Podcasts about historical evidence

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.Colossians 2:1-4Blind Faith - “I only believe in what can be proved through evidence.”“[Faith is] believing what you know ain't so.”Mark TwainFaith is not OptionalTo move from religion to secularism is not so much a loss of faith as a shift into a new set of beliefs and into a new community of faith, one that draws lines between orthodoxy and heresy in different places.Timothy KellerScience by its very nature is not fit to investigate whether there is more to reality than the natural world.C. Stephen EvansReason depends on the faith that our cognitive senses—eyes and ears, our minds and memories—are not tricking us. Yet there is no noncircular way to establish that. We cannot test their reliability without using and therefore assuming their reliability. To explain what Wittgenstien means, consider the movie The Matrix. Can you prove that you aren't actually in a vat somewhere with plugs coming out of the back of your head feeding you an alternate reality? We cannot, then, prove these fundamental premises for the operation of reasoning. We take them on faith…To state that there is no God or that there is a God, then, necessarily entails faith. And so the declaration that science is the only arbiter of truth is not itself a scientific finding. It is a belief.Timothy KellerFaith is not opposed to ThinkingChristianity birthed universities, preserved classical learning, and encouraged scientific inquiryNow faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.Hebrews 11:1-3To the writer to the Hebrews faith is a hope that is absolutely certain that what it believes is true, and that what it expects will come. It is not the hope which looks forward with wistful longing; it is the hope which looks forward with utter certainty. It is not the hope which takes refuge in a perhaps; it is the hope which is founded on a conviction.Barclay17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.Hebrews 11:17-19Logizomai [considered]: to reckon, count, compute, calculate, count over. (Where the word “LOGIC” comes from.)Faith is not opposed to EvidenceAnd the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered them,[a] “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.' 3 And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4 An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.Matthew 16:1-4The evidence is there, examinable and understandable for those who are open to it and who welcome it. The issue in the knowledge of God is not intellect but receptivity.HagnerMiracles will give confirmation where there is faith, but not where there is willful unbelief.Wiersbe1. Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus2. Manuscript and Textual Reliability of the Bible3. Fulfilled Prophecy4. Philosophical and Moral Arguments for God's Existence5. Experiential and Transformational EvidenceFaith is not opposed to MysteryFor I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.Colossians 2:1-4Faith does not contradict reason, though it may go beyond reason. One may objectively prove the Bible is the most unique book ever published and has impacted society more than any other book. But only faith can prove that the Bible is the Word of God. Therefore, this is a belief beyond reason but not in contradiction to reason or against reason.David GuzikDoubt your doubtsConsider the object of your faithEven in times when it seems God expects a faith that contradicts reason, closer examination reveals He does not. For example, it might seem contrary to reason for God to expect Abraham to believe that Sarah's dead womb could bring forth a child. But it is not unreasonable to believe that the God who created life and the womb could do this, and that He would do it according to His promise.David GuzikFuel your faith with God's Word14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?[c] And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And 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!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.Romans 10:14-176 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and th...

Quiet Moments with Russ Ep244 - Bible History Lessons - Lesson 2 - Historical Evidence for Jesus

In today's episode, Chad and Robert explore why the resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of the Christian faith—and why everything hinges on whether or not it really happened. They walk through historical evidence, personal stories, and why even skeptics like Paul, C.S. Lewis, and Lee Strobel became convinced it was true. If the resurrection is real, it means our sin is paid for, Jesus is alive, and we can live with eternal hope.Subscribe to receive our latest videos!Website: https://www.sunvalleycc.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sunvalleycc/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunvalleycc/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sunvalleyccTo support Sun Valley and help us continue to reach people all around the world click here: https://www.sunvalleycc.com/givingGod loves you no matter who you are, what you've done, or what's been done to you. This is the vision of Sun Valley Community Church, led by Pastor Chad Moore and based in Gilbert, AZ with multiple locations throughout the Phoenix valley.Chapters:00:00:00 The Importance of the Resurrection in Christianity00:03:17 Evidence and Faith in the Resurrection  00:05:59 Understanding New Life in Faith  00:08:52 Exploring Different Faiths and Beliefs  00:11:47 Examining the Historical Evidence of Jesus' Resurrection00:14:37 Transformation of Paul: From Persecutor to Apostle00:17:23 The Influence of Jesus on Western Civilization  00:20:13 The Power of Faith: A Historical Perspective00:23:01 The Global Spread of the Gospel and Jesus' Return

Today's episode is such a fascinating and encouraging conversation. I'm joined by Justin Brierley, journalist, author, and Christian apologist—and we're diving into how we as parents can guide our kids through some of life's biggest questions about faith, doubt, and belief.Here's what you'll hear in today's conversation:Helping kids ask honest questions about God and faith builds a stronger foundation for lasting belief.Topics like the resurrection, suffering, and science can be discussed in age-appropriate and meaningful ways.How we respond to questions is just as important as the answers we give—gentleness builds trust.Sharing your personal faith and doubts can create a safe space for kids to explore theirs.Justin Brierley is a UK-based journalist, speaker, and author who has spent years hosting thoughtful conversations around faith and skepticism. His book, Why I'm Still a Christian, explains why he still has faith in Jesus after conversations with skeptics and atheists all across the world. And his book, The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God, explores how faith is making a comeback in surprising ways. Justin is passionate about equipping parents to walk alongside their kids through questions of belief with wisdom and compassion.Whether your child is full of curiosity or facing doubt, this episode offers the tools and encouragement to walk that road together with faith, honesty, and grace.(03:02) Engaging Skeptics: Convincing Arguments for God's Existence(05:54) The Historical Evidence of the Resurrection(15:01) Addressing the Problem of Suffering(24:09) God's Response to Suffering and the Hope of Redemption(25:05) Understanding Suffering Through Faith(26:36) Navigating Children's Questions on Suffering(29:58) Engaging with Skeptical Teens(32:11) Using Science to Explain Faith(37:17) Embracing Imperfection in ParentingResources MentionedMoms, Dads, and Grads Gift Guidehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy6kaDaeDT8Why I'm Still a Christian bookConnect with JustinJustin Brierley's websiteSurprising Rebirth podcastJustin's YouTubeThe Christian Parenting Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.orgOur Sponsors:* Check out Happy Mammoth and use my code CPPODCAST for a great deal: https://happymammoth.com* Check out IXL and use my code TODAY for a great deal: https://www.ixl.comPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The truth of Christianity stands or falls on the truth of the resurrection of Jesus. With Easter quickly approaching, you'll have a great opportunity to talk to your friends and family about the hope you have in Jesus' resurrection. In this episode, we'll look at the historical evidence we have that Jesus was, in fact, a real historical person, that Jesus did rise from the dead, and why we can have confidence that Christianity is true.ResourcesThe Case for Jesus: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for ChristWesley HuffConnect With Usprovidenceomaha.orgInstagramFacebookEmail Usformation@providenceomaha.org

Send us a textSummaryIn this episode of Clarity from Chaos, host David Campbell interviews Robert K. Tanenbaum, a former deputy general counsel involved in the congressional investigation of the JFK assassination. Tanenbaum discusses the implications of a recent executive order to release JFK assassination documents, the role of the CIA, and the discrepancies in the official narrative surrounding the assassination. He emphasizes the importance of transparency and the need for the American public to understand the truth behind the events of that day.TakeawaysThe CIA has manipulated evidence and testimonies regarding the JFK assassination.Robert K. Tannenbaum's extensive legal background informs his insights on the case.Witness testimonies and scientific evidence contradict the official narrative of the assassination.The single bullet theory is fundamentally flawed and lacks scientific support.There is significant evidence suggesting multiple shooters were involved in the assassination.The government's investigation was predetermined to support a specific narrative.The role of organized crime in the assassination lacks sufficient evidence.JFK's desire to reform intelligence operations led to his assassination.The American public has a right to access all documents related to the assassination.Transparency is crucial for restoring trust in government institutions.Support the show"Wherever you find yourself is exactly and precisely where God wills you to be" Support our show at the following: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2063276/support Follow us on X: @CFC30290 Follow us on Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-3123766 Website: https://clarityfromchaospodcast.buzzsprout.com/ Thanks for listening to Clarity from Chaos

Come see us live in London June 22nd at the Big Fat Festival: https://bigbellycomedy.club/event/lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-big-fat-festival-southbank/ Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys Part 2/4 Sources: Ronald Grigor Suny. They Can Live in the Desert and Nowhere Else. Peter Bakalian. Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response Taner Akçam. Killing Orders: Talat Pasha's Telegrams and the Armenian Genocide Taner Akçam. The Spirit of the Laws: The Plunder of Wealth in the Armenian Genocide Taner Akçam. A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility Taner Akçam. The Young Turks' Crime Against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire Vakahn Dadrian. German Responsibility in the Armenian Genocide: A Review of the Historical Evidence of German Complicity. Khatchig Mouradian. Genocide and Humanitarian Resistance in Ottoman Syria, 1915-1916 Simon Payaslian. The History of Armenia: From the Origins to the Present.

Is there any evidence Jesus rose from the dead? Dave and Jeff Leake discuss the surprising evidence that has skeptics and believers alike questioning everything they thought they knew about Christianity. Hear how top researchers and journalists who set out to DISPROVE Jesus' resurrection ended up becoming believers instead. Take a journey through historical mysteries, scientific investigations, and personal testimonies that will challenge everything you've been told. Are you brave enough to follow the evidence where it leads, even if it means confronting your deepest doubts about faith, science, and the supernatural?VIDEOS SHOWN:Joe Rogan "Jesus" Clip: https://youtube.com/shorts/RIW79NSBqIQ?si=WMawD9k3-ecUFSpGCraig Brown "Healing" Clip: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8j6Fs8u/BOOKS MENTIONED:Jeff Leake's Book (around 50:26):You Are God's Miracle Delivery SystemLee Strobel Books (around 44:50-46:00):Case for ChristCase for EasterCase for MiraclesCase for GraceCase for CreatorCase for HeavenCase for FaithSeeing the SupernaturalBill Johnson & Randy Clark Book (around 45:45):Essential Guide to HealingJohannes Amritzer Book (around 45:14):How Jesus Healed the Sick and How You Can TooLinkTree:https://linktr.ee/AllisonParkLeadershipNetworkEmail:Jeffl@allisonparkchurch.comDavel@allisonparkchurch.comInstagram:@Jeffleake11@Dave.Leake

Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys Live show tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-london-11th-april-2025-tickets-1266997737339?aff=oddtdtcreator Live stream tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/livestream-lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-london-11th-april-2025-tickets-1266999251869?aff=oddtdtcreator This is the story of the Metz Yegern, The Great Evil Crime, or, what it would later become known as, the Armenian Genocide. Sources: Ronald Grigor Suny. They Can Live in the Desert and Nowhere Else. Peter Bakalian. Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response Taner Akçam. Killing Orders: Talat Pasha's Telegrams and the Armenian Genocide Taner Akçam. The Spirit of the Laws: The Plunder of Wealth in the Armenian Genocide Taner Akçam. A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility Taner Akçam. The Young Turks' Crime Against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire Vakahn Dadrian. German Responsibility in the Armenian Genocide: A Review of the Historical Evidence of German Complicity. Khatchig Mouradian. Genocide and Humanitarian Resistance in Ottoman Syria, 1915-1916 Simon Payaslian. The History of Armenia: From the Origins to the Present.

