The Wisdom Chronicle

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

471. REAGAN AND GOD In August 1984, Ronald Reagan said this at an ecumenical prayer breakfast in Dallas, Texas:

“We establish no religion in this country, nor will we ever. We command no worship. We mandate no belief. But we poison our society when we remove its theological underpinnings. We court corruption when we leave it bereft of belief. All are free to believe or not believe; all are free to practice a faith or not. But those who believe must be free to speak of and act on their belief, to apply moral teaching to public questions.

I submit to you that the tolerant society is open to and encouraging of all religions. And this does not weaken us; it strengthens us. . . .

Without God, there is no virtue, because there’s no prompting of the conscience. Without God, we’re mired in the material, that flat world that tells us only what the senses perceive. Without God, there is a coarsening of the society. And without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure. If we ever forget that we’re One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.”

472. MULTITASKING “We’d like to think we are unique, that we can do two (or three or four) things at once better than normal people. But very likely we can’t. In his book The Myth of Multitasking, Dave Crenshaw argues that the brain really can’t put forth effort in two mental processes at the same time.5 We can do two things at once when one does not require mental effort. We can walk and have a conversation at the same time. We can eat potato chips and watch TV at the same time. But you can’t e-mail and talk on the phone at the same time, or finish a report and talk to your son at the same time. We may think we are multitasking, but we are actually “switch-tasking.” This is true of computers too. They give the appearance of multitasking, but in reality they are switching back and forth between various programs at rapid speed. If computers can’t do two things at once, we certainly can’t.

Jesus knew that if he were to accomplish the purposes God had for him, he would have to pass up ten thousand good purposes other people had for his life. The Son of God could not meet all the needs around him. He had to get away to pray. He had to eat. He had to sleep. He had to say no. If Jesus had to live with human limitations, we’d be foolish to think we don’t. The people on this planet who end up doing nothing are those who never realized they couldn’t do everything.”

Excerpt From: DeYoung, Kevin. “Crazy Busy.”

473. SLEEP “Because you stayed up all night on Thursday, you’ll invariably crash on Friday. If not on Friday, you’ll sleep an extra five hours on Saturday. If you don’t catch up on sleep over the weekend, you’ll likely get sick the next week. And if you don’t get sick and you keep pushing yourself on empty, your productivity will slide. Or you’ll get into a car accident when you are beyond exhaustion. Or you’ll snap at your friend and cause a relational meltdown that takes weeks to mend. The time you thought you stole cannot be so easily filched. You cannot cheat sleep indefinitely. And the longer you try to borrow against sleep, the more your body (or God) will force you to pay for those hours—plus interest.

When I read D. A. Carson’s sermon on religious doubt a few years ago, I was struck that one of his six possible causes for doubt was “sleep deprivation.”

Excerpt From: DeYoung, Kevin. “Crazy Busy.”

474. HIRING GOOD PEOPLE “We don’t look for a skill-set as much as we look for a mindset.”

— Ed Portier

475. YOU ARE WHAT YOU THINK “Thought and character are one.”

“That circumstances grow out of thought every man knows who has for any length of time practised self-control and self-purification, for he will have noticed that the alteration in his circumstances has been in exact ratio with his altered mental condition. So true is this that when a man earnestly applies himself to remedy the defects in his character, and makes swift and marked progress, he passes rapidly through a succession of vicissitudes.”

Excerpt From: Allen, James. “As a Man Thinketh.”

476. IT’S ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS “perhaps the most unforgettable image was described by New Yorkers who had watched in horror as people trapped high in the towers chose jumping to death rather than burning. As one witness described the sight of men and women leaping out of windows: “It was raining people.” That alone pushed me to tears as I sat in solitude on my couch. Another witness added the detail that many of the jumpers had fallen in pairs: “People were holding hands jumping.” Unbelievable, I thought. Only seconds to live, one final act remaining, and it was still all about relationships. Those people needed each other. We all need each other.

I spoke with Joe about something I’d been unable to get off my mind—the people on the hijacked planes who had used cell phones to say their final goodbyes before crashing. In frantic calls to family and friends, all had shared three simple words they wanted to leave behind: I love you. I told Joe that I could not help but make a connection to our conversation about false masculinity. There had not been a single news account of anyone on those planes spending his final moments rehashing what a great athlete he’d been as a youngster, how many girls he’d scored as a teen, how much money and power he’d amassed as an adult. Nodding in agreement, Joe said, “Nobody was calling their brokers.”

Excerpt From: Marx, Jeffrey. “Season of Life.”

477. HAVING A CAUSE “When I die, when I’m lying on my deathbed, what am I thinking?” Joe said. “Well, I’d like to be thinking that I’ve accomplished something during my time here. You know, I didn’t die with the most toys. I didn’t die with the most money. But I left something behind me. I had a cause. And my children, I know that they all learned the importance of having a cause.”

Excerpt From: Marx, Jeffrey. “Season of Life.”

478. NOAH WEBSTER “Father of American Scholarship and Education,” Noah Webster (October 16, 1758–May 28, 1843) gave us the very first American Dictionary of the English Language. In it, he defined education as “the bringing up, as of a child; instruction; formation of manners.” He went on to say, “To give children a good education in manners, arts, and science is important; to give them a religious education is indispensable.”

Webster believed a well-educated citizenry was essential to the preservation of freedom. Convinced that “information is fatal to despotism,” he wrote textbooks that covered moral formation and civic education, as well as spelling and grammar. He wrote:

“An attempt to conduct the affairs of a free government with wisdom and impartiality, and to preserve the just rights of all classes of citizens, without the guidance of Divine precepts, will certainly end in disappointment. God is the supreme moral Governor of the world He has made . . . If men will not submit to be controlled by His laws, He will punish them by the evils resulting from their own disobedience. . . .”

In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed. . . . The Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.”

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.”

479. FREEDOM FROM AMBITION “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. (Rom. 4:7–8)

Understanding this magnificent truth will transform how you think about your dreams. Apart from God, our quest for greatness is often a search for approval. I want to be applauded and esteemed. I live for praise. I attempt great things because I crave being celebrated. Selfish ambition is often a desperate quest for an earthly “Atta-boy,” a drive to fashion a world that worships me.

