What does the church of Christ teach about Apologetics?

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Does God Really Exist?

The answer to the question: “does God exist?” Affects all other questions.  “If there is a supreme being then life has inherent purpose and some form of meaning.” Doctor Brad Harrub, PH. D. In anatomy and neurobiology from the University of Tennessee. 

Why should every right thinking, rational human being believe in the existence of a supreme being?

Lord Of All Creation
Psalm 104

I've been privileged my whole adult life to work in science across various disciplines like engineering. One of the things that has always amazed me is how you can look out into the world—creation and nature—and not see that there is an intelligent designer behind it. After decades of observation, I conclude that those who don't believe in a Creator choose not to.

One of the greatest Psalms, the 104th Psalm, is about God being the Lord of all creation. Psalm 104 is thrilling; it essentially follows creation week, highlighting God's creation and showing His power and majesty. After reading, studying, and examining this Psalm, you really feel a sense of wonder and praise for God as our Creator.

          

Bobby Stafford

Evidentiary Faith

This morning in our adult class we started a series of lessons on evidences that support the validity of the Bible, specifically the evidence that can be used when talking to atheists and other non-believers.  But, I have noticed over the years that many Christians think that knowing the evidences for the validity of the Bible is a bad thing.  Some will even go so far as to intentionally avoid learning about evidences.  So, today we are going to talk first about why some Christians oppose learning about the evidence that supports the Bible, then we will talk about the reason the Bible says learning about evidences is important, and finally we will talk a little about some of the evidences for the Bible and for Christ.

 

Scott Perkins

Is Our Faith Blind?

Being a Christian requires us to have faith in two things, the Bible, and in Christ.

We’ll start with a Biblical faith in the Bible, because if we don’t have faith in the Bible what it tells us about Christ is moot. 

The Greek word most commonly translated to faith in the Bible; the word is pistis which means most literally translated an “active trust.”

    

Scott Perkins

The Bible, Is it Real? Pt 2

The Bible records prophecies of things that were to happen in the future.  foretelling specific events centuries before they happen with 100% accuracy is something only an all knowing God can accomplish.  Prophecy and fulfillment is how God authenticated His word. 

How else would Isaiah know that Jesus would be born of a virgin 700 years ahead of time.  

How else could Zechariah know that Jesus would ride in to Jerusalem on a donkey 500 years before it happened? 

How else could King David know that anyone would cast lots for Jesus' clothing at his crucifixion 1000 years ahead it?

How else could Micah know Jesus would be born in Bethlehem 800 years before His birth?

 

David Hersey

The Bible, Is it Real? Pt 1

The Bible was written over a span of 1,500 years by about 40 writers. It has a singular goal which is the salvation of man.  It records the creation, the fall of man from fellowship with God, the measures God took to make fellowship possible again and the instructions on how to do that. 

Preserved in more than 25,000 manuscripts, the textual evidence is greater for both the Old and New Testaments than any other ancient document.

The early church writers quoted the New Testament enough that it could be reconstructed from their writings alone.

 

David Hersey

Evidence For The Inspiration Of The Bible

Throughout man’s history, there have been those who have claimed the Bible was just a book among books, no different than any other book, certainly not from God. People claim that the Bible is filled with myths, has errors, is irrelevant, and even dangerous.

But we are commanded to do the following: We must prepare to give a proper response.  (I Peter 3:15) “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and 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:” NKJV

   

Bobby Stafford

That Your Joy May Be Full

Read I John 1:1-4.  “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life – 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us – 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.  4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.” NKJV  These verses are the basis of the entire letter.  Christianity is based upon historical fact that is verified by key witnesses’ testimony.  (II Peter 1:16) “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” NKJV  Let’s examine our text more closely.

     

Bobby Stafford

The Days of Creation

Up until recently, the creation of the universe as revealed in Genesis Chapter One was believed to have taken place in six literal 24-hour days.  But with the advent of the Theory of Evolution, many have been deceived into believing that billions of years must be fit into the days of Genesis One.  While Jehovah could have created the world in six seconds, six hours, or six billion years, what does God’s Word say?

     

Bobby Stafford

Many Infallible Proofs

Do Christians have good reasons for believing that Jesus actually rose from the dead? Listen to the following:

THE RESURRECTION IS A FACT      

Professor Thomas Arnold, for 14 years a headmaster of Rugby, author of the famous, History of Rome, and appointed to the chair of modern history at Oxford, was well acquainted with the value of evidence in determining historical facts.  This great scholar said:  “I have been used for many years to study the histories of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, then the great sign which God hath given us that Christ died and rose again from the dead.”  Brooke Foss Westcott, an English scholar, said: "taking all the evidence together, it is not too much to say that there is no historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Christ. Nothing but the antecedent assumption that it must be false could have suggested the idea of deficiency in the proof of it."  The angels spoke the truth in Luke 24:4-6. The Bible affirms that Jesus’ resurrection was confirmed by many infallible proofs. Acts 1:1-3  So what are some of these convincing proofs?

