Convincing Proof

Philosophy presents us with many ultimate questions about life. How do we find the answers to these questions? Thinkers have proposed both faith and reason as ways to answer them. Popular culture today presents faith and reason as if they are incompatible. Some say faith is just the failure of reason by choosing to believe something without evidence. Others say reason is inadequate and that we just need to make a “leap of faith.” Is this true? Are faith and reason really in conflict? Two very influential Western thinkers, Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas, would disagree. They both thought faith and reason could work together, that faith and reason worked best when they reinforced each other, not when they were separated. Click here https://linktr.ee/convincingproof/ for articles, podcasts, and other resources from Convincing Proof that give good reasons and evidence to believe that Christianity is true. You can find resources on apologetics, theology, philosophy, ethics, and more. You can order a copy of my book, "Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity is the Source and Foundation of Morality," from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Love-Theory-Foundation-Morality/dp/0825447577/. Like Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3), my missionary work with Convincing Proof is funded by a large team of people, most of whom are investing a small amount on a monthly basis. If God leads you to invest in my work, you can donate to Convincing Proof Ministries by visiting this link: https://convincingproof.org/donate/. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Does the Bible condone the use of apologetics? The intuition found in the first cause, design, and moral arguments for the existence of God seem to be affirmed in Romans 1 and 2. Many cultures concluded that a supreme being exists based on general revelation alone, and this is not a coincidence. This is confirmed by Paul’s speech in Acts 17. Arguing that Jesus is God is also confirmed by the Bible when Jesus tells people to use a “miracle test” and look at His miracles to know if He is really God. In the Old Testament, God gives Moses miracles to prove a message was given to him by God. Moses said to test claims to have messages from God by evaluating the evidence, and the Bible affirms that we should use historical investigation to see if its claims are true. However, some Christians still object to the use of apologetics. Modern philosophy has influenced the church to separate faith from reason and look down on reason and think of faith as uncertainty. Thomas Aquinas used faith and reason together and did particularly well in balancing general and special revelation properly. It can be said that philosophy is the study of general revelation and theology is the study of special revelation. Many verses that Christians use to try to say that the Bible opposes using reason to ascertain truth are not interpreted properly in context. Yes, the Bible is both self-sufficient and self-authenticating, but we must be careful about what we conclude from the meaning of those terms. To find this content in written form, you can read Adam's article "A Biblical Foundation for My Apologetic Approach", which can be found here: https://convincingproof.org/apologetic-approach-biblical-foundation/ Adam’s Lectures on the History of Philosophy can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTEkXbr4qlVMKIVGtsvM1ODMffPh8Hgfr Click here https://linktr.ee/convincingproof/ for articles, podcasts, and other resources from Convincing Proof that give good reasons and evidence to believe that Christianity is true. You can find resources on apologetics, theology, philosophy, ethics, and more. You can order a copy of my book, "Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity is the Source and Foundation of Morality," from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Love-Theory-Foundation-Morality/dp/0825447577/. Like Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3), my missionary work with Convincing Proof is funded by a large team of people, most of whom are investing a small amount on a monthly basis. If God leads you to invest in my work, you can donate to Convincing Proof Ministries by visiting this link: https://convincingproof.org/donate/. Your support is greatly appreciated! Contents: 0:00 Introduction 3:40 Is Arguing that God Exists Biblical? 11:44 Is Using the Miracle Test Biblical? 16:34 The Bible Began with Miracles Given to Moses 22:46 How to Identify True and False Messages from God 30:58 Using Historical Investigation to Evaluate Evidence for Jesus 38:07 Some Christians Argue Apologetics is Unbiblical 41:01 Separating Faith from Reason 51:34 Augustine and Aquinas on Faith and Reason 54:59 General Revelation vs. Special Revelation 1:05:10 Does Paul Oppose Apologetics in 1 Corinthians? 1:22:34 Is the Bible Self-Sufficient to Save People? 1:25:37 Is the Bible Self-Authenticating? 1:33:58 Is Defending the Bible a Waste of Time? 1:42:02 Faith Is Not Equal to Uncertainty but Trust 1:53:27 Class Logistics

Often times today, people talk about faith and reason as if they're in conflict. They'll say things like "Having faith is just choosing to believe something without any evidence!" Others might say something like "Reason has failed to give us certainty, so we have to just take a leap of faith!" These sentiments, and others like them, have a long history within Western culture, arising from the philosophies of modernism and postmodernism. Modern thinkers esteemed reason and denigrated faith, while postmodern thinkers elevated faith and questioned reason. But are faith and reason really opposed to each other? Here is the article about Francis Schaeffer mentioned at 45:06: https://convincingproof.org/created-to-know/ The Apologetics and Philosophy classes can be found here: https://convincingproof.org/category/classes/ Click here https://linktr.ee/convincingproof/ for articles, podcasts, and other resources from Convincing Proof that give good reasons and evidence to believe that Christianity is true. You can find resources on apologetics, theology, philosophy, ethics, and more. You can order a copy of my book, "Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity is the Source and Foundation of Morality," from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Love-Theory-Foundation-Morality/dp/0825447577/. Like nearly all ministries, including Jesus’ ministry (Luke 8:3), Convincing Proof is funded by a large team of people, most of whom are investing a small amount on a monthly basis. If God leads, you can donate to Convincing Proof Ministries by visiting this link: https://convincingproof.org/donate/. Thank you! 0:00 Introduction 6:05 Three Eras of Western Culture 15:23 One Incorrect View: Prideful Reason 19:58 Another Incorrect View: Blind Faith 25:56 The Biblical Balance: Faith and Reason 33:13 Jesus and the Apostles Pointed to Evidence to Establish Faith 39:36 It's Good and Healthy to Ask Questions about Our Beliefs 44:25 About Convincing Proof Ministries

