Behold, my servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. As many were astonished at him — his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the sons of men — so shall he startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because… Continue reading Good Friday
Tag: Bible
Are We to Take the Bible “Literally”?
Dr. Peter Enns, an Evangelical blogger and Affiliate Processor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University, has started an interesting conversation on the appropriate way to analyze and understand Genesis 1-3 specifically, and the Bible more generally. I wanted to wade into this controversy, because I think Enns shows us the need for solid Biblical hermeneutics, and in… Continue reading Are We to Take the Bible “Literally”?
Does Water Baptism Save?
An Evangelical blogger and prison chaplain named Jeremy Myers wrote a post called “Don’t Get Baptized. Cut Your Hair!” His argument was that since Baptism was only symbolic, we should substitute for a symbol that we find more meaningful, like cutting our hair, or changing our names. From a Christian perspective, this is some of… Continue reading Does Water Baptism Save?
Mark Driscoll and the Canon of Scripture
Mark Driscoll Popular Protestant pastor Mark Driscoll (of Mars Hill church) thinks we Catholics have too many Books in our Bibles. That’s no surprise; almost all Protestants think this. But thankfully, Driscoll takes the time to explain why he thinks this, which makes it easy to show where and how he’s wrong. If you’re not familiar,… Continue reading Mark Driscoll and the Canon of Scripture
Is Christ’s Descent Into Hell Biblical?
Grace in Dallas, the blog for Grace Community Church in Dallas, Oregon, had a post entitled “Creed or Bible?” in which a GCC elder seems to suggest that the Apostle’s Creed is contrary to Scripture. Specifically, he is confused by (and seemingly opposed to) the idea of Christ’s descent into Hell: Whoa hold on there, Christ… Continue reading Is Christ’s Descent Into Hell Biblical?
Is Prayer to the Saints Pointless?
In my experience, Catholic-Protestant dialogues about praying to Saints tend to have two steps. In the first stage, prayer to the Saints is viewed as something suspect, or even evil. In the second stage, prayer to the Saints seems harmless, but also pointless. Let’s address each stage in turn. Is Prayer to the Saints… Continue reading Is Prayer to the Saints Pointless?
Three Prophesies About Christ That Couldn’t Have Been Made Up
In the New Testament, Jesus is depicted as fulfilling numerous Old Testament Messianic prophesies. These prophesies provide objective verification that He is Who He claims to be. But how can we know that these things really happened? In other words, how do we know that the New Testament writers didn’t just make up these details,… Continue reading Three Prophesies About Christ That Couldn’t Have Been Made Up
Steve Martin v. John Dominic Crossan
A while back, I wrote a post on the historical accuracy of Luke 2:2. In a nutshell, some Biblical critics claim that the global census that St. Luke describes (in Lk. 2:1-2) as occurring during the reign of Herod the Great didn’t happen. I think that Mark Shea does a great job of answering this, using… Continue reading Steve Martin v. John Dominic Crossan
Did the Gospels Evolve?
Caravaggio, Doubting Thomas (1603) A common claim from Biblical skeptics is that the earliest New Testament Books tell a very different story than the later Books: that the story of Jesus grew with time, becoming more and more incredible, and less and less historical. In other words, it’s the idea that the New Testament evolved from history… Continue reading Did the Gospels Evolve?
A Catholic Trillema: Why the Church Can’t Just be a “Good Denomination”
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) C.S. Lewis famously argued that given what Jesus claimed about Himself, He was either Lord, liar, or lunatic — that if He wasn’t God, He couldn’t be considered merely a good man or a moral teacher. Lewis explained in Mere Christianity why this argument is important: I am trying here to prevent anyone… Continue reading A Catholic Trillema: Why the Church Can’t Just be a “Good Denomination”