The Case Against Christianity PDF Download

Author: Michael Martin
Publisher: Temple University Press
ISBN: 9781566390811
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
In this systematic philosophical critique of the major tenets of Christianity, Michael Martin examines the semantic and epistemological bases of religious claims and beliefs. Beginning with a comparison and evaluation of the Apostles' Creed, the Niceno-Chalcedonian Creed, and the Athanasian Creed, Martin discusses the principal theological, historical, and eschatological assumptions of Christianity. These include the historicity of Jesus, the Incarnation, the Second Coming, the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection, Salvation through faith in Jesus, and Jesus as a model of ethical behavior. Until now, an adequately convincing criticism of Christianity did not exist. Martin's use of historical evidence, textual analysis, and interpretations by philosophers and theologians provides the strongest case made to date against the rational justification of Christian doctrines.

Author: Robert M. Price
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781578840052
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description

Author: Lee Strobel
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
ISBN: 1458759202
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 510

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Book Description
The book consists primarily of interviews between Strobel (a former legal editor at the Chicago Tribune) and biblical scholars such as Bruce Metzger. Each interview is based on a simple question, concerning historical evidence (for example, "Can the Biographies of Jesus Be Trusted?"), scientific evidence, ("Does Archaeology Confirm or Contradict Jesus' Biographies?"), and "psychiatric evidence" ("Was Jesus Crazy When He Claimed to Be the Son of God?"). Together, these interviews compose a case brief defending Jesus' divinity, and urging readers to reach a verdict of their own.

Author: George G. R. Dekle Sr.
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443832707
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
Some two thousand years ago, in a small province of the Roman Empire, an obscure Roman governor ordered the execution of a peasant leader. It went virtually unnoticed at the time. No official report of the event has survived, and we would have no memory at all of it except for the efforts of a handful of followers of the condemned man. Those followers who kept that memory alive changed the course of history, and the results of their efforts continue to reverberate to this day. Conventional interpretation says that the execution of Jesus of Nazareth came on the heels of a series illegal trials before a number of different tribunals, and at the culmination of that series of trials a moral coward by the name of Pontius Pilate ordered Jesus’ execution despite being satisfied that he was innocent. Revisionist interpretation says that there was no trial at all, that Pilate simply executed Jesus because he was a nuisance, and that Jesus’ followers invented the story of his execution as a means of shifting the blame from the Roman government to a group of people whom they despised – the Jews. Are the Gospels good history or bad propaganda? Does a fair reading of the Gospel accounts support either the conventional or the revisionist interpretation of the trial of Jesus? Who, if anyone, should shoulder the blame for the crucifixion of Jesus? The Case against Christ seeks to answer these questions by treating the matter as a forensic death investigation and answering the questions as they might be answered by a prosecutor attempting to determine who should be held criminally responsible for the death of Jesus.

Author: Brant Pitre
Publisher: Image
ISBN: 0770435491
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
“This book will prove to be a most effective weapon… against the debunking and skeptical attitudes toward the Gospels that are so prevalent, not only in academe, but also on the street, among young people who, sadly, are leaving the Churches in droves.” – Robert Barron, author of Catholicism For well over a hundred years now, many scholars have questioned the historical truth of the Gospels, claiming that they were originally anonymous. Others have even argued that Jesus of Nazareth did not think he was God and never claimed to be divine. In The Case for Jesus, Dr. Brant Pitre, the bestselling author of Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist, goes back to the sources—the biblical and historical evidence for Christ—in order to answer several key questions, including: • Were the four Gospels really anonymous? • Are the Gospels folklore? Or are they biographies? • Were the four Gospels written too late to be reliable? • What about the so-called “Lost Gospels,” such as “Q” and the Gospel of Thomas? • Did Jesus claim to be God? • Is Jesus divine in all four Gospels? Or only in John? • Did Jesus fulfill the Jewish prophecies of the Messiah? • Why was Jesus crucified? • What is the evidence for the Resurrection? As The Case for Jesus will show, recent discoveries in New Testament scholarship, as well as neglected evidence from ancient manuscripts and the early church fathers, together have the potential to pull the rug out from under a century of skepticism toward the traditional Gospels. Above all, Pitre shows how the divine claims of Jesus of Nazareth can only be understood by putting them in their ancient Jewish context.

