I have recently come across the Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia online (available here). It was an ongoing project over several decades in the Soviet Union, and gives insight to old Soviet mentality toward things. I looked up a few things and thought I’d translate some to give you a taste of Soviet propaganda. Here’s what the Ukrainian Soviets thought about the Bible:[Read More]
apologetics
Knowing is half the battle
Videos of Jews who have converted to Christianity have been emerging on the internet. There seems to be a common thread among many of them: they were taught at an early age that the New Testament was an evil book and they should stay away from it. I don’t even blame them for thinking Christianity is evil; just look at the atrocities committed against the Jews in the name of replacement theology. But, I don’t think that Jews, nor Christians for that matter, should avoid reading something on the account of it being heresy. As a minimum, we need to be prepared to give an answer to objectors and we need to hear the objection before we can respond.
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Three reasons that James 5:19-20 does not teach that we can lose our salvation
A brother in Christ has recently heard a preacher on the radio say that the last two verses of James prove that a Christian can lose his salvation. Let’s take a look at this passage and see how they fit in with the rest of the Bible’s teaching on God, man, and eternal life:
My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. (Jas 5:19-20 ESV)
Pascal’s Wager vs The Biblical Wager
If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is.
-Blaise Pascal
But if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is empty […] and you are still in your sins […] we are the most pitiful of all people.
-The Apostle Paul
Please stop using Pascal’s Wager to win people for Christ. Here’s how the argument works:
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No, Jesus did not call God, ‘Allah.’
I have recently received a Qur’an in the mail along with a couple of booklets with some basic information about Islam. The booklet made an incorrect claim that stood out to me. It isn’t a fundamental doctrine to Islam, and I’m sure the author was not intentionally trying to mislead people, but he wrote:
Allah is the One and Only True God’s personal name […] It is interesting to note that Allah is also used for God in Aramaic, the language of Jesus, peace be upon him […]1
Arabic and Aramaic (along with Hebrew and a bunch of other languages) are Semitic languages, and have lots of similarities. One similarity that pops up across Semitics languages is their words for “god.” There tends to be “el” or “il” somehow related to the word for god in Semitic languages; some examples include ʾil in Ugaritic, ʾl in Phoenician, and ilu in Akkadian.
[Read More]
What was written above the cross?
The biblical authors neither invented nor changed history. It is claimed that there is a contradiction between the Gospels over what was written on the Cross. Here’s what the Gospels say:
Matthew 27:37 And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”
Mark 15:26 And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.”
Luke 23:38 There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
John 19:19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”
How can we believe that the Gospels are reliable when they have differences here? [Read More]