After Kant’s influence, some thinkers continued down the path of attempting to only use reason to understand the world. They concluded that there were no ultimate answers, because reason alone couldn’t give us ultimate answers, but reason could at least help us do science. They focused their philosophy predominantly on the physical realm, the phenomena of nature. If you reject the transcendent realm and limit yourself to only nature, you are likely to conclude that there is no ultimate truth. Because of this, the mechanical view of the world began to gain influence – viewing the world as nothing more than a machine controlled by the laws of nature. The theory of evolution was a pivotal development in this area, because it alleged that humans were just physical machines themselves, just a part of the larger machine of nature. These reductionistic views caused people to view things like morality, love, art, beauty, meaning, purpose, and humanity itself as not really valuable in and of themselves but merely as expressions of how nature and evolution had programmed us. Click here https://linktr.ee/convincingproof/ for articles, podcasts, and other resources from Convincing Proof that give good reasons and evidence to believe that Christianity is true. You can find resources on apologetics, theology, philosophy, ethics, and more. You can order a copy of my book, "Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity is the Source and Foundation of Morality," from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Love-Theory-Foundation-Morality/dp/0825447577/. Like Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3), my missionary work with Convincing Proof is funded by a large team of people, most of whom are investing a small amount on a monthly basis. If God leads you to invest in my work, you can donate to Convincing Proof Ministries by visiting this link: https://convincingproof.org/donate/. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Joel Mohrmann presents a critique of critical theory and examines its effects on our culture. Critical theory, Critical Race Theory (CRT), and other associated ideas have become much more mainstream in our world today. From pop culture to politics, ideas that grew out of various critical theories are being discussed, debated, and implemented. But what is critical theory? Where did it come from? Why do people believe it? And how should Christians respond to all of these ideas taking root in our culture? Many aspects of this talk came from or were influenced by Neil Shenvi and Pat Sawyer's excellent and insightful booklet "Engaging Critical Theory & The Social Justice Movement," which is made available for download by Ratio Christi here: https://ratiochristi.org/engaging-critical-theory-and-the-social-justice-movement/. The graphs from LexisNexis came from here: https://twitter.com/ZachG932/status/1133440945201061888/. More of Neil Shenvi's excellent content analyzing and critiquing critical theory can be found on his website here: https://shenviapologetics.com/critical-theory-all-content/. Shenvi and Sawyer's article entitled "Do Whites Need Corporate Repentance for Historical Racial Sins?" can be found here: https://shenviapologetics.com/do-whites-need-corporate-repentance-for-historical-sins/. Carl Trueman's excellent book about the nature of identity in our postmodern world, "The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self," which is a helpful explainer for why our culture is the way it is, can be found here, where you can read the whole introduction and first chapter: https://www.crossway.org/books/the-rise-and-triumph-of-the-modern-self-hcj/. A condensed and simplified edition of this book called "Strange New World" was also released and can be found here: https://www.crossway.org/books/strange-new-world-tpb/. Click here https://linktr.ee/convincingproof/ for articles, podcasts, and other resources from Convincing Proof that give good reasons and evidence to believe that Christianity is true. You can find resources on apologetics, theology, philosophy, ethics, and more. You can order a copy of my book, "Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity is the Source and Foundation of Morality," from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Love-Theory-Foundation-Morality/dp/0825447577/. Like Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3), my missionary work with Convincing Proof is funded by a large team of people, most of whom are investing a small amount on a monthly basis. If God leads you to invest in my work, you can donate to Convincing Proof Ministries by visiting this link: https://convincingproof.org/donate/. Your support is greatly appreciated! Contents: 0:00 Introduction by Adam 3:25 Preliminaries 4:23 Critical Theory's Increase in Popularity 6:34 Where Did Critical Theory Come From? 15:54 What is Critical Theory? 34:45 Critical Theory's Insights 38:08 Critiquing Critical Theory 44:20 Taken Too Far 56:09 How to Respond 1:00:23 Resources 1:02:33 Questions

Continuing on in this series using Bart Ehrman's book "Did Jesus Exist?" to examine the historical evidence for Jesus, Adam takes a look at sources about Jesus found outside the Bible. Ancient Roman authors such as Pliny the Younger, Suetonius, and Tacitus talk about Jesus, as does the famous Jewish historian Josephus. There are also early Christian sources of interest such as Papias, Ignatius, 1 Clement, and even the Gospel of Thomas. Ehrman says we can use all these sources to establish and corroborate basic facts about the life of Jesus. Click here https://linktr.ee/convincingproof/ for articles, podcasts, and other resources from Convincing Proof that give good reasons and evidence to believe that Christianity is true. You can find resources on apologetics, theology, philosophy, ethics, and more. You can order a copy of my book, "Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity is the Source and Foundation of Morality," from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Love-Theory-Foundation-Morality/dp/0825447577/. Like Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3), my missionary work with Convincing Proof is funded by a large team of people, most of whom are investing a small amount on a monthly basis. If God leads you to invest in my work, you can donate to Convincing Proof Ministries by visiting this link: https://convincingproof.org/donate/. Your support is greatly appreciated! Contents 0:00 Introduction: Main Argument Jesus Is God 2:34 Bart Ehrman’s Book “Did Jesus Exist?” 6:11 What Gives Historians Certainty? 9:40 What Do Historians Affirm about Jesus? 13:05 All the Historical Sources for Jesus 18:12 Roman Source: Pliny the Younger 22:13 Roman Source: Suetonius 24:29 Roman Source: Tacitus 28:12 Jewish Source: Josephus 35:47 Concerns About Using Christian Sources 39:11 Christian Source: Papias 43:33 Christian Source: Ignatius 46:14 Christian Source: 1 Clement 47:50 Christian Source: Gospel of Thomas 51:48 Christian Source: Gospel of Peter 54:54 Christian Source: Papyrus Egerton 2 56:19 Pagan Myths Are Not Sources on Jesus 58:55 Many Gnostic Sources Are Not Credible 1:01:49 Conclusion: Laying a Foundation

