The following question comes from one our Crossexamined Community members. “Why did God allow the Bible to be written in a way that gives Christians an opportunity to misunderstand it?” – Vinnie B. This question intrigues me because it’s a universal problem. Every...
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Resurrection: Fact or Fiction – An Easter Sermon
By Bobby Conway Following Easter Sunday, it didn't take long for skeptics to fabricate fictitious claims to debunk Christ’s resurrection. It’s easy to understand why. These critics knew that if they could dispel the resurrection, Christianity would crumble. And they...
Scientism And Secularism
By Luke Nix All scientific research, discussion, and education is affected by a series of underlying beliefs that include what one grants as sources of knowledge. It is quite common in today's culture for people to accept "scientism," which limits sources of knowledge...
Are There Colossal Contradictions in the Gospels? A Reply to Rabbi Tovia Singer
By Jonathan McLatchie Rabbi Tovia Singer is an orthodox Jewish rabbi and the founder and director of Outreach Judaism. He is widely known for his counter-missionary polemics and his criticism of the New Testament presentation of Jesus as the Hebrew Messiah (see his...
Thoughts on Musician Plumb’s Deconstruction
How many times have you heard me cry out "God please take this"? How many times have you given me strength to Just keep breathing? Oh I need you, God I need you now. Though I walk through the shadows, And I, I am so afraid. Please stay… please stay right beside me,...
Part 2 “When Your Opponent Cheats, What Should You do?”
By John D. Ferrer In part one[i] we raised a question from one of our viewers in Nigeria at the contentious Islamic/Christian border there. He asked what should Christians do when the other guy is cheating? In this case, Muslims from the north are rigging elections to...
When Your Opponent Cheats, What Should You do?
By John D. Ferrer You may have heard the phrase, “turnabout is fair play.” If your opponent on the soccer pitch, football field, or basketball court is illegally pushing, shoving, and elbowing you, then it’s only fair that you can push back, right? Turnabout, as they...
Who Made God?
By Bobby Conway Have you ever found yourself in a conversation with a skeptic only to be asked in gotcha fashion, “Well, who made God?” Asking the question, “Who made God?” is like asking, “How did Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata taste?” It just doesn’t fit. The question...
Tweets Against Christianity
By Tim Stratton Scott Clifton is a Hollywood actor who has gained fame as a soap opera star (One Life to Live, General Hospital, and The Bold and the Beautiful). He has also gained the respect of both sides of the aisle in the “God vs. atheism” debate. Clifton is an...
Overcoming Apathy and the Straw Man Argument
By Al Serrato As Christians, we are told to always be ready to give an answer for our faith. But for many of us, the opportunity seldom arises. In fact, by and large, it seems we are faced with apathy and indifference. Struggling to get past this with someone – to get...
A Myth Come True
By Bob Perry If you’re anything like me, you probably associate the word “myth” with an ancient fairy tale. The Greek and Roman pantheon of gods comes to mind — magical spells, curses, and multi-headed monsters. But myths are more than just old-fashioned fantasies....
How We Got Our Bible: New Testament Canonical Grid
By Ryan Leasure This article is part four in a nine-part series on how we got the Bible. Part 1 looked at biblical inspiration and inerrancy. Part 2 considered the development of the Old Testament. And Part 3 investigated the Old Testament canon and the Apocrypha. In...
What Would It Take To Prove That God Doesn’t Exist?
By Al Serrato Atheists who feel certain that there is no God are staking out a rather interesting position. As a corollary of their position, they are of course also convinced that those who believe in God are engaging in a form of wishful thinking, that their desire...
The Mind-Blowing Meaning Behind the Sign of Jonah
By Erik Manning Recently I stumbled across what I thought was a rather silly meme: Oof. Here’s the thing: No matter if you believe Jonah is historical or ahistorical (and some Christians, like C.S. Lewis, believed it was the latter), this meme misses the point....
Extrabiblical Evidence for the Veracity of the Gospel History
In a previous article, I reviewed several arguments that are typically raised in support of the historicity of Jesus but, upon closer inspection, turn out to be of extremely limited evidential value. In this article, I will discuss an approach to arguing from...
Serpents, Dragons, and the Bible
By Ryan Leasure If you’re from an Appalachian snake-handling church, I’m sorry to disappoint. This is not THAT kind of post. Instead, it’s a post about how the Bible portrays snakes, serpents, and dragons. More than that, it’s about how a mighty warrior defeats the...
Don’t believe me? Check for yourself!
By Andrew Cowley When I was 14 years old, I publicly (and sincerely) denied the existence of God. I was wholly convinced that God didn’t exist and those who believed in God were delusional, unintelligent, naïve, and emotionally weak. Belief in God was the thing of...
The Historicity of the Feeding of the Five Thousand: An Appraisal of the Evidence
It is one of the most iconic incidents in Jesus’ life. We are all familiar with the famous story of Jesus miraculously feeding the five thousand from five loaves and two fish, with no fewer than twelve basketfuls of leftovers. The story is recounted by all four gospel...
A Reply to Bart Ehrman’s Defense of Jesus, Interrupted on the MythVision Podcast
Nearly a year ago, I published a series of three articles in which I reviewed sections of Bart Ehrman’s book Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don’t Know About Them). If you have not read those articles already, you can...
Why Don’t the Synoptic Gospels Mention Lazarus?
By Ryan Leasure Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is one of the most well-known stories in the Gospels. Yet, for some reason, Matthew, Mark, and Luke don’t mention it. This head-scratching absence has raised a lot of doubts about its historicity. After all, this...