Our search for approval is over. In Christ, we already have all the approval we need. All the time and energy I once squandered trying to be liked or praised or to achieve something to validate my existence can now be redirected toward doing things for God’s glory. I no longer live for approval; I live FROM approval.”

Excerpt From: Harvey, Dave. “Rescuing Ambition.”

480. PASSING ON OUR HERITAGE “Mitchell Paige received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Guadalcanal. On October 26, 1942, for hours after all the Marines in his platoon were killed or wounded, Paige operated four machine guns, single-handedly stopping an entire Japanese regiment. Had that position fallen and the Japanese regained the airfield the Marines had taken, the outcome of World War II may have been significantly different.

Why had Paige been willing to put his life on the line for his country? He spoke of his childhood education and being so steeped in the traditions of America that he felt part of our glorious heritage: “My undying love of country, and my strong loyalty to the Marines fighting by my side, gave me no choice but to fight on unswervingly throughout my battles, utilizing my God-given ability to make use of what I had been taught and learned.”

And his mother had taught him well, including in the lunch she had made him for his two-hundred-mile walk to the nearest Marine Corps recruiting station the note, “Trust in the Lord, son, and He will guide you always.”

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.”

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Is the Universe Fine-Tuned for Life and Is This Evidence for God?

Sometimes people ask about fine-tuning and I created this overview to just provide links to all of my fine-tuning blogs on CrossExamined.org. I’ll update this as I add to this. I defend this fine-tuning claim which is actually widely accepted in the physics community:

“In the set of possible physical laws, parameters and initial conditions, the subset that permits rational conscious life is very small.”

Of course whether that implies design is more controversial but I defend the case that it does:

Intro/Philosophical Background

If You Don’t Want God, You Better Have a Multiverse!

How Does Fine-Tuning Provide Evidence for God?

Evidence

Fine-Tuning of Initial Conditions to Support Life

Many Changes to the Laws of Physics Would be Life-Prohibiting

Fine-Tuning of the Force Strengths to Permit Life

Fine-Tuning of Particles to Support Life

Objections

Mistaken Objections that Seek to Trivialize Fine-Tuning

Important Objections in the Fine-Tuning Debate

But We Can’t Even Define Life

Coarse-Tuning vs. Fine-Tuning

For a more in-depth defense of the scientific case (and some excellent philosophical points), I highly recommend Cosmologist Luke Barnes:

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The Truth about the Liberty Bell

The famous Liberty Bell of Philadelphia is known for the huge crack. However, it is the words that are found on it which tell the real story. Right in the middle of the bell the following words are found: “Proclaim LIBERTY throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof” (Leviticus 25:10). This particular scripture is amazing when you think of the early Americans having the freedom to PROCLAIM LIBERTY on days when they rang out the bell!

liberty-Bell

Dates like July 8th, 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was first read out loud to the people of Philadelphia (notice it took a few days for the 56 signers to share their work with the people). Again in September of 1787, when our ever-changing Constitution was pasted, giving us the laws that still rule our land—the longest surviving Constitution in history.

It is often thought the Liberty Bell was cast for the Declaration of Independence. Makes sense; Liberty…Independence. But the reality is that the bell had already been hanging over Independence Hall (originally Pennsylvania State House) since 1751, some twenty-five years before it rang out in 1776. Naturally, this is not known as the “prophetic bell”…admittedly, it would be a cooler name. So what Liberty was being proclaimed to all the inhabitants from this bell all those years?

The story begins, as they often do, in the Tower of London (I kid, what a horrible start to any story). A young, devoted Christian named William Penn was locked in the most infamous prison in the world for participating in Christian activities in 1670. He was the son of an Admiral, whose personal friend was King Charles II. While William was in prison, his father died. Because his son was in prison and showed no sign of giving up his faith, Admiral Penn made arrangements with the king for his son. William was given a tract of land in the New World as his inheritance.

William specifically asked for this tract of land to be used as a refuge for religious freedom for all creeds. You see, he had spent over 10 years in and out of prison for proclaiming the Gospel he found in God’s word to people all over London. He understood what it was like to be muzzled for the Truth. He wanted the freedom to worship as he saw fit.

Therefore, Penn was on a ship in 1681 towards the New World. The tract of land given to William is what we know today as the state of Pennsylvania (Penn-after his father and Sylvania- “wooded land”).

As the son of the acclaimed Admiral and nobleman, William was very well educated and diplomatic. Upon arrival to the new world in 1682, he formed Philadelphia and paid for the land to the local Native Americans (he even signed the treaty, “I am your loving friend, William Penn.”). But with any new colony, there was a need for a government system to be established. He established the Charter of Privileges in 1701.

The Pennsylvania Charter of Privileges established property rights, religious freedom, and still acknowledged King and Country over the colony. The intent was to also establish how citizens should rule in Pennsylvania. One expert is particularly intriguing as one looks at the argument for “religious freedom” today compared to how it was originally intended to look according to this document:

“No person or persons inhabiting in this province or territory who shall confess and acknowledge our Almigty God and Creator, Upholder and Ruler of the World; and profess him or themselves obliged to live quietly under civil government, shall be in any case molested or prejudiced in his or her person or estate…And that all persons who also profess to believe in Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, shall be capable to serve this government in any capacity, both legislatively or executively.”

It would be nearly impossible today to imagine a document with this kind of jargon this would pass at any level of state or federal level. Yet, this was state-level the pre-cursor to the Constitution, in the state where most of America was born. And this was no passing document. It was valid until 1776, when Pennsylvania became a part of a new country, the United States of America.

In fact, this was such an amazing and revolutionary document that to commemorate the Charter’s 50th anniversary in 1751, the Liberty Bell was commissioned to honor the liberty and freedom that was proclaimed in a document written by William Penn. A man who truly understood what it meant to proclaim liberty after being muzzled by a government who did not allow him to preach the Gospel.

