Tag: apologetics

  • DOCTRINE – WHO SAYS?

    DOCTRINE – WHO SAYS?

    GOD IS One and FIRST

    “How long will you waver between two opinions?
    If the LORD is God, follow him.

    1 Kings 18:21b CSB – the question of the Prophet Elijah to the sons of Israel and false prophets at Mount Carmel

    It’s a great QUESTION Elijah asks of men ‘limping between two opinions’ [LSB].

    Wouldn’t it logically follow to ASK the same QUESTION of TRUTH?

    IF Yᵊhōvâ IS ĕlōhîm come to HIM — the Way, the Truth and the Life.

    Roger@TalkofJesus.com

    GOD is first in my life. Do YOU have a problem with that?

    Roger @ Talk of JESUS .com

    God’s TRUTH

    As a matter of fact,

    • MOST people do have a problem with putting GOD and Jesus Christ FIRST and before all else.
    • Many refuse to study TRUTH of what GOD has revealed for human creatures to consider.

    Why Study GOD ?

    • I have already provided an initial reason AND DEFINITIONS related to doctrine in a brief introductory apologetic.
    Have centuries of history defined by the word of Almighty GOD fallen into a bottomless black hole of godless futility?” – RH
    • In my previous look at The LORD God I intentionally offered only QUESTIONS for YOUR consideration without reference quoting the Bible.
    Acceptable Doctrines of the Common Era include a PAN-THEON poised in aTheist theory, pagan myth and stone-cold idols of every egregious god and any false prophet. – RH

    the QUESTIONS of doctrine-based Theology

    What is God? – Q4 Westminster Shorter Catechism

    In case you haven't done your homework, I'll provide an introductory ANSWER HERE, although You'll have to READ the (9) Scriptural answers on your own [referenced in the link above] from which this DOCTRINE is rooted.
    Quest. 4. What is God?
    Ans. 4. God is a Spirit,(1) infinite,(2) eternal,(3) and unchangeable,(4) in his being,(5) wisdom,(6) power,(7) holiness,(8) justice, goodness, and truth(9)

    WHY STUDY GOD?


    Certainly YOU have more QUESTIONS about GOD

    Perhaps you have questions similar to those I suggested last time from DOCTRINE taught through the Baltimore Catechism, which was formerly and formally endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church *before this Common Era).
    * officially replaced by the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults in 2004 C.E.

    Who is God?
    Why did God make you?
    1. Q. Is there but one God?
      A. Yes; there is but one God.
    2. Q. Why can there be but one God?
      A. There can be but one God, because God, being supreme and infinite, cannot have an equal.
    3. Q. How many Persons are there in God?
      A. In God there are three Divine Persons, really distinct, and equal in all things-the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
    Source: https://sacred-texts.com/chr/balt/balt1.htm *

    DISCLAIMER About Sacred-Texts – This site is .. about religion, mythology, legends and folklore, and occult and esoteric topics.

    [*note this aTheist approach]
    ‘This site has no particular agenda other than promoting religious tolerance and scholarship.’

    the Baseless questions of philosophers and scholars

    Scholarship, teaching and atheistic claims as an ‘unbiased‘ or ‘scientific approach” to theological and anthropological QUESTIONS frequently lack the logic and truth they claim.

    Roger@TalkofJesus.com

    There is ONE GOD and one TRUTH.

    1 Kings 18:21b LSB
    Open Bible to page in Isaiah 65
    All of us have become like something unclean…

    “Now I know this: that you are a man of God and that the word of Yahweh in your mouth is truth.”

    1 Kings 17:24 LSB – witness of a widow in Zarephath of Elijah after the Prophet raised her son from the dead

    Answers of TRUTH through Scripture

    chalkboard - written Sola Scriptura! Only Scripture

    All Scripture
    is God-breathed
    and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness

    2 Timothy 3:15 LSB – θεόπνευστος [inspired by God]

    This is NOT to say that the BIBLE contains ALL TRUTH, but that those things revealed by the Lord God through Scripture are TRUE and reliable.

    IF any man should claim some additional truth,’ NOT found in the Bible, THEN this humankind creature made in God’s image imagines the unprovable (even IF its human claim is ‘science‘).

    Are ALL truths EQUAL?

    OF COURSE NOT!

    What claim of man can stand against GOD?


    The heavens declare the glory of God,

    and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands.

    The instruction of the LORD is perfect..

    the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy..

