What Really Happened On Easter Morning? In this last lesson of our apologetics course, we wrap up by considering that really happened on that first Easter Morning. What are some of the apparent differences in the various accounts of that morning? What are some things that must be kept in mind when considering the apparent differences in the peripheral details recorded by the gospel writers? Why do the apparent differences in the peripheral details not call into question the bodily resurrection of Jesus? What are the key points on which the Gospel accounts are in clear agreement about what happened that morning? What do we mean when we say that the resurrection showed Jesus to be the Son of God? What does Paul mean when he speaks of the resurrection of Jesus as the “first fruits?” How does the resurrection affirm the goodness of creation? (53 min)
Lesson 46: Review Questions
Lesson 46: Lesson Notes

Tags: Resurrection, Jesus, Empty Tomb

Resurrection as History Did the resurrection of Jesus really happen in history? This is the subject of this lesson. What are some of the widely recognized historical facts pertaining to the resurrection of Jesus which historians must address? How have resurrection apologetics been done traditionally? What new developments in scholarly historical resurrection research have opened up new avenues for resurrection apologetics? What are the two steps in making an apologetic for the resurrection? What is the Minimal Facts apologetic for the resurrection of Jesus? What are the criteria for a satisfactory inference to the best explanation? How are the early verses of 1 Corinthians 15 crucial regarding the historicity of the resurrection? (52 min)
Lesson 45: Review Questions
Lesson 45: Lesson Notes

Tags: Resurrection, Jesus, Death, Life

What Is Resurrection? In this lesson we begin a three lesson module on the resurrection of Jesus. The idea of resurrection has become a muddled concept in our contemporary times, but it was not always so. What are some of aspects of the contemporary paradigm of the early church’s teaching of resurrection that some people hold? What does the Scripture mean by resurrection when it is used in a metaphor? What did the word resurrection mean from the time of Homer onward until into the second century A. D.? How did the Greco-Roman world view death? Why do scholars today dismiss any suggestion that the dying and rising god’s of the ancient religions show any correspondence to the New Testament accounts of the resurrection of Jesus? How did ancient people view the possibility of someone returning bodily from the dead? How did the Judaism of Jesus’ time view the idea of resurrection? How was the concept of resurrection much more than merely belief in life after death? How did the events of Easter radically alter the understanding of many devout Jews? (51 min)
Lesson 44: Review Questions
Lesson 44: Lesson Notes

Tags: Resurrection, Jesus, Life, Death, Life after Death

The Death Jesus Died In this lesson we examine various aspects of Jesus’ death by crucifixion and the doctrine of vicarious atonement. There are two major charges skeptics make in these areas, 1) Jesus didn’t really die by crucifixion and 2) The Christian belief that Jesus’ death somehow atoned for people’s sin is a repellent concept. In this lesson we answer both of these objections. How did the Roman world view crucifixion? Why did Paul say that the preaching of the cross was foolish and scandalous? What is the “swoon” theory? How do Muslims discount Jesus death by crucifixion? Why do atheists and other skeptics think the vicarious atonement by Jesus’ death is a brutally repellent doctrine? How do we know that Jesus actually died on the cross? What do we mean when we say that Jesus’ death by crucifixion is part of the “historical bedrock?” What do atheists and others overlook when they object to the need for vicarious atonement? Why can’t God just forgive sins without a sacrifice? What is necessary in order for vicarious atonement to be justified? (50 min)
Lesson 43: Review Questions
Lesson 43: Lesson Notes

Tags: Jesus, Death, Crucifixion

Jesus and Miracles As we learned in our previous lesson, Jesus made some remarkable claims about himself. It is easy to make such claims, it’s something else to prove them. This is where the miracles of Jesus come into consideration. What are the two primary issues regarding the miracle accounts of Jesus in the Gospels? What is a miracle? What are some of the objections that are sometimes raised to the possibility of miracles? How does one’s worldview influence how someone views miracles? What is the prevalent attitude in the Majority World regarding the possibility of supernatural occurrences? What are the two difference kinds of explanation we consider when seeking the cause of and event or phenomenon? What is wrong with the oft repeated claim that extraordinary events require extraordinary evidence? What is necessary in order to establish that a miracle has occurred? What is the growing consensus among modern historians regarding the Gospel reports of Jesus' miracles?
Lesson 42: Review Questions
Lesson 42: Lesson Notes