So the next time you see a history special debating when the crack came to the bell (scholars all debate when it officially cracked first…but most will agree the big crack we see today is the result of repairing a much smaller crack), think about how one man’s life truly had such a ripple effect on the foundation of America.

William Penn was not there to sign the Declaration of Independence or to give his input into our Constitution. But if George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were our Founding Fathers, then William Penn was our patriarch of America and America’s governing system.

Couple of notes:

I have heard an argument is that the liberty was not for ALL the inhabitants, i.e. women and slaves. Being a woman, I am grateful for the 19th amendment (and if you don’t know what that is, then you shouldn’t be arguing about women’s rights). But for the part of both slavery freedom and women’s rights, one should know that the 19th century abolitionists and 20th century suffragists often cited the Liberty Bell for their cause of freedom for all inhabitants! The truth of what the Bell stood for never changed, but man’s interpretation has.

 

The full scripture of Leviticus 25:10 has to do with the Year of Jubilee, the 50th year in which all debts were forgiven by the Law. The Liberty Bell commemorates the full story of not only the 50th year of the Charter of Privileges, but that with Christ we have a constant Jubilee with the debt of our sins forgiven.

 

 

For the full story of William Penn and his adventures…as well as other Founding Fathers, a good resource is In God We  Trust by Stephen McDowell

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Does Scripture Prohibit Women from Doing Apologetics?

Often the idea of doing apologetics evokes the image of men debating on a stage, or speaking to or teaching an audience. Because of a misunderstanding of what apologetics is, some Christians who believe scripture passages such as 1 Timothy 2:11-12 and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 do not permit a woman to speak in the church worship setting, or to teach or exercise authority over a man in the home or church argue that these passages also prohibit a Christian woman from doing apologetics.

But do they really?

My purpose here is not to debate the correct interpretation and application of 1 Timothy 2:11-12 or 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, but to point out that if these passages do prohibit these ministries for Christian women, it does not follow that women cannot do apologetics. Here are a few reasons why.

1. The command of Christ calls Christian women to disciple-making (Matt 28:19-20). If every woman is called to share the Gospel message with her family members, her friends, and her co-workers in order to obey Christ’s Great Commission of Matthew 28, then every woman is also called to share the rational evidences for her faith in Christ as a part of that evangelistic message. Apologetics enables her to explain why a rational person should consider the truth claims of Christianity and has been characterized as pre-evangelism, since it entails sharing logical, historical, scientific and philosophical reasons for believing Christianity is true in order to dismantle objections (2 Cor 10:4-5) and open hearts to receive the Gospel. Multitudes of godly women throughout history have died as martyrs alongside their brothers in Christ for their defense of the Gospel, and we mock their sacrifice if we fail to bear witness to the evidences supporting the truth claims of Christianity.

2. The heart of apologetics ministry beats within one-to-one relationship. Though on-stage debates and conference or church classes certainly fill an important place in the overall apologetics ministry, most apologetics interactions take place in one-to-one relationships with family, friends and co-workers. Even if a Christian woman never taught in any assembly of believers, she would still have numerous opportunities to share good reasons for believing Christianity is true and also would be held accountable to God for the stewardship of that knowledge.

For example, when a co-worker asks me how I think the world began and I say I believe God created it, he is likely to ask me why I believe that. He may think my belief is unfounded and expect me to respond with, “You just have to have faith.” As a Christian man or woman I should be prepared to share the evidence supporting my assertion in order to earn a hearing regarding the Gospel’s claims about Jesus Christ.

3. The reach of a Christian woman’s apologetics ministry is vast. If a Christian woman never teaches a conference or church class in which men are present, her potential audience still consists of the majority of the human population: all other women and children. Since Paul in Titus 2:3-5 commands mature women to mentor younger women, teaching younger women apologetics is a legitimate pursuit to equip younger women to love their husbands, their children, and their neighbors as themselves. The women she mentors return home equipped to share with their unbelieving husbands the reasons belief in God makes sense based on evidence and are able to answer their college students’ questions about whether truth is relative and evolution is supported by evidence.

It’s not a matter of whether she is permitted to do this sort of ministry, but that she is commanded to do so, as verified by Paul. In 2 Timothy 1:5 Paul commends Timothy’s grandmother and mother for taking seriously the task of passing on the rich heritage of their faith to their children and grandchildren. Christian women answer to God for the stewarding of their knowledge of the Gospel and the evidence supporting its truth claims.

So, regardless of one’s interpretation of passages discussing the woman’s role in the home and church, a Christian woman not only can do apologetics, but must, in order to obey Christ’s authoritative command to make disciples.

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The Wisdom Chronicle

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

461. ROBERT E. LEE “While his soldiers placed great confidence in his ability as a military leader, General Lee remained deeply humble: “I tremble for my country when I hear of confidence expressed in me. I know too well my weakness, that our only hope is in God.”

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.”

462. CONVERSATION: WHAT IS SEX FOR? “The main point of Christian sexual morality is that human nature is designed. We need to live a certain way because we’re designed to live that way.”

“Then let’s start with the heart. Do you see how every part works together toward its purpose, its function?”

“Sure. You’ve got nerves and valves and pumping chambers, all for moving blood.”

“Right. If you think about the sexual powers instead of the heart, it’s just the same. The key to understanding a design is to recognize its purposes. For the heart, the purpose is pumping blood; for the sexual powers—you tell me.”

“Pleasure?”

“Think about it. Would you say pleasure is the purpose of eating?”

“No, I’d say nourishment is the purpose of eating, and pleasure is just the result.”

“If you thought pleasure was the purpose of eating, what would you do if I offered you pleasant-tasting poison?”

“Eat it.”

“And what would happen?”

“I’d get sick.”

“But if you understood that nourishment is the purpose of eating and pleasure merely the result, then what would you do if I offered you pleasant-tasting poison?”

“Refuse it and ask for food instead.”

“It’s the same with the sexual powers. Pleasure is a result of their use, but it’s not the purpose of their use. The purposes can tell you which kinds of sexual activity are good and which aren’t; by itself, pleasure can’t. The inbuilt purpose of the sexual powers is to bond a man with a woman and the other is to have and raise children.”

