Class: Investigating and Defending the Gospels #10 & 11

Class: Investigating and Defending the Gospels #10 & 11

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https://grantspasschurchofchrist.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/01062016investigatinganddefendingthegospels1011donruhl.mp3?_=1

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Download the Notes:

01062016InvestigatingAndDefendingTheGospels#10DonRuhl

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Purpose: To make Christians realize that attacks will come, and how we should deal with those attacks

Investigating and Defending the Gospels #10 

Be prepared for attacks 

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • December 9, In the year of our Lord, 2015

Prelude: 

1. Knowing your case well prepares you for any attack. 

Persuasion: 

1. Skeptics Will Challenge the Nature of Truth 
   1. What did tolerance mean at one time?
      1. It meant that although you disagreed,
      2. you were respectful.
   2. What does it mean now?
      1. It means that we must accept everything as equally valid, and
      2. that we ought to embrace every philosophy and doctrine.
   3. With truth, skeptics have persuaded the world
      1. that truth depends upon opinion.
      2. Absolute truth they consider an enemy.
   4. What is the difference between subjective truth and objective truth?
      1. Subjective truth is your opinion.
      2. Objective truth is true whether you believe it or not.
         1. Subjective: The Dodgers are the best team in history.
         2. Objective: The Dodgers have won six World Series titles.
   5. Are all religions the same?
      1. Judaism teaches that Jesus was a teacher, but not the Son of God.
      2. Christianity teaches that Jesus was more than a teacher, but is the Son of God.
      3. Islam denies that Jesus is the Son of God.
         1. How could these all be equal?
         2. All of them could be false, but not all of them could be true.
   6. Skeptics believe that it is absolutely true that objective truth does not exist.
      1. Do you see a problem in that affirmation?
      2. They violate their own definition.
2. Skeptics Challenge Eyewitness Accounts 
   1. They attack the eyewitness accounts.
   2. They claim to want to see for themselves.
   3. What is wrong with this line of reasoning?
      1. Do they apply it to other historical records?
      2. If we accept this reasoning, then we cannot accept anything ancient.
3. Skeptics Focus on Items in Isolation 
   1. How much of the puzzle can you gain from one piece?
   2. Do you know the context of various biblical accounts?
4. Skeptics Attack the Messengers 
   1. Why do skeptics focus on hypocrites?
      1. The hope is that this discredits the message.
      2. It takes the focus off the message.
   2. Are we defending the messengers?
   3. Has any group ever existed that did not have bad proponents?
   4. Jesus revealed that pretenders would be among us – Matt 13.24–30, 37–43
5. Skeptics Want Us to Present a Perfect Case 
   1. Do we have to answer everyone of their questions?
   2. Does the fact that we do not have copies of most of the apostle’s writings discredit the Gospels?
   3. Did you know that the Bible refers to other writings?
      1. Jos 10.13
      2. 2Sa 1.18
      3. 1Co 5.9
      4. Col 4.16
      5. 3Jo 9
         1. Does this mean our Bibles are not complete?
         2. Can the Bible never refer to other writings without having to include them?
         3. Do skeptics ever refer to other writings?
         4. Does this not show that the events of the Bible took place in real time and not in a vacuum?
      6. Skeptics still have to answer our arguments from the evidence we do have.
6. Skeptics Offer Alternatives 
   1. However, notice their language: “possibly,” “perhaps,” etc.
   2. Often skeptics assert that Christianity borrowed from other religions.
7. Skeptics Try to Win People with a Presentation 
   1. They sound modern, making us sound antiquated.
   2. Luke 16.8
      1. Yes, we have the truth and should present it.
      2. However, we have to present it to the best of our ability.
         1. Eph 4.15
         2. 1Pe 3.15–16