    The precepts of the LORD are right..

    the command of the LORD is radiant..

    The fear of the LORD is pure,

    enduring forever;

    the ordinances of the LORD are reliable

    and altogether righteous.

    Psalm 19:1,7a,c,8a,c,9 CSB

    The LORD Speaks!


    “Then the LORD spoke to you from the fire. You kept hearing the sound of the words, but didn’t see a form; there was only a voice. – Deuteronomy 4:12

    “The LORD spoke to you face to face from the fire on the mountain. Deuteronomy 5:4

    congregation of the Hebrews at Mount Horeb

    “The LORD spoke these commands in a loud voice to your entire assembly from the fire, cloud, and total darkness on the mountain; he added nothing more.

    He wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

    THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

    Deuteronomy 5:22

    tablet of the 10 Commands from the Pentateuch or Law of Moses received from the LORD in Exodus

    Inerrancy of the Bible

    inerrant /ĭn-ĕr′ənt/

    adjective

    1. Incapable of erring; infallible.
    2. Containing no errors. Of or pertaining to inerrancy.
    3. Without error, particularly used in reference to the Bible.
      • The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition •

    “.. the Bible says that God’s words are the ultimate standard of truth.

    If the entire Scripture contains the communication of God to humanity,

    then it can be logically inferred that its contents will reflect the perfect nature of God.

    The logical result of these truths is that God’s Word is without error in everything that it says.

    Therefore, it is proper to call the Bible inerrant, infallible or a number of other terms that Christians use to describe its nature.

    Source: Don Stewart :: Does the Bible Testify to Its Own Inerrancy?

    True Witnesses of God’s Word

    This was the appearance of the likeness of the LORD’s glory. When I saw it, I fell facedown and heard a voice speaking. He said to me,

    “Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak with you.”

    As he spoke to me, the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet, and I listened to the one who was speaking to me.

    Ezekiel 1:28b-2:2 CSB

    Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the speaker, “How long will the events of this vision last ​— ​.. While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there stood before me someone who appeared to be a man. I heard a human voice calling from the middle of the Ulai:

    “Gabriel, explain the vision to this man.”

    So he approached where I was standing; when he came near, I was terrified and fell facedown.

    “Son of man,” he said to me, “understand that the vision refers to the time of the end.”

    Daniel 8:13a, 15-17 CSB

    a Voice from the cloud

    After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. Suddenly,

    Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him.

    He was transfigured in front of them, and his face shone like the sun; his clothes became as white as the light…

    While he [Peter] was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said,

    “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased. Listen to him! ”

    Gospel of Matthew 17:5b [vs.1-3,5]

    Why study God through the Word of Scripture?

    God-willing, we will study this question further NEXT in our look at Doctrines of the Common Era.

    The Source of Truth is exclusive to God and what the Lord chooses to reveal to some or all of his mortal human creatures.


    Believe in God and Know the Truth

    You believe in God; believe also in me.

    Gospel of John 14:1b NET

    Jesus replied, 
    “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
    No one comes to the Father
    except through me.

    Gospel of John 14:6 NET

    Talk of JESUS .com

    Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel

  • a Brief Apologetic for Doctrine

    a Brief Apologetic for Doctrine

    Doctrine (of the Common Era) Defined

    A doctrine is a set of principles or beliefs, especially religious ones.

    Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

    Quite simply EVERYONE has doctrines WE believe, beliefs and opinions WE teach unyieldingly or perhaps underpinning our speech subtly.

    Due to its everyday influence on our lives I have reviewed and retaught DOCTRINE here with some regularity.


    1. something taught; teachings
    2. something taught as the principles or creed of a religion, political party, etc.; tenet or tenets; belief; dogma
    3. a rule, theory, or principle of law
    4. US
      an official statement of a nation’s policy, esp. toward other nations
      the Monroe Doctrine
    1. a creed or body of teachings of a religious, political, or philosophical group presented for acceptance or belief; dogma
    2. a principle or body of principles that is taught or advocated
    Read the fine print below for a more succinct examination of doctrine. - RH

    doctrine refers to a theory based on carefully worked out principles and taught or advocated by its adherents [scientific or social doctrines]; dogma refers to a belief or doctrine that is handed down by authority as true and indisputable, and often connotes arbitrariness, arrogance, etc. [religious dogma]; tenet emphasizes the maintenance or defense, rather than the teaching, of a theory or principle [the tenets of a political party]; precept refers to an injunction or dogma intended as a rule of action or conduct [to teach by example rather than by precept]

    Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
    Do you really believe that? doctrine - a line in the sand [picture of Jesus kneeling down to draw a line with his finger
    DOCTRINE – What do you believe? Can you affirm it to others?

