Podcast appearances and mentions of stephen bedard

By now everyone has heard some version of "Jesus is based on [enter ancient deity here]." But these claims were debunked for nearly a century before being resurrected recently. And now, because overwhelming evidence debunked the older claims, new proponents have suggested different deities as the template for Jesus. Are these new claims any more successful than the older ones? Find out in this new, packed episode of All Rise! Abdu interacts with several videos in this episode. They are: "Jesus, the Pagan Sun God" on the CAESAR'S MESSIAH channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG7Ls1ZySp8 "Osiris: The Risen God & Prototype of Christ" on the Atheologica channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xqqjMoXRqc "Are Jesus and Osiris the SAME?" on The Eleusinian Society channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tT-ZveXRf0 Two videos from Todd Gates, "Why I'm no longer so sure about Zoroastrianism's influence on Christianity" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkSBb9S-248 and "Why Zoroastrianism might *not* be one of the religions that influenced the Bible's authors" at https://youtu.be/-_HCu2_dbt0 Abdu references an earlier episode of All Rise entitled "The burden of proof," which you can watch at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9aPyUmmcSU Some of the works consulted for this video include Ronald Nash's The Gospel and the Greeks (P&R, 2003); Stanley Porter and Stephen Bedard's Unmasking the Pagan Christ (Clements, 2006); Edwin Yamauchi's Persia and the Bible (Baker Academic, 1997); the multi-authored Come Let Us Reason (B&H Academic, 2012); and Lee Strobel's The Case for the Real Jesus (Zondervan, 2009). Have questions or critiques? Comment below or email us at mail@embracethetruth.org and your question may be answered on our live show, Deliberations! You may also submit questions during the live show in the chat. We typically answer questions about a specific episode about a week after the original air date, but we are always happy to answer any question at any time. Subscribe to our channel to be notified when we are going live. All Rise is a listener and donor-supported presentation from Embrace the Truth. If you would like to see more content like this, prayerfully consider supporting us by visiting https://embracethetruth.org/ and clicking on the "Donate" button.

Acts 13:1-12 Introduction A few months ago, it was the twenty years ago that I was ordained. It was at Queensway Baptist Church in Brantford, and it took place on mystery  last Sunday there before starting at a new church. It was a meaningful service but it really was one step in a long process… Read more

Acts 12:20-25 Introduction I'm going to give you a little bit of insight on how I go about picking passages to preach on. I enjoy preaching a series, preferably on a book of the Bible. I like this because it forces me to get outside my own area of interests and to be challenged by… Read more

Acts 12:1-19 Introduction It does not take us long before we discover that life is not fair. Children at a young age complain that things are not fair. They sense a disconnect when someone gets something good that they didn't get or if they get punished and someone else doesn't. It just isn't fair! As… Read more

Acts 11:27-30 Introduction What is the question that the world is asking about the church? Believe it or not, the main question is not about which church is the true church. People are not lying awake at night wondering of the Anglicans or the Pentecostals or the Baptists have a corner on the truth. That… Read more

Acts 10:1-33 Introduction How common would you say prejudice is? We might be inclined to think that we are not as prejudiced as some other people. But then that is a form of prejudice. Here is an example. I find that Canadians point to Americans as people who have really struggled with racism. We hear… Read more

Matthew 28:1-10 A Frightening Morning I want you to imagine that first Easter morning, specifically from the perspective of the women. Perhaps you think of an early morning stroll through a garden with a few friends. That was not really what was happening. It was very early in the morning, so early that it was… Read more

Justin Martyr was an important church father and pioneering Christian apologist. He had the courage to not just write a defence of Christianity but to address it by name to the Roman Emperor. Please consider supporting this podcast through Patreon or by downloading a FREE audiobook with a FREE trial of Audible.

