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APOLOGETICS
THE PROOF FOR
THE TRUTH
APOLOGETICS
APOLOGETICS = the branch of theology
concerned with the defense or proof of
Christianity.
“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and
always be ready to give a defense to everyone
who asks you a reason for the hope that is in
you, with meekness and fear;”
1 Peter 3:15
TRUTH
“Our philosophical commitment to
materialism and reductionism is
true…but I would prefer to
characterize it as a philosophical
commitment to a real explanation as
opposed to a complete lack of an
explanation…”
-Richard Dawkins
TRUTH
Can we know truth?
“that we love the truth when it
enlightens us, but we hate it when
it convicts us. Maybe we can’t
handle the truth.”
-St. Augustine
TRUTH
“unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that
the children of Israel could not look steadily at the
end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds
were blinded. For until this day the same veil
remains unlifted in the reading of the Old
Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ.
15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil
lies on their heart. 16 Nevertheless when one turns
to the Lord, the veil is taken away.”
2 Cor. 13:16
“ALL TRUTHS EXCLUDE THEIR
OPPOSITES.”
“Truth is discovered, not
invented. It exists independent
of anyone’s knowledge of it.”
NATURALISM or INTELLIGENT DESIGN
(GOD)
Law of non-contradiction
It states that something cannot be both true
and not true at the same time when dealing
with the same context.
In the law of non-contradiction, where we have
a set of statements about a subject, we cannot
have any of the statements in that set negate
the truth of any other statement in that same
set.
NATURALISM or INTELLIGENT DESIGN
(GOD)
Something can’t come from
nothing.
If space, time and mater exist, they must be
the effect and they can’t cause themselves to
exist. So the cause of those effects must be
spaceless, timeless, and immaterial.
COSMOLOGICAL
ARGUMENT
SURGE =
The Second Law of Thermodynamics
Expanding Universe
Radiation Afterglow from the Big Bang
Explosion
The Great galaxy seeds in the Radiation
Afterglow
Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity
COSMOLOGICAL
ARGUMENT
Why is it problematic to atheist’s that the
universe has a beginning if they can still
explain everything else scientifically?
“Philosophically, the notion of a beginning of
the present order of nature is repugnant to
me…I should like to find a genuine loophole.”
-Arthur Eddigton (atheist Birtish cosmologist)
COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
“Now we see how the astronomical evidence leads to
a biblical view of the origin of the world. The details
differ, but the essential elements in the astronomical
and biblical accounts of Genesis are the same: the
chain of events leading to man commenced suddenly
and sharply at a definite moment in time, in a flash of
light and energy.”
Dr. Robert Jastrow
COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
“Astronomers now find they have painted themselves into
a corner because they have proven, by their own
methods, that the world began abruptly in an act of
creation to which you can trace the seeds of every star,
every planet, every living thing in this cosmos and on the
earth. And they have found that all this happened as a
product of forces they cannot hope to discover. . . . That
there are what I or anyone would call supernatural forces
at work is now, I think, a scientifically proven fact.”
Dr. Robert Jastrow
COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
“The beginning seems to present
insuperable difficulties unless we agree
to look on it as frankly supernatural.”
Arthur Eddington
COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
Spaceless because it created space
Timeless because it created time
Immaterial because it created matter
Powerful because it created out of nothing
Intelligent because the creation event and the universe was
precisely designed
Personal because it made a choice to convert a state of nothing
into something (impersonal forces don’t make choices)
THE RESURRECTION
“and if Christ is not risen, then our
preaching is empty and your faith is also
empty. Yes, and we are found false
witnesses of God, because we have
testified of God that He raised up Christ,
whom He did not raise up—if in fact the
dead do not rise.”
1 Cor. 15:14-15
THE RESURRECTION
The fact that the New Testament
even exists is proof that its words are
true!
Would you give your life for a liar?
NEW TESTAMENT
DOCUMENTS
“I do not pray for these alone, but
also for those who will believe in
Me through their word;”
John 17:20
NEW TESTAMENT DOCUMENTS
For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made
known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but
were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For He received from God the
Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the
Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased.” 18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when
we were with Him on the holy mountain. 19 And so we have the
prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that
shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star
rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of
Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never
came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were
moved by the Holy Spirit.
2 Peter 1:16-21
NEW TESTAMENT
DOCUMENTS
No collection of work has been so
rigorously tested and stood firm
against those tests throughout all
time.
NON-CHRISTIAN WRITERS
Jesus lived during the time of Tiberius.
He lived a virtuous life.
He was a wonder worker.
He had a brother named James.
He was acclaimed to be the Messiah.
He was crucified under Pontius Pilate.
He was crucified on the eve of the Jewish Passover.
NON-CHRISTIAN WRITERS
Darkness and an earthquake occurred when He died.
His disciples believed He rose from the dead.
His disciples were willing to die for their belief.
Christianity spread all the way to Rome.
His disciples denied the Roman gods and worshipped Jesus as God.
NEW TESTAMENT
DOCUMENTS
5,700 handwritten Greek
manusrcipts of the New
Testament!
9,000 manuscripts in other
languages!
NEW TESTAMENT
DOCUMENTS
The next closest is the Iliad by
Homer which has 643
manuscripts.
(It’s not even close!!!)
