Bill Pratt | June 1, 2009
Often I hear non-Christians characterize the Christian God as a bloodthirsty tyrant who killed his own son (Jesus) on the cross. Jesus, they claim, was sacrificed against his will in order to fulfill the bizarre requirements of his sadistic father. “I cannot,” they say, “worship a God that would kill his own son!” The first [...]
Bill Pratt | May 31, 2009
There are two difficult passages in 1 Peter (3:19 and 4:6) that seem to indicate that this may be possible. I have read a number of interpretations of these verses, but there seems to be no consensus. However, almost every commentator I read agrees that these verses are not teaching that salvation after death is [...]
Bill Pratt | April 30, 2009
I was recently reading a newspaper article my wife showed me, and it reminded me of a Metallica song called “Holier Than Thou.” In that song, the singer repeats a refrain, “Judge not lest ye be judged yourself.” That phrase, I’ve come to realize, is an anthem that our culture cries at every opportunity. The [...]
Bill Pratt | April 4, 2009
So what about their arguments? Were they effective? First let’s examine Mike Licona. Licona has argued this historical approach for proving the resurrection in a book entitled The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, co-authored with Gary Habermas. The approach is fairly straight-forward and effective at making a historical case for the resurrection. Licona, along with Habermas, [...]
Bill Pratt | April 3, 2009
Last night, Darrell and I attended the debate between Bart Ehrman and Mike Licona at SES in Charlotte. They debated whether historians can prove Jesus rose from the dead. Here is my summary of the arguments that each of them presented. Licona opened the debate with a historical argument that goes like this. First, he [...]
Bill Pratt | March 15, 2009
I have written on this topic before, but it deserves more ink. Sometimes another person says something so well, that I just need to get out of the way and direct our readers to them. Greg Koukl, of Stand to Reason, does a fantastic job addressing several aspects of this question in a recent publication. [...]
Bill Pratt | February 14, 2009
In two previous posts, Darrell argued that the Greek New Testament (NT) that we have today is almost identical to the twenty-seven books that were originally written. These two posts can be found here and here. In this post and following posts, I want to establish an answer to the obvious next question. If the NT we [...]
Bill Pratt | January 14, 2009
Many non-Christian groups who accept some form of the New Testament - Muslims, Mormons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses – claim that the Christian doctrine of the Trinity is false. One of the arguments often used is that the concept of the Trinity cannot be found in Scripture, so the doctrine cannot be true. This argument, however, will [...]
Bill Pratt | January 13, 2009
My response to this article might surprise some of you. The article discusses a recent report which indicates that 37% of evangelicals rejected the claim that Jesus is the only way to heaven. 52% of American Christians agreed that religions other than Christianity can lead to eternal life. But what does this data mean? Should [...]
Bill Pratt | December 13, 2008
A couple years ago my family attended the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan. It was one of the most phenomenal shows I have ever seen, and for one surprising reason. It was full of worship. Yes, that’s right. In the middle of New York City at Radio City Music Hall, my [...]