Friday on Mornings with Eric and Brigitte, Professor in the Philosophy of Religion program at Palm Beach Atlantic University, Dr. Paul Copan will be in studio with a challenge: Ask Me How I Know He Lives. Together we will explore the Historical Evidence for Jesus' Resurrection. PBA: Palm Beach Atlantic University | Florida Christian College https://www.amazon.com/Christianity-Contested-Replies-Toughest-Objections/dp/1666743259 Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshow/wrmbSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Introduction Misaligned AI systems, which have a tendency to use their capabilities in ways that conflict with the intentions of both developers and users, could cause significant societal harm. Identifying them is seen as increasingly important to inform development and deployment decisions and design mitigation measures. There are concerns, however, that this will prove challenging. For example, misaligned AIs may only reveal harmful behaviors in rare circumstances, or perceive detection attempts as threatening and deploy countermeasures – including deception and sandbagging – to evade them. For these reasons, developing a range of efforts to detect misaligned behavior, including power-seeking, deception, and sandbagging, among other capabilities, have been proposed. One important indicator, though, has been hiding in plain sight for years. In this post, we identify an underappreciated method that may be both necessary and sufficient to identify misaligned AIs: whether or not they've turned red, i.e. gone rouge. In [...] ---Outline:(01:43) Historical Evidence for Rouge AI(02:59) Recent Empirical Work(05:18) Potential Countermeasure(05:22) The EYES Eval(06:27) EYES Eval Demonstration(07:40) Future Research Directions(08:42) Conclusion--- First published: April 1st, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/uKKoj9iqj2cWKsjrt/mitigating-risks-from-rouge-ai --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

The long-awaited JFK files have finally been released, and one of the most revealing details isn't what's in them—but what the CIA wanted to keep hidden. Among the redactions in the report, one stands out: “The Israeli Intelligence Service.” Why was this information deemed too sensitive for public eyes, even after all these years? In this episode, I break down my initial reaction to the files, what this redaction could mean, and how it fits into the bigger picture of JFK's assassination, and American politics in general.—https://policecoffee.com/?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAACG7qmIkS3X8ivoZzZosZdSRJueTZ&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1um-BhDtARIsABjU5x6X9JVI5Dihvk6wiS1l5Ra9sToZWRHjj-F0vy3owqCssQ1Bpb0eGaQaAsF1EALw_wcB

In this episode, we discuss cultural appropriation, the Bible and contexts of religions. View below for time coded segments.00:00 - Introduction and Weekend Adventures.05:04 - Exploring the god of the Bible.09:57 - Historical Context of Religions.14:46 - Paganism and it's Misunderstandings.24:45 - Cultural Appropriation in Religion.29:30 - The Persistence of Pagan Traditions.31:58 - The Nature of Evil and Free Will.33:47 - Questioning the Historical Evidence of Jesus.43:54 - Ritual Practices and Spiritual Connections.52:08 - Ghost Hunting and Paranormal Encounters.56:04 - Understanding Ignorance and Knowledge in Society.Connect With Us Here:https://facebook.com/thesouthernheathenshttps://facebook.com/groups/thesouthernheathenssouthernheathenpod@gmail.com

Ever felt your beliefs shaken by unexpected doubts? This message dives into how small 'paper cuts'—questions about faith, history, and trust—can challenge what we know and how evidence and truth can help us overcome these doubts.

This week's pick has been on our Matty Lilly Birthday Episode Wish List for years — and now it's finally time for Scooby-Doo (2002) to have its day on Spooky Island. A live-action flick with an iconic cast that brings one of television's most famous cartoons to the big screen, this movie went through about a million different tweaks and rewrites before it finally made its debut. Not only was it toned down from an R-rated adult comedy to a PG that still managed to be pretty provocative (or, as Scoob might say, ruhrohcative), it also got a lot less gay. Not totally no gay, though — and given that it's got a full, feature-length, starring-role dose of Matthew Lillard, we're pretty sure this is going to be one of our most special installments of Spooky Tuesday so far. References:https://www.indiewire.com/features/commentary/how-2002-scooby-doo-movie-raised-entire-generation-bisexuals-1235037327/https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/james-gunn-studio-rejected-velma-gay-scooby-doo-1234572972/https://screenrant.com/scooby-doo-r-rated-cut-deleted-scenes-details/https://www.tiktok.com/@fredagainagain/video/7194934369138543878?_r=1&_t=ZT-8t7jKlKPg1mhttps://people.com/tv/sarah-michelle-gellar-freddie-prinze-jr-relationship-timeline/Historical Evidence that Velma is LESBIAN!!!!https://www.reddit.com/r/Scoobydoo/comments/1emrega/its_unlikely_anyone_expected_scooby_to_bring_up/Deleted Scenes: https://youtu.be/dIgLWY7fF24?si=Uw37tNhBMP3FjPyAThe Many Loves of Dobie Gillis: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052490/?ref_=tt_mv_close

The Impact of Atheist Critiques on Christian and LDS Beliefs In religious discussions, atheists often serve as impartial critics, highlighting inconsistencies in how Christians and Latter-Day Saints assess religious testimony. They point out that Christians may apply a double standard, questioning the testimonies of Latter-Day Saints' witnesses—who claim to have seen the angel Moroni and the golden plates—while accepting their own biblical accounts, such as the resurrection of Jesus, despite lacking similar firsthand evidence. This inconsistency prompts a reevaluation of evidential standards across different faiths. The debate further explores archaeological evidence, comparing the historical foundations of various religious texts. These conversations emphasize the need for consistent criteria when evaluating religious claims. Resources like scripture notes.com offer believers tools to enhance their scriptural study, encouraging a deeper engagement with these intricate theological debates. #ResurrectionEvidence #WesHuffScholar #JosephSmithPlates #AngelMoroni #LatterDaySaints #ChristianDebate #AtheistsPerspective ⏱️⏱️VIDEO CHAPTERS⏱️⏱️: 00:00:00 - Debate: Atheists vs Christians on Latter-Day Saints 00:03:35 - Eyewitness Accounts and Historical Evidence in Religion 00:07:06 - Comparing Witnesses: Book of Mormon vs Resurrection 00:10:41 - Analyzing Testimonies: Angel Moroni and Joseph Smith 00:14:20 - The Role of Eyewitnesses in Religious Beliefs 00:17:45 - Understanding Visions and Trances in Religious Contexts 00:21:21 - Historical Context: Witnesses of the Book of Mormon 00:24:56 - Critiques and Comparisons: Christian and Mormon Claims 00:28:33 - Evaluating Evidence: Gold Plates and Resurrection 00:32:28 - Scholarly Debates: Biblical and Mormon Texts 00:36:03 - Witness Testimonies: Consistency and Details 00:39:38 - Archaeological Evidence: Bible vs Book of Mormon 00:43:18 - Exploring Mesoamerican Archaeology and the Book of Mormon 00:46:55 - Anachronisms and Historical Validity in Scriptures 00:50:30 - Cultural and Historical Contexts of Ancient Civilizations 00:54:08 - Inference and Explanation in Archaeological Studies 00:57:37 - Comparative Analysis: Biblical and Mormon Narratives 01:01:21 - Scriptural Reliability: Testing the New Testament 01:04:50 - Conclusion: Faith, Evidence, and Religious Beliefs ⚡wardradio.com

Fr. Spitzer and Doug discuss how the use of specific identifiable people or places, like Pontius Pilate or the city of Nain, help prove the historical accuracy of the Gospels.

Fr. Spitzer and Doug discuss how the Gospels maintain the use of first century Palestinian terms, rooting the Gospels in the time of Christ, then authenticating the Bible.

Fr. Spitzer and Doug discuss how the inclusion of embarrassing stories, such as the betrayal of Jesus by Peter, serves as an indication of the Bible's authenticity.

Paul and Howard discuss how the amount and vigor of physical movement are more significant predictors of longevity than age, based on a recent piece on movement in Outside, as well as a new study on why exercise fails as medicine. They critique the modern trend of engineering movement out of daily life, making it harder for people to stay active. Highlighting historical studies and modern examples, they advocate for simple, natural forms of movement over complicated or expensive solutions. The conversation touches on societal barriers to movement and offers practical advice on incorporating more physical activity into everyday life.00:00 Introduction: The Importance of Movement00:33 Surprising Insights on Movement and Longevity01:19 The Simplicity of Movement vs. Complex Solutions01:57 Historical Evidence of Movement Benefits03:11 Modern Challenges to Natural Movement03:54 The Social and Environmental Barriers09:00 Reengineering Movement into Daily Life13:08 Practical Advice for Incorporating Movement20:16 Conclusion: Framing Movement for Longevity

Fr. Spitzer and Doug discuss why scholars are sure eyewitness accounts of Jesus' deeds and words in the Gospels were accurately recorded and without modification as time passed.

Fr. Spitzer and Doug discuss how the Shroud of Turin, as an external Biblical source, offers historical evidence of Jesus because of the amount of scientific study it has endured.

Fr. Spitzer and Doug discuss sources outside the Bible that cite the existence of Jesus, and are hostile to Christianity, carry credence as they do not aim to promote Christianity.

Learn about Fr. Spitzer's book, Christ, Science, and Reason: What We Can Know about Jesus, Mary, and Miracles, and how the evangelists emphasized Jesus' doctrine not His miracles.

Not only did the disciples discover Jesus' tomb to be empty, but Jesus also appeared in the flesh to various individuals and groups at different times and in different locations. I explore the reasons historians are convinced that the disciples had some sort of experience of Jesus after His death. I also harmonize all of the various resurrection appearances recorded in the gospels and 1 Corinthians, ordering them chronologically. Web: ThinkingtoBelieve.comEmail: ThinkingToBelieve@gmail.comFacebook: facebook.com/thinkingtobelieveTwitter & Gettr: @thinking2believTruth: @ThinkingToBelieve

Fr. Spitzer and Doug discuss Father's new book, Christ, Science, and Reason: What We Can Know about Jesus, Mary, and Miracles, and examine the data proving Jesus was a real person.

I present six lines of evidence in favor of the historicity of the empty tomb, and explain why this historical fact is significant in the case for the resurrection of Jesus. Web: ThinkingtoBelieve.comEmail: ThinkingToBelieve@gmail.comFacebook: facebook.com/thinkingtobelieveTwitter & Gettr: @thinking2believTruth: @ThinkingToBelieve

I present the reasons that have convinced the vast majority of historians that Jesus was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea and why this historical fact is significant. I also address other matters related to Jesus' burial, including the location of Jesus' tomb, the rolling stone that covered the tomb, how long Jesus was in the tomb, and whether the guard at the tomb was Roman or Jewish. Web: ThinkingtoBelieve.comEmail: ThinkingToBelieve@gmail.comFacebook: facebook.com/thinkingtobelieveTwitter & Gettr: @thinking2believTruth: @ThinkingToBelieve

The first line of historical evidence for Jesus' resurrection is Jesus' death by crucifixion. In addition to providing the evidence that has convinced virtually all historians of this fact, I also explore the nature of crucifixion, how it killed its victims, the shape of the cross, the date of Jesus' crucifixion, and more. Web: ThinkingtoBelieve.comEmail: ThinkingToBelieve@gmail.comFacebook: facebook.com/thinkingtobelieveTwitter & Gettr: @thinking2believTruth: @ThinkingToBelieve

Some claim that there's no evidence that Jesus even existed, or that the evidence we have is less than compelling. Nothing could be further from the truth. I provide a number of reasons to think Jesus was a real historical person, including what is recorded about Him in early, non-Christian sources. Not only do non-Christians take it for granted that Jesus existed, but also provide information about Jesus and His followers that is corroborated in the New Testament. Web: ThinkingtoBelieve.comEmail: ThinkingToBelieve@gmail.comFacebook: facebook.com/thinkingtobelieveTwitter & Gettr: @thinking2believTruth: @ThinkingToBelieve

