Trusting the New Testament


Book Description

Is the Bible reliable - or has is it been corrupted? Many popular sources, ranging from Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code to Bart Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus, claim that the New Testament as we know it has been corrupted, damaged, or tampered with. Are these charges true? Or can we trust the New Testament? In this volume, prominent Internet apologist James Patrick Holding will take a closer look at four aspects of the transmission of the New Testament, and answer these important questions: - Was the New Testament material corrupted when it was passed on by word of mouth, before it was written down? - Was the New Testament material corrupted as it was copied in writing in its early years? - Was the New Testament material really written by the people whose names are on the books? - Was the New Testament canon judiciously selected? Learn the answers to these critical queries, and you'll learn our reasons for Trusting the New Testament! "I am confident that this work by James Patrick Holding will be a valuable asset to anyone who is in need of powerful evidence and information regarding the integrity of the New Testament." - Dr. Richard Howe, Professor of Philosophy and Apologetics, Southern Evangelical Seminary (from the Foreword)




Can We Trust the New Testament?


Book Description

The earliest refernces to Peter reveal a pre-gospel Christianity which had not yet come to believe that Jesus had lived and died in the recent past as described in the gospels. What emerges from critical reading of the sources is that the real Peter and Paul were bitterly divided, but that later traditions tried to represent them as working harmoniously together, and presented Peter as companion of the newly-composed gospels. Peter began to be linked with Rome in the second century A.D., only much later does this legend become elaborated so that Peter is the sole founder of the church of Rome and thus the first pope. In the final chapters, Professor Wells describes how leading church spokesmen have themselves accepted the non-historicity of much of the New Testament, and shows the varied conclusions for Christian faith they have drawn from this disturbing development.




Can We Trust the Gospels?


Book Description

Is there evidence to believe the Gospels? The Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, John—are four accounts of Jesus’s life and teachings while on earth. But should we accept them as historically accurate? What evidence is there that the recorded events actually happened? Presenting a case for the historical reliability of the Gospels, New Testament scholar Peter Williams examines evidence from non-Christian sources, assesses how accurately the four biblical accounts reflect the cultural context of their day, compares different accounts of the same events, and looks at how these texts were handed down throughout the centuries. Everyone from the skeptic to the scholar will find powerful arguments in favor of trusting the Gospels as trustworthy accounts of Jesus’s earthly life.




Why Trust the Bible?


Book Description

The Bible stands at the heart of the Christian faith. But this leads to an inescapable question: why should we trust the Bible? Written to help non-Christians, longtime Christians, and everyone in between better understand why God’s Word is reliable, this short book explores the historical and theological arguments that have helped lead millions of believers through the centuries to trust the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. Written by pastor Greg Gilbert, author of the popular books What Is the Gospel? and Who Is Jesus?, this volume will help Christians articulate why they trust the Bible when it comes to who God is, who we are, and how we’re supposed to live.




Core Christianity


Book Description

What beliefs are core to the Christian faith? This book is here to help you understand the reason for your hope as a Christian so that you can see it with fresh sight and invite others into the conversation. A lot of Christians take their story—the narratives that give rise to their beliefs—for granted. They pray, go to church, perhaps even read their Bible. But they might be stuck if a stranger asked them to explain what they believe and why they believe it. Author, pastor, and theologian Mike Horton unpacks the essential and basic beliefs that all Christians share in a way that is easy to understand and applicable to our lives today. And in a way that will make you excited to be a Christian! Core Christianity covers topics like: Jesus as both fully God and fully man. The doctrine of the Trinity. The goodness of God despite a broken world. The ways God speaks. The meaning of salvation. What is the Christian calling? Includes discussion questions for individual or group use. This introduction to the basic doctrines of Christianity is perfect for those who are new to the faith, as well as those who have an interest in deepening their understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.




The Reliability of the New Testament


Book Description

This volume highlights points of agreement and disagreement between two leading intellectuals on the subject of the textual reliability of the New Testament: Bart Ehrman, James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Daniel Wallace, Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary and Executive Director of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts. This book provides interested readers a fair and balanced case for both sides and allows them to decide for themselves: What does it mean for a text to be textually reliable? How reliable is the New Testament? How reliable is reliable enough?




Why I Trust the Bible


Book Description

A Clear Guide to Help Readers Understand Why They Can Trust the Bible We are often told we can no longer assume that the Bible is trustworthy. From social media memes to popular scholarship, so many attacks have been launched on the believability of Scripture that many have serious questions about the Bible, such as: Did Jesus actually live? Did the biblical writers invent their message? How can we trust the gospels since they were written so long after Jesus lived? How can we believe a Bible that is full of internal contradictions with itself and external contradictions with science? Aren't the biblical manuscripts we have just copies of copies that are so corrupted they don't represent what the original authors wrote? Why should we believe the books that are in the Bible, since many good ones were left out, like the Gospel of Thomas? Why trust the Bible when there are so many contradictory translations of it? If you find yourself unable to answer questions such as these, but wanting to, Why I Trust the Bible by eminent Bible scholar and translator William Mounce is for you. These questions and more are discussed and answered in a reasoned, definitive, and winsome way. The truth is that the Bible is better attested and more defensible today than it ever has been. Questions about the Bible are perhaps the most significant challenge confronting Christian faith today, but they can be answered well and in a way which will lead to a deeper appreciation for the truth and ongoing relevance of the Bible.




Can We Trust the Bible on the Historical Jesus?


Book Description

This book features a learned and fascinating debate between two great Bible scholars about the New Testament as a reliable source on the historical Jesus. Bart Ehrman, an agnostic New Testament scholar, debates Craig Evans, an evangelical New Testament scholar, about the historical Jesus and what constitutes "history." Their interaction includes such compelling questions as: What are sound methods of historical investigation? What are reliable criteria for determining the authenticity of an ancient text? What roles do reason and inference play? And, of course, interpretation? Readers of this debate—regardless of their interpretive inclinations and biases—are sure to find some confirmation of their existing beliefs, but they will surely also find an honest and well-informed challenge to the way they think about the historical Jesus. The result? A more open, better informed, and questioning mind, which is better prepared for discovering both truth and contrivance. The debate between Ehrman and Evans along with Stewart's introductory framework make this book an excellent primer to the study of the historical Jesus, and readers will come away with a deeper appreciation for the ongoing quest for the historical Jesus.




Canon Revisited


Book Description

Given the popular-level conversations on phenomena like the Gospel of Thomas and Bart Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus, as well as the current gap in evangelical scholarship on the origins of the New Testament, Michael Kruger's Canon Revisited meets a significant need for an up-to-date work on canon by addressing recent developments in the field. He presents an academically rigorous yet accessible study of the New Testament canon that looks deeper than the traditional surveys of councils and creeds, mining the text itself for direction in understanding what the original authors and audiences believed the canon to be. Canon Revisited provides an evangelical introduction to the New Testament canon that can be used in seminary and college classrooms, and read by pastors and educated lay leaders alike. In contrast to the prior volumes on canon, this volume distinguishes itself by placing a substantial focus on the theology of canon as the context within which the historical evidence is evaluated and assessed. Rather than simply discussing the history of canon—rehashing the Patristic data yet again—Kruger develops a strong theological framework for affirming and authenticating the canon as authoritative. In effect, this work successfully unites both the theology and the historical development of the canon, ultimately serving as a practical defense for the authority of the New Testament books.




I'm Glad You Asked


Book Description

How does one effectively deal with the tough questions which arise when one is asked to defend Christianity? How do we learn to speak the truth effectively? This bestselling book, published in 1982, will not only help believers understand the strength of their position, but will ultimately help those who are searching to discover Christ.