In this episode of the Cold-Case Christianity Broadcast, J. Warner answers listener email the Old Testament. Can the Old Testament be investigated with the same rigor we applied to the New Testament in J. Warner’s book, Cold-Case Christianity? How are we to interpret the Genesis creation account in light of …
Read More »The Danger of Belief “In” Without Belief “That”
I’ve been writing lately about the difference between belief “that” and belief “in,” following a recent radio interview with John Stonestreet for the BreakPoint Radio program. As I’ve described in previous posts, I came to belief that the gospels were a reliable record of the life, ministry, death and resurrection …
Read More »Establishing the Reliability of the Old Testament: A Trustworthy Process of Transmission
In Cold Case Christianity, I attempted to demonstrate the reliable, unchanging nature of the New Testament by examining the “New Testament Chain of Custody”. I think there are many good evidential reasons to trust the contents of the New Testament Gospels have not changed over time. But what about the …
Read More »How Can We Trust the Gospels as Eyewitness Accounts? (Cold Case Christianity Broadcast #107)
In this episode of the Cold-Case Christianity Broadcast, J. Warner answers listener email and discusses the nature of the New Testament Gospels. Can they legitimately be considered “eyewitness accounts”? If so, how do we overcome the fact that they would not qualify as anything other than “hearsay” accounts in a …
Read More »Establishing the Reliability of the Old Testament: A Timely Test of Transmission
In Cold Case Christianity, I discussed the careful transmission of Biblical texts. A number of my cold case investigations began with a careful examination of the original police reports and records. I got these documents from the police Records Division, where they were carefully collected and maintained for many years. …
Read More »Scientific Consistency in the Bible Is More Important Than Scientific Revelation
As a skeptic, I never personally expected the Biblical prophets (or Jesus Himself) to proclaim scientific truths still inaccessible (and unintelligible) to their audiences. As I read the Bible for the first time, its purpose seemed clear enough: Explain the nature of God, outline the fallen condition of man, and …
Read More »Why Shouldn’t We Trust the Non-Canonical Gospels Attributed to Thomas?
We’ve been investigating the late non-canonical gospels to determine why they were rejected by the Christian community even though they often contain nuggets of truth related to Jesus. These elaborate stories, legends and fabrications were written by authors who were motivated to alter the history of Jesus to suit their …
Read More »From Reliable to Divine: Fulfilled Prophecy in the Old Testament
If you’re trying to determine whether or not the Old Testament is historically reliable, archaeology and ancient non-Biblical records can provide “touch point” corroboration of the Biblical text. But the Old Testament claims to be much more than a reliable record of history; it claims to be the very Word …
Read More »The Comparatively Rich Archaeological Corroboration of the Old Testament
When I first began examining the claims of the Book of Mormon, I was an atheist who had just become interested in the person of Jesus. As a skeptic, I understood the importance of corroborative evidence when trying to determine if a witness statement is reliable. I began looking for …
Read More »A Brief Sample of Old Testament Archaeological Corroboration
I’ve learned to test witnesses in my criminal investigations before trusting their testimony, and I evaluate them with the template we typically use in jury trials. One dimension of this template is corroboration: Is there any verifying evidence supporting the claims of the eyewitness? Corroborative evidence is what I refer to as “touch point” evidence. …
Read More »