Jane is joined by Ally Campbell-Grieve ( James isn't available this week) to debate the thorny topic of how we should deal with veteran's accounts as historical sources. They explore the challenges historians face when analysing accounts from veterans, particularly those from Bomber Command during WWII. The conversation delves into the background of Ally's great uncle, Steve, and the discrepancies in his accounts of service during two operational tours, which culminated in his aircraft being shot down in July 1944.  The episode emphasizes the importance of critical analysis of veteran narratives, the influence of memory, and the impact of popular media on how stories are told. It concludes with reflections on the need for sensitivity when dealing with family histories and the importance of questioning accepted narratives in military history.Links:The Veteran's Tale by by Frances HoughtonCollected Memories: Holocaust History and Postwar Testimony, by Christopher R BrowningArticle: THE MEMORY MINEFIELD – VETERAN TESTIMONY AND THE SEARCH FOR THE ‘FACTS', by Jane Gulliford Lowes Send us a textSupport the showPlease subscribe to Never Mind The Dambusters wherever you get your podcasts. You can support the show, and help us produce great content, by becoming a paid subscriber from just $3 a month here https://www.buzzsprout.com/2327200/support . Supporters receive invitations to participate in our recording sessions as an audience member. Thank you for listening! You can reach out to us on social media at @RAF_BomberPod (X) or @NeverMindTheDambusters (Instagram)You can find out about James' research, articles, lectures and podcasts here .You can read more about Jane's work on her website at https://www.justcuriousjane.com/, and listen to podcasts/media stuff here

