True Vine Apologetics I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist Curriculum – Session Three
Review and Introduction Session 3 – I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist
**Please note the presentation will move along very quickly.
r Fill in the answer to these questions:
1. We’ve looked at the statistics for the mass exodus of our young people from the church which tell us that 75% of our young people are leaving the church once they leave home.
2. They need to have an evidential faith. They need to know, intellectually, why Christianity is true.
3. We need to actively teach them from their earliest youth that God is real, the bible is true, and that scripture is our starting point for learning about ourselves, life, and the world around us.
4. Sadly there are many people who have always been busy with religious activities, but have never developed a relationship with Jesus.
5. Author, and former atheist Lee Strobel states; “All Christians should be able to articulate reasons why they believe what they believe – not just for the sake of our spiritually confused friends, but also so that we ourselves will have a deeper and more confident faith.”
6. Apologetics is important for all of us, it helps us to fulfill the biblical mandate of knowing God, and making Him known.
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Lesson 9. “Did the New Testament Writers Tell the Truth?” Part 1
The New Testament was written early, during the age of the eyewitnesses.
The New Testament documents contain eyewitness testimony.
The New Testament documents contain embarrassing testimony; a good indication that the authors are being truthful.
“We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible.” Acts 10:39-40
This verse is one of many that record statements of those who claim they were eyewitnesses to the events of Jesus’ ministry, death, and resurrection.
r Fill in the answer to these questions:
- Early Testimony -
1. We can make the claim that the entire New Testament, with the possible exception of The Revelation, was written prior to 70 A.D.
2. What event took place in 70 A.D.? The destruction of the temple. The epicenter of Jewish life.
3. The fact that the New Testament documents were written early is significant because it means they were written during the age of the eyewitnesses. During the time when all of the eyewitnesses were still alive.
4. If what the New Testament authors wrote wasn’t the truth, there were people alive at the time who could have - and would have – disputed these events.
- Eyewitness Testimony -
5. All of the New Testament authors specifically claim to be eyewitnesses to the central events of Christianity or that they are personally recording the accounts from those who were eyewitnesses.
6. 2 Peter 1:16 reads, “For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”
7. 1 John 1:1 says this in reference to Jesus, “We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw Him with our own eyes and touched Him with our own hands. He is the word of life.”
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8. Ask yourself, does this sound fabricated? Luke 3:1-2 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar–when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene–during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert.” Luke is obviously writing historical accounts in the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, which records 84 historically confirmed eyewitness details.
9. “I began with a mind unfavorable to it (Acts)….;but more recently I found myself brought into contact with the book of Acts as an authority for the topography, antiquities, and society of Asia Minor. It was gradually borne in upon me that in various details the narrative showed marvelous truth.” (Archaeologist William Ramsey, St. Paul the Traveler and Roman Citizen, p. 8)
10. After 20 years of research in the area Luke wrote about, Sir William Ramsey concluded that Luke had referenced 32 countries, 54 cities, and 9 islands with no mistakes.
11. Archaeology corroborates the historicity of the entire Bible. “In Extraordinary ways, modern archaeology has affirmed the historical core of the Old and New testaments—corroborating key points of the stories of Israel’s patriarchs, the Exodus, the Davidic monarchy, and the life and times of Jesus.” (Jeffery Sheler, “Is the Bible True,” U.S. News & World Report, October 25t, 1999, 52)
- Embarrassing Testimony -
12. The New Testament documents are filled with embarrassing details about the disciples: A. They are frequently portrayed as being dimwitted. B. They fail to understand what Jesus is saying on numerous occasions. C. They are uncaring. He has the inner circle of His closest disciples with Him and all He’s asking of them is that they stay awake. They fall asleep on Jesus. Twice. D. They make no effort to give Him a proper burial. E. They are cowards. Shortly after boasting of his loyalty to Jesus Peter denies Christ 3 times. F. It was the women who were willing to face the guards & therefore discovered the empty tomb. G. They are doubters. Despite being taught several times that Jesus would rise from the dead, the disciples are doubtful when they hear of his resurrection. In Matthew 28:17 we read that the disciples worshipped Jesus, but some of them weren’t sure it was Jesus!
13. Why did all these embarrassing details have to be included? Because they were true. Clearly the New Testament authors were a lot more concerned with telling the truth than they were about being embarrassed.
14. “We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible.” Acts 10:39-40
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Lesson 10. “Did the New Testament Writers Tell the Truth?” Part 2
The apostles chose to die excruciating martyr’s death rather than recant their testimony regarding Jesus miracles and bodily resurrection from the dead.
Many of the details of Jesus’ life - including His death and resurrection - should have been expected in accordance with prophetic scriptures of the Old Testament.
Much of what we read about Jesus in the New Testament can also be found in extra-biblical documents.
