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contentsSTUDY ONE - APOLOGETICS INTRODUCTION WHY APOLOGETICS? Obedience Removing Barriers Strengthens Christians INTELLECTUAL SUICIDE? LOGICAL COURSE OVERVIEW STUDY TWO - DID JESUS EXIST? INTRODUCTION EVIDENCE FROM CHRISTIAN SOURCES FOR THE HISTORICITY OF JESUS EVIDENCE FROM SECULAR SOURCES FOR THE HISTORICITY OF JESUS Cornelius Tacitus Flavius Josephus Thallus, The Samaritan-Born Historian Pliny the Younger Lucian of Samosata Suetonius Mara Bar-Serpaion The Rabbinic Writings CONCLUSION STUDY THREE - IS SCRIPTURE RELIABLE AS A HISTORICAL RECORD? STUDY THREE - PART 1 - THE BIBLIOGRAPHICAL TEST HOW MANY COPIES OF NEW TESTAMENT MANUSCRIPTS ARE AVAILABLE? WHAT LENGTH OF TIME PASSED BETWEEN THE ORIGINAL AND THE EARLIEST COPIES? WHAT VARIANCES EXIST BETWEEN THE COPIES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTS ON COLLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHICAL TEST CONCLUSION STUDY THREE - PART 2a - THE INTERNAL EVIDENCE TEST WHEN WAS THE NT WRITTEN? DOES THE NT CONTAIN "GOSPEL FICTIONS" OR LIES? DOES THE NT CONTAIN MYTHS? STUDY THREE - PART 2b - THE INTERNAL EVIDENCE TEST (continued) WHAT ARE WE TO MAKE OF ALL THE SUPERNATURAL EVENTS RECORDED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT DOCUMENTS? DOES THE NT CONTAIN CONTRADICTIONS? What constitutes a contradiction? The approach to apparent contradictions Difference versus Contradiction Translation Use of Language Context Which standards to use? Descriptions of God External Contradictions Conclusion INTERNAL EVIDENCE TEST CONCLUSION STUDY THREE - PART 3 - THE EXTERNAL EVIDENCE TEST? THE EVIDENCE FROM EXTRA-BIBLICAL AUTHORS THE EVIDENCE FROM MARTYRS ARCHEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE HISTORICAL-GEOGRAPHICAL EVIDENCE JEWISH CULTURAL EVIDENCE EXTERNAL EVIDENCE TEST CONCLUSION STUDY THREE - CONCLUSION STUDY FOUR - DID JESUS CLAIM TO BE GOD? THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ISSUE THE DIFFICULTY OF THIS ISSUE DID JESUS MAKE ANY CLAIMS TO DEITY? WAS JESUS MISUNDERSTOOD? EVIDENCE FOR JESUS' DEITY Jesus' use of divine titles / names YHWH - Lord Son of God Son of Man Abba - Father Jesus' claims to be God Jesus' claims to pre-existence Jesus' claims to be omnipresent Jesus' claims to be omniscient Jesus' claims to be omnipotent Jesus asks for and accepts worship as God Jesus' claims to authority - authority that only God has Jesus makes claims that make no sense if he is not God Additional claims about his nature and powers Jesus' claims to equality with God How those around Jesus Christ responded to Him CONCLUSION STUDY FIVE - WAS JESUS WHO HE CLAIMED TO BE? THE POSSIBILITY WHO WAS JESUS? Was Jesus a Liar? Was Jesus a noble Liar? Was Jesus honestly mistaken? Was Jesus a lunatic? Did Jesus claim to be God in a non-literal, mystical sense? CONCLUSION WHY ARE MANY NOT CONVINCED? STUDY SIX - CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOUR STEPS IN THE CHRISTIAN JOURNEY DO JESUS' CLAIMS MAKE A DIFFERENCE? THE SCEPTICS PRAYER APPENDIX - ADDITIONAL SECTIONS THE RESURRECTION: HOAX OR HISTORY? The importance of the Resurrection The Argument for the Resurrection Jesus didn't die - The Swoon Theory The disciples were deceivers - The Conspiracy Theory The disciples were deceived - Hallucination Theory The disciples were myth-makers - Myth Theory Jesus Rose Conclusion DOES GOD EXIST? The Possibility Observational Evidence for the Existence of God Anthropological Research Astronomical Observation of Design The Improbability of "Mere" Chance Our Inherent Sense of Right and Wrong Origin of the Universe The Beginning of Time Philosophical Arguments for the Existence of God Pascal's Wager Cosmological Arguments The Argument from Efficient Causality The Argument from Change The Argument from Time and Contingency The Argument from Degrees of Perfection The Design Argument The Kalam Argument The Argument from Contingency Psychological Arguments The Argument from the Origin of the Idea of God The Moral Argument The Argument from Morality / Conscience The Argument from Desire The Argument from Truth The Argument from Religious experience The Common Consent Argument Conclusion ARE MIRACLES POSSIBLE? What is a Miracle? Two Different Questions Arguments for the Possibility of Miracles Conclusion Related issues What about Science and Miracles? Is it not more likely that miracles never really occurred as described? A BRIEF NOTE ON PROPHETIC EVIDENCE Common Objections The prophecies were written at or after the time of Jesus Fulfilled prophecy in Jesus was deliberate Fulfilled prophecy in Jesus was coincidental, an accident Important Old Testament Prophecies About Jesus Conclusion BIBLIOGRAPHY
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(c) 1999-2008 Richard Helsby |