Tags: Jesus, Miracles, Gospels, History

Who Is Jesus? What was Jesus' self-awareness and what did he say about himself to others? What are the two categories of Jesus’ teachings? Which category is the most controversial? What was C. S. Lewis’ trilemma regarding who Jesus was? What three groups of people in the gospels represent the three positions in the trilemma? How do people often try to avoid being caught in Lewis’ trilemma? In what ways did Jesus make implicit claims to Messiahship and Deity? Did Jesus ever make any explicit claims to be the Messiah or to be God? What are meant by the Gospel references to the Son of God and the Son of Man? Why is it not possible to exclude Jesus’ claims from the historical accounts of his life? How do New Age adherents attempt to redefine Jesus and thereby escape from Lewis’ trilemma? How do attempts to attribute gnostic/pantheistic teachings to Jesus ignore his historical context?
Lesson 41: Review Questions
Lesson 41: Lesson Notes

Tags: Jesus, Divinity, Messiah, Christ, Son of God, Son of Man

Jesus of History Jesus is, of course, the central issue when it comes to the credibility of the Christian faith. Was he a real person? What did he say and do? What did he claim about himself? In these next lessons on the credibility of Christianity we will focus on addressing the questions that are raised about Jesus. In this lesson we explore the historicity of Jesus. How have biblical and historical scholars viewed the New Testament gospel accounts of Jesus in the past? What major shift has occurred in scholarship more recent decades? Why? Why is a skeptical approach to the biblical records of Jesus not warranted? What are some of the markers historians consider when considering the historical authenticity of the accounts about Jesus we encounter in the Gospels? When someone suggests that the Christian view of Jesus is borrowed or copied from earlier pagan myths, what are some things we can point out to them? Why are the supposed parallels of Christianity to Mithraism invalid? What have scholars recently discovered about the names of people in the New Testament that supports the historical credibility of Gospels? How much confidence can we have that the Jesus we see in the bible really lived and did the things that the bible claims?
Lesson 40: Review Questions
Lesson 40: Lesson Notes

Tags: Gospels, Jesus, Mythology, Gospels

Islam (part 2) In this lesson we continue our consideration of the worldview of Islam by using James Sire’s eight worldview questions. How does Islam view the nature of humanness? What happens after death? What determines a person’s destiny at the judgment? How do people know anything? How do they view history? What are the five pillars of Islam and what are the six essential beliefs? How are Islam and Christianity similar? What are some of the crucial differences between Islam and Christianity? How can we a Christians respond to the Islamic worldview and effectively share Christ with Muslims? (60 min)
Lesson 21: Review Questions
Lesson 21: Lesson Notes
Handout: The Quran and the Bible

Tags: Islam, Quran, Bible, Jesus

What Happened on the First Easter? In this last lesson of our apologetics course, we wrap up by considering that really happened on that first Easter Morning. What are some of the apparent differences in the various accounts of that morning? What are some things that must be kept in mind when considering the apparent differences in the peripheral details recorded by the gospel writers? Why do the apparent differences in the peripheral details not call into question the bodily resurrection of Jesus? What are the key points on which the Gospel accounts are in clear agreement about what happened that morning? What do we mean when we say that the resurrection showed Jesus to be the Son of God? What does Paul mean when he speaks of the resurrection of Jesus as the “first fruits?” How does the resurrection affirm the goodness of creation? (52 min)
Lesson 46: Review Questions
Lesson 46: Lesson Notes

Tags: Resurrection, Jesus, Empty Tomb