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How Many Languages Did Jesus Speak?

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  Introduction It is no secret that many, if not most, people in the first century were at least functionally illiterate. While the literacy rates may have varied based on a person's social class or location in the known world, the fact remains that there was a large population that was functionally illiterate. For this reason, some have claimed that Jesus MUST have been illiterate, since the population as a whole was largely illiterate. This is the argument used by individuals like Reza Aslan  to support their reconstruction of the life of Jesus. However, there is a problem with this. The issue is that a general statement about people at large cannot be used to describe an individual. It is logically fallacious to claim otherwise. For example, I cannot claim that, since most pastors in Texas make approximately $40,000 per year, that therefore Joel Osteen must make approximately $40,000. This is false. Another example would be that, since most books that are written are not New Yo
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Who Were The Sadducees?

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So far in this series, we have discussed the Essenes and the Zealots . The Essenes were a group of separatists who, for the most part, lived away from other groups and had a zeal for ritual purity and cleanliness. The Zealots, on the other hand wanted independence from Rome and were willing to use violence and guerilla warfare to get their way. The one thing that both the Essenes and the Zealots have in common is that the New Testament doesn't really give us much information about either group. For this, we need to sources other than the New Testament. Today, we will look at the Sadducees. Unlike the Essenes and Zealots, the Sadducees are mentioned in the New Testament, and we can gain a decent amount of insight from the writings of the New Testament about them. Of course, a fuller picture is gained when looking at a wide variety of historical sources, but it is sufficient to note that, unlike the Zealots and the Essenes, the Sadducees were not largely insignificant to the point th
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Why Should We Trust The Gospels?

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I have sometimes heard individuals claim that the New Testament Gospels are not reliable sources for the life of Jesus. Ironically, some of these same individuals will claim that the 2nd or 3rd Century gospels somehow contain accurate Jesus traditions. The issue here is that the evidence shows just the opposite. The fact of the matter is that we have good reason to trust the canonical Gospels on the historical Jesus. As scholar F.F. Bruce nicely summarizes, "The evidence for our New Testament writings is ever so much greater than the evidence for many writings of classical authors, the authenticity of which no one dreams of questioning. And if the New Testament were a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond all doubt." [1]  This is true of the Gospels especially. So what are some of the reasons we have to accept the Gospels as reliable sources for the life of Jesus? Here are a few of these reasons: 1. The Canonical Gospels Were
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Can We Trust The New Testament? (Part 1)

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  I recently saw a video of an exvangelical who, in essence, made the claim that, since all we have are "copies of copies of copies" of the books that we read in our bibles, that, therefore, we cannot trust what we read in the Bible. This is not the first time that I have heard this argument. In fact, it has been effectively answered by others more qualified than myself. However, because this misinformation continues to circulate, it is necessary for us to continue to point out the problem with the objection. Let's start with one of the most obvious problems. There are some who make this claim who seem to believe that, since we don't have the original manuscripts (called the "autograph"), that therefore we cannot trust what is written in the copies. It is important to point out that some individuals who make the initial claim that is the subject of this post do not actually make this claim. However, there are some who do and it is a prevalent enough claim th
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Book Review: "Inductive Bible Study" by Bauer and Traina

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  David Bauer and Robert Traina have written an excellent volume entitled “Inductive Bible Study: A Comprehensive Guide to the Practice of Hermeneutics.” It is my opinion that this book lives up to the expectation set by its subtitle . The book features an introduction that explains the importance of the inductive bible study method. The book itself is divided into five different parts, each covering one aspect of the inductive bible study method.   The first part of this book deals with the theoretical foundations of the inductive bible study method. It encompasses both an introduction and the first ten chapters of the book. The introduction to the first part of this book explains the idea of method. The authors write that “Our English word method is really a transliteration of the Greek methodos , which literally means a ‘way of transit.’” 1 It also spends time explaining that applying the principle of suitability involves the Bible, the student, and the relationship between the tw
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