Biblical King's Royal Seal Unearthed in Jerusalem
Tia Ghose The royal seal of an ancient biblical king has been unearthed near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The seal, a clay impression depicting a two-winged sun with two ankh symbols on either side, was once used to seal papyrus documents associated with King Hezekiah, who ruled the kingdom of Judea from 727 B.C. to 698 B.C.
Christmas...the Real Story
John MacArthur "A child born to die...when you understand that, you understand Christmas"
Christmas Would Be Impossible Without Hanukkah
David Brickner That's right, without Hanukkah there would be no Christmas. Yet Hanukkah, also known as the Feast of Dedication" or the "Festival of Lights," is not among the holidays God commanded Israel to celebrate in the Old Testament. In fact, you will only find one mention of the holiday in the Bible.
4 Simple Responses to Science-Based Atheism
Samuel James Lack of scientific knowledge can leave Christians feeling vulnerable when talking to unbelieving friends about why faith is superior to skepticism. That’s unnecessary. You don’t need a degree in science to have something to say to those with scientific objections to faith. Here are four simple responses to those who claim science has either disproved God or has made belief in God unnecessary.
The Doctrine of Scripture: Defining Our Terms
Kevin Gardner If you don’t grasp what the Bible is and how it came to be, you’ll never fully grasp its meaning. Since the meaning of the Bible is vitally important to our faith and life, we will here briefly define a few key terms that relate to the doctrine of Scripture as the study of God’s Word written.
A Crash Course on the Muslim Worldview and Islamic Theology
Justin Taylor As one online bio notes, “Francisco has a unique ability to see and understand both the difficulties facing Christians who wish to evangelize their Muslim friends and the Muslims who are being asked to come to Christ. Many of his unique insights come from personal experiences sharing his faith with Muslims.”
Not on Earth as It Is in Heaven: Worship in the Church Age
Matthew Westerholm Worship voices often celebrate the theme that we worship on earth like they worship in heaven. This emphasis has roots in Scripture and many clear benefits. But the great complication with worshiping now as if we were already fully in heaven is this: we are not actually there yet.
10 Things You Should Know About General Revelation
Sam Storms Because of our focus on the inspiration and inerrancy of God’s written revelation, the Bible (i.e., Special Revelation), we often tend to ignore the other ways in which God has made himself known more generally to all mankind. Theologians call this General Revelation. What is it and why is it important that we understand what is meant by it?
If I Deny Christ, Can I Still Go to Heaven?
Jesse Johnson Last week I was doing a Q/A session with AWANA students, and one of them asked this question: In light of the shooting in Oregon, where the gunman asked students if they were Christian, and if they said ‘yes’ the gunman shot the student in the head, what would happen if a Christian lied? What if it would have been me, and I would have said ‘no’? Would I still go to heaven when I die?
China's Christian Future
Yu Jie At the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, when the Communist party defeated the Nationalists and founded the People’s Republic of China, Christians in China numbered half a million. Yet almost seventy years later, under the Chinese government’s harsh suppression, that population has reached more than sixty million...
Religion and the Olympics—and the Olympics as Religion
Christopher Gehrz As I’ve been updating my knowledge of water polo, team handball, and competitive ping-pong, it’s struck me that I have a lot to learn about another complicated Olympic topic—the role of Christianity and other religions in a sporting event whose founder intended it to inspire a kind of secular faith for modern times...
Should I pray about the Book of Mormon?
Lyndon Unger Conversations with LDS people often close in an exhortation to simply read the book of Mormon and pray that God would convict you, one way or the other, regarding the truth of the book of Mormon. How can you respond?
Take a Test on the Trinity
Tim Challies How well do you know this central doctrine? Together with Rebecca Stark, I have put together a little quiz that will allow you to test yourself. Here are 33 statements related to the Trinity. Simply answer true or false to each one and see your score at the end...
The Spread of the Gospel
This animated map is a powerful visual depiction of the most important movement in history: the spread of Christianity. Every frame is one year in the last 2000 years of the Great Commission.
The True Story of Pain and Hope Behind "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"
Justin Taylor In March of 1863, 18-year-old Charles Appleton Longfellow walked out of his family’s house on Brattle Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and—unbeknownst to his family—boarded a train bound for Washington, D.C., traveling over 400 miles across the eastern seaboard in order to join President Lincoln’s Union army to fight in the Civil War...
How to Use the Back of a Napkin to Prove to a Jehovah's Witness that Jesus is God
Justin Taylor, Greg Koukl The definition of the Trinity is straightforward: there is only one God and He subsists as three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. One God in three persons. Simple. If you want to prove it, then, all you need to do is show that three specific truths are taught in Scripture...