Excerpt From: Budziszewski, J. “Ask Me Anything.”

463. SIGNIFICANCE “Life in the end will be measured by significance, not a golf score. Significance will be defined by your character, relationships, values, virtues, and faith, not by a golf score. The book I am holding reveals that we will all stand before our Maker someday and give an account of our life. It goes on to say that all the insignificant wood, hay, and stubble of our lives will be consumed by fire, revealing the significant costly metal and precious stones that remain unscathed by fire. It looks to me like you are well on your way to a bonfire of insignificance.”

Excerpt From: David L. Cook. “Golf’s Sacred Journey.”

464. CAN’T DO IT ALL “we live as if time knew no bounds, when in fact time is much more limited than money. Wealth can be created, but no one has the ability to grow more time. As Peter Drucker observes, “The supply of time is totally inelastic. No matter how high the demand, the supply will not go up. There is no price for it and no marginal utility curve for it. Moreover, time is totally perishable and cannot be stored. Yesterday’s time is gone forever and will never come back. Time is, therefore, always in exceedingly short supply.

Time may be our scarcest and most precious resource. And we will begin to use it well only when we realize we do not have an infinite supply to use.”

Excerpt From: DeYoung, Kevin. “Crazy Busy.”

465. HOW TO LIVE “Is it better to be idle, frivolous, to live for your body, your selfishness, your lusts, and your pride, or to spend and be spent in the glorious cause of usefulness to your fellow men–to be a blessing to your country and the world, to be the friend of the prisoner and the captive, to be the spiritual father of hundreds of immortal souls in heathen lands, to be a burning and a shining light, an epistle of Christ, known and read of all men, the inspiration of every Christian heart that comes across your path? Oh, who can doubt? Who can for one moment doubt? The path of the worldly man grows darker and darker every year that he lives; the path of the Christian is like a shining light, brighter and brighter to the very end. His sun is just rising when the sun of the worldly is setting forever; his best things are all beginning to blossom and bloom forever, when those of the worldly are all slipping out of his hands, and passing away.”

Excerpt From: J. C. Ryle. “Thoughts For Young Men.”

466. MASCULINITY “Masculinity, first and foremost, ought to be defined in terms of relationships,” Joe said. “It ought to be taught in terms of the capacity to love and to be loved. If you look over your life at the end of it … life wouldn’t be measured in terms of success based on what you’ve acquired or achieved or what you own. The only thing that’s really going to matter is the relationships that you had. It’s gonna come down to this: What kind of father were you? What kind of husband were you? What kind of coach or teammate were you? What kind of son were you? What kind of brother were you? What kind of friend were you? Success comes in terms of relationships.

And I think the second criterion—the only other criterion for masculinity—is that all of us ought to have some kind of cause, some kind of purpose in our lives that’s bigger than our own individual hopes, dreams, wants, and desires. At the end of our life, we ought to be able to look back over it from our deathbed and know that somehow the world was a better place because we lived, we loved, we were other-centered, other-focused.”

“When I went out for high school football, it wasn’t about camaraderie. It wasn’t about having fun. It wasn’t being part of the school or the community. For me, it was a life-and-death issue of trying to validate my masculinity. I felt that I validated myself as a man every time I knocked you flat on your back. But I tell you, those kinds of concepts, they don’t make good husbands, they don’t make good fathers, they don’t make good sons, and they don’t make good friends. They leave boys in a tremendous sense of confusion.”

Excerpt From: Marx, Jeffrey. “Season of Life.”

467. “SENDING OUR KIDS” “Go” kind of means you just leave, you’re untethered, you break away from the moorings and just float around out there. Gilman football guys, we don’t go. We’re sent. Being sent has a whole different connotation. ‘Sent’ means you’ve got support. ‘Sent’ means you’ve got a home. ‘Sent’ means you have a purpose. ‘Sent’ means you can always come back. Being sent means people love you. It means you go out like a warrior because you’ve got something to do. And when you get it done, you come back to your home people because they’re all there waiting for you. It’s a sense of community and connectivity.”

Excerpt From: Marx, Jeffrey. “Season of Life.”

468. THE PROCESS “There’s a story about a fourteen-year-old boy who was born without a left arm. The boy told his mother that he wanted to take judo lessons. Reluctantly she enrolled him in a course. The instructor worked with the boy, and in particular, taught him one move. ‘Master this move,’ the boy was told again and again.

“The boy did as he was instructed and soon was winning matches; he qualified to compete in the final round of a major judo tournament. His opponent was a real brute who had overwhelmingly defeated his foes. Before the match, the referee pulled the instructor aside and said, ‘You’re going to get your boy killed. Even if he had two arms, he’s no competition for this guy. He’s a killer.’

“‘Don’t worry,’ the instructor said. ‘He’ll be fine.’

“The boy even told his instructor, ‘I’m going to get killed.’

“The instructor replied, ‘You just do as I taught you, and there isn’t anything to worry about.’

“The boy won the match. On the way home from the tournament, the boy said to his instructor, ‘Why did you let me go into the ring with such a strong opponent? I don’t have a left arm, and that guy could have seriously injured me. Besides, you only taught me to master one move. What made you think I could win with only one move?’

“‘There is only one defense for that move,’ the instructor said, ‘and that is for your opponent to grab your left arm.’

“Do you get the message?” Mr. Christopher asked the players.

The instructor had taught the boy to believe in the process. It won’t be the process that beats you. It will be self-doubt.

Excerpt From: Elko, Kevin. “The Pep Talk.”

