CADRE Comments

Paul N. Anderson, Professor of Biblical and Quaker Studies, George Fox University, and author of The Making of Luke-Acts and The Christology of the Fourth Gospel , has written a new book entitled The Fourth Gospel and the Quest for Jesus: Modern Foundations Reconsidered in which he challenges the views held by many scholars that the Gospel of John cannot be seen as historical. According to the Religious News Service Press Release : Anderson assesses the strengths and weaknesses of six planks comprising each of two modernistic platforms: the de-historicization of John and the de-Johannification of Jesus. Upon critical analysis, though, none of these planks is sturdy. While John's differences from the Synoptics pose real problems, prevalent explanations are critically insufficient. Building on his earlier book, The Christology of the Fourth Gospel, Anderson poses a new set of theories regarding John's "dialogical autonomy," composition, "interfluential" re...

Christianity Today has compiled a list of the top 50 Evangelical books. In their own words, "[t]hese are books that have shaped evangelicalism as we see it today—not an evangelicalism we wish and hope for." I was surprised to see so many apologetics books on the list, including: 47.The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?, F. F. Bruce Yes, they are. And it took F. F. Bruce only 120 tiny pages to show it. 40.Darwin on Trial, Phillip E. Johnson This Berkeley law professor's takedown of scientific naturalism launched Intelligent Design and gained creationists a level of public attention they hadn't enjoyed since the Scopes trial. 22.The Genesis Flood, Henry M. Morris and John C. Whitcomb In 1961, hydraulic engineer Henry M. Morris and biblical scholar John C. Whitcomb infused young-earth creationism with new energy. They argued that the biblical deluge could explain fossils and geological layers. 13.Evidence That Demands a Verdict, Josh McDowell Who says faith i...

I came across this article from the Southern Baptist Press entitled "Marvin Olasky: Bible is standard for objectivity in journalism" and thought it was interesting. All journalists are shaped by their worldviews, and the only way to bring true objectivity to journalism is to be shaped by the worldview of the Bible, Marvin Olasky said at the Baptist Press Excellence in Journalism Banquet in Nashville, Tenn., Oct. 7. * * * "Only when we take up these biblical lenses can we see things as they really are," Olasky said. "So here's my thesis: the only true objectivity is biblical objectivity." Journalists frequently make two errors regarding objectivity, he said. Sometimes they claim to be completely objective and not bring any presuppositions to their reporting, Olasky said, noting that such claims are wrong because everyone has presuppositions and a worldview. He said others wrongly bring their presuppositions to bear on a story so much that they fail to ...

When I was still in college, a friend of mine, Jeff, and I had several conversations about various topics, but he wouldn't let me use analogies to try to make my point. Whenever I tried to draw an analogy between two different things, he would say, "All analogies are by nature false." Of course, as I later learned all statements are by nature analogies. Consequently, my friend's logic, if laid out, would result in the following: 1. The phrase, "all analogies are by nature false," is a statement. 2. All statements are by nature analogies. 3. All analogies are by nature false. Therefore, the phrase "all analogies are, by nature, false," is false. Obviously, my friend's claim is self-referentially absurd. In fact, analogies are useful tools to help clarify points in an argument, and a blanket statement such as my friend's are simply means of trying to dismiss a point without considering it. Now, in fairness to my friend, what he probably meant...

In his chapter in The Empty Tomb , Carrier argues that Paul’s letters reflect “Orphic conceptions of the body as a residence, jailhouse, or tomb” from which the soul must escape to recognize its true potential. TET , page 142-43. This is representative of the classic pagan views of the time, which emphasized the evil of the material world and the edification of the spiritual. I plan to engage this issue more fully later, but in this post I focus on a particular Pauline passage that Carrier offers as a supporting evidence: The idea of the body as a ‘container’ for the soul also matches Orphic theology and is found in pagan and Jewish thought. So Paul also treats the body as a container for the spirit in 2 Corinthians 4:7, where we are described as the ostrakina skeue, the very ‘clay pots’ that, once used, must be destroyed. As is usually the case, Carrier fails to quote the verse he relies on. Here is the relevant passage: For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, an...

