Biblical Reliability Archives - Jonathan McLatchie

The Conversion of Saul of Tarsus, and its Evidential Value

Biblical Reliability, Conversion of Paul, Undesigned Coincidences / jmclatchie

An argument for Christianity that seldom receives adequate attention is the conversion of Saul of Tarsus (also known as Paul) on the road to Damascus. There exist three accounts of Paul’s conversion in the book of Acts — in chapters 9, 22, and 26. In this essay, I shall lay out in detail why Paul’s Damascus road conversion constitutes powerful evidence of the truth of Christianity.

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Have John Nelson and Josh Parikh Refuted the Reportage Model?

2 Comments / Biblical Reliability, Undesigned Coincidences / jmclatchie

A couple of weeks ago, an episode aired on the skeptical Doubts Aloud podcast, featuring John Nelson and Josh Parikh, in which they offered a critical appraisal of the high-resolution reportage model of the gospels, advocated by myself, Tim and Lydia McGrew, Peter J. Williams, Wesley Huff, and other scholars.

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Who Wrote the Gospels? Rabbi Tovia Singer Has No Clue!

2 Comments / Biblical Reliability, Canonicity, Church History, Critics of Christianity, Gospel Authorship, Gospel Authorship, Tovia Singer, Undesigned Coincidences / jmclatchie

Tovia Singer asserts that the gospels were originally written and circulated anonymously and that nowhere in the text do they identify themselves. Moreover, Singer asserts that “These are church traditions — and in fact they are late church traditions, meaning these ascriptions are assigned about a century after the gospels are written” by Irenaeus of Lyons.

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The Firstfruits Feast and the Case for the Resurrection

Biblical Reliability, Evidence for the Resurrection / jmclatchie

Given that Jesus was alleged, from the beginning, to have been raised on the Sunday following Passover, during the feast of firstfruits, this suggests that the choice of the Sunday as the day of the resurrection resulted from rational deliberation, or conscious design, whether on the part of human schemers or divine agency. It seems to militate fairly heavily against the hypothesis that the original apostles were honestly mistaken about Christ’s resurrection.

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The Argument from Martyrdom: A Response to Rabbi Tovia Singer

1 Comment / Biblical Reliability, Evidence for the Resurrection, Tovia Singer / jmclatchie

In a video published this week, provocatively titled “Why Would Paul Willingly Die for His Belief? Another Church Lie!”, Rabbi Singer makes a number of bizarre claims. One such statement is that “the notion that Paul was beheaded by Rome is complete nonsense. It’s an invention of the church, and it’s mentioned nowhere in the Christian Bible.”

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Is There a Progressive Embellishment Among the Gospels? A Reply to Rabbi Tovia Singer

2 Comments / Adoptionism, Biblical Reliability, Critics of Christianity, Deity of Christ, Development Theories, Theology, Tovia Singer / jmclatchie

Contrary to Rabbi Singer’s assertions, Mark does not affirm an adoptionist Christology (and in fact affirms Christ’s deity). Though there are undoubtedly more statements of Jesus’ deity in John, it is simply untrue that these claims are absent from the synoptic gospels. Singer’s development arguments regarding the resurrection and anti-Semitism also collapse upon further inspection.

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Are There Colossal Contradictions in the Gospels? A Reply to Rabbi Tovia Singer

1 Comment / Bible Contradictions, Biblical Reliability, Critics of Christianity, Tovia Singer, Undesigned Coincidences / jmclatchie

Though the alleged discrepancies offered by Rabbi Singer require some investigation to untangle, closer inspection — and more careful reading of the relevant texts — reveals the arguments to be unfounded. The solutions that I have offered to these challenges are not strained or forced harmonizations, but rather are suggested from within the texts themselves.

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Bayesian Probability and the Resurrection: A Reply to Brian Blais

9 Comments / Evidence for the Resurrection, Messianic Prophecy, Miracles and Epistemology, Modern Miracles, Philosophy, Predictive Prophecy, Probability Theory / jmclatchie

This week, a two part series of essays was published by atheist physicist Dr. Brian Blais. These essays challenged some of my key contentions from the debate, particularly my employment of Bayesian epistemology. In this essay, I reply to Dr. Blais’ remarks.

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Extraordinary Claims and Evidence: A Review of Jonathan Pearce’s Book on the Resurrection (Part 1)

43 Comments / Book Reviews, Evidence for the Resurrection, Messianic Prophecy, Miracles and Epistemology, Modern Miracles, Philosophy, Predictive Prophecy, Probability Theory / jmclatchie

Since the resurrection is intended, in Christian theology, to function as an authenticating sign, it is highly predicted that Jesus’ resurrection will deviate from the normal course of nature. That the resurrection does, in fact, deviate from the normal course of nature should not be taken as a cause for concern.

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