469. JUDGEMENT “As nations cannot be rewarded or punished in the next world they must be in this. By an inevitable chain of causes and effects providence punishes national sins, by national calamities.” — George Mason, Founding Father

470. HUMILITY “Lord, where we are wrong, make us willing to change; where we are right, make us easy to live with.” — Reverend Peter Marshall

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Five Reasons We Know God Wants Christian Women to Do Apologetics

Five Reasons We Know God Wants Christian Women to Do Apologetics

God has commanded us as women not only to share that we believe in Jesus Christ but also the reasons why. Here are some evidences in scripture that God has called women to learn and share the evidential reasons for believing in Christianity, which is the ministry of apologetics. Think of the five R’s:

1. We as women are created as rational beings who are called to love the Lord our God not only with our hearts, but also our souls, and minds (Matthew 22:37). Our trust in Christ is grounded not in blind emotion, but in an intellectual appraisal of evidence that has convinced us of the truth of Christianity and given rise to a reasonable faith. Luke 10:38-42 records Christ’s visit to the home of two women named Mary and Martha. When Martha complained that Mary was a slacker for not helping prepare the meal, Jesus praised Mary for listening to his teaching. Though he likely appreciated Martha’s efforts in the kitchen, we can reasonably infer that he affirmed Mary’s intellectual curiosity and commitment to pursuit of truth.

2. We as women are relational beings who are called to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:39). Our neighbors include people in our spheres of influence, starting with immediate family members. For instance, God urges us to love and respect our husbands (see Ephesians 5). How can apologetics strengthen our marriage? If our husband is a believer, we can affirm the truths to build his faith as well as our own, and help him when he struggles with doubts. What about those of us who are married to unbelieving husbands? When we learn the evidence for our faith, even if our husband is hostile to Christian claims, we can love him while not being shaken in our own faith. We don’t use knowledge as a weapon against him. Instead, we are freed from defensiveness to practice 1 Peter 3:1-4, seeking to live out before our husband a life transformed by Christ so that he “may be won by [her] conduct.” Former atheist and author of The Case for Christ Lee Strobel said his wife became a believer, and the change in the way she treated him and the children was so appealing that he embarked on his own search and eventually trusted Christ.

Another relationship in which apologetics can be helpful is with our children. Titus 2: 5 describes women as “keepers” at home who teach their children. “Keeping” implies watching over or guarding. Apologetics knowledge equips us to watch over and influence our children’s worldviews. Before we can guard our children’s worldviews, we must first learn what a worldview is, the evidence that affirms the truth of the Christian worldview, the assertions of other worldviews, and how to respond to those assertions to show that  Christianity makes the most sense. That’s apologetics. Then, when our child comes home from school saying her friend is a Hindu, for instance, we can answer when she asks why Hindus have shrines in their homes and Christians don’t.

Our relationships with other women can also become redemptive and edifying, as we seek to introduce unbelieving friends to Christ and to mentor younger women in the faith to mature in their relationship with Christ. Titus 3:2-5 asks us as maturing women to be “teachers of good things” (NKJV) to women coming along behind us. We can’t opt out of this call. Younger women desperately need us to take them under our wings and encourage them to live for Christ in a culture becoming increasingly hostile to Christianity. Finally, women are uniquely equipped to engage unbelieving women in faith conversations. For some groups of women, our willingness to engage them is their only hope for hearing about Christ in an understandable way. For example, only Christian women can reach Muslim women who are not comfortable talking to men.

3. We as women are responsible to bear witness of what we have seen and heard regarding Christ’s identity and resurrection, and the numerous evidences for Christianity God has instilled within the created order. According to Mark 16:1-11, women first witnessed the empty tomb and were instructed to go tell others. If Jesus entrusted women with the responsibility for speaking the truth about the single most pivotal event in human history, then we, too, can bear witness. And we can share not only our personal experience with Jesus Christ as the women at the tomb did, but also the historical, scientific, and philosophical evidence provided for us by our loving God. In so doing, we as women fulfill his command to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20).

4. We as women are called to be ready to give cogent reasons for our beliefs, even if we must suffer to do so. 1 Peter 3:15-17, a banner scripture for apologetics, tells us to “always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil” (NKJV). It is interesting that in the first seven verses of 1 Peter 3 he addresses first husbands and then wives. Then, in verse eight, which culminates in the command of verses 15-17, Peter says, “Finally, all of you,” including both men and women in his subsequent appeal. So, both men and women are called and honored to participate in Christ’s suffering in defense of the faith.

5. Finally, we as Christian women are to be renewed in the spirit of our minds (Ephesians 4:11-24). We do not have to remain babies in Christ, not understanding the basics of our faith, and being easily swayed. A friend once told me after reading The DaVinci Code that she wished she had never read it because it caused her to doubt. When we fail to renew the spirit of our minds with truth, we are tossed about with every new doctrine that arrives on the scene. Apologetics knowledge grounds our beliefs in strong evidence and makes our faith in Christ the most reasonable response to a God who has saturated the universe with witnesses to his presence and character.

So, when someone asks us why we think God wants women to do apologetics, we can share the five R’s. We can explain that God made women rational and relational beings, endowed us as responsible bearers of the truth, and provided the knowledge with which to ready ourselves and be renewed in our minds so that we share the overwhelming evidence that Christianity is true.

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The Wisdom Chronicle

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

451. CATEGORICAL IMPERITIVE “The categorical imperative says that when you are trying to decide on a course of action or when you face a moral dilemma, you should consider what the impact would be, and not just of your own action, but what the world would be like if everyone behaved that way.

Economists love pointing out that it is irrational to vote. Your vote is meaningful only if there is a tie and your vote breaks the tie. Otherwise your vote makes no difference to the outcome. When I point this out to noneconomists, I usually receive a Kantian response—but what if everyone acted that way and chose not to vote? The reply of the typical economist? Don’t worry, no one is going to stay home just because you do; your vote simply doesn’t matter. That reply is correct. But it shouldn’t determine whether you vote or not.

The act of voting usually fails a cost-benefit analysis based exclusively on affecting the outcome of the election. But the categorical imperative implies it is immoral not to vote, unless you think democracy can survive in a world where only a few people elect public officials.

Excerpt From: Roberts, Russ. “How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life.”

452. EQUALITY? “The idea that you should not judge other cultures is itself a judgment, and the number of people who subscribe to it make up a very small percentage of the people on this planet. But they demand that we all live by their non-judgmental worldview, which flourishes only in certain departments of elite Western universities, even though that worldview really imposes harsh judgments on others outside their own culture.