In some recent comments, Bruce, a skeptical reader of the blog, pointed me to a talk by Kenneth Miller about Intelligent Design saying that it was a good starting point for finding out what is wrong with the theory of Intelligent Design. Kenneth Miller is a theistic evolutionist. Now, I don’t have a problem with theistic evolution, as such, and know many Christians who are theistic evolutionists. Thus, if he wants to accept that theory, I say that’s find in my view even while I disagree with him. Nevertheless, since Miller directly addresses ID in this talk, I decided to take Bruce up on watching it. As of this writing, I have watched the first 30 minutes of the lecture and found 30 minutes of fluff and illogic. In the first 30 minutes, there was virtually no substance to what he said at all. Let me explain my observations. 1. The false dichotomy and the use of language: Right from the start he represented the ID people as "anti-science" while the groups he supports are ...

Fred Phelps, the "pastor" of the Westboro Baptist Church ("WBC") who hosts the God Hates Fags website, has once again decided to engage in activity that I, as a believing Christian, find deplorable. As most already know, a couple of days ago a sick man killed several schoolgirls in a Amish community. Apparently, he intended to molest them, but didn't do so. Still, the Amish community has decided to forgive the man, and in honor of that forgiveness I will not rail against the shooter. Now, Fred Phelps, has decided to participate in the funerals of these poor schoolgirls who were cut down by this sick man. According to Phelps' newsrelease flier posted (in .pdf format) on his website : WBC to picket funerals of Pennsylvania school girls killed by a mad man in punishment for Gov. Ed Rendell's blasphemous sins against WBC - in religious protest and warning: "He suffered no man to do them wrong; yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; Saying, Touch not m...

After reading through the comments about my earlier blog entitled "Jesus Didn't Exist, Again?" I realized that I apparently wrote too quickly to make myself clear. So, let me try again, this time seeking to make my point more lucid. By way of background, a student of philosophy named Derek Murphy has written a book entitled Dead Little Fish which allegedly proves that Jesus never really existed at all. In other words, it is another Jesus Myth book. The book is self-published by Derek Murphy, and I encouraged people not to waste their time reading the book. Now, the clarification and elaboration: First, my comment about ID was simply directed at people who claim that you can't consider ID because it isn't published in "peer-reviewed" literature. I don't take that position, and so I was simply chiding people who would maintain that position while somehow arguing that this book can be taken seriously. Whether this book can be taken literally depends u...

Once again, a new book is being released by that proves that Jesus Christ didn't exist! Yes, once again we are being treated to the idea that the historical Jesus is nothing but a fraud perpetrated upon society for the past 2,000 years. According to the news release from PR Web, a new book entitled Dead Little Fish: The Accidental History of Jesus Christ, by author Derek Murphy, "proves that Jesus Christ was a mythological figure that accidentally became mistaken for a real man." Articles and TV programs about the historical Jesus are finding their way into every sphere of consumer culture, and public opinion is quickly embracing new ideas about Jesus. Scholars like Baigent, Pagels, (The Gnostic Gospels), and Timothy Freke (The Jesus Mysteries), while popular, are ignoring crucial evidence that radically re-defines the origins of Christianity: Jesus, and his consort Mary Magdalene, stem from an ancient mythological tradition and were originally never considered as real...

In his critical review of The Empty Tomb , Stephen Davis points – as I did – to the second-century literary evidence of the apostolic fathers as evidence against Dr. Price's argument that 1 Cor. 15:3-11 is an interpolation. "The Counterattack of the Resurrection Skeptics," Philosophia Christi , Vol. 8:1, page 41. Davis and I both find Ignatius’ reference to the allegedly interpolated passage in the early second century to be powerful evidence against Dr. Price’s theory. It simply leaves no time for an interpolation to arise and spread to all of the manuscript evidence. Although I also found Marcion’s use of the same passages to be conclusive, Davis does not mention it. Davis does mention two second-century Christian writings that I did not: the Shepard of Hermas and Against Heresies . According to Davis, the Shepard of Hermas (dated from 140-155 AD) “clearly alludes (in a different context) to 1 Corinthians 15:6.” 15:6 states, “After that He appeared to more tha...