      

Bobby Stafford

The Existence of God

Does God exist?  This is possibly the most important question in all the world.  If He does exist, what is He like and what does He desire of me?  The answers to these questions are of the utmost importance.  It is the first of these questions that we will turn our attention to now.

  

Bobby Stafford

Our Incredible World

Dr. Jason Lisle wrote:  “When the Voyager I spacecraft reached the edge of our solar system in 1990, it turned its camera around and photographed Earth.  From such a tremendous distance, the Earth appears as a tiny bluish-white grain of sand lost in an ocean of black.  This famous image of Earth is named the Pale Blue Dot.  From a secular perspective, that is all Earth is – a tiny bit of rock and water in a vast and meaningless universe of chance.  But in the Christian worldview, this pale blue dot is the most important planet in the universe.

We will now look at a few of the incredible designs we see in our world, so that life can exist.

   

Bobby Stafford

Why Did God Create Mankind?

This is an interesting question, one that was requested of me to prepare a lesson on.  I don't think there is anyone who has not at some time in their lives during a reflective moment pondered this question.  Why did God make man?  This question has been on the minds of those in a range from devout followers of Christ to those with only a passing familiarity and belief in the existence of a creator.  With so much unrighteousness in the world and so many people who do not live according to the will of God, it is only natural to wonder why God created so many people that He knew He would have to condemn. 

Genesis Creation Days One Thru Six

Bobby Stafford

The Creation Account

David Hersey

And Then There Was Life

Just how logical is this explanation for the diversity of life?  What are unbelievers willing to accept in order to do away with the creation account of God? 

David Hersey

We are Without Excuse

God expects all mankind to recognize His existence through observation of what He created.  Inspiration says that His existence and eternal power has been clearly evident since the beginning of the creation.  Defining the creation as the world in which we live contained within the observable universe.  In other words, the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, the sky, etc, etc.  God simply said "the things that are made".  We are going to call this the universe.  God said that his existence has been so evident that all those who refuse to acknowledge this and find themselves standing in shame before the judgment seat will be unable to plead a case based on ignorance of God because He has clearly shown His eternal existence, nature and power in His creation.  God says he will not accept that as an excuse.

Text: Romans 1:18-20

David Hersey

In Six Days

Exodus 20:11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. When I was a young boy, I struggled with the appearance of the age of the earth and how old the Bible said the earth was. It was very difficult for me to look at everything around me and believe that the earth was not billions of years old like I was being taught in school. The science classes in school were drilling it into my head that the earth was ancient and had been around for countless eons while my teachers in the Lord's church were telling me just the opposite. It was all very confusing to me and in the end, I accepted the evidence I saw of the apparent age of the earth and for many many years, I thought that the truth was a mix of what God said in the 6 day creation account and what science says. I drew the conclusion that the earth really was millions if not billions of years old and that somehow God slipped some time frames in there somewhere that He just didn't record for us clearly. I figured we were on a need to know basis and this was something we just did not need to know. After all, the Bible does indicate that there are some things which will always remain a mystery to physical man. I went for many years believing that the earth was much older than the biblical record in Genesis indicated and I perceived no threat to myself over this belief. I figured it really made no difference how I believed on this and that my walk with God didn't depend on an accurate belief of the creation account in Genesis. In short, I really didn't think it mattered one way or the other how I believed on this topic. Was I right to believe like this? Was I wrong? Questions like this that came up along the way are what compelled me to go to the scriptures in search of the truth. Hopefully by the end of this lesson, we will all have some things to consider and maybe, just maybe we'll learn something along the way. I know I did, and my hope is to share what I have learned on this subject with you all here and maybe give us all a fresh perspective on the Genesis account of the Creation. The belief that God used evolutionary time periods not recorded in scripture during the creation process is called "Theistic Evolution". Was the earth really created in 6 literal 24 hour consecutive time periods as we understand this in the Biblical record or did God bring the entire creation we see today into existence over vast eons of time by the use of evolutionary processes?

David Hersey

Dinosaurs and Man

IDENTIFYING BEHEMOTH AND LEVIATHAN  (JOB 40-41)

During the trials of Job, he foolishly charged God with unfairness in the way things had been done and declared his desire to face God and tell Him how things ought to be managed.  This resulted in Job being confronted by God who made it plain to the afflicted patriarch that God was well qualified to be in charge and running things on earth just fine.  God accomplished this by asking Job a series of questions designed to illustrate to Job the power, wisdom and glory of God in comparison to the relatively insignificant characteristics and abilities of Job.  During the course of this confrontation, God instructed Job to behold two great beasts which were described in detail in the written record.  The purpose of this lesson is to look closely at these two creatures and identify them from an examination of the clues found in the written account. 

David Hersey