Logic aside, there is also a serious practical reason to avoid falling into the trap of cultural relativism—it renders one completely incapable of addressing the problem of evil.

Are we really prepared to say that our culture today is not superior to that of Nazi Germany in the 1930s? Does anyone consider such a view to be chic?

We know from history that any society foolish enough to experiment with Marxism will find that the quest for equality results in a lower standard of living for all. Similarly, any society foolish enough to embrace cultural relativism will find that the quest for equality results in a lower overall standard of morality.”

Excerpt From: Adams, Mike. “Letters to a Young Progressive.”

453. BIBLE REVOLUTION “Until the American Revolution, America’s Bibles were shipped over from England. In 1777, that supply was cut off, and supplies dwindled. Reasoning that “the use of the Bible is so universal and its importance so great,” Congress resolved to import 20,000 copies of the Bible.

When that resolution was not acted upon, Robert Aitken of Philadelphia published a New Testament in 1777 and followed it with three additional editions. In early 1781, he petitioned Congress and received approval to print the entire Bible. This first American printing of the English Bible in 1782 has come to be called the “Bible of the Revolution.”

American historian W. P. Strickland shared this point:

“Who, in view of this fact, will call in question the assertion that this is a Bible nation? Who will charge the government with indifference to religion when the first Congress of the States assumed all the rights and performed all the duties of a Bible society long before such an institution had an existence in the world?”

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.”

454. GOVERNMENT HELP “when the federal government gets involved in something, it’s even worse than when the local government gets involved. The reason for that is simple—the greater the physical distance between the problem and problem-solving entity, the less likely you are to find an effective solution. Local problems can’t be efficiently solved by national agencies.”

Excerpt From: Adams, Mike. “Letters to a Young Progressive.”

455. NO BOUNDARIES “It is this absence of “unenforceable” behaviorial boundaries—self-restraint—that has made what one “can do” increasingly indistinguishable from what one may or should do.

Of course, much more than manners, arts, and letters have suffered from this lack of lines to live by. Our culture without boundaries increasingly reflects a larger world without boundaries—and it’s a brave new world, all right. It begins with the increasingly amorphous proposition of personal identity (sexual, national, married name or not). It continues at home, permeable to the toxic seepage of television and the Internet. It goes to church, where the world’s Catholics have had to confront line-crossing sexual crimes. And it extends to our national borders, which are increasingly porous to aliens and terrorists. Where there is no line, there is increasingly no will to draw any line. And that can be not only confusing, but also downright dangerous.

A culture without boundaries—a society without grown-ups and a middle class without guidelines—can be a dangerous place to live.”

Excerpt From: West, Diana. “The Death of the Grown-Up.”

456. NOT TODAY’S TEENS President John Quincy Adams became the U.S. ambassador to Russia at 14, Joan of Arc reclaimed France at 17, Alexander the Great began conquering the world at 16, and the Bible tells us that Josiah, one of Israel’s most righteous kings, began his reign at age eight.

457. JESUS “If Jesus is in you, this world is as bad as it gets. If He is not in you, this world is as good as it gets.” –C. Seidman

458. BOYS VS. GIRLS “When you have a boy, you have to worry about one boy. When you have a girl, you have to worry about EVERY boy.” –Ryan Dobson

459. RELIGION IN AMERICA “Upon my arrival in the United States, [in 1831] the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention. . . . In France I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom pursuing courses diametrically opposed to each other; but in America I found that they were intimately united, and that they reigned in common over the same country. . . .

There is no country in the whole world in which the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America . . . its influence is most powerfully felt over the most enlightened and free nation of the earth.

Religion in America takes no direct part in the government of society, but it must nevertheless be regarded as the foremost of the political institutions of that country. . . .

The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other.”

Excerpt from: “Democracy in America” by Alexis de Tocqueville

460. PRESIDENTIAL FAITH “Coolidge became president on August 3, 1923 after President Warren Harding died from a heart attack. Staying at his family’s farm in Vermont, Coolidge was awakened a little after midnight and sworn into office at 2:47 a.m. by his father, John Coolidge, a notary public. Immediately afterward, the story goes, Coolidge prayed on his knees and went back to bed.

Calvin Coolidge was born in the small town of Plymouth Notch, Vermont, on July 4, 1872.

When President Ronald Reagan moved in to the White House, he requested that President Calvin Coolidge’s portrait be transferred to the Cabinet Room. Coolidge cut taxes and government spending—the same goals Reagan had as president.”

Excerpt From: Jackie Gingrich Cushman. “The Essential American.”

 

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The Wisdom Chronicle

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

441. LIGHT AFFLICTION “Paul’s poignant words to Timothy—“the time of my departure is at hand” (2 Timothy 4:6) —were echoed by Ronald Reagan in his November 1994 letter to the American people revealing his Alzheimer’s diagnosis:

“In closing, let me thank you, the American people, for giving me the great honor of allowing me to serve as your president. When the Lord calls me home, whenever that day may be, I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future. I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.”

“Lord, teach me to number my days, that I may gain a heart of wisdom (see Psalm 90:12).”

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.”

442. EINSTEIN AND EVOLUTION Albert Einstein’s powerful metaphor: “The human mind is not capable of grasping the Universe.  We are like a little child entering a huge library.  The walls are covered to the ceilings with books in many different tongues.  The child knows that someone must have written these books.  It does not know who or how.  It does not understand the languages in which they were written.  But the child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books—a mysterious order which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects.” Thanks to Jesus, we can do more than “dimly suspect” the mystery of creation: we can know the Creator himself.  In a universe filled with wonders we cannot begin to understand, the greatest miracle is you.

— Unknown

443. THE JOURNEY “It’s better to travel hopefully than to arrive.”

— Robert Louis Stevenson

444. FREEDOM

We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.

— WILLIAM FAULKNER

Have we too much freedom? Have we so long ridiculed authority in the family, discipline in education, rules in art, decency in conduct, and law in the state that our liberation has brought us close to chaos in the family and the school, in morals, arts, ideas, and government? We forgot to make ourselves intelligent when we made ourselves free.

