was a Jew and this is not a Jewish name.   Jesus was given the name Yeshua.  Do you know who else in the Bible was Yeshua.  The leader of Israel after Moses, Joshua.  Joshua is the English translation of Yeshua.  There is a very interesting history behind how we came to use Jesus.  But that is for another time.  Don’t get me wrong I use Jesus.  Everyone knows who we mean when we say Jesus.  But the name of above all names in Yeshua which is translated into English as Joshua not Jesus.

We must own our faith.  We must know these things, so when critics use them we are ready.  None of these things should affect our faith.  These are only traditions; they are not Bible.

Our priority as Christians is to effectively communicate the good news of Jesus to the world.  But we need 3 things in order to have effective communication about anything. 

• Knowledge
• Application
• Character

We need to know our subject matter to effectively communicate.  We need to have a plan to effectively apply this knowledge, or an application for the knowledge.  And we need the appropriate character to convey the message.

We need all three.  This class is mostly focused on knowledge.  We will have another class later this year focused on the application of this knowledge.  And Character, well that is between you and God.  We are all works in progress.  But that is part of our walk with Christ, becoming more and more like Jesus or maybe I should say Yeshua.  Just kidding.

Here is a Quick look ahead. Our sessions.  Today is our introduction to what Apologetics is all about. 

Next week we will be looking a worldview and how it affects how we see the world. 

The subsequent session will be about Is there Truth, Goodness and Beauty.  That is, is there an objective standard for truth.

We will tackle the question Is there God?  We will look in depth at the arguments and the evidence for God.  This will probably take us two session.  

We will address the question; Can you trust the Bible?  We hear a lot about the problems with the Bible. So, we are going to look at them and see what there really is.  We will look at Miracles and Prophecy as well.  This will also be at least two sessions.

We will look at the so called problem of evil.  The Historical Jesus and the evidence for the resurrection.  Science and Archeology which support the Bible and provide evidence for the God of the Bible.  I expect we will address Darwinism or Naturalism versus the Bible directly in this session.

Then wrap everything up with a plan that you can use to learn more and use your newfound skills to help others and strength your walk with Jesus.  We will talk through scenarios and best responses, Questions, answers and rebuttals for critics.

The intent is for these sessions to fit together.  Is Christianity True and what is the evidence.  It is like a puzzle, with each piece building the case for what we believe.  We are going to talk about worldviews next time.  I’m not sure how fast we will go but I’m not going to rush it.  Each session we will go as far as we can, then pick it up next time where we left off.  So, our schedule will be fluid but I plan to keep our time consistent so you can schedule to Sundays. 

Bottomline to all of this is to provide you with evidence and tactics to show Christianity is true and why.  We don’t have blind faith.  We have faith grounded in evidence.  And we are going to explore these.

Let me introduce you to some of the great minds that will be guiding our discussions.  John Lennox, probably the most distinguish of the modern Christian Apologists.  Not just because he is a British gentleman, with a great accent.  But he has more credentials than anyone I know of; MA & PhD in bioethics from Oxford,  Doctor Science in Mathematics from Surrey, MA & PhD from Cambridge, etc..  He is mathematician and professor by profession, but he is also one of the best minds in Christian Apologetics.  If you don’t know him, search for John Lennox at the veritas forum on YouTube or one of his many debates with atheists like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and others.  You’ll love this guy.  Even his opponents, love this guy.  He’s the real deal.

Another is CS Lewis.  I think all of us know him.  But his personal story is amazing and his wit and humor coupled with his spot on theology and philosophy make him one of the best modern resources in Christian Apologetics.  And a slight aside, John Lennox actually attended lectures by CS Lewis when he was in college.  Another reason to love John Lennox.

Lee Strobel.  Most well-known for the Case for Christ.  But Lee brings his Skills as an investigative reporter to bear on the problems we face in a way outsiders can understand. 

J. Warner Wallace a retired cold case detective from Los Angeles.  He’s been featured on dateline, in movies like God’s not Dead.  His practical approach makes dealing with doubts systematic and rational.  James Tour famous chemist from Rice University and is now one of the leading critical voices on the origin of life research or lack thereof if you listen to Jim talk.  He’s great, super intelligent and he understands the science and chemistry so these anti-Christian scientists can’t steam roll him.  Stephen Meyer a leading scientist in the intelligent design research from the discover institute.  Tim Keller was a great speaker, pastor and writer.  He had a way about him that disarmed his critics and made them friends.  He explains things in away any reasonable person can understand, Gary Habermas is the leading expert of the resurrection of Jesus and near death experiences, Norman Geisler wrote so many great books, like over 90 books, plus articles.  He is the guy to listen to if you want to understand what Biblical inerrancy is and how we should explain it, William Lane Craig is credited with some 120 plus books.  He is a prolific debater and gives simple proofs for God, Truth, Resurrection and more.  Frank Turek a retired AirForce but wow can this guy explain the complex in a simple straight forward way and Greg Koukl who teaches us how to disarm our critics with questions which turn their argument to Jesus.  Historians like Mike Licona.  Ancient manuscript experts like Daniel Wallace.  And two of my seminary professors, Johnathan Pritchett and Braxton Hunter the president of Trinity Seminary.  These are just some of the great minds you are going to hear from during this series.  There are many many more.  We have tremendous resources available; it is up to us to take advantage of these great minds that God has gifted the church with.

This is the end of How to Defend your Faith Session 1: Apologetics (Part 2 of 4)