    Doctrine + TalkofJESUS.com

    HERE are several links where you should find teachings to Comment on Scripture OR respond to a doctrine with YOUR opinion.

    First, a summary PAGE which includes links to several earlier pages & posts on Doctrine.


    I asked, “Is the Church still ‘christian’‘ & other thought-provoking categorical questions about ‘the church in a 2022 SERIES [linked here].

    Recall of a church? WHY do that? SO WHAT IF WE preach what WE want? Pictured Medieval church bell tower during sundown in valley
    Evangelical Reconstruction

    SEARCH TalkofJESUS.com by topic for ‘Doctrine

    Do you really believe christianity-lite? Doctrine for a christ-less Common Era christianity-lite typically erases the lines where Scripture and doctrine holding to what is written.
    topical ‘christianity’

    We have explored contemporary issues of doctrine as well.


    Why to atheists try so hard to deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ?

    apologia not actually an ‘apology’

    It seems in the Common Era of NO ABSOLUTES and arguments of ANTI-this’ and ANTI-that’s I had best DEFINE what I mean to apologize to BOTH

    + disagreeing ‘christians

    • and semi-committed A-theists – [mortals AGAINST god AND unequivocally opposed to JESUS Christ].

    WHY this SERIES?

    I could share many reasons in this Common Era of 2024 WHY I am revisiting ‘doctrine’ but #1:

    For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

    2 Timothy 4:3-4 Legacy Standard Bible

    Apologetic for a Common Era approach to Biblical Doctrine

    From Before Christ to Before the Common Era

    In common Greek, apologia refers to the speech that an accused person delivered in court, rejecting the charges filed against him or her. The apologists of the second century chose this term because they wanted to show that the charges filed against Christians were unjustified and that the truths of their faith could be described and defended. An apologia was dedicated to the Roman emperor, who certainly never read it. [Max L. Stackhouse, “Apologia,” 1988]

    https://www.etymonline.com/word/apologia

    The A.D. Second Century CHRISTIAN apologist to whom the article refers is Justin Martyr.

    In addition to arguing against the persecution of individuals solely for being Christian, Justin also provides the Emperor with a defense of the philosophy of Christianity and a detailed explanation of contemporary Christian practices and rituals.

    The First Apology is dated to between AD 155–157

    The theologian Robert Grant has claimed that this Apology was made in response to the Martyrdom of Polycarp ~ in the year of our Lord 155.

    source & Christian History Polycarp

    Do you REALLY believe? Is DOCTRINE of the Bible a line in the sand for you? OR has DOCTRINE of the COMMON ERA become a blurred line in the sand of 21st century CE?
    2024 of the COMMON ERA DOCTRINE

    YOUR ‘What?‘ Questions of the Common Era

    From an earlier post.

    WHEN did the Common Era Begin?

    Was there an unexpected BIG BANG that exploded TRUTH into truths?

    Have centuries of history defined by the word of Almighty GOD fallen into a bottomless black hole of godless futility?

    Does a blurred timeline of History not continue to point toward Christ Jesus born into this common world of sin?

    Roger@TalkofJesus.com
    updated 2024 of the Common Era

    Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel


    Talk of JESUS .com

    NEXT: DOCTRINES of the Common Era: 

    God
    Scripture
    JESUS CHRIST
    --------------------
    FOLLOWED BY more 2024 C.E. examinations of KEY Doctrines
  • An Impossible Assignment + Disprove the Resurrection

    NEED an apologetic?

    LISTEN to one of the best arguments of Christians to refute the nonsense of supposedly “scientific” skepticism about the RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST after 3 days in a guarded grave.

    SHARE 


    “So if they were interested in affirming the fact of his death, all they had to do was take the body and put it in the middle of Jerusalem and say,

    “Look, don’t let anybody live with any nonsense. Jesus is dead.” 

    BUT the body of JESUS was not in the tomb!


    Pastor Begg makes a notable case about the RESURRECTION which makes so much more sense than EVERY objection by those who REFUSE to believe in Jesus Christ for their own selfish excuses.

    LISTEN: https://www.truthforlife.org/broadcasts/2023/04/04/an-impossible-assignment-/