Biblical Reliability Archives - Page 3 of 5 - Jonathan McLatchie

Hard Evidence the Book of Acts Was Written by an Eyewitness? A Reply to Bart Ehrman

2 Comments / Bart Ehrman, Biblical Reliability, Critics of Christianity, Extrabiblical Corroboration / jmclatchie

All of the contradictions Ehrman alleges between Acts and Paul’s letters are the result of over-readings, tendentious interpretations, and arguments from silence. The forcefulness that Ehrman ascribes to those, combined with his dismissal of the difficult details Luke gets right concerning geography and other matters as “completely irrelevant” is astounding, and really reveals his unscholarly bias against the New Testament.

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The Resurrection of Jesus: The Evidential Contribution of Luke-Acts

14 Comments / Bart Ehrman, Bible Contradictions, Biblical Reliability, Critics of Christianity, Evidence for the Resurrection, Extrabiblical Corroboration, Undesigned Coincidences / jmclatchie

Any discussion of the evidence for the resurrection must first ascertain what the original apostolic witnesses claimed and whether those claims are best explained by the resurrection, or by some alternative hypothesis.

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Defending Inter-Synoptic Undesigned Coincidences: A Response to Kurt Jaros

1 Comment / Biblical Reliability, Undesigned Coincidences / jmclatchie

Jaros does not seem to appreciate the value of casualness. He fails to understand how an undesigned coincidence can occur in the same document, or how a writer might provide information that unintentionally corroborates (in a manner that can be detected) some fact that the said author is also aware of.

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Finding Contradictions Where There Is None: A Review of Jesus, Interrupted (Part 3)

3 Comments / Bart Ehrman, Bible Contradictions, Biblical Reliability, Book Reviews, Critics of Christianity / jmclatchie

Since it is a fair assumption that Ehrman has chosen his best and, to his mind, most convincing examples of alleged contradictions in the gospels and Acts, the abject failure of Ehrman’s proposed contradictions should give us renewed confidence in the substantial trustworthiness of the Biblical accounts.

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Unexplained Allusions and the Credibility of the Gospel Accounts

2 Comments / Biblical Reliability, Undesigned Coincidences, Unexplained Allusions / jmclatchie

An unexplained allusion refers to when a source mentions superfluous details that are not relevant to the story. Typically, when inventing a story, one would want to minimize unnecessary details, especially if those unnecessary details are subject to investigation.

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Artless Similarities: Another Category of Evidence for the Reliability of the Gospels

1 Comment / Artless Similarities, Biblical Reliability / jmclatchie

This category of evidence, though seldom discussed in contemporary apologetics literature, contributes to the cumulative case for the substantial trustworthiness of the gospel accounts.

More Misrepresentations and Distortions by Bart Ehrman: A Review of Jesus, Interrupted (Part 2)

8 Comments / Bart Ehrman, Bible Contradictions, Biblical Reliability, Book Reviews, Critics of Christianity / jmclatchie

With Bart Ehrman I regrettably have learned never to trust him to accurately represent his sources since, from past experience, I know him to be misquoting or misrepresenting his sources far more often than he accurately represents them.

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Why You Should Not Be Intimidated by Bart Ehrman: A Review of Jesus, Interrupted (Part 1)

21 Comments / Bart Ehrman, Bible Contradictions, Biblical Reliability, Book Reviews, Critics of Christianity / jmclatchie

The next time a scholar who holds a PhD and a professorship position at a major University, like Bart Ehrman, attempts to challenge your confidence in the reliability of Scripture, do not be intimidated. Instead tell him that you would like to read his sources for yourself.

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Undesigned Coincidences and the Synoptic Puzzle: A Reply to Kurt Jaros

2 Comments / Biblical Reliability, Undesigned Coincidences / jmclatchie

An important feature of undesigned coincidences, which I think is all-too-often overlooked by critics, including Jaros, is the failure to understand the evidential significance of an appearance of casualness. This is what drives many to assume that the evangelists had to have no knowledge of each other’s work before we can argue for an undesigned coincidence.

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Undesigned Coincidences in the Gospels: A Reply to John Nelson

Biblical Reliability, Undesigned Coincidences / jmclatchie

Nelson has not offered compelling reason to reconsider the use of undesigned coincidences in the cumulative argument for the substantial reliability of the gospels, and the Scriptures more broadly.

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JONATHAN MCLATCHIE

Biblical Reliability