Author: Lee Strobel
Publisher: Zondervan
ISBN: 0310344697
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
An enlightening follow-up to the bestselling book The Case for Christ, In Defense of Jesus follows award-winning journalist Lee Strobel as he explores the most explosive arguments against the identity of Christ as the Messiah. Has modern scholarship debunked the traditional Christ? Has the church suppressed the truth about Jesus to advance its own agenda? What if the real Jesus is far different from the atoning Savior worshiped through the centuries? In Defense of Jesus explores such hot-button questions as: Did the church suppress ancient non-biblical documents that paint a more accurate picture of Jesus than the four Gospels? Did the church distort the truth about Jesus by tampering with early New Testament texts? Do new insights and explanations disprove the resurrection? Have fresh arguments disqualified Jesus from being the Messiah? Did Christianity steal its core ideas from earlier mythology? Evaluate the arguments and evidence being advanced by prominent atheists, liberal theologians, Muslim scholars, and others. Sift through expert testimony. Then reach your own verdict with In Defense of Jesus. This title is also available in Spanish, En defense de Jesús.

Author: Charles Foster
Publisher: HarperChristian + ORM
ISBN: 0849949181
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 386

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Book Description
Charles Foster thought he knew the familiar story of the resurrection of Jesus. He thought Christianity rested on sound historical foundations. But could he be wrong? Could Christianity be built on a terrible mistake or downright lie? As nagging doubts began to surface, Foster turned to countless Christian books to find comfort and proof. But all he found were more questions. What began as a personal quest for reassurance quickly turned into an in-depth examination of the most astounding historical claim of all time. He crawled through Jerusalem tombs, dusty libraries, and the recesses of his own mind in search of an answer. He turned the war in his head—the war between faith and doubt—into this heated, no-holds-barred debate, which presents the case both for and against the resurrection of Jesus. The Jesus Inquest takes you through medical evidence, Jewish burial practices, archaeological hypotheses, maps, ancient artifacts, the canonical and non-canonical gospels, biblical criticism, and much more, providing an unbiased examination of the facts of the case. A practicing trial attorney and University of Oxford academic, Charles Foster vigorously argues both sides of the issue, presenting information in compelling courtroom style and leaving no hard question unaddressed. The Jesus Inquest gives readers the tools necessary to debate the most remarkable and controversial event of world history—a debate so crucial and fascinating it cannot be ignored.

Author: Dean L. Overman
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN: 144220110X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 353

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Book Description
Whether Jesus was really the Son of God or not is a central question for Christians—and one that has provoked heated debate since the time of Jesus' birth. Dean L. Overman examines the earliest Christian records to build a compelling case for the divinity of Jesus. Addressing questions raised by books such as Bart Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus and Elaine Pagels' The Gnostic Gospels, Overman builds a carefully reasoned case for Jesus truly being the Son of God.

Author: G. A. Wells
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 1615923802
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
Professor Wells argues that there was no historical Jesus, and in thus arguing he deals with the many recent writers who have interpreted the historical Jesus as some kind of political figure in the struggle against Rome, and calls in evidence the many contemporary theologians who agree with some of his arguments about early Christianity. The question at issue is what all the evidence adds up to. Does it establish that Jesus did or did not exist? Professor Wells concludes that the latter is the more likely hypothesis. This challenge to received thinking by both Christians and non-Christians is supported by much documentary evidence, and Professor Wells carefully examines all the relevant problems and answers all the relevant questions. He deliberately avoids polemic and speculation, and sticks so far as possible to the known facts and to rational inferences from the facts.

Author: J. Warner Wallace
Publisher: David C Cook
ISBN: 1434705463
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Written by an L. A. County homicide detective and former atheist, Cold-Case Christianity examines the claims of the New Testament using the skills and strategies of a hard-to-convince criminal investigator. Christianity could be defined as a “cold case”: it makes a claim about an event from the distant past for which there is little forensic evidence. In Cold-Case Christianity, J. Warner Wallace uses his nationally recognized skills as a homicide detective to look at the evidence and eyewitnesses behind Christian beliefs. Including gripping stories from his career and the visual techniques he developed in the courtroom, Wallace uses illustration to examine the powerful evidence that validates the claims of Christianity. A unique apologetic that speaks to readers’ intense interest in detective stories, Cold-Case Christianity inspires readers to have confidence in Christ as it prepares them to articulate the case for Christianity.