Some people claim that evolution has defeated the argument for God’s existence from the design found in life, but has it? Evolution is the idea that all of life can be traced back to a common ancestor and that natural selection of random mutations can explain all the diversity in life. We know that natural selection is simply a scientific fact, but how powerful is it? Can natural selection produce new types of organisms? One scientist, Michael Behe, has argued that natural selection is not powerful enough to produce new species. Based on the evidence from studying fruit flies, malaria interacting with sickle-cell anemia, and HIV, Behe says that there seems to be a limit to what the evolutionary process can produce that falls short of new species. If this is true, then it indicates that evolution, on a large scale, is false. If evolution is false, then certainly it can’t prove that there is no God. However, even if evolution is true, it still doesn’t prove that there is no God. It might weaken the design-of-life argument somewhat, but evolution still can’t explain the origin of life in the first place. Plus, there are many other good arguments for God’s existence that aren’t related to evolution at all. The existence of God and evolution are not mutually exclusive beliefs. Read the article "Does Evolution Prove that Christianity is False?" here: Part 1: https://convincingproof.org/does-evolution-prove-that-christianity-is-false-part-1/ Part 2: https://convincingproof.org/does-evolution-prove-that-christianity-is-false-part-2/ Click here https://linktr.ee/convincingproof/ for articles, podcasts, and other resources from Convincing Proof that give good reasons and evidence to believe that Christianity is true. You can find resources on apologetics, theology, philosophy, ethics, and more. You can order a copy of my book, "Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity is the Source and Foundation of Morality," from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Love-Theory-Foundation-Morality/dp/0825447577/. Like Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3), my missionary work with Convincing Proof is funded by a large team of people, most of whom are investing a small amount on a monthly basis. If God leads you to invest in my work, you can donate to Convincing Proof Ministries by visiting this link: https://convincingproof.org/donate/. Your support is greatly appreciated!

#shorts See the full video: https://rumble.com/v2dffmu-the-first-cause-argument-for-gods-existence-apologetics-part-2.html

Episode 9 of the Convincing Proof Podcast. Adam Lloyd Johnson responds to comments made by William Lane Craig about his Divine Love Theory. Craig critiqued Adam's Divine Love Theory for not also including an explanation of God's justice. Craig thought Adam's Divine Love Theory too closely resembled an idea called the 'Identity Thesis,' which claims that God's moral nature is reducible to just His love. Adam responds that his Divine Love Theory is only an explanation for moral value and moral obligation, not God's moral nature as a whole, and thus it does not need to take special account of God's justice. Adam's Worldview Bulletin article on his Divine Love Theory: https://worldviewbulletin.substack.com/p/divine-love-theory-how-the-trinity/ Watch William Lane Craig's critique here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeD8tkdMk3s Watch a longer response with FreeThinking Ministries here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNvOD8F1QdA Click here https://linktr.ee/convincingproof/ for articles, podcasts, and other resources from Convincing Proof that give good reasons and evidence to believe that Christianity is true. You can find resources on apologetics, theology, philosophy, ethics, and more. You can order a copy of my book, "Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity is the Source and Foundation of Morality," from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Love-Theory-Foundation-Morality/dp/0825447577/. Like Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3), my missionary work with Convincing Proof is funded by a large team of people, most of whom are investing a small amount on a monthly basis. If God leads you to invest in my work, you can donate to Convincing Proof Ministries by visiting this link: https://convincingproof.org/donate/. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Adam Lloyd Johnson explores the historical evidence presented in Bart Ehrman’s book “Did Jesus Exist?” Ehrman wrote this book to respond to people who don’t think Jesus even existed as a person in history. However, Ehrman shows that there is good historical evidence that Jesus did indeed exist, and some of this evidence can be dated very early, within two or three years after Jesus’s death. Since Ehrman is not a Christian, his affirmation of these facts can be a powerful tool in making the historical case that Jesus is God. To watch the whole series on using evidence from Bart Ehrman's book to make the case for Jesus, see here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTEkXbr4qlVPGF3Qa2td7jZtRQhhIkcha Click here https://linktr.ee/convincingproof/ for articles, podcasts, and other resources from Convincing Proof that give good reasons and evidence to believe that Christianity is true. You can find resources on apologetics, theology, philosophy, ethics, and more. You can order a copy of my book, "Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity is the Source and Foundation of Morality," from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Love-Theory-Foundation-Morality/dp/0825447577/. Like Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3), my missionary work with Convincing Proof is funded by a large team of people, most of whom are investing a small amount on a monthly basis. If God leads you to invest in my work, you can donate to Convincing Proof Ministries by visiting this link: https://convincingproof.org/donate/. Your support is greatly appreciated!