— WILL DURANT

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

–MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.”

445. LOSTNESS “Nassim Taleb points out that a map is very helpful for getting around Paris. But not if the map you’re using is a map of New York. Using the wrong map unknowingly is worse than no map at all—it leads you to overconfidence that can be more harmful than confronting the reality that you’re lost.”

Excerpt From: Roberts, Russ. “How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life.”

446. WEALTH “Who is rich? asks the Talmud. He who is happy with his lot.”

Excerpt From: Roberts, Russ. “How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life.”

447. GODLESS NATION “The most perfect machinery of government will not keep us as a nation from destruction if there is not within us a soul. No abounding material prosperity shall avail us if our spiritual senses atrophy. The foes of our own household shall surely prevail against us unless there be in our people an inner life which finds its outward expression in a morality not very widely different from that preached by the seers and prophets of Judea when the grandeur that was Greece and the glory that was Rome still lay in the future. . . .”

— Teddy Roosevelt

“A churchless community, a community where men have abandoned and scoff at or ignore their Christian duties, is a community on the rapid downgrade.”

— G. Washington

448. MARXIST GRADING SYSTEM “My New Spread the Wealth Grading Policy.”

I suggested that people who made an “A” on the first test really did not need the four grade points associated with a grade of “A,” since it only takes a 2.0 average to graduate. So my column suggested that those with an “A” should give a grade point away to students making an “F” in order to facilitate a more equal grade distribution—one with just three levels: “B”, “C”, and “D.”

“My column also suggested that additional modifications could be made after the second exam. I specifically proposed taking a grade point away from those with a “B” test average and giving that point to those with a “D” average. That would mean everyone would have a grade of “C,” which is worth the two grade points everyone needs to average in order to graduate.

Any undergraduate is capable of figuring out the point of my satire. If every student were guaranteed the exact same outcome, no student would put forth any kind of effort on class assignments or tests. Put simply, “My New Spread the Wealth Grading Policy” would destroy academic productivity and create a shoddy and embarrassing academic work product. Academic standards would plummet under such a system.”

“Socialism, of course, would do exactly the same thing to our economy. If every worker is guaranteed the exact same outcome—via the redistribution of wealth—then no worker will put forth a strong effort on the job. The average standard of living for the nation as a whole will plummet—or, rather, actually has plummeted wherever Marxist economics has been tried.

As a conservative, I take a far different approach to the subject of equality. I believe that our only obligation is to provide people with equal opportunity. We are not obliged to guarantee everyone an equal outcome. We cannot do so. Nor should we even try.”

Excerpt From: Adams, Mike. “Letters to a Young Progressive.”

449. ACHIEVEMENT “Those to whom a lower standard is applied cannot possibly grow to their full height.” — Larry Purdy

450. TAKE ACTION “[Booker T. Washington gave] a speech called “The Force That Wins.” Standing proudly on the windy day of the commencement, Booker proclaimed, “There is a force with which we can labor and succeed and there is a force with which we can labor and fail. It requires not education merely, but also wisdom and common sense, a heart bent on the right and trust in God.” Feeling perhaps the flow of this force within him as he spoke, he moved to the heart of his message. “There is a tide in the affairs of men,” he said, challenging the sea of largely black faces with the words of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, and it is taken “not in planning but in doing, not in talking noble deeds, but in doing noble deeds.”

Excerpt From: Mansfield, Stephen. “Then Darkness Fled.”

 

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The Wisdom Chronicle

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

431. GOSPEL “Theodoret, a Syrian bishop in the fifth century, likened the gospel to a pepper: “A pepper outwardly seems to be cold … but the person who crunches it between the teeth experiences the sensation of burning fire.” In the same way, he goes on, the gospel can appear at first like an interesting theory or philosophy. But if we take it in personally, we find it full of power.

What does its power do? It is the power of God “unto salvation” (Romans 1:16, KJV). The gospel’s power is seen in its ability to completely change minds, hearts, life orientation, our understanding of everything that happens, the way people relate to one another, and so on.”

Excerpt From: Keller, Timothy. “Romans 1-7 For You.”

432. BUCK KNIVES “While Buck knives are sold to the police and the American military, they’re most heralded in one industry: Buck knives are a near mandatory companion for hunters in our country. The Buck folding lockblade knife—Model 110—is the gold standard. And regardless of the knife company, all folding lockblades are called “buck knives.”

The Model 110’s sturdy blade, simple design, and flawless fabrication are hallmarks of Buck knives. And because the Buck family holds such confidence in the quality of the craftsmanship, they personally guarantee every Buck knife for life. Accompanying the lifetime guarantee in the box is a simple message to the new knife buyer from the Buck family “If this is your first Buck knife, “Welcome aboard.” You are now part of a very large family. We think of each one of our users as a member of the Buck Knives family. Now that you are family, you might want to know a little more about us. The fantastic growth of Buck Knives, Inc. was no accident. From the beginning, we determined to make God the Senior Partner. In a crisis, the problem was turned over to Him, and He hasn’t failed to help us with the answer. Each knife must reflect the integrity of management. If sometimes we fail on our end, because we are human, we find it imperative to do our utmost to make it right. If any of you are troubled or perplexed and looking for answers, may we invite you to look to Him, for God loves you Chuck Buck, Chairman/Owner of Buck Knives The Bucks believe that the quality of their craftsmanship is crucial to validate this message. A substandard knife would undermine the message they include in the box.”

Excerpt From: Peter Greer, Chris Horst & Anna Haggard. “Mission Drift.”

433. APOLLO 11 “The first lunar landing occurred on July 20, 1969, and Buzz Aldrin was the lunar module pilot on the Apollo 11 space mission. He was also the second person to set foot on the moon, descending the module after Neil Armstrong.

Aldrin had taken with him a tiny Communion kit, given him by his church. So, that morning, he radioed, “Houston, this is Eagle. . . . I would like to request a few moments of silence. I would like to invite each person listening . . . to contemplate for a moment the events of the last few hours, and to give thanks in his own individual way.”

