Defending and Commending the Faith With Dr. Joe L. Mott, inviting the atheist, agnostic and skeptic to examine for themselves the evidence for the Christian faith

References: (1) Skeptics bring up their opposition to the Bible and Jesus all the time. They say, “The Bible is UNRELIABLE, and UNTRUSTWORTHY.” In fact, the skeptic may go so far as to say, “It’s DOUBTFUL that Jesus even EXISTED.” (2) Gary Habermas, a NT scholar, theologian, and author, has discovered a total of 39 extra-Biblical sources, which includes 17 non-Christian sources that witness to ove...

References: (1) The Gospel documents pass J. Warner Wallaces’s 4 part test for the credibility of witnesses. (2) “Basic Christianity” by John Stott. (3) Jesus’ own viewpoint concerning His deity. (4) The rapid pace of Mark’s Gospel is emphasized by the Greek word “eutheos” whose means “immediately” or “straightway.” (5) Mark identifies John the Baptist as the coming messenger. (6) We can identify...

References: (1) The New Compact Topical Bible gives over 70 categories related to the divinity of Jesus Christ with multiple scripture references to each category. I estimate that there are over 350 such NT references. There is another section identified as the divine sonship of Jesus with multiple references to those that testify to that fact. (2) Once we understand what the apostle John meant by...

References: (1) For centuries, the Bible has been revered as a collection of documents guiding the beliefs of billions of people worldwide. The field of archaeology is considered as a real-world investigator to the truth of the biblical claims. Critics have asked, “If the Bible is true, then why is there NO EVIDENCE  for David or Solomon, Israel’s two greatest kings? Or the cities of Sodom and Gom...

References: (1) At the end of the last episode we were attempting to date when the 4 Gospels were written. We had discussed J. Warner Wallaces 4 points that he used as a homicide detective in Los Angeles to determine if a witness to a crime was credible. The initial step in his journey from being a hardened atheist toward Christianity was what he thought was an evaluation of the Gospels. (2) The f...

References: (1) In the last episode I had begun discussing 2 of the 4 reasons J. Warner Wallace gave in his book Cold Case Christianity to support why the NT Gospels are reliable.  The 2 reasons given were: (1) The Gospels were written EARLY. (2) The Gospels are COROBORATED by archaeology, eyewitnesses, and ancient non-Christian authors like Flavious Josephus, Tacitus, Suetonius, and the Jewish Ta...

References: (1) In regard to fulfilled prophecies 2 scientists Peter Stoner and Robert Newman computed the probability that 8 of these prophecies concerning Jesus being fulfilled by one person is 1 in 10^17.  That is 1 divided by 1 followed by 17 zeroes. (2) Fulfilling 8 prophecies would be like covering the entire state of Texas in silver dollars 2 feet deep with only one silver dollar having a r...

References: (1) “Bible Doctrine” (pp. 33-50) by Wayne Grudem. (2) “Understanding the Bible” by John Scott. (3) The OT was written thousands of years ago, and the NT was completed by the year 100 AD. The Bible claims there is a God who created the universe in the first verse of Gen. 1. The Bible also claims that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to be the propitiation for our sins (Joh...

References: (1) “Bible Doctrine” (pp. 33-50) by Wayne Grudem. (2) At 2 places in the NT,  2 Pet. 3:15-16 and in 1 Tim. 5:18, we see NT writings also being called “Scripture” along with OT writings. (3) Grudem says, “Here Peter shows not only an AWARENESS of the existence of written epistles from Paul, but also a clear WILLINGNESS to classify ‘all of [Paul’s] letters’ with ‘the other scriptures.’”...

References: (1) I begin today with an 11th reason to trust the Bible. The Bible contains PROPHECIES, some written centuries before the events, that are fulfilled. The OT alone contains over 2000 PREDICTIVE PROPHECIES incredibly specific and detailed. These prophecies are already fulfilled. They cannot have been written AFTER the events and PAWNED OFF as prophecies, because in hundreds of cases, th...

References: (1) This unity of the Bible may be illustrated by a symphony ORCHESTRA. It might be composed of 100 musicians with several different instruments, yet when they play, there is one GRAND HARMONY because the conductor directs and controls all the musicians as they play. The singular, cohesive narrative is that God is the true author of the Bible and that the Holy Spirit inspired the human...

References: (1) The first reason is what God Himself supplies: “I will raise up from among them a Prophet . . . . I will tell him what to say, and he shall be My spokesman to the people” (Deut. 18:18, from the Living Bible). (2) Scripture boldly claims its divine origin. (3) Jesus endorsed the Bible’s truthfulness and reliability. (4) Scripture is identified as the word of God, the oracles of God,...