#shorts See the full video: https://rumble.com/v2dffmu-the-first-cause-argument-for-gods-existence-apologetics-part-2.html

In the final part of this series examining Bart Ehrman's book "Did Jesus Exist?", Adam discusses how claims of miraculous events can be considered by historians. History is a measure of how certain we are about events in the past; having absolute certainty about historical claims is impossible. However, historians have developed many criteria for evaluating how certain we can be that something actually happened, and these criteria are how facts about Jesus are evaluated. Using Ehrman's writings, Adam argues that Jesus' miracles claims, including His resurrection, meet the criteria that Ehrman lays out for something to be considered historically reliable, although Ehrman himself does not accept this conclusion. While Ehrman would say that it is outside the historian's purview to evaluate miracle claims, Adam thinks that miracles can be evaluated in the same way as any other historical claims—by looking at the evidence. At the very least, we can conclude, along with Ehrman, that reports of Jesus' miracles are not simply legends that developed many years later. Rather, they were proclaimed by Jesus' earliest followers. Click here https://linktr.ee/convincingproof/ for articles, podcasts, and other resources from Convincing Proof that give good reasons and evidence to believe that Christianity is true. You can find resources on apologetics, theology, philosophy, ethics, and more. You can order a copy of my book, "Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity is the Source and Foundation of Morality," from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Love-Theory-Foundation-Morality/dp/0825447577/. Like Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3), my missionary work with Convincing Proof is funded by a large team of people, most of whom are investing a small amount on a monthly basis. If God leads you to invest in my work, you can donate to Convincing Proof Ministries by visiting this link: https://convincingproof.org/donate/. Your support is greatly appreciated! Contents 0:00 Introduction: The Miracle Test 2:25 Bart Ehrman's Book "Did Jesus Exist?" 3:58 The CSI Effect: Is Absolute Certainty Possible? 9:18 Criteria that Increase Certainty 11:37 All the Sources About Jesus 17:32 What Facts Do All Scholars Affirm About Jesus? 20:28 What Does It Mean That "All Scholars" Agree? 23:55 Do Jesus' Miracles Meet Ehrman's Criteria? 26:16 Speeches in the Book of Acts Mention Miracles 30:10 Material in Paul's Letters Talks About Miracles 33:28 So, Why Doesn't Ehrman Believe in Jesus? 39:55 Ehrman Doesn't Believe God Exists 41:58 Can Historians Evaluate Miracle Claims? 47:24 Should We Ever Believe in Miracles? 51:00 Conclusion: Jesus' Miracles Aren't Simply Legends

As we keep going in this series using Bart Ehrman's book "Did Jesus Exist?" to examine the historical evidence for Jesus, Adam takes a look at the evidence contained in the letters written by the Apostle Paul. The historical evidence for Jesus in these letters is some of the earliest that we have for Jesus, particularly the evidence from early creeds contained in Paul's letters. These creeds are dated by scholars to have been written within 2-3 years of Jesus' death, and they contain statements relating to Jesus' miracles, death, and resurrection. Some skeptics might object to using Paul's letters for this type of historical analysis. They might say that Paul's letters can't be trusted because they have been corrupted with errors or that you can't use the Bible to prove the Bible. But these objections are misguided. Also, some Christians might say that critically evaluating the Bible is wrong because it is tantamount to doubting God. However, this type of objection is also misguided. Click here https://linktr.ee/convincingproof/ for articles, podcasts, and other resources from Convincing Proof that give good reasons and evidence to believe that Christianity is true. You can find resources on apologetics, theology, philosophy, ethics, and more. You can order a copy of my book, "Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity is the Source and Foundation of Morality," from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Love-Theory-Foundation-Morality/dp/0825447577/. Like Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3), my missionary work with Convincing Proof is funded by a large team of people, most of whom are investing a small amount on a monthly basis. If God leads you to invest in my work, you can donate to Convincing Proof Ministries by visiting this link: https://convincingproof.org/donate/. Your support is greatly appreciated! Contents 0:00 Main Argument Jesus Is God 2:19 Why Use Bart Ehrman's Book? 5:04 What Books Did the Apostle Paul Write? 8:59 What Does Paul Say about Jesus? 11:49 Creeds Written Before Paul's Letters 17:11 Paul Talked with Eyewitnesses of Jesus 22:31 The Last Supper Creed in 1 Corinthians 11 27:12 The Death & Resurrection Creed in 1 Corinthians 15 31:59 Objection #1: Paul's Letters Have Been Corrupted with Errors 38:54 Objection #2: You Can't Use the Bible to Prove the Bible 43:15 Objection #3: Christians Shouldn't Critically Evaluate the Bible Because That's Doubting God

What reasons and evidence do we have to believe that the Bible is really from God? Our main source of evidence for this is that those people who wrote the Bible, who had messages from God, were able to do miracles to prove or authenticate that their messages were from God. Jesus and His disciples claimed that the Old and New Testaments were from God, and then they did authenticating miracles to back up those claims. However, the Bible is a collection of documents written by human beings, not by God Himself. The doctrine of inspiration tells us how God used human beings to communicate His messages. Even though the Bible is from God, there are two senses in which it can be considered true: it can be true for all major historical events but may have small errors with minor details, or it can be completely correct in all details. This latter sense is called the doctrine of inerrancy, the claim that the Bible contains no errors. Christians believe the Bible is inerrant because God inspired the text of Scripture, and God cannot lie. The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy was written in order to explain what Christians do and don’t mean when they speak about the Bible being inerrant. However, even if we’re wrong about inerrancy, Christianity would still be true, because God still exists and Jesus is still God, even if the Bible contained some minor errors. Click here https://linktr.ee/convincingproof/ for articles, podcasts, and other resources from Convincing Proof that give good reasons and evidence to believe that Christianity is true. You can find resources on apologetics, theology, philosophy, ethics, and more. You can order a copy of my book, "Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity is the Source and Foundation of Morality," from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Love-Theory-Foundation-Morality/dp/0825447577/. Like Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3), my missionary work with Convincing Proof is funded by a large team of people, most of whom are investing a small amount on a monthly basis. If God leads you to invest in my work, you can donate to Convincing Proof Ministries by visiting this link: https://convincingproof.org/donate/. Your support is greatly appreciated! Contents 0:00 Introduction: The Order of Apologetics 7:26 Why Believe the Bible Is from God? Miracles 11:05 Jesus and His Disciples Said the Bible Was from God 17:33 Jesus and His Disciples Did Authenticating Miracles 18:45 How Can the Bible Be from God and Written by Humans? 21:46 Various Methods of Inspiration 31:08 In What Sense Is the Bible True? 37:48 The Bible Only Needs to Be Historically Reliable about Major Events 44:28 A Deductive Argument for Inerrancy 51:19 Common Objections to Inerrancy 1:00:18 The Chicago Statement on Inerrancy 1:04:24 What Inerrancy Does NOT Mean 1:22:26 What about Alleged Errors in the Bible? 1:25:49 What If We’re Wrong about Inerrancy? 1:29:11 Class Logistics