Matthew 21:1-11 Introduction If you are a parent, or have at least spent some time with children, you will know that there is an ongoing lesson that needs to be taught. And that lesson is the difference between a need and a want. They need their favourite blanket. They need a bowl of ice cream.… Read more

Acts 9:19b-30 Introduction Has there ever been a time when you have felt rejected, like the whole world was against you? Perhaps the supports that once been there were now gone. Do you remember what that was like? And have you ever been in that position and someone came forward to support you? It may… Read more

Acts 9:1-20 Introduction I want you to think about the person you would most be surprised to become a Christian. It could be someone famous, perhaps a musician or an actor or a politician. Maybe it was someone who is a known criminal or is had had a particularly immoral life. Maybe it is someone… Read more

Exodus 3:1-15 Introduction Have you ever had an opportunity come your way that totally scared you? While you valued the opportunity, the task seemed beyond your abilities. When I think about these feelings, I automatically think about the anticipation of my basic training for the army. I did not have much time to process what… Read more

Acts 8:26-40 Introduction I have often felt like the story of the Ethiopian eunuch is one of the strangest in Acts. It’s not the picture of Philip running alongside the horse drawn chariot, listening to what the man was reading. Nor is it the way the Holy Spirit takes Philip away immediately after, making it… Read more

The Church scattered February 7, 2021 QSBC Acts 8:1-8 Introduction Back when I was in my mid-20s, I went on my first mission trip. It was with the organization Operation Mobilization. I was pretty excited to go overseas and preach the gospel. And I as feeling a bit overconfident as well, if I am honest.… Read more

Acts 7:54-60 Introduction Have you ever thought about what it will be like when you die? I don’t mean passing into the afterlife but in the hours and minutes leading up to it. I know that sounds morbid and yet it is something we will all experience. I have spent time with a lot of… Read more

Acts 7:51-53 Introduction Have you ever been having a conversation with someone and you realize that you have come to a crossroads? You can see the next thing that you plan to say in your mind. You know that if you say that, there is no going back. Not only will it change the direction… Read more

Acts 7:44-50 Introduction Many years ago, I was at a revival service here in St Catharines and I heard something that I have never forgotten. Interestingly, it was in his sermon but in his appeal for the offering. As he was asking people to dig deep into their wallets, he told us that God was… Read more

Matthew 2:1-12 Introduction You may think that Christmas is over but it is not. As the song says, there are twelve days of Christmas, starting on December 25 and ending on January 6. So Merry Christmas! When I think of Christmas, I often think of nativity sets. Each of us might be drawn to different… Read more

Hebrews 12:1-2 Introduction Throughout this season of Advent, we have looked at Jesus as our Hope-Giver, Peace-Giver and Love-Giver. We now come to Jesus as our Joy-Giver. It is not difficult to find the concept of joy in the Christmas story. When the pregnant Mary visited her relative Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the… Read more

John 13:34-35 Introduction I have a love-hate relationship when it comes to tradition. On one hand, I really love tradition. It may be connected with my appreciation for history, including church history. There is so much that we can learn from the past and tradition is an excellent way of passing on those lessons. Not… Read more

Introduction Last week, we looked at how in our dark times, our world is in desperate need of hope. We also saw that Jesus came as the hope-giver. That is Good News. What else do we need in these turbulent times? It just so happens that the second Sunday of Advent is that of peace.… Read more

Introduction This is the first Sunday of Advent. It is a time when each week we light a candle, bringing light out of the darkness and we reflect on what it meant for Jesus to arrive in our world. This is also the first Advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. If ever there was a time… Read more

Acts 6:8-15 Introduction I want you to think about a time when a person or a group of people were very upset with you. Not just slightly annoyed but downright angry. Now I want you to think about what it was that made them angry. How accurately were they interpreting the facts of what you… Read more

Acts 6:1-7 Introduction With this being Remembrance Sunday, I can’t help but think of conversations I have had in the past with veterans, especially of the Second World War. I was blessed in my previous church to have a good group of WW2 veterans that I was able to get to know and hear their… Read more

Acts 5:33-42 Introduction As many of you know, I have a great interest in military history. It is not to glorify war but to learn from what happens to humanity when put in the most difficult situations. There are often practical life lessons, and even lessons for us as a church, even if the weapons… Read more

Acts 5:1-11 Introduction Every once in a while I get the urge to write a devotional on the most disturbing passages in the Bible. There are a number that could be included and one of them would be the story of Ananias and Sapphira. This is the story of a married couple in the church… Read more

Acts 4:23-37 Introduction I remember being at a ministerial and I pointed out that John had been a Baptist. The Nazarene pastor reminded me that John may have been a Baptist but Jesus was a Nazarene. That’s when another pastor stated in heaven, we would all be the United Church. I’m not suggesting that any… Read more

