Risen – A Reflection on the True Messiah

A Resurrection Day Meditation
Risen -2016

From considering false messiahs, a type of the Antichrist in the previous article, to this article which, for this resurrection day (a holiday commonly called Easter), we move on to considering the true Messiah.  On Easter day Christians commonly  say to each other:

Jesus Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed!

So we will consider the true messiah in the context of the 2016 movie Risen, a movie that explores the question: what would you do if you had personally seen both the death of Yeshua [1] and then, a number of days later, saw him alive and well and spoke with him, whose touch you felt and in whose presence you ate  and asked him questions. Would that finally move you to faith? Though that question is aimed at skeptics, doubters and unbelievers, the movie also provides encouragement for believers which we’ll get to.

Without going into all the tenets of the Christian faith, like the gospels, this movie gives you ample evidence to believe this section of the Nicene Creed, which is at the heart of the Christian faith and what we’re considering today:

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;

Continue Reading

Yes Dennis, Yeshua is God

Torah Scroll - Deuteronomy 18:15

This is the first time I’ve written an article like this: with a specific person in mind to address a specific question. But I feel a nudging at my heart that I’m thinking is the prompting of the Holy Spirit to write this. Another first:  Yeshua is the Jewish way to say Jesus, and when I’m not quoting someone, since this is directed to a Jewish audience, I’ll be using Yeshua.

My wife, a loyal listener to Jack Hibbs, wanted me to listen to a particular message: “Ask a Jew, Ask a Gentile with Dennis Prager and Jack Hibbs.”[1] I have great respect for both of these men. And I’m thankful for all the work Dennis has done with PragerU to “influence”, as he says, particularly young people toward a Judeo-Christian worldview.

During the interview Dennis was asked, “Dennis does, to my knowledge, does not believe that Jesus, fits the prophetic word from the Old Testament that Jesus is not who that Old Testament is painting as the messiah. My question to both of you, one is to Dennis – different question, same topic, is: Dennis why do you not believe that Jesus is the fulfillment of those prophecies that were painted?”

Dennis’ response:

“This may come to a surprise to you. The dividing line between Judaism and Christianity theologically is not with regard to whether Jesus was the messiah. It’s whether Jesus was God.”

“The issue is the Trinity and Jesus being regarded as God or the son of God. That was the dividing line.”

In this he has nailed it precisely on the head, for this is what the New Testament records as the essence of the issue for the Jews of Yeshua’s day.  Why did the first century Jews have Yeshua killed? Scripture is clear: Continue Reading

Knowledge of the Holy One Part 2: Jesus – The Holy One Denied

Fun house mirrors are amusing for a short time. Like caricatures they emphasize some features while diminishing others – or making them completely disappear. But the reason they’re enjoyable is because you know what the true image looks like, and you’re only seeing the distortion for a short time for amusement. And everyone looking at the distortion knows it’s a distortion. That’s why you stand before the distorting mirrors in the first place – to be amused by how the mirror will distort your features.

 But how would you feel if all that people knew about you was the distorted image? What if they never saw the real you, the undistorted you? What if all your life you had to deal with people thinking that you were in fact the distortion they saw?

Contents

Continue Reading

Knowledge of the Holy One Part 1: Jesus – the Holy One Revealed

“Who do you say I am?”

This is one of the most well-known questions Jesus asked his disciples. Perhaps because it is arguably the most significant. Significant not just for his disciples, but for everyone – because at some point everyone must answer that question.

Amid the cacophony of false idols, false religions, false gods, false ideas, hearsay and slander against Jesus everyone must answer the question Jesus puts to them: “Who do you say I am?” (Matt 16.15)  It was no different for the disciples or the people of Jesus’ day. Consider the context in which Jesus asks his disciples the question:  Having just fed more than 4,000 people, Jesus was approached by the unbelieving and treacherous Pharisees and Sadducees who came “and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.” (Matt 16.1) So right off the bat there’s a clear indication that they would not have believed any sign he gave them because he had just performed a miraculous sign. No, they weren’t looking for reasons to believe. They were looking for reasons to justify unbelief, and put him on trial so they could sentence him to death. Continue Reading

Paley’s Watchmaker Argument – Undefeated once Understood

Paley’s watch maker argument – an argument for the existence of God by the clearly apparent design in nature is one of the most powerful arguments for God’s existence. How do I know? One need merely take a look at all the skeptics who try (unsuccessfully) to refute it. From Youtube bloggers to high profile atheists like Richard Dawkins, doubters repeatedly try to show the argument invalid – and fail miserably. Why all the effort? Because it is so clear, so easy to understand, so obvious, that it is a powerful argument for the existence of God.