Adam continues this series examining Bart Ehrman's book "Did Jesus Exist?" by looking at how Ehrman and other scholars view the New Testament gospel accounts. Viewed purely as historical documents, the gospels provide a wealth of information about the life of Jesus, much of which is corroborated by other gospel accounts. However, some people have objected to using the gospels as historical sources. Reasons they usually give for this are that the gospels have been corrupted, that they were written by Christians and are thus biased, that they're not independent, or that they were written too long after Jesus' life. However, scholars like Ehrman do not believe that any of these are valid reasons to dismiss the gospels as containing valid historical information about Jesus. Click here https://linktr.ee/convincingproof/ for articles, podcasts, and other resources from Convincing Proof that give good reasons and evidence to believe that Christianity is true. You can find resources on apologetics, theology, philosophy, ethics, and more. You can order a copy of my book, "Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity is the Source and Foundation of Morality," from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Love-Theory-Foundation-Morality/dp/0825447577/. Like Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3), my missionary work with Convincing Proof is funded by a large team of people, most of whom are investing a small amount on a monthly basis. If God leads you to invest in my work, you can donate to Convincing Proof Ministries by visiting this link: https://convincingproof.org/donate/. Your support is greatly appreciated! Contents 0:00 The Main Argument Jesus Is God: Miracles 2:40 Why Look at What an Agnostic Scholar Says? 8:03 Using the New Testament Gospels as Historical Sources 10:46 Objections to Using the Gospels as Historical Sources 13:40 Objection #1: The Gospels Have Been Corrupted by Copying Errors 18:42 Objection #2: Some People Believe They Are God's Word 27:15 Objection #3: They're Written by Christians so They're Too Biased 30:45 Objection #4: They're Not Independent Sources 37:43 The Q Source: An Extra Gospel? 48:22 Objection #5: They Were Written Too Long After Jesus' Life 53:11 Ehrman's Respect for Christian Scholars 55:17 How Early Do Scholars Date the Sources Used in the Gospels? 1:01:14 In Conclusion, How Does Ehrman View the Gospels?

Dr. Erik J. Wielenberg, an atheist philosopher and Professor of Philosophy at DePauw University, and Dr. Adam Lloyd Johnson, a Christian philosopher and director of the Ratio Christi chapter at UNL, discuss the foundation of morality and whether or not God is necessary to explain the existence of objective moral values and duties. This debate was held on September 27, 2020, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln during the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, hence the requirement that all participants, including speakers, wear face coverings. To order a copy of Erik Wielenberg's book "Robust Ethics," which explains his theory of godless normative realism, visit this link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0198812000/. To order a copy of Adam Lloyd Johnson's book responding to Erik Wielenberg's theory, "Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity Is the Source and Foundation of Morality," visit its page here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0825447577/. You can also order a copy of the book mentioned during the debate of which both Adam and Erik are authors: "A Debate on God and Morality: What is the Best Account of Objective Moral Values and Duties?" at https://www.amazon.com/dp/0367135655/. Click here https://linktr.ee/convincingproof/ for articles, podcasts, and other resources from Convincing Proof that give good reasons and evidence to believe that Christianity is true. You can find resources on apologetics, theology, philosophy, ethics, and more. Like Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3), my missionary work with Convincing Proof is funded by a large team of people, most of whom are investing a small amount on a monthly basis. If God leads you to invest in my work, you can donate to Convincing Proof Ministries by visiting this link: https://convincingproof.org/donate/. Your support is greatly appreciated! Contents 0:00 Introduction 2:49 How Do You Know Each Other? 5:26 What Do You Both Agree On? 10:39 Why Do You Believe that Morality Is Objective and Real? 16:54 What Is the Historical Context of Your Position? 23:01 Why Do You Think God Does or Doesn't Exist? 28:48 What Do You Appreciate about Each Other's Position? 33:05 TO ADAM: Is the Goodness of the Love in the Trinity a Moral Axiom? 38:48 TO ERIK: Do Atheists Reject Your Theory Because It’s Non-Natural? 43:14 TO ADAM: Without the Triune God, Does Human Love Have No Value? 48:19 TO ERIK: Do You Have Evidence to Believe Moral Axioms Exist? 52:24 TO ADAM: Why Is Anyone Obligated to Obey God? 56:47 TO ERIK: Are Moral Axioms Really a Good Stopping Point? 1:02:40 TO ADAM: Are We Morally Obligated Only if We’ll Be Punished for Not Doing Something? 1:07:12 TO ERIK: How Is Our Knowledge of Moral Axioms Not Just a Lucky Coincidence? 1:13:25 Questions from the Audience 1:13:41 What Methods Should We Use to Answer New Moral Questions? 1:18:50 What Would Make You Change Your Mind about God's Existence? 1:22:54 TO ERIK: What Is the Downside in Your View to Breaking a Moral Law? 1:27:20 TO ADAM: Would You Believe in the Trinity if You Weren't a Christian? 1:31:23 TO ERIK: What or Who Defines Right and Wrong for You? 1:35:57 TO ERIK: Should We Base our Laws on Moral Goodness? 1:40:36 TO ADAM: Could God Command People to do Different Things? 1:47:18 TO ERIK: Do You Morally Distinguish Between Animals and Humans? 1:51:40 Conclusion

