More Than Static

By Matt Slick

Universalism is the teaching that God will ultimately bring all people, in all times, and all places to a state of reconciliation with Him. In other words, everyone who ever lived will be saved. Consequently, universalism cannot allow the possibility of an eternal hell as a realistic biblical teaching.

By Matt Slick 

Some emergent pastors might think that the concept of invariable, essential Christian doctrines would be contrary to a proper and healthy "conversation" as they experience the "story of God" in their lives and the lives of others.  After all, absolute truths necessarily mean there are absolute errors and far too many emerging pastors do not like the idea of alienating anyone else's "truth beliefs" lest they not develop a loving relationship with them and somehow offend them or not reach them.  That is understandable, but truth must be coupled with love, not sacrificed to it.

Whether or not any emerging pastor likes the concept of absolute truths as revealed in the Bible, is irrelevant. The fact remains: the Bible tells us there are essentials.1

The reasons it is good to know essentials are multiple.  When we have essential truths, ...

we can properly proclaim the truth of who God is.

we can properly proclaim what God requires for salvation.

we can recognize errors that would jeopardize salvation.

we can allow for a diversity of worship practices as long as the essentials are not violated.

Okay, that is simple enough.  But, how do we determine what is and isn't essential?  It is really quite simple.  You read and believe what the Bible says -- I'll show you below.

Christianity & Islam: Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?

Ligonier Ministries 

“How are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’” (v. 15).  

- Romans 10:15

Now that we have defined the Gospel, we will begin looking at what it means to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Evangelism is the term we use to refer to the preaching of the Gospel. It comes from the same Greek word for gospel (euangelion) and means, literally, “gospeling.” When we evangelize we are “gospeling” — we are spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

By Ryan Turner

Catholics and Protestants disagree regarding the exact number of books that belong in the Old Testament Scriptures.  The dispute between them is over seven books, part of what is known as the Apocrypha: 1 and 2 Maccabees, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Wisdom (Wisdom of Solomon), Baruch, Tobit, Judith, and additions to Daniel and Esther.1  However, there are a number of reasons why the Old Testament Apocrypha should not be part of the Canon, or standard writings of Scripture.

by Matt Slick

The phrase "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" was popularized by Carl Sagan (1934 - 1996), a well-known astronomer and author who hosted a TV series called "Cosmos," published hundreds of scientific articles, and was professor of astronomy at Cornell University in New York.  The statement is self explanatory; if someone makes an extraordinary claim, there better be extraordinary evidence to back it up.  If, for example, someone made the claim that an alien race has made contact with earth, we would need sufficient evidence to verify the claim, such as an alien space craft, or an actual alien.  The extraordinary claim would need extraordinary evidence.

At the heart of "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" is a healthy and normal skepticism.  There are far too many charlatans and con-men in the world who make extraordinary claims without evidence to back them up.  Unfortunately, too many people lack the necessary skepticism and critical thinking skills to help them avoid being duped by con artists and wild theories.  Personally, except for a few qualifications, I agree with the sentiment of the statement "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."  Those qualifications follow.

By Scott Youngren 

In order to please my readers, I have made the bold decision to begin this essay in an utterly groundbreaking fashion…by providing a surprise bonus feature (that will, at first, seem unrelated to the topic of this essay):  I will now explain the mystery of the JFK assassination.  The decades of waiting are finally over.  Sit tight…here it goes:

The ignition of a powder mixture consisting of the chemicals sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter caused a rapid expansion of gasses which, consistent with Isaac Newton’s laws of motion, forced a lead projectile down a metal tube at a supersonic velocity.  The collision of the projectile against certain of Kennedy’s vital organs caused a transference of kinetic energy, which severely damaged these organs, resulting in death.

By Ben Witherington III

Bart Ehrman is both an interesting person and an engaging lecturer. He speaks well, he writes well, he obviously has a gift for what he does. I like Bart though I find his spiritual pilgimage troubling, and as an alumnus of UNC I am sad to see him as the successor to Bernard Boyd at Carolina. Boyd had such a positive spiritual impact on many persons including myself while at Carolina. In fact I have been told some 5,000 persons went into some kind of ministry as a result of Boyd's decades of teaching the Bible at Carolina.  I am however glad Bart is honest about his pilgrimage. If only he could be equally honest and admit that in his scholarship he is trying now to deconstruct orthodox Christianity which he once embraced, rather than do 'value-neutral' text criticism. In my own view, he has attempted this deconstruction on the basis of very flimsy evidence-- textual variants which do not prove what he wants them to prove.