Shownotes and Transcript Dr. David Wood joins Hearts of Oak to recount his transformative journey from atheism to Christianity. Sparked by profound discussions with Nabeel Qureshi during his time in jail. Focusing on apologetics regarding Islam, he emphasizes the need for Christians to address Islam's global ambitions for dominance and engage with its challenges. The conversation delves into Islam's complexities, including misconceptions, Muhammad's role, and controversial practices, shedding light on control mechanisms within the religion. Highlighting the growing curiosity to critically examine faith, the discussion urges critical engagement with Islam, support for individuals leaving the faith, and challenges foundational beliefs through historical and logical analyses. By comparing Jesus and Muhammad, the dialogue aims to encourage critical thinking and foster open discussions to prompt introspection and reshape perspectives on faith. Dr David Wood is an American evangelical missionary, Christian apologist and polemicist. He is currently head of the Acts 17 Apologetics Ministry. He is a member of the Society of Christian Philosophers and the Evangelical Philosophical Society. After converting to Christianity, he earned degrees in biology and philosophy, and a PhD in the philosophy of religion. Connect with David... WEBSITE              acts17.com X/TWITTER          x.com/Acts17David YOUTUBE            youtube.com/@apologeticsroadshow Interview recorded  15.7.24 Connect with Hearts of Oak... X/TWITTER        x.com/HeartsofOakUK WEBSITE            heartsofoak.org/ PODCASTS        heartsofoak.podbean.com/ SOCIAL MEDIA  heartsofoak.org/connect/ SHOP                  heartsofoak.org/shop/ Transcript Hearts of Oak: I'm delighted to have Dr. David Wood with us today. David, thank you so much for your time. Dr David Wood: Hey, how you doing, Peter? Hearts of Oak: All good. All the better for seeing you and better for seeing you in London when you're over with the absolutely awesome conference that you and Jay and many others were involved in. So thank you for taking the time and coming over to Blighty. Dr David Wood: Yeah, that was fun. Hearts of Oak: It was good fun. Obviously, people can find you @Acts17David on Twitter and @ApologeticsRoadshow over on YouTube. Make use of both of those resources. But David, I've followed you for, I mean, quite a number of years on the engagement on Islam. And obviously I've known Jay for back when he was in London. So 17, 18 years ago, I first connected with Jay and was opened up into the world of engaging Islam and polemics and something I didn't understand before. And I've got to slowly understand and marvel at his ability to engage, as is your ability. But can I maybe step back a little bit? You've put out videos about you being an atheist and becoming a Christian. And I'm curious about that journey before we get on to your engagement on actually deconstructing Islam and taking it apart and destroying it, absolutely. But your conversion, tell us about that. Dr David Wood: I grew up as an atheist. I don't remember ever believing in God when I was a kid, but it wasn't really an issue. I wasn't thinking about it. It just wasn't an issue wherever I was. I was probably, I don't know, 13, 14 when I realized I was an atheist and eventually ended up in jail. And whenever I say that, atheists go, oh, you're saying that all atheists go to jail. No, I'm not. That was me. That was me. Okay. That was me. I'm one of the people who had a jailhouse conversion. So I got to jail and I met a Christian in there. This was a guy who had turned himself in for 21 felonies. So he became a Christian, went, turned himself in for everything he'd ever done. I thought that was the most idiotic thing I'd ever heard about in my life. So I started talking to this guy and he enraged me so much that I was, I started studying Christianity just to, just to argue with this guy. And, uh, uh, anyway, a while later, uh, took a while, but I eventually became a Christian, uh, had to serve some time, uh, got out, went to college. And so, yeah, that's, that's, uh, that's, that's the short version. If people want the law, if people want the long version, they can, they can, uh, check it out on my channel. Hearts of Oak: It's on your YouTube channel. Absolutely. What is your, cause you kind of think, I mean, I grew up pastor's kids, so very different background. Uh, you're growing up where you, you never went to church, never went to Sunday school. That just wasn't part of your upbringing. Dr David Wood: No, the only time I went to church was if I, and I never went to church when I was like little, uh, eventually we moved and we were closer to my grandmother and my aunt. But if I were visiting my grandmother or my aunt then and it was a Sunday then we'd go to church and I just remember I'd go in there and I'd sit right beside the little clock on the wall and I would just stare at that thing for the entire service and then as soon as it was done I would bolt for the door because they would have like donuts or brownies downstairs and so I'd bolt downstairs and grab a bunch of donuts and stuff. Hearts of Oak: But it wasn't on your agenda at all no you you talked about being in prison and I've read Nabil Qureshi's book and you touch on that and that having an impact on you, meeting him. And what was that connection like? Dr David Wood: Well, we just, we, we became best friends in college. So we were both on the, uh, speech and debate team at Old Dominion University. And, um, we went on, uh, uh, you go to different competitions and stuff. So this is, this is after I was locked up. So I got, uh, once I got out, I went to, uh, school, met Nabil Qureshi and we ended up sharing a hotel room on a school trip. And of course, you know, I'd been a Christian for several years now. He'd been a Muslim all his life. And I'm sitting in the hotel room and I see this guy's a Muslim, but I don't, you don't know if he's like a hardcore Muslim or, you know, liberal Muslim or something like that. So I was wondering, I'm sitting there reading my Bible in a year and I pray, I say, God, if you want me to talk to this guy, let him start it because I don't want people to accuse me of attacking the Muslim or something like that. And anyway, little, little while after that, I'm sitting there reading my Bible and he He goes, he goes, so are you a hardcore Christian? I was like, all right. Come on. All right. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. And so we ended up, we ended up talking a lot that weekend about Islam and Christianity. We just became, we just became best friends. We got along really well. We ended up hanging out all the time together and so on. And yeah, so we spent the next basically four years arguing about Christianity and Islam. he eventually became a Christian. And when he became a Christian, I actually thought, oh, cool. I'm done with Islam right now because the only reason I was studying Islam was because my best friend was a Muslim. If he'd been something else, I'd have been studying that. And so, yeah, he became a, he became a Christian. I thought, ah, cool. I'm done with this stuff. I can get back to stuff I'm more interested in, which is almost anything. But yeah, it was actually part, part of the reason I stayed dealing with Islam was kind of watching the stand that he took for the gospel, and I was just like, wow, Muslims make really cool Christians. And by the way, there's a reason for that. There's kind of a flip side of what's a negative, and it ends up being a positive. But Islam puts all these psychological barriers in front of people, in front of Muslims, to keep them from leaving Islam. So Muslims are told their entire lives that the worst possible sin you can commit is the sin of shirk, associating a partner with Allah. So if you say Jesus is Lord, you've just associated a partner with Allah. That's the worst possible. That's a one-way ticket to hell. So saying Jesus is Lord is the worst thing you can possibly do. Two, they know they have to give up their families if they convert to Islam, or at the very least that their relationships with their families are going to be very, very, very strained. And three, the penalty for leaving Islam is death. Doesn't happen a lot in the West, but you always have to be kind of looking over your shoulder if you leave Islam. So we're Christians. We preach the good news. And when a Muslim, what a Muslim hears when we preach the good news is, oh, so you're telling me to believe this thing that's going to have to, that'll cause me to have to give up my family and maybe get my head chopped off and it's a one-way ticket to hell. And you guys call this the good news because it sounds like the worst news ever. So that's kind of a negative. Islam makes it very difficult to leave Islam. But the positive side, the positive side, I said there's There's a reversal here. The positive side is that when a Muslim says, you know what? I may have to give up my family and this may get my head chopped off. And I've been told all my life this will get me sent to hell. But you know what? I want to know Jesus anyway. That's someone who will stand up for Christ. And so, yeah, I just ended up sticking with it. Hearts of Oak: What was, what were you, before we get into that, what was your interest before? What kind of pathway may you have followed if someone like Nabeel Quresh had not come into your world and you'd understood the importance of presenting Christ to Muslims? Dr David Wood: Well, I was more interested in the objections of atheists because that was my background. So I probably would have done that. And that was the other part of it, why I ended up staying with Islam was that as I was thinking about that, like after Nabeel became a Christian, as I was thinking about what I wanted to focus on, it was just like, almost every Christian apologist out there deals with atheism. And back then there weren't a lot of Christians who were dealing with Islam. So you're talking early 2000s, like, you know, shortly after 9-11. If you went into Christian apologetics back then, you were either dealing with the objections of atheists or you're dealing with cults or or something like that, there were not a lot of people dealing with Islam. It was Jay Smith over there in the UK. There was Tony Costa in Canada. There's Samuel Green down in Australia and a couple of people in the US, but it just wasn't an emphasis. And so there was also that point where, okay, maybe I need to not be doing what I'm most interested in and do what's needed. And so I started focusing on that. Fortunately, it's a different time. Lots of people deal with to Islam now. So these are actually good days. Hearts of Oak: Well, of course, the starting point is, why would you engage with Islam? Surely Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are all three of the great Abrahamic faiths. So why would you even want to engage on that when someone is following the great Abrahamic faith and therefore is good? Dr David Wood: I know you're not serious, but no, it's funny. So you've, we're told, we're told in, we're told in the New Testament what the core of the gospel is. So Jesus spent a few years with his followers. But when you look at the book of Acts, the message they actually went out and were preaching afterwards, this is the takeaway. The main takeaway for them was that Jesus died on the cross for sins. He rose from the dead and he's Lord. So you've got death, resurrection and deity. Those are the points they hit wherever they went. So that was the core of the gospel message for them. And we're also told in the New Testament that false teachers and false prophets are going to come. What are these false teachers and false prophets going to do? They're going to lead people away from that core message. And then you get down to Muhammad, and Muhammad comes along. And Muhammad says, hey, you Christians, you believe in God? So do I. You believe that God sent prophets? So do I. You believe in these revelations, these scriptures? So do I. When it comes to Jesus, you believe that he's born of a virgin? So do I. You believe that he lived the most miraculous life in history? So do I. you believe that he's the word, so do I. You believe that he's the Messiah, so do I. I agree with you on all these things. But there are just these three things we have to get past. One, he didn't die on the cross for sins. Two, he didn't rise from the dead. And three, he's not Lord. So if we can just get past those things, we'll all be on the same page. And it's like, my goodness, we've been waiting for you, buddy. You are like the perfect, you are the perfect ultimate example of a false prophet. Someone who agrees with us on all these other things and says, yeah, we're this close to being on the same page. Just drop the entire core of the Christian gospel. And so, yeah, we were warned. We were warned about Muhammad and we definitely have to respond to him. Hearts of Oak: Now, I want to go into a lot of the issues that you engage with on Islam, and especially the person of Muhammad. But you touched on people focus on atheism and see that as the threat. You obviously see Islam as a threat that's not being focused on. Tell us about that clash, because is it safer to focus on Islam? Is the people are blind to Islam? What is it? Why is the reason why the focus is on one threat and not the other? Dr David Wood: Well, it's just it was just atheism was a bigger issue in the West. So in the in the 80s and 90s, when apologetics started becoming more of an issue for people, and it was because you had Christian families and their kids are going off to college and their kids are coming back. Their kids weren't coming back Muslims. Their kids were going off to college and taking some philosophy classes and becoming skeptical. And if your kids had been raised in a church but hadn't really been given any reasons, in other words, they hadn't dealt with apologetics at all, and they didn't know how to respond to issues, and then you were actually challenged on your faith, some of those kids would just leave Christianity and become atheists. So people started focusing on that. And it's the other issue as far as cults where it wasn't Muslims knocking at your door, it was Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons. So people were responding to what was kind of an issue for them and Islam wasn't really an issue in the 70s, 80s and 90s and so on. So that by the time Islam started becoming an issue. Christian apologetics was just veered towards completely other things. And so, yeah, so yeah, that's why I started focusing on Islam. But no, it's definitely not, it's definitely not, not, not safer by any means. But as far as, as far as the, why it's so relevant, there's nothing in atheism that tells you one way or another how you're supposed to behave. So you could have an atheist who's, you know, a really mean, aggressive guy. You can have an atheist who, I don't care what people believe. Like my friend, I'm friends with the guy, the apostate prophet. His attitude is, look, I don't believe this stuff, but I don't really care what other people believe. It's not an issue for me. Like I'm an atheist. I don't believe anything happens after death. But if you believe something, what do I care? Right. And that makes sense from an atheistic perspective. So it only makes sense from an atheistic perspective to be concerned about something that's actually like causing you harm in your life or something like that. So he focuses on Islam. There's one religion out there that wants to execute me because he's an ex-Muslim. So he focuses on that. But apart from that, there's nothing in atheism that tells you you have to subjugate the world or anything like that. And you could have all different kinds of atheists. But part of Islam is the goal of ultimately subjugating the world and making all religion for Allah. law. So even with Muslims, you'll have different kinds of Muslims. So you'll have peaceful Muslims, you'll have very aggressive Muslims, but it's not like atheism where the ideology doesn't tell you what to do. The ideology tells you that your ultimate goal is to subjugate the world. And so Islam is, even with a diversity among Muslims, Islam is always going to be a bigger issue because when people take it seriously, then they have to start taking these issues seriously about confronting other people and, yeah, ultimately subjugating the world. Hearts of Oak: Well, that's a concept that doesn't really connect with Christians and those in the West. Generally, they think there's a pluralism and your freedom to believe what you think. And then Islam comes along and seems to be to want that dominance, to want to force its opinion that you can accept anything, but you must accept Islam. You don't have that freedom. I don't think that many Christians, certainly in the UK, probably the same for the US, I don't think they understand that desire to dominate that comes from Islam. Dr David Wood: Yeah, they don't. And you have lots of Christians who are, who are, you know, they might be ashamed of the history of Christianity. They might say, oh, well, you know, there were times when Christians tried to conquer people and stuff. So who are we to complain about Islam? Not realizing, well, you're not told, you weren't told to conquer the world. It's just a thing that humans do. too. So anyone might do that. You could have various ideologies where just because there are human beings involved, human beings very frequently want to make our way the way for everyone else. But Islam is different in that it actually calls for it. So as a Christian, if Christians start going around killing people, then you as a Christian could say, you're not supposed to be doing that. Here, let me show you why. Look, Jesus says right here, here. My kingdom is not of this world. He breaks it down to here. He's not fighting for an earthly kingdom. You can explain why they're wrong. You can say, look, it says right here, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. You're not supposed to hate everyone and try to kill everyone. So you have a basis within Christianity for saying, no, you shouldn't be doing that. In Islam, it's the reverse, where if you're peaceful and you just want to get along with people and so on, you can actually say, hey, if you're a Muslim, you need to be looking at what you're supposed supposed to be doing here. And so, yeah, it's just lots of people think, oh, you know, different religions have had their issues. Islam may just have a little bit of an issue now that you have some aggressive guys in it, but it can mellow out after time. But yeah, when one of the main goals of the religion is subjugating the world, that's going to keep popping up, and we keep seeing it pop up for a reason. Hearts of Oak: It is a possibly difficult issue to engage on. Okay, so moving on to um and I don't know if jihadi tears is available on your website because I love the mug Dr David Wood: Oh, yeah. Yeah, I have a little online store, because I got this one made for live streams, but people asked where they could get it. So, yeah, they can get it in my little merch store. Hearts of Oak: Okay, it's available there. I just want to point that out. all right the so engaging on Islam um many people don't many people are afraid although they don't know they're afraid um where do you start is it then maybe start with the person of Muhammad um that we are told peace be upon him he is a prophet he must be respected and whether or not he exists or not I'm not very sure but how do you let's start with the person of Muhammad because Because I know that my good friend Calvin Robinson here in the UK calls it Muhammadism, those who follow Muhammad. And then you think, actually, is this about him or is it about something else? So how do you begin to tackle that issue of that individual? Dr David Wood: Well, yeah, people who call it Muhammadism and point out that it seems to be about Muhammad, absolutely correct. Absolutely correct. Correct. If you look at Islam, I mean, the word, you can learn a lot about a religion by kind of what its name is, like Christianity emphasizes Christ in the name of the religion. Islam, the word Islam means submission, and in its religious context means submission to Allah, refers to submission to Allah. And so Muslims will use that as sort of a sales pitch. Hey, Christians and Jews, you believe in God. You believe in submitting to God, right? Well, this is just the religion of submission to God. Why would you be opposed to that? Well, Islam doesn't just tell you that you must submit to Allah. It tells you how you submit to Allah. And you submit to Allah by obeying Muhammad in everything. And I'm not making that up. I'm not exaggerating this. Surah 4, verse 65, among other passages, Surah 4, verse 65. Says that Muslims can have no real faith until they make Muhammad judge in all disputes, have no resistance against anything that he decides and submit to him with full submission. And so here's the religion where you submit to Allah. OK, how do you do that? By mindlessly obeying anything this guy over here says, this guy who's an illiterate 7th century Arabian caravan robber. You have to mindlessly obey everything he says. If you have any doubt about what he says or you question anything, he says, you're not a real Muslim. And so, yeah, the religion is all about Muhammad. And it would be one thing if he was a really, really great, nice guy. It's something else entirely if he's a guy who calls for the violent subjugation of the world, a guy who says that apostates have to be beheaded, A guy who says that Jews and Christians, because they have true revelations, can accept an inferior status in society and pay tribute money to Muslims in honor in order to not be killed. But everyone else, they either have to be they have to convert or die. It's just it's just an entirely different category, especially when you look at some of you start getting down to the moral issues with with Muhammad, things like. A child marriage, he married a girl who was six years old. He consummated the marriage when she was nine years old. And you can look down to today, you have Muslims who are the world champions of defending child marriage. Daniel Hakikachu, you can consummate a marriage with a five-year-old, a six-year-old, a seven-year-old. He argues this, he defends this, he tries to defend it academically. You have Ali Dawa, who said that if his daughter was nine years old and she got her first menstrual, she got her first monthly period, then he said he would tell her she's ready to be married. And keep in mind, the Quran doesn't even require that. Aisha hadn't even reached puberty. So Ali Dawa, as revolting as it is to say, I would tell my nine-year-old daughter she's ready to be married. He's actually better than Muhammad who didn't wait, who didn't wait for a first, uh, didn't wait for a menstrual cycle. And so this is, this is the kind of guy you're dealing with. I mean, Muhammad again, had sex with a nine-year-old girl. He took the wife of his own adopted son after he caused the divorce by seeing her practically naked and started lusting after her and, uh, eventually married her after he caused the divorce when his adopted son's like, Oh, oh, if you want her, then you take her. And so he bought, owned, sold, and traded black African slaves. Those are the guys who institutionalized the African slave trade long before the United States ever existed. They're just amazing stories about the issues that this guy had. And they're in the Muslim sources. They're right there in the Muslim sources. So I'll just share one story that sort of gives you an idea of what you're dealing with here. Once Muhammad got caught in the bed of his wife, Hafsa, having sex with his slave girl. Now he was allowed to have sex with his slave girls. They understood that they didn't want it happening in their own beds, right? His, his wives didn't want him having sex with his slave girls in their beds. That was the issue. So Hafsa goes out to run some errands. She comes back early. Muhammad is in her bed with his sex slave. She objects to this. She goes and complains to the other wives and then to stop his wives from complaining. Like, what are you, you're rolling around with a slave girl in our bed, the bed that I sleep in. And then I'm about to go to bed there and you were just, you know, in there with your slave girl. So he, so in order to deal with his wives complaining, he says, fine, look, I'll never, I swear by Allah, I will never have sex with that slave girl again. And so then his wives are, oh, okay, that's fine. And then he gets the revelations in that are the opening verses of Surah 66. Anyone could read these, the opening verses of Surah 66, Allah tells him to break his oath. He said, I didn't tell you, I didn't tell you to break that. I didn't tell you to make that oath. I didn't tell you to swear that to me. And so he says, hey, you break that oath. And so Muhammad went back to having sex with his slave girl. He eventually, that's Mary the cop. That one was Mary the cop. He eventually got her pregnant. So, but I mean, think about this. This is Muhammad swears an oath to Allah. Allah tells him to break the oath because, well, I didn't tell you to make that oath and therefore you can break it. Well, think about that. Like 99.9999999% of all oaths that anyone ever takes were not commanded to you by God. So that means anyone could just break any oath at any time because God didn't order you to do it. And that's what you actually find in the Muslim sources that Muhammad is constantly being told, here's the justification for this horrible behavior that you're doing. And it comes from God. God is the one who's justifying your behavior right now. And if you look at the justifications, it makes all sorts of really, really terrible behavior completely acceptable. Hearts of Oak: So you're telling us that you can come up with voices in your head and then you can announce that is the way according to God to live by. And then you can do whatever you like. I don't know what to make of that. Dr David Wood: It is. is if you have enough people following you, if you get enough followers, you can silence anyone who criticizes you. I call this, this is a version of what I call Islam's 99-1 rule. And I usually talk about that in the context of apologetics with, I mean, Islamic apologetics with people like Zakir Naik. Because you sit there and listen to Zakir Naik, if you have any idea what he's talking about, you know, if you understand the issues that he's talking about, you know he's spouting complete nonsense. But the audience he's talking to, they don't know about any of this. They just agree with whatever he's saying And so