The problem of evil is something we probably all struggle with at one time in our lives. If there really is a good God out there, then why is there so much pain and suffering in this world? There are two ways to look at the problem of evil: the logical version and the probability (or evidential) version. The logical version argues that if God is all powerful and all good, then evil wouldn’t exist because God can and would want to eliminate it. Thus, since evil does exist, it is impossible for God to exist. In response, Alvin Plantinga has proposed the free-will defense, which says that God allowed human beings to have free will, and no matter how God could have created us, there would always be a way we would choose to do evil. This is known as “transworld depravity,” and it sufficiently responds to the logical problem of evil. But since all this evil exists anyway, isn’t it the case that God probably doesn’t exist? This is called the probability version of the problem of evil. Christians have offered various explanations, called “theodicies,” of why God would allow evil. Examples of these include the Greater Good theodicy or Adam’s own Divine Love theodicy, which says that God allowed evil because he wanted to create beings who could love like He does, but love requires free will. In order to allow His creatures to truly love Him and love each other, they had to have the free will to do so. God can’t force us to love, because then it’s not truly love. Videos Referenced in this Lecture: Alvin Plantinga Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VOMrozCISA The Free Will Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0tLRO8_qRI Transworld Depravity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keBw5Z-QWKs Logical Problem of Evil by Reasonable Faith: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k64YJYBUFLM Probability Problem of Evil by Reasonable Faith: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxj8ag8Ntd4 Click here https://linktr.ee/convincingproof/ for articles, podcasts, and other resources from Convincing Proof that give good reasons and evidence to believe that Christianity is true. You can find resources on apologetics, theology, philosophy, ethics, and more. You can order a copy of my book, "Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity is the Source and Foundation of Morality," from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Love-Theory-Foundation-Morality/dp/0825447577/. Like Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3), my missionary work with Convincing Proof is funded by a large team of people, most of whom are investing a small amount on a monthly basis. If God leads you to invest in my work, you can donate to Convincing Proof Ministries by visiting this link: https://convincingproof.org/donate/. Your support is greatly appreciated!

The design argument for God’s existence, also called the “teleological argument” or the “fine-tuning argument,” says that God exists because the universe, earth, and life all look like they have been designed. This type of argument has been around for thousands of years, being formulated by figures such as Socrates, Plato, and even Hindu thinker Adi Sankara. Through empirical observation, we can see that every design has a designer. We’ve never observed design coming from any other source than from an intelligent mind. How do we detect design? When something is both complex (it has multiple parts) and specified (the parts are not randomly arranged), it can be said to be designed. One way we notice design in the universe is by the fine tuning of its physical constants. We also notice design in the way that the earth is very specifically situated in our galaxy and solar system to allow life to exist. Finally, we notice design in the way life itself is put together and in the information it contains in its DNA. All of this evidence of design points to the existence of a designer, an intelligent supreme being like God. Watch the video about the fine tuning of the universe from Reasonable Faith here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE76nwimuT0 Read "A Cabin in the Woods" by Adam Lloyd Johnson on the fine-tuning argument here: https://convincingproof.org/bayesian-fine-tuning-argument-critique/ Click here https://linktr.ee/convincingproof/ for articles, podcasts, and other resources from Convincing Proof that give good reasons and evidence to believe that Christianity is true. You can find resources on apologetics, theology, philosophy, ethics, and more. You can order a copy of my book, "Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity is the Source and Foundation of Morality," from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Love-Theory-Foundation-Morality/dp/0825447577/. Like Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3), my missionary work with Convincing Proof is funded by a large team of people, most of whom are investing a small amount on a monthly basis. If God leads you to invest in my work, you can donate to Convincing Proof Ministries by visiting this link: https://convincingproof.org/donate/. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Does the idea of the Trinity even make sense? Some have alleged that the idea of God or the idea of God being a Trinity is incoherent or contradictory. They say that God can't possibly be both three and one at the same time. But can He? And what about Christians who disagree about the Trinity? Some Christians tend to emphasize God's oneness and unity more, while others emphasize His threeness and internal relationships more. So which views are correct? Can they be reconciled? You can find the book "Two Views on the Doctrine of the Trinity" that I recommended here: https://www.amazon.com/Two-Views-Doctrine-Trinity-Counterpoints-ebook/dp/B00H6Y0RS8/. Click here https://linktr.ee/convincingproof/ for articles, podcasts, and other resources from Convincing Proof that give good reasons and evidence to believe that Christianity is true. You can find resources on apologetics, theology, philosophy, ethics, and more. You can order a copy of my book, "Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity is the Source and Foundation of Morality," from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Love-Theory-Foundation-Morality/dp/0825447577/. Like Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3), my missionary work with Convincing Proof is funded by a large team of people, most of whom are investing a small amount on a monthly basis. If God leads you to invest in my work, you can donate to Convincing Proof Ministries by visiting this link: https://convincingproof.org/donate/. Your support is greatly appreciated! Contents 0:00 Is the Idea of God Incoherent? 5:07 Why do Some Think the Trinity is Incoherent? 7:10 Where Did the Idea of the Trinity Come from? 14:42 God is One Being and Three Persons 21:47 Two Views on the Trinity 26:34 Classical and Social Trinitarianism Compared 34:58 Extreme Differences Between Views 49:47 Adam’s View on the Trinity 55:31 Why Conclude the Trinity Is Not Incoherent?