Continue Reading

Creation, Craig and the myth of a “mytho-historical” Genesis

My seminary apologetics teacher Dr. William Lane Craig has a quite serious problem on his hands.  He’s painted himself into a corner.  Dr. Craig has built a career and made and name for himself in apologetics and is well respected in the field. He now faces a problem that could undo all the good work he has done in defending the faith. What problem could possibly be so severe you wonder? Like the man cutting off the branch he’s sitting on, Craig is heading in the direction of undermining most if not all the work he has done in defending the existence of God and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He appears ready to embrace the creation account as “mytho-historical.” Continue Reading

Is the Bible full of fantastic creatures? Part 1: Jealous God and Unicorns?

An atheist on twitter was frustrated that I was following my own advice about not providing evidence to mockers.[1] So in his frustration he did what mockers do: engaged in ridicule and mocking. In an attempt to deride and ridicule the faith he proceeded to tell others what he thinks I believe:

“He follows a holy book with a jealous & genocidal god, ghosts, zombies, seers, devils, demons, witches, satyrs, unicorns, talking animals, a man who lived in a fish and a 7 headed dragon.”[2]

Clearly he takes exception to all of these. But since he is an atheist, that neither surprises, nor concerns me. The question I do want to address however is what are we believers and people who are seeking the truth to think about what many would consider mythical creatures in the list?  With that in mind let’s look at what the Bible has to say about each of these items, plus one that is usually questioned, but not in his list: a talking snake. So let’s look at these one by one in the light of what the holy book – the Bible – says about them. But before I start, let me highlight the main problem: Continue Reading

Atheist Meme Mistakes: Morality and Sin

Atheist meme mistake: Atheists are illogical about morality and sin

Many atheists proclaim themselves to be bastions of reason and logic. They consider themselves to be free thinkers who are correct in their rejection of God. They believe themselves to be superior in their thinking when it comes to matters concerning God. That’s ironic since it can be easily demonstrated that 1. Many atheist claims are illogical and 2. an atheist cannot live consistently within an atheistic worldview.  Since many will miss this second point, let me emphasize it by repeating it, atheists cannot live consistently within an atheistic worldview. In fact, no one can live consistently within an atheistic worldview. That is a sign that the atheistic worldview is not true.

Case in point: memes on morality and sin. They are problematic for atheists, though atheists apparently have not realized that yet. Let me explain why. Continue Reading

Atheist Meme Mistake – We take atheism one god further

We are all atheists about most of the gods humanity has believed in. Some of us just go one god further.

For people who pride themselves on their reason and rationality, it’s rather amusing to see this atheist meme which is full of logical errors. I can’t say I’m surprised though. Atheists and evolutionists alike often appeal to logical fallacies in their futile attempts to bolster their false claims.

This atheist meme is attributed to Richard Dawkins from his book, The God Delusion. It goes like this:

“We are all atheists about most of the gods humanity has believed in.
Some of us just go one god further.

This is supposed to be cute and clever, and I’m sure some think it is. Some think its true. What most don’t realize is it’s just another logically fallacious and philosophically flawed statement. Here’s 4 logical reasons why, with a biblical reason thrown in as a bonus. Continue Reading

3 Responses to the Deadly Atheist Meme Even Christians Get Wrong

As a corollary to their false belief that there is no evidence for God, many atheists are fond of using a wide spread but incorrect meme that express the idea that Faith is belief without evidence. In an article on The Stream titled “The Deadly Atheist Meme Even Christians Get Wrong” Tom Gilson addresses it as put forth by atheist cheerleader Richard Dawkins:

Faith is belief without evidence and reason;
Coincidentally that’s also the definition of delusion[1]

Tom’s approach: he uses the logical argument known as reductio ad absurdum to illustrate one reason why the statement is wrong. This type of argument demonstrates that the statement is false by supposing it to be true then illustrating that the logical and inevitable result or conclusion of the argument is patently absurd or false. Continue Reading