the rule that has always been part of Islam is, If you're telling a crowd something Even if you're making it up If 99% of the people are just going to go along with what you say and believe you And 1% are going to object and go I'm not sure about that Or no, I know you're wrong about this Or this sounds suspicious to me If only 1% of people are going to object The 99% can silence the 1% So it's always been the way to do things in Islam So if you go out and you convince a bunch of people in Arabia to mindlessly agree with anything you say, and someone objects and says, hey, wait, I think we have a problem here. Well, the 99 can silence the one. And so that's been built into Islam from the beginning. It's the same in Islam now. Hearts of Oak: So you approach Islam, and what part of it do you tackle? You've got the Quran itself with its gibberish stories. You've then got the theology and all the books written about it. You've got Muhammad's life story. You've got all the practices that happen. I mean, you look at this range, and it's much more complicated. In Christianity, you have the Bible. You've got Genesis to Revelation. Revelation, you read it. It's fairly simple. You can understand the vast majority, if not the whole of the Bible. Maybe we'll leave a bit of Revelation aside in some of the other books. But I mean, it's simple to understand. The Islam seems to be much more complicated and convoluted and purposely designed to confuse people. So how do you start with unpacking it? Dr David Wood: Islam is extremely confusing. If you just start reading the Quran, you're going to be confused. Like when I see Christians who say, hey, I'm interested in doing Christian apologetics and dealing with Islam and so on. Should I read the Quran? I usually tell them that's going to confuse you at the beginning. Hold off on that. You might want to look up certain, you might want to look up the verses on certain topics that you're interested in. But as far as just sitting down and reading the Quran, you're not going to get anything out of it. You're probably going to give up around midway through surah two you're going to give up and so if you think that's essential to doing apologetics with Islam you're going you're not going to last long because you're going to give up and say this is too confusing uh but yeah the Quran's just it's completely disorganized it jumps around when they arranged it they basically arranged it from longest apart from the opening prayer uh they basically arranged it from longest chapters the shortest chapters so the chapters are completely out of out of like historical order um and so very confusing there You can only figure out. These passages mean or what the correct order is by going outside the Quran to these massive multi-volume collection of stories called the Hadiths and to the Sira literature and so on. And the impact that that has had on the Muslim community over the centuries is that, keep in mind, when I cited Surah 4, verse 65, that you can't have any resistance against anything Muhammad has said. You can't come up with your own interpretation of things. That's the sin of innovation in Islam. That's a one-way ticket to hell. If you come up with your own interpretation, your own understanding, that's a one-way ticket to hell. So the result of the Quran being very, very confusing and requiring these massive multi-volume collections of other sources and commentaries in order to understand what the Quran is even saying, the impact, the practical impact that it's had on the Muslim community over the centuries is you don't want to just read the Quran for yourself, because if you do, you're going to misunderstand some things and you might fall into some massive sins as far as coming up with your own understanding, misunderstanding passages, and you're actually... Going against Muhammad's understanding on some of these issues. And so you're actually in a lot of trouble not realizing it. So you don't want to do that. So the impact that this has had is you either need to learn all of it. So you learn the Quran and the commentaries, the Hadith, the Syria, you learn all of that so that you understand the Quran accurately, or sit down, shut up and listen to what your scholar says. The scholar who understands all this stuff, listen to what that guy says. And so your average Muslim, and this is shocking because we think of Muslims as very knowledgeable about their religion because we see them go to the mosque, we see them dressed in a certain way. No, Islam emphasizes that Muslims need to understand these basic practices and they need to do these things. They need to fast during Ramadan. They need to dress a certain way. They need to take the pilgrimage. But as far as understanding their book, it was shocking to me how little Muslims know about their book. In fact, the vast majority of times, the vast majority of times when I'm quoting the Quran to Muslims, they have no clue what I'm talking about because they're just not familiar with it. And that's kind of sad because you're trying to expose Muhammad by quoting these passages and they don't know what you're talking about. But there's a positive side to that as well. Namely that when you're showing Muslims what the Quran says about all these issues, the question that rises in their mind is, wait a minute, why have I never heard this from my Imam? Why have I never heard this from my Sheikh? Why am I hearing these things from this Christian only? And so there can be a kind of light switch moment eventually like, wait a minute, have they been filtering information from, have they been hiding this stuff from me? Have my leaders been hiding this information about the Quran and Muhammad from me? And why am I getting this stuff from the Christian and so on? So that can actually encourage them to start studying Islam for themselves. And at which point they're going to be on their way out of Islam. Hearts of Oak: It doesn't be a perfect setup for a cult because you do something that is only accessible to a few people in a language that only Allah can speak in. That's a bit of a bummer that you have a God that can only speak in one language, but that you've only got one language and the vast majority don't understand it. And therefore, they just do what they're told to do in a robotic fashion. It does seem like a perfect setup for having a worldwide cult. It is. It's considered a big religion just because of the size of it. If it were smaller, you would consider it a cult. But yeah, cult tactics are at the core of Islam. If you look at the tactics of any cult, that's exactly what Muhammad was doing the entire time. When you engage with people when they begin to see through the nonsense that is in front of them um and realizing that they are born you're born a Muslim as a Christian you you make a choice later in life but Islam you're supposedly born into it and you're stuck with that when they begin to realize what they're born into doesn't really make sense um it's it's difficult for an individual to walk away because Islam is not just a religious belief, but it's tied to many cultures. And there's a huge difficulty to walk away from that which defines you as a person, I guess. Dr David Wood: Yeah this ties into what I was saying earlier about Islam placing these psychological barriers, in the way of Muslims so if Muslim leaves in the west the main issue he has to deal with is okay I might be shunned by my family and when I say family I don't just mean mom and dad I mean aunts uncles cousins your entire community if you are in an area let's say of London where the, you've got the Muslim community and your family is part of the Muslim community and so on you say I don't really believe this. Your life gets very, very difficult. So the inclination would be lots of times to just, okay, I'll just keep going with the flow. I'll deal with this at some point later in life. That's in the West. If it's in a Muslim country and you're leaving Islam, that's a different story entirely because now you might have to deal with legal authorities. You can have to deal with your family just doing something to you and so on. But yeah, Islam makes it very very, very difficult, regardless of where it happens. Islam always makes it very difficult to leave Islam. And as far as how Christians should respond to this, keep in mind, Muslims are in a position very similar to the first century. If a Jewish teenager heard the preaching of Jesus and wanted to go follow Jesus, well, that might lead to problems with his family if his family rejected Jesus and so on. And so it's kind of a similar situation, but it's interesting because some of the same principles would apply where Jesus tells people that they may have to give up various things, but you're actually getting more. So you may have to give up, you may lose your family, but you're getting a much bigger family. And so Christians actually need to make this common knowledge among Muslims that, hey, if you guys have to give up your family, if you are shunned by your family because you leave Islam, guess what? We're going to take care of you. You have a much bigger family out here waiting for you. Hearts of Oak: Tell me about how you engage it. What for you is the big thing? I saw you having a celebration with Jay on the holes in the Qur'an and how that's come out, the different Qur'ans. Then you have the history that Islam teaches, and you find out that that begins to unravel as well. Which part of it do you see as being the main focus maybe at the moment or over the last few years, certainly for your work personally? Dr David Wood: Well, I've always been pretty much the same in that you have the arguments that Muslims are using to show that Muhammad is a true prophet. So we want to respond to those kinds of arguments. But also, what are the arguments that are most effective in dealing with Islam? So what are the arguments you use to expose Islam? What are the arguments that are most effective at exposing Muhammad and the Quran? and then how do you respond to the arguments that Muslims use to show that Islam is true. So those are the kind of issues that I've always focused on. And if you look at the arguments that Muslims used over the past several decades, the reason the holes in the narrative. Talking about the holes in the narrative about the preservation of the Quran, the reason that was such a big issue was that was one of their main arguments, if not their main argument for a couple of decades, was this argument from perfect preservation. They argued that the Quran has been miraculously preserved, dot for dot, letter for letter, and so on, from the time of Muhammad. I have Muslim apologetics books that say that there has not been one single letter changed in any single Quran manuscript, any single copy of the Quran from the time of Muhammad to the day. It's complete nonsense. It was a lie. This goes back to what I was calling the 99-1 rule. If If you're going to tell a group of people, hey, the Quran's been perfectly preserved, it's a miracle. Because you might wonder, if you're not familiar with this, you might be wondering, wait, why would a book being perfectly preserved be a miracle? I mean, if I take a copy of some book on my shelf and I find out this book is just, it's never changed or something like that, why would that mean that it's from God? But the reasoning is that if every time someone sits down to copy the Quran, they are miraculously preserved from making any sort of like scribal error or something like that, then this seems like it's god preserving it so that's the idea problem is it was it was just complete nonsense I mean if you if you go to the Muslim sources about the compilation of the Quran you find entire chapters came up missing because uh Muslims didn't recite those enough and they forgot them because early on they were trying to preserve it through memory um you find large passages of the Quran came up missing over 200 verses were lost just from surah 33 because the only people who had those passages memorized died in battle and they actually had a copy but Aisha's sheep He ate the only copy. So, I mean, you go to the Muslim sources and Allah can't even protect the Quran from a sheep. And you're talking about this perfect, miraculous preservation. So verses are lost. So that's what you find when you look at the Muslim sources. Then you can examine manuscripts. You can put manuscripts side by side. You find all kinds of differences, tens of thousands of differences when you examine Quran manuscripts. scripts. And then you get to the issue of different kirat in the world today. So there are actually different versions of the Quran that are used in different parts. Since the Ottoman Empire was the main empire of Islam, since that was the caliphate for centuries, their version, the version of the Quran that was popular with them, the Haftz Quran, that became most popular. And that was eventually what was used in compiling the 1924 Cairo edition of the Quran, the Haas version. So for most, for lots of Muslims, they're reading, they're reading that version of the Quran, but they're, that's not universal. You can go to, you can go to other parts of the Muslim world and they use different, different versions of the Quran. And so it was just a, it was just complete nonsense. It was a lie. It was at some point, some Muslim leaders just made this up and they spread the lie. And then people's confidence in Islam is based on this lie. It's the same thing with the scientific miracles arguments where they said the Quran is filled with all these scientific miracles. It's the same thing with arguing that because of Muhammad's amazing character, he must be a true prophet. No one could be this awesome and amazing if he weren't a prophet. These arguments only work in an atmosphere of ignorance. They only work in an atmosphere where no one knows about any of this. And guess what? That was the situation in the West when Muslim Da'is, their version of evangelists, these are people who invite people to Islam, when their preachers came to an area and started saying, oh, our book's been perfectly preserved, dot for dot, letter for letter. There are all these scientific miracles. Muhammad's the greatest man ever. No one was in any position to respond to any of this. And so they were able to actually convince people and win converts based on complete total deception. And so one of the main goals of me and many others over the years has been just to respond to these. And fortunately, over time, they collapse. You don't find lots of Muslims using the perfect preservation argument anymore. You won't find any other dawah guys using this anymore, unless they know they're talking to someone who is completely clueless. They wouldn't dare try that with Bob from Speaker's Corner or Chris. They wouldn't dare try that with anyone nowadays, because they know it's a lie and they know it's been exposed. Same thing with the scientific miracles argument. They wouldn't dare use that with any knowledgeable Christian. They would only use that if they walk up to someone, hey, do you know anything about Islam? Oh, you don't know anything about Islam? Oh, let me tell you about Islam. They'll use it there. And so if you know that their arguments only work in an atmosphere of ignorance, because they're based on complete deception, the way to respond to that is to just. Make an informed population. Make sure that there's always someone around who knows about this stuff. And the dawah, the dawah will never work. So that's one side of it. And the other, the other side is actually challenging Islam, exposing the Quran, giving arguments that Muhammad is a false prophet. And there's just, just plenty of that out there. Hearts of Oak: Because again, you grew up in the West and you have criticism of Christianity. If you, I grew up pastor's kid and massive criticism at school and debate and argument. and you have that, Islam seems to be a protected characteristic where you don't have. So your experience with Nabel, talking to him and beginning to expose, most Muslims do not get that. Most kids at school, when they learn about Islam, they learn it's perfect. With Christianity, they may be told, actually, there may be concerns of this or this historical document, and they have criticism early on. Islam doesn't have that. So it is difficult, I'm assuming, for a Muslim to walk away from something that they believe is perfect and their whole world is based on. Dr David Wood: And that's why actually responding to the arguments and using arguments to expose Muhammad is so absolutely essential. And fortunately, Christians are catching on to this because back when I was starting, the main response I got from Christians was, look, if you want to preach the gospel to Muslims, just preach the gospel. Don't ever criticize Muhammad or the Quran. That's just going to drive them away. And they had no idea how dangerous that idea was. So I'll just give an example. You mentioned Nabil. Nabil told me after he became a Christian, after he became a Christian, he said, we spent years examining the evidence for the death of Jesus, for his resurrection, for the reliability of the New Testament, for belief in his divine nature. We spent years going over all this. And he said, I was actually thinking, when we would go through the evidence, when we would watch lectures and debates, when we would read books on these issues, he said, I would be thinking. Wow, Christians have a much better case than I thought they did. They actually have good reasons for everything they believe here. He said he was realizing that as a Muslim, but he said what kept him being a Muslim at that time was he was thinking, but even if they can show me with 99% certainty that Christianity is true, that all these claims are true, even if they show me with 99% certainty that all these claims are true, I'm still 100% sure that Islam is true because of the the scientific miracles, because of the perfect preservation of the Quran, because of the character of Muhammad, because of all these things that were just based on lies. So think about this. You have Christians in the West saying, don't criticize Islam. Don't criticize Islam because that's just going to drive Muslims away when their heads have been filled with lies and they think that they have an airtight case. And so you're saying, hey, don't respond to what they think is an airtight case and is nothing but lies. Don't respond to that. And so what? You're just going to leave them with this 100% confidence in Islam that is based on lies and you don't want to deal with that. So I have to say, by experience, just my experience over the years, I would estimate that probably 95 to 97% of Muslims who leave Islam, it only happened after their confidence in Muhammad was shaken. That's when they were able to take an alternative seriously. So it's really, really important to expose those lies and that deception to show these problems with Islam. And again, fortunately, fortunately, Christians have woken up to this over the years because back, this is actually kind of funny. When I was starting, so years ago, and I would hear this, don't ever criticize Muhammad or the Quran. That's something you never do. That'll never work. And I'm thinking, wait a minute. I know from experience that works. I know from experience that works. And so I actually tried to figure out where are Christians getting this idea? Is it just because Christians in the West have become obsessed with being super nice? Where's this idea coming from? And I was able to trace it to two sources where they were getting this idea. One, there were Christian missionaries in Muslim countries who would come back to the US because churches back here are supporting their work. And there were Christians who are missionaries in the Muslim world, Saudi Arabia and so on. And they would come back to the the U.S. and you'd say, oh, wow, we've got a missionary to the Muslim world here. Hey, come tell us about witnessing the Muslims. And the Christian missionary would say, yeah, and don't ever criticize Muhammad or the Koran. Well, that makes sense in Saudi Arabia, right? You have to be careful in Saudi Arabia. That makes sense. It doesn't make sense over here. What are you talking about? In fact, you could say, okay, if it's really difficult to criticize Muhammad and the Quran over there, fine, we can do it over here and we'll put it online. We'll get the message out for you. But the takeaway for people was, okay, just don't ever criticize Muhammad or the Quran. That's just going to lead to problems. So they're hearing that from Christian missionaries. But then the other source was they were hearing it from Muslim speakers at interfaith meetings, right? So they're actually going in there to an interfaith meeting where you have Christians and Jews and Muslims all gathered together. And the Muslim speaker would say, hey, it's great that we're building these bridges here. It's great that we're all getting along. Isn't this great? And as a Christian, you're saying, yeah, it's great. It's great being in a room with Muslims and everyone else. It's great. And so you say, hey, if you want to keep this going, just remember one thing. Never criticize Muhammad or the Quran because that would just destroy all these great bridges we're building. It would just destroy it all. So remember, never, ever criticize Muhammad to the Quran. That's just going to drive Muslims away. And then you'll never get along with Muslims ever again. And Christians go, oh, okay. And then they tell me this stuff and I'm sitting there thinking, are you serious? You think that the Muslim speaker is giving you accurate information about how to lead Muslims out of Islam? Are you serious? Are you joking? You believe that? You believe that this guy is trying to give you a good methodology for leading Muslims to, are you serious? Are you joking? And so, but that was so common back then that it was just, look, you just, I'm just going to have to show them. And so the, what's happened over the past two decades is basically the, the people who are blasting away at Muhammad and the Quran, that's where everyone sees Muslims leaving Islam. And all the people who say, don't do that, they don't see anyone leaving Islam. And so Christians have just realized over the past couple of decades, wait a minute, this is just, this is very effective. It's actually very effective criticizing Muhammad and the Quran. Hearts of Oak: On because of it just to finish off um I mean jay talks always I'm sure you do about the book and the man the book of the man and you look at you compare as a Christian as Christians we want to present Christ because we believe that Jesus actually is a solution actually he is the way the truth and the life and you compare him to Muhammad and you think well you've got this This violent, bloodthirsty warlord that just wants to get his own way and makes up theology because he hears stuff in his head. That's not really the person I would like to follow. So when you compare them side by side, there does seem to be only one option. But yet in many Muslim countries, I guess people have not seen who Jesus is and therefore do not have the option of following him. Dr David Wood: Yeah, that's correct. If you listen to, because Muslims have their information filtered for them, they think of Muhammad as this really, really great, wonderful guy who, if you were to put him side by side with Jesus, you'd say, wow, these are both really, really wonderful guys. But that's just because their information has been filtered from them. Lots of Muslims, I mean, lots of Muslim leaders understand that there are all these issues. And so they hide this from Muslims. And so they're not going to hear it from anywhere else. They have to hear it from us. They have to hear this. They have to hear this information from us. What's amazing is there's a radical difference between Jesus and Muhammad, even in the Muslim sources. Like you could just completely ignore the Bible if you just look at Jesus in the Muslim sources. So he's called the word of Allah. No one else is called the word of Allah. And Muhammad didn't even know what that meant, which we know what that means. In the beginning was the word. The word is with God. God, the word was God. The word became flesh. We know why Jesus is called the word. This has to do with his deity. Muhammad didn't know that. He just thought this was a name for Jesus. But in the Quran, Jesus is the word of Allah and he's called a spirit from Allah. And Muslims haven't thought through the theology of this. But when Allah creates something, he says, be, and the thing pops into existence, right? So a book, be, and something, a book will pop into existence. Chair, be, and the chair can pop into existence. That's how Allah creates. But when you're talking about Jesus, Jesus is the word of Allah That's something spoken out by Allah That's like something that originates from within Allah And Allah's speech is eternal So what? Jesus is the eternal word? What's going on? Are you not thinking about this? And then the spirit, a spirit is something that Allah breathes out Allah breathes out the spirit. And so here it sounds like Jesus is from within Allah, which makes him different from all the rest of all the rest of creation. So Jesus is the word of Allah. He's a spirit from Allah. He's sinless in Islam. He's called faultless in the Koran. And in the Hadith, you find out that Satan touches every child that's born into the world, including Muhammad. But he couldn't touch Jesus. He was he was prevented from touching Jesus. So Jesus ends up sinless even in Islam. Jesus lives the most miraculous life in history in Islam. Jesus does things like he creates in the same way that Allah creates. This is in the Quran. I'm not talking about Christianity. I'm talking about in the Quran. Allah creates Adam by fashioning Adam out of clay, and then he breathes the spirit into it, and then Adam comes alive. life. Jesus says, hey, look at this. He does it with a clay bird. He makes a bird out of clay, breathes the spirit into it, and then the bird comes alive. He creates in exactly the same way Allah creates in the Quran. So he's performing all these miracles. He's the Messiah. All these things are unique about Jesus, make him completely different. And you look at Muhammad, even in the Muslim sources, he's awful. He's terrible. So you can actually compare Jesus and Muhammad even in the Muslim sources and making a pretty airtight case that Jesus is superior to Muhammad. When you actually really, really go into the history of Muhammad and you look at the Jesus of the Bible, it's night and day. But Muslims don't know that, and they're not going to ow that until we show it to them.