“…and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:14
The veracity of the Christian Worldview depends entirely upon the event of Jesus’ resurrection. Who is Jesus? Jesus asserted he was God. The New Testament has proven to be reliable, therefore Jesus is God. Jesus affirmed the Old Testament and promised the New Testament.
r Fill in the answer to these questions:
- Excruciating Testimony -
1. We get the word excruciating from the cross, it means, “out of the crucifixion.”
2. Knowing that torture and death were likely imminent didn’t deter any of the apostles from proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
3. Since Christians believe He died as a sacrifice and that He was and is God, Christians and Muslims are not worshipping the same god. Remember the law of non-contradiction? The law of non-contradiction dictates Islam and Christianity can’t both be true.
4. The Muslim martyrs of today don’t have any evidence that they are going to get 70 virgins when they martyr themselves, they just have faith, blind faith.
5. People will die for a lie they think is the truth, but nobody will die for a lie they know is a lie.
- Expected Testimony -
6. Found among Dead Sea scrolls of Qumran, the Great Isaiah Scroll is significant for a number of reasons. It’s confirmed to be a copy dating back at least 100 years prior to the birth of Christ.
7. The scroll demonstrates that the book of Isaiah in our bible today is over 99% accurate by comparison.
8. Jesus meets the criteria for every messianic prophecy in the bible, which is exactly what we’d expect from the messiah.
- Extra-Biblical Testimony -
9. The extra-biblical testimony shows us that the basic New Testament storyline is confirmed by non-Christian sources.
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10. The New Testament is historically reliable.
11. Non-Christian sources, like many people today, are willing to concede that Jesus was a wonder worker, that
he lived a virtuous life, but they deny his divinity.
12. Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic, or He is the Lord. It’s not reasonable to conclude he was a liar. That would mean He suffered horribly and died for what He knew was a lie. He clearly was not a lunatic, He said some of the wisest words that have ever been spoken and even His enemies could find no fault in Him.
13. Jesus was – and is – God. And whatever God teaches is true.
14. One of the things Jesus taught is that He is God.
15. The charge that Caiaphas pressed against Him in order to justify His execution was that of blasphemy, His claim to be God was the source of the blasphemy charge.
16. The High Priest sentenced Jesus to death for blasphemy because He claimed to be God.
17. Jesus affirmed the entire Old Testament.
18. He references the entire Old Testament and tells the Pharisees that all scriptures point to Him.
19. 92 times the authority of the Old Testament is confirmed with the words, “It- is- written.”
20. People are willing to die for what they know to be true, they don’t die for what they know to be lies.
21. Many of the details of Jesus’ life should have been expected in accordance with prophetic scriptures of the Old Testament.
22. It has been calculated that the possibility of Jesus fulfilling just 8 Old Testament prophecies in his lifetime is only 1 in 10 to the 17th power. (100,000,000,000,000,000)
23. Much of what we read about Jesus in the New Testament can be found in extra-biblical documents, non-Christian sources.
24. Paul spoke these words in the same chapter of 1 Corinthians where he gives us the creed, the gospel message, and the list of witnesses who saw Jesus after He was crucified. “…and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, your faith also is in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:14
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25. The veracity of the Christian worldview depends entirely upon the event of Jesus’ resurrection. One, single, verifiable, event in history. That sets the Christian worldview uniquely and completely apart from every other worldview.
26. Jesus did claim to be God. He made His claim to Deity on many occasions, and in many different ways.
27. The New Testament has proven to be reliable, therefore Jesus is God.
28. Jesus affirmed the Old Testament, and promised the New Testament.
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Lesson 11. “The Books of the Bible”
Jesus is God
The books of the New Testament were discovered, not decided
Other “gospels” are known forgeries
Pagan resurrection myths are just that – myths
“But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5
This Old Testament verse is one of many that provides an accurate account of events that took place thousands of years later. Those events were subsequently recorded in the gospels and epistles of the New Testament, and support the reliability of those documents.
r Fill in the answer to these questions:
1. The word “canon” comes from a Greek word meaning “rule,” or “measuring stick,” and describes the books Christians regard as authoritative.
2. We can be confident that the 66 books of the Bible are the books that God meant to include. There’s nothing extra that shouldn’t be there, and nothing is missing that should be there.
3. “The Canon is a list of authoritative books more than it is an authoritative list of books.” (Bruce Metzger, Princeton University)
- Other Gospels –
4. The gospel of Thomas: A. Forgery written 100 years after New Testament gospels. B. Half of Thomas contains blended sayings from the four New Testament gospels; the sayings are in Syriac and originated in 175 A.D. C. Females are not worthy of life. Must become men to be saved.
5. The gospel of Peter: A, Forgery, found in a 9th century monk’s coffin in Egypt in 1880. B. Could be a forgery ancient church historians warned was attributed to Peter. C. Anti-Semitic (not written by a 1st Century Jew). D. Author is ignorant of first century practices and rulers. E. Has embellished resurrection account with a talking cross and Jesus’ head stretching to the clouds.