References: (1) (i) Jesus claimed to be God in John 10:30. That claim is confirmed by 3 evidences: His sinless life, the fulfillment of OT prophecies about the Messiah, and the crowning evidence of His physical resurrection from the dead found in Rom. 1:4. (ii) Therefore, we must conclude that Jesus is, in fact, God. (iii) Thus, we know that what God teaches is true. (iv) Jesus, as God, taught the...

References: (1) At the end of the last episode I had begun an argument supporting the divinity of Jesus. I do that to support His view that the Bible is the Word of God. (2) Jesus answers the question from the high priest boldly by saying: “I am.” That answer echoes what the Lord speaks to Moses out of the Burning Bush in Exodus 3:14 by saying “I AM WHO I AM.” (3) In John 8:58 Jesus used the words...

References: (1) Some people believe that God will put disease on you to teach you a lesson. The Scriptures contradict that assertion: Exodus 23:25 says, “So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will BLESS your bread and your water. And I will TAKE SICKNESS AWAY from the midst of you.” The phrase “take sickness away from you” can also be translated as “I will TURN OFF SICKNESS from you.” If Go...

References: (1) In Islamic discourse, the term for someone outside the Islamic faith is kafir (or “infidel”), which  refers to an unbeliever and includes particularly Jews and Christians which Muslims call the “People of the Book.” The Book, of course, is the Bible. The English word “infidel” comes from a French or a Latin word which means “unfaithful.” (2) Certain Islamic scholars argue that salv...

References: (1) Right now Christianity is the largest major religion in the world in terms of population. Studies in the 21st century suggest that, in terms of percentage and worldwide impact, Islam is the fastest growing major religion in the world. A comprehensive religious FORECAST by the Pew Research Center PREDICTS that the global Muslim population will grow at a faster rate than the Christia...

References: (1) Both Islam and Christianity share some common beliefs. I refer you to the pamphlet Muslim and Christian Beliefs by Bruce McDowell and Anees Zara which gives 8 common beliefs. (2) Islam, Judaism, and Christianity honor Abraham as the progenitor of their religions. The frequent mention in the Qur’an of the biblical characters like Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Joseph, Moses, David, S...

References: (1) The New Age movement in addition to its PANTHEISM is an unstructured belief in the NETWORK of secular humanistic ideas and philosophies. (2) the term “New Age“ refers to the “Age of Aquarius,“ a phrase taken from astrology, which New Age followers believe that age has dawned. (3) New Agers believe that we must seek the divine within every one of us and so usher in a new millennium...

References: (1) These religions have a different worldview from that of Christianity. My purpose is twofold: (1) to understand some of what other religions profess and believe and (2) to subject these religions to intentional analysis concerning their founders, their view of God, of Jesus, of salvation, and their view of the afterlife. I have said these aberrant religions usually use Christian TER...

References: (1) We were discussing the Church of Latter-Day Saints or Mormonism. LDS cites 2 Thess. 2:3-4 as supporting their view of the total apostasy of the church. However, the common evangelical interpretation of the entire chapter 2 of 2 Thessalonians is elucidated by discussing a few terms:      a. That Day (v.2). Usually it is interpreted as the day of the Lord – the climactic time when Ch...

References: (1) We have addressed Christian Liberalism, Christian Science, and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Now let us turn our FOCUS to Latter-day Saints or Mormonism. (2) Joseph Smith, Jr. (1805-1844) claimed that in 1820, 10 years prior to him starting the LDS church, he received his “First Vision,” at the age of 14. Smith had been studying the passage in the Bible James 1:5 which says, “If any of you...

References: (1) Biblical Christianity demands an EVANGELICAL OUTREACH of the followers of Christ whereas Christian liberalism typically is NOT INTERESTED in evangelism. (2) Evangelism may be defined as proclaiming that Jesus Christ is God, Savior, and Mediator between God and man. The purpose of evangelism is persuading people to become His disciples. (3) Jesus gave His disciples a commandment: Th...

References: (1) Almost every religion honors Jesus to some degree. Most will agree He is a great teacher and a wonder worker. But anything short of total honor ends up treating Jesus with fake honor, deceitful loyalty, and phony respect. Jesus was very clear when He said, “He who is not WITH Me is AGAINST Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad” (Matt. 12:30). There is NO MIDDLE GRO...

References: (1) Liberal scholars and some conservatives view Isaiah 7:14 as having reference only to NATURAL CONCEPTION AND BIRTH. (2) “Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics” by Norman Geisler. (3) Geisler says, “There is a difficulty with the claim that ‘alma refers to someone who is married.  Not once does the OT use ‘alma to refer to a married person. Bethulah, on the other hand, is used...