Here are the basic premises of McDowell's Trilemma Argument (hereafter: MTA), from The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict (hereafter: NETDV by Josh McDowell:=================...Jesus definitely claimed to be God (see below and in Chapter 6). So every person must answer the question: Is His claim to deity true or false? This question deserves a most serious consideration.[...]Jesus' claim to be God must be either true or false. If Jesus' claims are true, then He is the Lord, an … [Read more...]
Debate: External Evidence for Jesus – Parts 5B and 5C
August 15, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Joe Hinman's fifth argument for the existence of Jesus based on external evidence is presented in two sections of his post on the Web of Historicity:5B. Big Web of Historicity5C. Jesus Myth Theory Cannot Account for the WebThe fifth argument for the existence of Jesus can be summarized in terms of a single premise:1.There is a web of historicity.Therefore:2. It is probable that Jesus of Nazareth was a flesh-and-blood historical person.Given this very simple summary, … [Read more...]
Debate: External Evidence for Jesus – Part 4
July 21, 2016 by Leave a Comment
QUESTION 1: What is Hinman's Central Claim about Josephus?There are two famous passages in a book by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus that appear to refer to Jesus. Joe Hinman wants to focus on the "brother passage", the passage in Antiquities that mentions a person named "James" and refers to him as "the brother of Jesus the so-called Christ". (Antiquities 20,200).After a brief introductory paragraph, Hinman quotes the "brother passage"But the younger Ananus who, as we said, re … [Read more...]
Debate: External Evidence for Jesus – Post on Part 4 Coming Soon
July 19, 2016 by Leave a Comment
I have been working on understanding and evaluating Joe Hinman's fourth argument for the existence of Jesus, and I believe my post on this subject will be ready to publish later this week. This argument is based on alleged references to Jesus found in a book by the Jewish historian Josephus, particularly the "brother passage", where a person named "James" is referred to as "the brother of Jesus the so-called Christ". … [Read more...]
Debate: External Evidence for Jesus – Part 3
July 9, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Question 1: What are Hinman's Central Claims about Polycarp?As with his discussion about the external evidence of Papias, Hinman begins his discussion of Polycarp with some strong claims:III. Polycarp: Knew the Apostle John and studied with him. He speaks of where the apostle sat when they studied together.The first sentence is lacking a subject. But the heading just above the sentence implies that the subject of the sentence is Polycarp. The first sentence uses the pronoun "him" … [Read more...]
Debate: External Evidence for Jesus – Post on Part #3 Coming Soon
July 7, 2016 by Leave a Comment
I am working on Part 3 of this series of posts about external evidence for the existence of Jesus. Part 3 will focus on analysis and evaluation of Joe Hinman's third argument for the existence of Jesus, which is based on historical claims about Polycarp.I have written the opening section of Part 3, and have an outline for the main points I plan to make. So, I hope to publish Part 3 of this series on Saturday, July 9th. … [Read more...]
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