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6. The gospel of Judas: A. Forgery, cited by Irenaeus (2nd century Bishop) as fictitious. B. Does not teach monotheism. C. Says humans are divine. D. Judas was a hero. E. Salvation is by special knowledge (Gnosticism).
- Pagan Myths –
7. The pagan resurrection myths are all spurious and ambiguous by comparison. Some are completely fabricated for the sole purpose of discrediting the New Testament.
8. Resurrection myths came after Christianity not before (earliest 2nd Century A.D.).
9. New Testament writers make historical claims– they were not writing mythology like resurrection myths. This theory can’t explain: A. Numerous eyewitness details in New Testament. B. Embarrassing details of disciples and Jesus. C. Martyrdom of disciples. D. Growth of the Church (especially in Jerusalem). E. Why non-Christian writers tell the same story.
**For more detailed information about Mithra, please take a look at this video titled: Jesus vs. Mithra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muM7Uk40iRE
10. The fact is there will always be mythicists who will be willing to fabricate details without benefit of factual source information in order to create parallels between Jesus and other so called deities such as Osiris and Mithra. Appropriate research always has – and always will – defeat these false claims.
11. The books of the New Testament were discovered, not decided. Other “gospels” are known forgeries. Pagan resurrection myths are just that, myths.
12. There are no genuine correlations between the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and any mythological figure.
13. “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5
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Conclusion
Lesson 12. “So What if it’s True?”
Jesus did not come to be served, “…but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45
His life is a gift to you. If you will receive His gift you can be assured of your salvation
If you have received His free gift of salvation, He is calling upon you to be His ambassador
“If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.” John 7:17
Jesus is telling us that if we are willing to do the will of the Father, we will be able to discern whether or not what Jesus has taught is truly from God. If it is all true, we should then live our lives accordingly.
r Fill in the answer to these questions:
1. We have answered all four of our questions in the affirmative: Truth exists, God exists, miracles are possible and the New Testament is true.
2. The purpose of this series wasn’t just to make us smarter, it’s to make us better ambassadors for Christ.
3. We all have a ministry, a sphere of influence that nobody else has. That’s why we are the body of Christ. You can minister to people that nobody else can in a way that nobody else can.
4. Apologist and cold case homicide detective J. Warner Wallace says in his books and presentations that he’s not a Christian because it’s easy. It’s not. He’s a Christian because it’s true.
5. If the Bible is true, and we have good evidence that it is, we need to know that we will be held responsible for that knowledge. We will be expected to live according to what we know is true, and to share that truth with others.
When you want to share the truth of the bible with somebody, all you really need to do is ask that person 2 questions.
The first question is, “If I ask you a brutally honest question, will you give me a brutally honest answer?” Almost everybody will say yes.
Then ask them, “If Christianity were true, would you become a Christian?”
If they hesitate or say no, then the issue is not intellectual, it’s volitional. It’s not a lack of evidence, it’s a matter of the heart. They may not want it to be true, maybe they don’t want to submit to a moral authority. If they say no, there’s really no point in continuing the conversation because no amount of evidence will change their mind.
6. When someone makes a truth claim you don’t agree with, it’s not your job to refute it, it’s their job to support it.
7. There is no amount of knowledge, generosity or good works that can save us, neither can church membership or religious activities such as baptism or communion.
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Salvation comes ONLY by your belief in and acceptance of the finished work of Christ on the cross!
8. There’s a huge gap between all of us and God who is perfectly holy and just. We have all fallen short. Jesus Christ came and filled that gap. He made a bridge between us and the Father by living a perfect and sinless life and then suffering the death of the cross in our place. He didn’t die for His own sins, He didn’t have any. He died for me, for you, for our sins.
9. He tells us in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
10. The purpose of His life was to be punished in your place. His life was a gift to you.
Have you received His gift? If not, why not? It’s free – because He paid the price – so that the gift of salvation would be freely extended to each one of us.
11. We’re back to the same question we started with at the beginning of our very first session; “What Is The Purpose Of Your Life?”
12. One of the things God tells us in His word is that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. When you seek Him, you will find Him!
The purpose of your life is to know Him and to make Him known.
13. Jesus said in John 7:17; “If anyone is willing to do His will, they will know of the teaching, whether it is God or whether I speak from myself.” Jesus is telling us that if we are willing to do the will of the Father, we will be able to discern whether or not what Jesus has taught is truly from God.
- Prayer of Salvation through Jesus Christ –
If it is all true, we should then live our lives accordingly, being willing to do His will. If that is something you are interested in, we invite you to pray a prayer that will make it happen.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we are sinners who can do nothing to secure our own salvation. Thank you for sending your son, Jesus, who gave his life as a ransom so that we could be redeemed. We accept this free gift and are willing to be your ambassadors and do your will. Help us discover our gifts and give us the opportunities to use them. In Jesus’ Name, AMEN
If you prayed this prayer and meant it, you are part of the family of God! You have made the best and most important decision you will ever make and have passed from death into life everlasting! Congratulations friends and welcome to the family!