Acts 4:13-22 Introduction You may or may not know that I took a number of years off pastoral ministry between my previous churches and coming to Queen Street Baptist Church. But of course we still needed to eat and so that meant I needed to get a job.  At that point, I had been a… Read more

Acts 4:1-12 Introduction I will confess to you that I’m horrible when it comes to directions. Whenever we go on a trip, I completely rely on Amanda. My confidence in her surpasses that of any GPS. If I don’t have Amanda, I definitely rely on the GPS directions on my phone. But what did people… Read more

Acts 3 Introduction At some point in 2019, just a few people contracted a virus that we now call COVID-19. At the time it probably looked like a small thing. I don’t even know how sick those first people got. I am sure that if you could go back and explain to them all that… Read more

Joshua 22:10-34 Introduction As some of you may know, one of my interests is blogging. A blog is a shortened form of web log and it is like a public diary or opinion column posted in the internet. I have been doing this for about fifteen years. Most of the time when I publish a… Read more

Acts 2:42-47 Introduction I want you to imagine you were doing a public performance of some kind. It could be a speech, some music, presenting something you have made, whatever you are passionate about. You present your skills to the public. After the performance, someone comes up to you and says, “I was just filled… Read more

Acts 2:22-41 Introduction Have you ever had a recurring dream? It may not be exactly the same dream but it is the same sort of dream or it happens at the same place or it includes the same people. I have had a number of recurring dreams over my life, usually repeating frequently during a… Read more

Acts 2:1-21 Introduction I am the pastor of Queen Street Baptist Church. But I am not a lifelong Baptist. In fact I have been baptized twice in my life and neither time was in a Baptist church. I was raised in the Anglican church for a long time that’s all I knew about church. I… Read more

Acts 1:12-26 Introduction I want to be careful in what I predict, but I want to say that I hope that this is my final congregation of my pastoral career. I realize that I still have a lot of time before I retire, but the thought of going through the process again is not appealing.… Read more

Acts 1:1-11 Introduction Have you ever been in the awkward experience of expecting someone to do something and you are not sure if they are going to do it? You are hanging on their every word and action, hoping that that they will get around to what you want them to do or say. It… Read more

1 Corinthians 14:1-19 Introduction Do you enjoy traditional worship? Before you answer that, we better be clear on what we mean traditional. At this point in time after months of online services, any in-person worship taking place in a church building, no matter how recent the songs, may feel like traditional worship. But perhaps you… Read more

Psalm 100 Introduction An important part of our church mission statement is that we are a people worshiping God in Jesus Christ. I don’t think that there is anything controversial about that. I would be surprised if someone tuned into this worship service and was shocked that we were worshiping God. But what does worship… Read more

Jude 1:17-25 Introduction Different people have different starting points for how they live their lives. Some begin from a place of reflection or of theory or of impulse. While I appreciate all of those things, I prefer more guidance and direction. I want to be told what to do, not necessarily how to do it,… Read more

Luke 24:50-53 Introduction What were the most theologically significant events in Jesus’ life? That’s easy, just follow the holidays. What are the two biggest holidays for the Christian Church? Christmas and Easter, representing Jesus’ birth and his death and resurrection. Those are the events we really need to know. But what about the ascension? The… Read more

Luke 24:44-49 Introduction As many of you know, I am a chaplain in the Canadian Armed Forces reserves. I have long been interested in the military and their way of doing things. I even see a number of intersections with the military and the church. I don’t think I am too far off the track,… Read more

Luke 24:36-44 Introduction I want you to imagine that the risen Jesus was coming to visit you. Not a dream or a vision, but appearing to you physically. What would you do to prepare yourself? I suspect that one of the things that you would want to do is to get ready to listen. I… Read more

Luke 24:13-35 Introduction How did you come to know Jesus? Was it one big moment of coming to understand Jesus or was it a long process? I was once stopped by some evangelists who wanted to check to see if I was really a Christian. They asked how I became a Christian. I responded that… Read more

Luke 24:1-12 Introduction Have you ever heard that saying, “If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is”? This is a good general rule of thumb. For example, if you receive an email saying that someone from another country, who you don’t know, has left you one million dollars, you should be… Read more