This is the beginning of a series examining the historical evidence for Jesus presented in Bart Ehrman's book "Did Jesus Exist?" In this video, Adam gives an overview of how historians and scholars of ancient history evaluate the evidence we have concerning the life of Jesus. Click here https://linktr.ee/convincingproof/ for articles, podcasts, and other resources from Convincing Proof that give good reasons and evidence to believe that Christianity is true. You can find resources on apologetics, theology, philosophy, ethics, and more. You can order a copy of my book, "Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity is the Source and Foundation of Morality," from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Love-Theory-Foundation-Morality/dp/0825447577/. Like Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3), my missionary work with Convincing Proof is funded by a large team of people, most of whom are investing a small amount on a monthly basis. If God leads you to invest in my work, you can donate to Convincing Proof Ministries by visiting this link: https://convincingproof.org/donate/. Your support is greatly appreciated! Contents: 0:00 Argument that Jesus Is God from Miracles 5:10 Bart Ehrman’s Book “Did Jesus Exist?” 10:34 Why Study a Book by an Agnostic? 14:10 Structure of the Argument 23:13 Should We Disregard Christian Scholars? 27:13 Historically Evaluating the New Testament 31:05 The Limits of Historical Investigation 35:22 Criteria for Historical Reliability 37:45 Criterion #1: Multiple Sources 41:04 Criterion #2: Independent Sources 41:54 Criterion #3: Corroborating Sources 43:35 Criterion #4: Early Sources 45:18 Criterion #5: Extensive Sources 46:30 Criterion #6: Non-biased/Dissimilar Sources 54:12 Misusing the Criterion of Dissimilarity 58:00 How Do Historians Think about Sources? 1:02:27 Facts that “All Scholars” Agree On

In this series exploring the evidence presented in the book "Did Jesus Exist?" by Bart Ehrman, Adam discusses the historical usefulness of New Testament books besides the Gospels that were not written by Paul. This would include books such as the book of Acts, Hebrews, 1 and 2 Peter, Jude, Revelation, and 1-3 John. As Ehrman demonstrates, these books can be treated as early, independent sources that contain many corroborating details about the life of Jesus and how He was viewed by His followers. Some of these books even contain material that predates the books themselves, going back much earlier to a time closer to Jesus' death. Many of these books contain attestation that Jesus was a miracle worker and that He rose from the dead, but can historians believe that? Are miracle claims even open to historical investigation? Click here https://linktr.ee/convincingproof/ for articles, podcasts, and other resources from Convincing Proof that give good reasons and evidence to believe that Christianity is true. You can find resources on apologetics, theology, philosophy, ethics, and more. You can order a copy of my book, "Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity is the Source and Foundation of Morality," from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Love-Theory-Foundation-Morality/dp/0825447577/. Like Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3), my missionary work with Convincing Proof is funded by a large team of people, most of whom are investing a small amount on a monthly basis. If God leads you to invest in my work, you can donate to Convincing Proof Ministries by visiting this link: https://convincingproof.org/donate/. Your support is greatly appreciated! Contents 0:00 Review of Previous Material 5:03 What about the Gospel of John? 9:52 Can We Use New Testament Books NOT Written by Paul? 12:04 Does the Book of Acts Discuss Jesus? 19:19 Speeches in Acts Are Earlier than Acts Itself 28:09 Can Hebrews Be Used as a Historical Source? 31:42 The Writings Attributed to Peter Are Independent 35:52 Even the Short Book of Jude? 36:32 Surely Revelation Isn't Historical, Is It? 38:58 Are 1, 2, and 3 John Independent Sources? 41:36 Are Miracles Within the Scope of Historical Inquiry?

Søren Kierkegaard arose during the Romantic era as an influential thinker and a prominent critic of reason. According to Kierkegaard, philosophers of the past tried to find meaning “out there” using reason, but they were looking in the wrong places. Kierkegaard said that true meaning was found “in here,” on the inside of each individual. Inside ourselves is where we find meaning to our lives in our passions, desires, and choices. Ultimately, Kierkegaard said that meaning was subjective, and it was so personal that it could not be communicated to anyone else. According to Kierkegaard, “Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” Kierkegaard advocated the idea of taking a leap of faith, making a personal choice to create meaning for ourselves based on our passions. Friedrich Schleiermacher, the “father of liberal Christianity,” took Kierkegaard’s ideas and similarly applied them to Christianity. He said that the Bible didn’t have to be literally true; as long as it provides you meaning in life, then it’s true for you. Schleiermacher’s liberal theology reduced Christianity to a mere inward feeling or experience. 8-Bit Philosophy about Kierkegaard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJemN7zGhF0 Click here https://linktr.ee/convincingproof/ for articles, podcasts, and other resources from Convincing Proof that give good reasons and evidence to believe that Christianity is true. You can find resources on apologetics, theology, philosophy, ethics, and more. You can order a copy of my book, "Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity is the Source and Foundation of Morality," from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Love-Theory-Foundation-Morality/dp/0825447577/. Like Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3), my missionary work with Convincing Proof is funded by a large team of people, most of whom are investing a small amount on a monthly basis. If God leads you to invest in my work, you can donate to Convincing Proof Ministries by visiting this link: https://convincingproof.org/donate/. Your support is greatly appreciated!