Dr. Thomas Gaston has a PhD in Theology from The University of Oxford and a Masters in the History of Christianity from the University of Birmingham. He is the author of a new book "Dynamic Monarchianism: The Earliest Christology?" which argues that Dynamic Monarchianism, often called 'Biblical Unitarianism' in today's parlance, has strong historical evidence for being the earliest Christology. We mention Theodotus of Byzantium, Paul of Samosata, ARtemon, Pope Victor I, Justin Martyr, Ignatius of Antioch, the Epistle of Barnabas, the Shepherd of Hermas, Beryllus of Bostra, Origen of Alexandria, Irenaeus of Lyon, Tatian, Clement of Alexandria, Athenagoras, Melito of Sardis, Constantine, Plato, Numenius of Apamea, Plotinus of Alexandria, Eusebius, Photinus of Galatia, Athanasius of Alexandria, Hipploytus, Tertullian, and more. Book Link: https://www.amazon.com/Dynamic-Monarchianism-Thomas-Edmund-Gaston/dp/1793256721

Joe Rogan has a fascinating conversation about the central claim of Christianity - the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We're going to see how the philosopher Stephen Myer handled Rogan's objections and how the historical record does affirm that Christ is indeed risen, and the world has never been the same! Highlights: “People die for causes that they believed in that turn out to be false, but no one dies for what they know to be false! Or as Myers puts it, we lie to get out of trouble, we don't lie to get in and this is the case for virtually all of Christ's apostles.” “The single greatest historical evidence for the resurrection, for 2 thousand years, has been the existence of the Christian church itself!” Timestamps: [01:26] How all of Christ's apostles, except John, died a martyrs death [05:08] What makes biblical faith unique in comparison to other religions [09:40] The greatest historical evidence for the resurrection of Christ -- Stay Connected to Dr. Steve moving forward on the new Turley Talks Platform at: https://fight.turleytalks.com   Want free inside stock tips straight from the SEC? Click here to get started now: https://turleytalksinsidertrading.com/talk-registration/* *The content presented by our partners may contain affiliate links. When you click and shop the links, Turley Talks may receive a small commission.*  -- Thank you for taking the time to listen to this episode.  If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and/or leave a review. FOLLOW me on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/DrTurleyTalks Click here to partner with us and defy liberal culture! https://advertising.turleytalks.com/sponsorship Sign up for the 'New Conservative Age Rising' Email Alerts to get lots of articles on conservative trends: https://turleytalks.com/subscribe/. **All clips used for fair use commentary, criticism, and educational purposes. See Hosseinzadeh v. Klein, 276 F.Supp.3d 34 (S.D.N.Y. 2017); Equals Three, LLC v. Jukin Media, Inc., 139 F. Supp. 3d 1094 (C.D. Cal. 2015).