During the radio blackout, Aldrin took the Communion elements and read John 15:5: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit.” Aldrin had been asked to not read the verse publicly because of the legal challenge against NASA already brought by famed atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair after the Genesis account of creation was read during the Apollo 8 mission.

Incredible! The first thing this American patriot did when he arrived on the moon was worship God!”

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.

434. LOSING VS LOST Some Millinial Christians claim that the culture war is over. Christians lost. Not true. We ARE losing – but think of it in terms of France and Great Britain in 1940. France lost to the Nazis. Great Britain was definitely losing, but they kept fighting. Eventually GB won the war (and saved France too). Help came from across the sea. Even if we are losing, our job is to be faithful. Then, our Help will come as promised.

— Richard Land

435. CONVERSATION: SOCIETAL CHANGE “Historically, there have always been some people who have been afraid of growing up, but most have looked forward to it. Prolonged adolescence is an invention of recent times.”

“How recent?”

“Fifties or sixties, I’d say.”

“What made it different from the generations before it?”

“Too much free time. Too few responsibilities. Too much disposable income. Enormous high schools in which teens imitated each other instead of grown-ups. Mass higher education for people who weren’t really interested in it. Separation of the generations as families moved around to catch economic opportunities. Loss of traditions. Rise of ‘experts.’ Decline of Christian faith. Resulting loss of the eternal perspective. With that, an increasing inability to set distant goals even for this life.

The collapse of sexual mores. And with that went something else: the ancient, tacit covenant among all women. You see, once enough young women stopped holding out for marriage, the bargaining position of the ones who did hold out was undercut. As my grandmother said, ‘Why buy the cow if you can get the milk for free?’

The other big result of sexual laxity was that divorce rates shot up like rockets. This had all sorts of bad effects. A child idealizes his parents. If they can’t stay married, he thinks, then how could I? He may even blame himself for the divorce. And so he expects to make a mess of things, as adults always do.

Worse yet, lots of divorces mean that lots of kids grow up without dads. If a boy’s father deserts his mother, the very idea of fatherhood is diminished in his eyes. That’s a catastrophe, and I don’t just mean that he’s sad. To a small boy, his father is more than his father—he’s his vision of the future, his portrait of adult manhood. If that vision is discredited, then growing up itself is discredited.”

Excerpt From: Budziszewski, J. “Ask Me Anything.”

436. DEFINING MARRIAGE “Marriage is a mutual and irrevocably binding promise between the spouses to live as husband and wife, entered into in the sight of God and the community of faith who are assembled as witnesses so they can hold you to your vows.”

Excerpt From: Budziszewski, J. “Ask Me Anything.”

437. BLAMELESSNESS “God has promised that those who walk blamelessly will be kept safe, which gives great comfort and confidence to those in business (Proverbs 28:18). Walking blamelessly does not necessarily mean walking perfectly; we are all sinful and incapable of blameless living. It’s an issue of the heart. Our intent is to walk blamelessly and please God, to seek his counsel and apply his principles to the best of our knowledge. Our blamelessness is a result of trusting in God rather than trusting solely in our own performance. We have an Advocate who protects us.”

Excerpt From: Harris, Raymond. “The Heart of Business.”

438. THE GAUNTLET “You might have heard the phrase “throw down the gauntlet”and wondered what it meant. A “gauntlet” was an armored glove worn by medieval knights. When a knight threw his gauntlet into the arena, it was a challenge to another knight to “take up the gauntlet” and square off for a fight.”

Excerpt From: Koukl, Gregory. “Tactics.”

439. YOU ARE WELCOME “In response to a request, compare “no problem” with the ways in which people used to respond to a request: “I’ll be happy to help,” “my pleasure,” “glad to help,” or the elegant form, “it will be my pleasure.” What’s the difference between those alternatives to “no problem”? The alternatives express some form of pleasure in being able to respond to your request. When you unpack “No problem,” what people are saying is “I can do what you’ve asked because it will not unduly burden me.” “It will be my pleasure” and its informal versions are all gracious. “No problem” is not.”

Excerpt From: Murray, Charles. “The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Getting Ahead.”

440. HUMILITY “Humility is not thinking less of yourself. It’s thinking of yourself less.” — CS Lewis

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Are you Skeptical of the Bible Because it Reports Miracles?

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In a previous blog I defended the rationality of believing in the possibility of miracles if God exists –miracles are no less ridiculous than implications of some science-related theories that are more speculative than the God hypothesis.

In this brief blog, I consider the claim that the Bible shouldn’t be believed because it reports miracles. Since miracles are viewed as being impossible this undermines the credibility of the Bible – we’re told it’s just an ancient book written to superstitious people. But consider how some skeptics demand that God performs miracles to make Himself known. For example, I was in public debate last year in which my opponent said she would only believe in God if He revealed Himself in a miraculous way. But if skeptics would only believe in God if they witnessed miracles then it would be illogical for them to dismiss the Bible because it reports miracles. There is a tension between these viewpoints.

This appeal for God to work miracles to reveal His existence to a given person is inconsistent with the purpose for miracles within the Bible. Miracles are not generally intended as a way for God to make His existence known but rather are used to validate new revelation. It is striking that miracle claims are quite clustered in distinct time periods within Biblical history that correspond to those times where there was significant new revelation. (e.g. Moses, the prophets such as Elijah, Jesus and the apostles). The miracles were intended to provide evidence to the people of that time that these messengers were sent from God – most miracles were not intended to provide evidence to the modern reader.

A notable exception is the resurrection of Jesus. In Matthew 16:4, Jesus says “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” We’re actually rebuked for asking for sign miralces – but one will be given. Elsewhere Jesus reveals that Jonah was a type (symbol or foreshadowing) of how He would be raised from the dead 3 days later. A strong case can be made that Jesus’ resurrection is the best explanation for a number of historically accepted events.

If you’re a skeptic I understand how you wouldn’t see most miraculous accounts in the Bible as evidential for today but I don’t understand why you would reject the Bible out of hand simply because it reports miracles. I’d encourage you to check out the evidence for the resurrection and evidence from Biblical prophecies – which I think were intended to provide evidence to future readers.

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