How do we know what is a message from God and what isn’t? We know by miracles, which authenticate that something is really from God. There were three unique time periods when many miracles took place, and these were the times that major parts of the Bible were being written: the time of Moses, the time of the prophets, and the time of Jesus and the apostles. There is good historical evidence that the apostles did miracles to back up their claims, so the New Testament should include the books that the apostles said were from God. The early church did the historical research necessary to conclude that the 27 books in the New Testament were really messages from God and that books like the so-called "Gospel of Thomas" were not. Early church councils like the Council of Nicaea didn’t make the Bible; they merely verified which books were really affirmed by the apostles. An apostle’s affirmation of a book was more important than its authorship, because not all books (Mark, Luke, Hebrews) were written by an apostle. For the Old Testament, we can look at the development of the Hebrew canon and what Jesus and the apostles affirmed to determine what books should be in the Old Testament. There is disagreement among Christians about the “apocryphal” or “deuterocanonical” books. Catholic and Orthodox Christians accept some of them while Protestants reject all of them. Even though we disagree on this, if God exists and Jesus is God, then Christianity is true, even if we’ve made minor mistakes about which books should be included in the Bible. Click here https://linktr.ee/convincingproof/ for articles, podcasts, and other resources from Convincing Proof that give good reasons and evidence to believe that Christianity is true. You can find resources on apologetics, theology, philosophy, ethics, and more. You can order a copy of my book, "Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity is the Source and Foundation of Morality," from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Love-Theory-Foundation-Morality/dp/0825447577/. Like Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3), my missionary work with Convincing Proof is funded by a large team of people, most of whom are investing a small amount on a monthly basis. If God leads you to invest in my work, you can donate to Convincing Proof Ministries by visiting this link: https://convincingproof.org/donate/. Your support is greatly appreciated! Contents: 0:00 Introduction: Which Books in the Bible? 2:35 Miracles Authenticate Messages from God 10:15 Arguing for Books to Be in the Bible 11:49 An Argument for the New Testament Books 22:25 Was the New Testament Made by Church Councils? 33:48 Why Were These 27 Books Chosen? 40:08 Pseudepigrapha: Fake Books Claiming to Be from God 52:32 What Books Belong in the Old Testament? 58:47 What Did Jesus and the Apostles Say about the Old Testament? 1:01:57 What about the Apocryphal Books? 1:04:11 Top Ten Reasons Protestants Reject the Apocryphal Books 1:19:38 What If We’re Wrong about Which Books Belong in the Bible? 1:25:52 Class Logistics

The moral argument for God’s existence says that God exists because He is the best explanation for the fact that there are objective moral truths. Unlike the first-cause and design arguments, the moral argument is not based primarily on scientific evidence. Rather, it is based on the premise that objective morality is self-evident – we intuitively know that some things are right and others are wrong. Objective morality means that there are moral truths that exist beyond anybody’s own individual preferences, beliefs, or opinions. So, if morality is objectively real, what’s the best explanation for it? Where does it come from? Morality seems to be of a personal nature, and so it would make sense that morality comes from a personal source, but some atheist philosophers like Erik Wielenberg now argue that even though morality is objective, it doesn’t need a personal source. However, Adam believes that the description of God as a trinity in loving relationships provides the best explanation for the existence of objective morality. Click here https://linktr.ee/convincingproof/ for articles, podcasts, and other resources from Convincing Proof that give good reasons and evidence to believe that Christianity is true. You can find resources on apologetics, theology, philosophy, ethics, and more. You can order a copy of my book, "Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity is the Source and Foundation of Morality," from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Love-Theory-Foundation-Morality/dp/0825447577/. Like Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3), my missionary work with Convincing Proof is funded by a large team of people, most of whom are investing a small amount on a monthly basis. If God leads you to invest in my work, you can donate to Convincing Proof Ministries by visiting this link: https://convincingproof.org/donate/. Your support is greatly appreciated!

The subject of critical theory has become a much discussed and hotly debated issue in our culture over the past few years. Sometimes people focus heavily on "Critical Race Theory" or CRT, but there are many different types of critical theories out there. Sometimes, however, people miss what critical theory actually is. So, what is critical theory? Why is it appealing to our culture to adopt critical-theory perspectives? And how can we, as Christians, engage our friends and neighbors when issues related to critical theory discussed? Click here https://linktr.ee/convincingproof/ for articles, podcasts, and other resources from Convincing Proof that give good reasons and evidence to believe that Christianity is true. You can find resources on apologetics, theology, philosophy, ethics, and more. You can order a copy of my book, "Divine Love Theory: How the Trinity is the Source and Foundation of Morality," from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Love-Theory-Foundation-Morality/dp/0825447577/. Like Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3), my missionary work with Convincing Proof is funded by a large team of people, most of whom are investing a small amount on a monthly basis. If God leads you to invest in my work, you can donate to Convincing Proof Ministries by visiting this link: https://convincingproof.org/donate/. Your support is greatly appreciated! 0:00 Introduction 1:24 What is your view of motorcycles? 8:27 Critical Motorcycle Theory 21:59 How Can We Engage Critical Theory? 23:02 Critical Theory is Self Defeating 27:01 Critical Theory is Inconsistent 30:35 The Moral Argument 32:54 Don't Look Down on Human Reason 39:09 Don't Use Critical Theory Terms 44:50 Oppose Critical Theory Respectfully