The full written version of the episode can be found further below. Please, also, enjoy a short recording of the Regina Caeli chant by Will Wright at the beginning of the episode. Happy Easter!SummaryIn this episode, Will Wright discusses the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He emphasizes the importance of understanding what it means for something to be historical and provides an overview of different historical periods. Wright then presents several proofs for the resurrection, including the empty tomb, post-resurrection appearances of Jesus, and the transformation of the disciples. He also highlights the significance of early Christian creeds and the continuity of belief in the resurrection throughout history. Wright concludes by emphasizing the need for faith and reason to work together in understanding the truth of the resurrection.Takeaways- The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a historical event supported by multiple proofs, including the empty tomb, post-resurrection appearances, and the transformation of the disciples.- Early Christian creeds attest to the reality of the resurrection and demonstrate the continuity of belief throughout history.- Understanding the historical context and the lack of alternative explanations further strengthens the evidence for the resurrection.- Faith and reason are not in conflict but work together to support the truth of the resurrection.Chapters:00:00: Introduction and Podcast Promotion01:38: Understanding History03:40: Classical Period and Roman Historians05:08: Medieval and Modern Periods05:38: Historical Evidence for the New Testament06:47: Reliability of the Gospels09:00: Levels of Knowing09:30: Proofs for the Resurrection: Empty Tomb11:49: Proofs for the Resurrection: Post-Resurrection Appearances12:55: Proofs for the Resurrection: Transformation of the Disciples19:32: Proofs for the Resurrection: Historical Context20:54: Conclusion and Importance of the Resurrection23:13: Call to Action and Podcast PromotionFull Written Transcript:What is Historical?Humanity has practiced stewardship and dominion over the Earth for many millennia. However, recorded History is relatively new. Five thousand or so years ago in Mesopotamia, we have archaeological evidence of cave paintings and other artifacts that indicate a culture of storytelling. Oral traditions were the primary means of the historical record in the prehistoric period. This is, of course, why we refer to that time as “prehistoric.”In the Ancient Period, the record became more extensive and we started to see written content from Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, Mesoamerica, and the Indus Valley. The texts are legal documents, religious documents, poetry, and other items related to political, social, and cultural life. In the Classical Period, the Greeks and Romans left a great deal of historical accounts, works of philosophy, legal writings, and works of literature. The historical record at this time is significant. One of the most famous Roman historians is Titus Livus, known as Livy. He was born around 60 B.C. and wrote during the transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire. Over his life, he wrote an astounding 142 books. Today, however, we only have about 35 of these books. The most famous Roman Historian during the time of Christ is Tacitus. He wrote two main works: “Histories” and “Annals.” Histories had 16 books, of which we only have 1 - 6 in their entirety and parts of books 11 - 16. Annals had either 12 or 14 books, of which we have 1 - 4 and parts of book 5. These partial volumes are essential historical sources and one of the most significant sources for understanding Roman history and politics.In the Medieval Period, the historical record was preserved in chronicles, charters, religious texts, and legal records. And in the Modern Period, following the invention of the printing press, the historical record became abundant. In the age of the Internet, the amount of written and published material has increased at an exponential rate.  For the New Testament, the works are situated in the Classical Period, so we should apply the scrutiny appropriate to that period. There are multiple codices from the 4th and 5th Centuries which contain most of the Old and New Testaments in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Aramaic. These codices provide abundant historical evidence for the consistency of biblical writings. If there were major changes in the texts, then we would expect a codex in one location to be vastly different from a codex in another location, especially after four hundred years. Instead, we find that the extant copies of the manuscripts of the Bible are consistent, one to the other. And… and this should not be understated… we have them! We have far more manuscripts of Sacred Scripture than we do of Livy or Tacitus. And, yet, the historical reliability of the latter are rarely questioned by modern scholars. The reality is that the Gospels, especially, are historically reliable. The Gospel writers were eyewitnesses who wrote shortly after the recorded events. The apostles followed Jesus and lived with Him for three years, receiving daily teachings. They lived in the Classical Period in which oral tradition was exceptionally important and when memorization skills were top notch. The apostles likely made written notes while traveling with Jesus, as well. Further, it is clear that the Gospel writers intended to write reliable history. And we can show that they did, in fact, write reliable history.To learn more about the reality of the reliability of the Gospels, I highly recommend reading more at Catholic Answers on The Reliability of the Gospels by Karlo Broussard.Three Levels of KnowingI am not suggesting that the proofs of the Resurrection of Jesus that I am about to run through are “slam dunks.” What we are showing is akin to the Five Ways of St. Thomas Aquinas - they are converging and convincing arguments. I do not think that any one of these proofs will suffice to convert an atheist. However, the evidence is nonetheless historically formidable. There are three levels of knowing and discussing the things of God. First, we have to answer the question: Does God exist? If yes, then we move to step two. Second, we answer: Is Jesus God? If yes, then we move to three. Third, we answer: Is the Catholic Church the Church that Jesus founded? And, of course, the answer is yes. What we are about to investigate presumes the existence of God and speaks to both the second and third level. The Resurrection shows us the Divinity of Jesus and its truth is demonstrated and handed down through the testimony of the Church.  Proofs of the Resurrection of JesusNow, onto the proof for the Resurrection of Jesus.Empty TombThe unanimous testimony of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) is that the tomb of Jesus was discovered as empty on the third day after the crucifixion. The tomb being empty is unexpected. Jesus was laid in the tomb on Friday because the Sabbath was quickly approaching. On the Sabbath, the Jewish people are forbidden from doing anything laborious. Removing the body of Jesus certainly would have constituted work. There is the possibility that Jesus' body was stolen, but this is unlikely as well. Those who put Jesus to death were concerned of theft because they did not want a martyred “ghost” to continue making trouble. They, therefore, set Roman guards at the entrance of the tomb to stop this from happening. No rabble would be able to overtake Roman soldiers without raising notice and possibly starting a war. Post-Resurrection Appearances:In the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles, Jesus appeared multiple times to different individuals and groups: the pair on the road to Emmaus, Mary Magdalene at the tomb, the apostles in the Upper Room, on the seashore, and then prior to the Ascension. He also appeared to the incredulous St. Thomas as well as to St. Paul on the road to Damascus. Most of the post-resurrection appearances are reported in the texts of early Christians and followers of Jesus; so, we have to be aware of bias and theological interpretation. Perhaps the appearances were a shared vision or spiritual experience rather than a physical resurrection. However, this does not explain the next proof: the utter transformative effect the Resurrection had on the disciples. Transformation of the DisciplesBefore the crucifixion the apostles, with the exception of St. John, were huddled in fear in the Upper Room. After the Resurrection, multiple encounters with the Risen Jesus, the Ascension, and Pentecost, the disciples were transformed. Proclamations became bold and tenacious rather than fearful and disillusioned. The willingness to endure persecution and martyrdom can be partly explained by the reality of the Resurrection. The transformation and testimony of St. Paul is particularly prominent because he persecuted Christians and put them to death prior to His encounter with the Risen Christ. Many who are critical of this line of thinking will say that there are other psychological or sociological factors that could explain the change of behavior and belief. However, I cannot imagine that these factors would explain the persistence of the early Church in their conviction in the face of persecution and martyrdom. All but one of the apostles, in traditional understanding, died as martyrs. You do not die for some spiritual experience, some after isolation and torture. You die for the Risen Christ who is truly risen. Early Christian CreedsThe early Christian creeds attest to the Resurrection, including the writing of St. Paul to the Church in Corinth:3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. (1 Cor. 15:3-8)Of course the Apostles' Creed attests the Resurrection, as does the Athanasian Creed and the later Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed. These creeds remind us that the historical reality of the Resurrection is paramount to the veracity of Catholicism. If we found the bones of Jesus, we would rightly leave the Faith entirely.Critics of this view will say that these creeds do not prove the Resurrection, they only prove that the early Church believed in the Resurrection. Fair enough. But this is only one aspect of the proofs for the Resurrection.Historical ContextAt the time, the concept of bodily resurrection was not part of Jewish thought. So, hearing that Jesus had risen from the dead, the Romans could simply produce Jesus' body to quell any rumors amongst the early Christians. Again, the tomb was guarded by a Roman guard, which would not be easily and quietly overtaken. Continuity with Christian TraditionThe Resurrection as a real, historical event has been held by Christians from the apostles until now. Evidence of the reality of the Resurrection is thus further strengthened by consistent tradition. Tradition is not direct evidence of the Resurrection itself, but it does show a persistence in the belief.The Resurrection of Jesus is a True EventWhen weighed individually, each of these proofs can be dismissed. But when taken together, the preponderance is more powerful. The reality is that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a true event. Ultimately, this evidence does not prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that Jesus rose from the dead. If it was, then our free will would be overtaken. God always reveals Himself to those who seek and promises answers to those who question. But for those who do not seek, then they will not find. For those who do not ask questions, they will receive no answers. The evidence that God does give us is overwhelming - for Himself, for the divinity of Jesus, for the truth of the Church, and, yes, for the bodily Resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day.Happy Easter! Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen!Good Distinctions is a listener and reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber at GoodDistinctions.com Get full access to Good Distinctions at www.gooddistinctions.com/subscribe

The resurrection of Jesus, the Christ, is THEE good news! Do you know what it is good? Can you defend it? Are you living a resurrected life? --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justsomechristianguy/support

In this episode of the Holy Hot Mess podcast, host Heather explores the question of why one should choose Catholicism over other belief systems. We need to be able to answer this question for ourselves, our children and in defense of the faith. With so many different sects of Christianity - how do you choose? She dives into the messiness of the Catholic Church and why sticking with it because it is the True faith, despite all the imperfect humans in it is a call to obedience not one of feelings. Links & Resources: Why Be Catholic & Not Just Christian? - Fr Mike Schmitz Why Be Catholic? - Patrick Madrid Why Should I Be Catholic? - Catholic Answers A Protestant & A Catholic Debate Salvation - Candace Owens Why I Became Catholic Instead of Orthodox - Scott Hahn on Pints with Aquinas Jesus & The Jewish Roots of the Eucharist (I listened on Audiobook) Jesus & The Jewish Roots of Mary (Audiobook too) The Case for Jesus: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ A Father Who Keeps His Promises: God's Covenant Love in Scripture - Scott Hahn Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls: Revealing the Jewish Roots of Christianity Reasons to Believe: How to Understand, Defend, and Explain the Catholic Faith by Dr Scott Hahn The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth - Dr Scott Hahn Hail, Holy Queen: The Mother of God in the Word of God - Dr Scott Hahn The Fourth Cup: Unveiling the Mystery of the Last Supper and the Cross   About the Holy Hot Mess Podcast The Holy Hot Mess podcast is where we navigate the twists and turns of life as Catholic Christian women through candid conversations, laughter, and insightful interviews. Join your host, Heather, as she dive deep into the messy and beautiful journey of faith, healing, and growth. In each episode, she shares wisdom and stories, from the comical to the heartfelt, and offers practical advice for managing the chaos of daily life. Whether it's balancing family, home, work, or personal development, we explore it all with authenticity and a good dose of humor and a whole lot of our Catholic faith. But that's not all – we bring you interviews with inspiring guests who share their unique perspectives, experiences, and wisdom. From experts in Catholic theology to women with incredible stories of resilience, our guests offer valuable insights that will uplift and empower you on your own journey. Expect laughter, tears, and plenty of "aha" moments as we navigate the holy hot mess together. The goal is to create a space where you feel like you're sitting with a dear friend, sharing stories, giving space for growth and finding solace in the commonality of our experiences as Catholic women. So, whether you're sipping your favorite beverage or multitasking through your day, join us for a dose of faith, friendship, and the messy joy of life. Welcome to the Holy Hot Mess podcast – where every conversation is an invitation to embrace the chaos and discover the sacred in the midst of it all. Become friends with Heather on Instagram, Facebook, Threads, or Twitter (X). Subscribe to the email newsletter to be notified every time a new episode comes out. Send her an email. Book her for an interview on your show. Sponsor the Holy Hot Mess podcast. Suggest a topic for the show! (scroll to the bottom) Support the Podcast!