NEW TESTAMENT
DOCUMENTS
For I delivered to you first of all that which I
also received: that Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was
buried, and that He rose again the third day
according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was
seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that
He was seen by over five hundred brethren at
once, of whom the greater part remain to the
present, but some have fallen asleep
1 Cor. 15:3-6
EARLY TESTIMONY
No other historical documents
were this quick. (Homer is second
w/in 500 years. Most others had
time gap of 1,000 years!!!)
ACCURATE TESTIMONY
The truth is in the details.
There are 84 facts in the last 16
chapters of Acts that have been
confirmed by historical and
archaeological research.
EMBARASSING TESTIMONY
– When you are going to lie (as the NT writers are accused
of) you don’t make yourself look bad.
– They told of women being the first to discover the tomb.
– They told of Peter being off and denying and being called
satan by Jesus.
– The disciples arguing over who is greater.
– They make themselves look dimwitted and stupid at
times.
CONSPIRACY THEORY
A small # of conspirators
Great communication
A short time span
Close friendships
Low pressure
MESSAGES COME FROM
MESSENGERS
I have manifested Your name to the men whom
You have given Me out of the world. They were
Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept
Your word. 7 Now they have known that all things
which You have given Me are from You. 8 For I have
given to them the words which You have given Me;
and they have received them, and have known
surely that I came forth from You; and they have
believed that You sent Me.
John 17:6-8
MESSAGES COME FROM
MESSENGERS
Francis Crick discovered DNA
(deoxyribonucleic acid) in 1953 which is the
chemical that encodes instructions for
building and replicating all living things.
MESSAGES COME FROM
MESSENGERS
DNA has a helical structure that looks like a
twisted ladder.
The sides are formed by alternating deoxyribose and
phosphate molecules.
The rungs on the ladder are made of 4
nitrogen bases.
•
•
•
•
Adenine
Thymine
Cytosine
Guanine
DNA
MESSAGES COME FROM
MESSENGERS
“Take out the garbage”
MESSAGES COME FROM
MESSENGERS
“What I think the DNA material has done is
that it has shown, by the almost unbelievable
complexity of the arrangements which are
needed to produce life, that intelligence must
have been involved in getting these
extraordinarily diverse elements to work
together.”
-Former atheist Antony Flew
FINE TUNING
Scientists have discovered that the universe…is
precisely designed to create the very narrow envelope
of life-supporting conditions here on earth. Any slight
deviation in any one of a number of environmental
and physical factors (“constants”) would preclude us
from even existing.”
Dr. Frank Turek
FINE TUNING (CONSTANTS)
– The centrifugal force is precisely balances the gravitational
forces allowing everything to orbit the sun.
– If the universe expanded at a rate 1 millionth more slowly,
expansion would have stopped and the universe would have
collapsed before any stars had formed. If it went faster, no
galaxies would have formed.
– Any of the laws of physics can be described as a function of the
velocity of light (299,792,458 meters per second). Any slight
variation in that in that number would alter all other constants
and eliminate the possibility of life on earth
FINE TUNING (CONSTANTS)
– If Jupiter were not in its current orbit, the earth would be
bombarded with space material. Jupiter is kind of like a cosmic
vacuum cleaner.
– If the rotation of the earth took longer than 24 hours,
temperature differences between day and night would be too
extreme. If it were shorter, atmospheric wind velocities would
be too great.
– The 23 degree axil tilt of the earth is just right. If it were altered
slightly, surface temperatures would be too extreme on earth.
THE ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE
HE TESTIFIES
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of
men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
19 because what may be known of God is manifest
in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since
the creation of the world His invisible attributes
are clearly seen, being understood by the things
that are made, even His eternal power and
Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
Romans 1:18-20
The question is are there any highly
precise and interdependent
environmental conditions which
create a support system for human
life on Earth?
How does God testify?
ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE #1
We need oxygen to breath.
The oxygen level in earth’s atmosphere is 21%.
This precise figure is an anthropic constant that makes
human life on earth possible.
At 25% there would spontaneous fires.
At 15% human beings would suffocate.
ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE #2
The CO2 level is necessarily precise.
The level is maintained naturally in the earth’s
atmosphere.
If the CO2 level were higher a runaway greenhouse
effect would develop. (We’d all burn up)
If the level was lower plants could not maintain
proper photosynthesis. (We’d all suffocate.)
ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE #3
Gravity is a powerful force.
It keeps us from flying off of the planet.
That being said if the gravitational force were altered
by 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000001
(37) our sun would not exist and therefore neither
would we.
There is good evidence that some of God’s people
still understood that HE was the designer of earth and
the environment before large scale scientific evidence
was available.
It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches
out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them
out like a tent to dwell in.
Isaiah 40:22
THE CASE FOR
MORALITY
OBJECTIVE MORALITY
There must be an uncaused
first cause.
THE MORAL ARGUMENT
1. EVERY LAW HAS A LAW-GIVER.
2. OBJECTIVE MORAL LAW DOES EXIST.
3. THEREFORE, A MORAL LAW-GIVER EXISTS.
GOAL DIRECTEDNESS
Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the
living creature according to its kind: cattle
and creeping thing and beast of the earth,
each according to its kind”; and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth
according to its kind, cattle according to its
kind, and everything that creeps on the earth
according to its kind. And God saw that it was
good.
Gen. 1:24-25
GOAL DIRECTEDNESS
God set up this planet in such a way that
everything would have a plan built into it
that would govern its essence and its
future.
MinAlex McElroy
@PastorAMcElroy
@PastorAMcElroy
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