Today, permanent body modification (PBM) is very popular. Studies suggest that well over a billion living people have experienced one or more types of PBM. But what is the history of PBM? When did the different types originate? Were they invented recently, or do they have a long history? Did they appear simultaneously or at different times? This presentation examines evidence in non-human animals and extinct hominins, delving into early archaeological and historical records of seven main PBM types: tattooing, scarification, amputation, piercing, genital modification, dental modification, and bone shaping. Strong evidence supports human PBM for at least 15,000 years, with intriguing hints suggesting a history dating back as far as 80,000 years. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39467]

Today, permanent body modification (PBM) is very popular. Studies suggest that well over a billion living people have experienced one or more types of PBM. But what is the history of PBM? When did the different types originate? Were they invented recently, or do they have a long history? Did they appear simultaneously or at different times? This presentation examines evidence in non-human animals and extinct hominins, delving into early archaeological and historical records of seven main PBM types: tattooing, scarification, amputation, piercing, genital modification, dental modification, and bone shaping. Strong evidence supports human PBM for at least 15,000 years, with intriguing hints suggesting a history dating back as far as 80,000 years. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39467]

Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Numbers 8-9; Acts 28 Click HERE to give! One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on 'The Daily Radio Bible' for a daily 20-minute spiritual journey. Engage with scripture readings, heartfelt devotionals, and collective prayers that draw you into the heart of God's love. Embark on this year-long voyage through the Bible, and let each day's passage uplift and inspire you. TODAY'S EPISODE: In today's episode, we reflect on the culmination of Paul's journey as he arrives in Rome under house arrest. The message of the kingdom of God, which he fervently preached, continues to resonate despite the circumstances. We delve into the significance of Jesus as the herald of this kingdom and the fulfillment of God's promises to His people through him. As we conclude the book of Acts, we are reminded that God's kingdom rises above the powerful kingdoms of this world, not through conventional means, but by His spirit and victory over sin and death. Join us as we explore the enduring impact of Paul's message and the prayer for all to embrace the new life in Christ, spreading His message of victory and love to the world. TODAY'S PRAYERS: Lord God Almighty and everlasting father you have brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your Mighty power that we might not fall into sin or be overcome by adversity. And in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose  through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen.   Oh God you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth and sent your blessed son to preach peace to those who are far and those who are near. Grant that people everywhere may seek after you, and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.   And now Lord,  make me an instrument of your peace.  Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon.  Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope.  Where there is darkness, light.  And where there is sadness,  Joy.  Oh Lord grant that I might not seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.  For it is in the giving that we receive, in the pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in the dying that we are born unto eternal life.  Amen And now as our Lord has taught us we are bold to pray... Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, they kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image. And nourishing us with spiritual food, now send us forth as forgiven people, healed and renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world, and continue in the risen life of Christ.  Amen.  OUR WEBSITE: www.dailyradiobible.com We are reading through the New Living Translation.   Leave us a voicemail HERE: https://www.speakpipe.com/dailyradiobible Subscribe to us at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dailyradiobible/featured OTHER PODCASTS: Listen with Apple Podcast DAILY BIBLE FOR KIDS DAILY PSALMS DAILY PROVERBS DAILY LECTIONARY DAILY CHRONOLOGICAL  

Decoding the Biblical References to Cannabis with Author Chris BennettJustin Benton and Janet Benton-Gaillard had the privilege of hosting Chris Bennett, an authority on the historical and religious aspects of cannabis, and the author of "Cannabis, the Lost Sacrament of the Ancient World."Chris has dedicated over 35 years to researching the role of cannabis in various religions and magical rituals. His journey began with a profound spiritual experience with cannabis, which led him to explore its historical significance. He has since authored five comprehensive books on the subject.Chris shared his insights on the term "Cannabosum," a word found in the Hebrew Bible, which he believes refers to cannabis. He discussed the mistranslation of this term into Greek as "Calamus" and how recent archaeological evidence supports his theory that Cannabosum is indeed cannabis. This evidence includes the discovery of cannabis resins used in a Hebrew temple dating back to the 8th century BCE.Chris explained the historical context of cannabis use in religious rituals, highlighting its presence in the holy anointing oil described in Exodus and its significance in the Tent of the Meeting, where it was used to facilitate communication with God. He also touched on the rejection of cannabis offerings in later texts, such as Jeremiah, which he believes is linked to the rise of monotheism and the consolidation of religious power and wealth.The conversation also covered the broader historical use of cannabis, from its psychoactive properties to its role as a medicine and a textile. Chris emphasized the plant's deep roots in human history, predating many religions and possibly being one of our oldest medicines.Justin also shared his perspective on the recent advancements in cannabis legalization and acceptance, particularly in the United States. He expressed optimism about the future of cannabis and its potential to heal, especially given its mention in religious texts and its historical use as a healing agent.They concluded the episode with a call to action for activists to continue their efforts in promoting the benefits of cannabis. Chris's work is a testament to the plant's enduring legacy and its potential to contribute to a greener, more sustainable future.Cannabis Lost Sacrament Of The Ancient World TIMESTAMPS:00:00:07 - Isaiah's Cleansing by Coal00:00:43 - Introduction to the Miracle Plant Podcast00:01:02 - Chris Bennett's Expertise on Cannabis in Religion00:02:09 - Chris Bennett's Personal Cannabis Journey00:03:13 - Historical Use of Cannabis in Religion00:04:02 - Cannabosum in the Hebrew Bible00:05:15 - Rejection of Cannabis in Jeremiah00:06:10 - Translation of Cannabosum and Historical Context00:07:49 - Archaeological Evidence of Cannabis Use00:09:02 - Discovery at Tell Arad and Historical Significance00:10:05 - Yahweh and Asherah Worship00:11:09 - Cannabis and Frankincense in Temple Rituals00:12:12 - Biblical Reforms and Monotheism00:13:06 - Polytheism and the Rise of Monotheism00:14:09 - The Role of Cannabis in Ancient Healing00:15:13 - Isaiah's Experience with the Altar Coal00:17:20 - Chris Bennett's Vision for Cannabis Awareness00:18:02 - The Evolution of Cannabis Perception00:19:06 - The Holy Anointing Oil and Modern Recognition00:20:04 - Misinterpretation and Translation of Biblical Texts00:21:09 - Medical Evidence of Cannabis in Ancient Times00:22:47 - Jesus and the Use of Anointing Oil00:23:58 - The Chosen TV Series and Anointing Oil00:26:22 - Janet's Inquiry on Ancient Hemp Use00:27:46 - The Differentiation Between Hemp and Marijuana00:29:22 - Historical Evidence of Cannabis Use00:30:47 - The Future of Cannabis Research and Acceptance00:32:56 - The Stigmatization and Legal History of Cannabis00:34:08 - The Importance of Hemp in History00:35:10 - Chris Bennett's Legacy and Vision for Cannabis00:36:21 - The Role of Doctors and Cannabis Education00:37:02 - Ancient Use of Cannabis for Food and Medicine00:38:08 - The Cultural and Historical Significance of Cannabis00:39:47 - Chris Bennett's Hope for Cannabis's Future00:41:10 - The Impact of Cannabis Legalization and Research00:42:09 - Chris Bennett's Aspirations for Cannabis Awareness00:43:17 - Final Thoughts and Where to Find Chris Bennett's Work00:44:16 - Janet's Appreciation for the Book's Depth00:45:30 - Closing Remarks and "Heal the World" Message   Thank you for tuning in to the Miracle Plant Podcast. Remember, our mission is to heal the world with the power of this miracle plant. Join us next time for more inspiring stories and insights into the world of cannabis. Produced by PodConx 101cbd - https://101cbd.org/

How can we connect Christianity with reality? More and more, it seems that people are moving away from a biblical worldview. What they don't know is that understanding our universe from a creationist perspective is much more than a purely spiritual endeavor – it's a physical one as well…  By looking deeply into the Bible's storyline, researchers are finding both scientific and historical evidence that supports creationism. How is this reshaping our understanding of the origins narrative? Click play to see for yourself! In this episode, we cover: Common misconceptions surrounding the Christian worldview.  Evidence that supports Biblical teachings.  How Jesus's resurrection reshapes our understanding of death. Origins questions that can be difficult to answer. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/38oMlMr

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz recently conceded that the kingdoms of David and Solomon may have actually existed. New studies have revealed that “[r]emains of gates, defensive walls and a large administrative building at Gezer date to the early 10th century B.C.E., putting them in the right time frame to have been built by King Solomon, just as the Bible claims.”  In recent decades, skeptics suggested that these structures belonged to a later, supposedly more advanced time. Though the new studies don't prove the Bible's accuracy, the articles insist its reliability cannot be ruled out.  In other words, the thing that pretty much everybody thought was true until just a few decades ago turns out to be actually true. The more we dig, in fact, the more archaeological evidence suggests that the facts are on the side of the Bible, not its critics. And the more we dig, the more that skepticism of the Bible is shown to be not a sign of open-minded intelligence, but of close-minded assumptions of disbelief. 

Christian Hubbs has a PhD in machine learning from Carnegie Mellon, and a Masters in Christian philosophy and apologetics from Biola. He makes a secular case for the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest:The YouTube version of this interview.Bob's analysis of William Lane Craig's opening statement against Christopher Hitchens.William Lane Craig responses to Bart Ehrman.Lutheran satire on Ishtar Ruins Easter!Help support the Bob Murphy Show.

Today's Topics: 1) Historical evidence for the Resurrection https://www.missiodeicatholic.org/p/historical-evidence-for-the-resurrection 2, 3) Despair… and a Way Forward - Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas said: “Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us."  http://bionicmosquito.blogspot.com/2023/02/despair-and-way-forward.html?m=1 4) The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste https://earlychurchhistory.org/martyrs/forty-martyres-of-sebaste/

The Colson Fellows program is a lasting legacy of Chuck Colson following God's voice. It's been one year since the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v Wade. What's the result?   — Recommendations — Colson Center National Conference Online Megan Phelps-Roper on Armchair Expert   Section 1 - Chuck Colson's Legacy “Christianity Does Not Stop With Salvation: That's Only the Beginning …” Breakpoint Section 2 - The One-Year Anniversary of Dobbs "Fewer Abortions Post-Dobbs" Breakpoint Section 3 - Archeological Findings in the Middle East "Archeology Continues to Confirm Biblical Record" Breakpoint

Thanks to everyone who supports TMBH at patreon.com/thetmbhpodcast You're the reason we can all do this together! Discuss the episode here Opening song, "Get It Right (Tonight)" from the album, "The Clamour and the Crash" by Jeff Foote

Do Christians have good historical reasons to put our faith in the resurrection of Jesus? Can we really know what happened 2,000 years ago? No one doubts the works of Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar or the history written about them, so what makes the historicity of Jesus so special? And what do non-Christian scholars say about the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus? If anyone knows the answers to these questions, it's New Testament scholar Dr. Michael Licona! His seminal work, The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach, has been praised by many as the most thorough and useful tool to those looking for an in-depth study of the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. Mike currently serves as Associate Professor in Theology at Houston Christian University and president of Risen Jesus, Inc. In this special midweek episode of 'I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist,' he sits down with Frank to discuss the following topics as they relate to Jesus and the resurrection: problems with postmodernist history the uncertainty of historical knowledge what is a historical fact? the tools and rules of historical research how our worldview affects how we study history objections to the resurrection of Jesus the intersecting philosophies of science, history, and theology This is a fascinating and in-depth discussion, and you'll definitely learn something new! To view the entire VIDEO PODCAST, be sure to join our CrossExamined private community. It's the perfect place to jump into great discussions with like-minded Christians (including Frank) while providing financial support for our ministry. Mike's seminal work: https://a.co/d/iPv6CN6 Mike at Houston Christian University: http://bit.ly/3OPAKdT Mike's website: https://www.risenjesus.com/ If you would like to submit a question to be answered on the show, please email your question to Hello@Crossexamined.org. Subscribe on Apple Podcast: http://bit.ly/CrossExamined_Podcast Rate and review! Thanks!!! Subscribe on Google Play: https://cutt.ly/0E2eua9 Subscribe on Spotify: http://bit.ly/CrossExaminedOfficial_Podcast Subscribe on Stitcher: http://bit.ly/CE_Podcast_Stitcher