Head-dibs

Probe Ministries answers how "critics of Christianity point to several parallels between Christianity and the myths of the mystery religions. However, a brief study of the legends reveals that there are few if any parallels to the life of Jesus Christ." . . . . A brief summary of a major section of the article demonstrates:  "First, none of the resurrections in these myths involve the God of the universe dying a voluntary death for His creation." "Second, Jesus died once for all (Heb. 7:27, 9:25-28), while pagan gods repeat the death and rebirth cycle yearly with the seasons." "Third, Jesus death was not a defeat but a triumph. The New Testament’s mood of victory and joy (1 Cor. 15:50-57 and Col. 2:13-15) stands in contrast to the mood of pagan myths which is dark and sorrowful over the fate of their gods. "Finally, Jesus’ death was an actual event in history. Christianity insists on and defends the historical credibility of the Gospe...

Adler, Mortimer J. “ How to Think About God: A Guide for the 20th Century Pagan .” New York: Simon and Schuster, 1980. [why read old books? Because they are there] The famed author of " How to Read A Book " helps us think about God. Adler’s central proposition is there exists an interest in the question of God’s existence and some are willing to consider the question; however, the author admits, “the God that is the object of pagan philosophical thought is not the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, or of Moses, Jesus and Mohammed.” In other words, the pagan decides who God is. Is this possible? Adler divides his book into six major sections populated with two to three chapters per section. The first section serves as an extended prologue where the author explains himself to his intended audience across two chapters. The second section discusses errors to be avoided. Section three (the longest section) sets the stage for the discussion of “God”, followed by the section examin...

"Mythology exists to show the wickedness of men through the depravity of their gods, whose deeds are so repulsive that man abandon them.  The Bible records the depravity of men against a righteous God, who alone can save them." (Kenneth Prior, " The Gospel in a Pagan Society ")

Our team was downtown late one Friday night. Outside one bar, I saw a man crossed the street toward us with another fellow and two young ladies tagging along. I noticed he was wearing a “Got Jesus?” tee-shirt. Curious, I asked him if he had a Christian background. I ’ll tell you what happened in a moment—keep reading. Mention the “love chapter” of the Bible and one thinks of 1 Corinthians 13. Mention “The Hall of Faith,” and one turns to Hebrews 11. Ask someone on the street their favorite psalm and most will say “the 23rd.” When we think of Acts 17, our minds flip up the title, “Paul Goes to Mars” (or something like that) and we recall this is the record of Paul preaching to the pagans in their temple regarding “an unknown god.” Our eyes zero in on verse 16, noting that Paul when he arrives in Athens, does what any good Mars rover does: he observed. Next, he went to their temple and preached, they heard and some believed. Actually, that’s not quite what happened. When Paul first arriv...

Clement of Alexandria (155 - 220 A.D.) lived during a time of growth for early Christianity. The early Alexandrian church was surrounded by pagan culture, pressed on all sides by either the obscure principles of religious orthodoxy, or outright heresy. [1] The Alexandrian school taught doctrine to early Christians in their preparations for baptism into the Christian faith. Clement (not to be confused with Clement of Rome, but of Alexandria) became the second leader of this school, followed by Origen. The Alexandrian school became more formalized and eventually laid the foundation for what has become the calendar period commonly known as Lent [2] (Lent as currently observed is nothing near what Clement and others taught or intended for the school). “The crucial achievement of Clement and Origen was to put over the gospel in terms which could be understood by people familiar with the highest forms of Greek culture. They established once for all the intellectual respectability of the new ...

Here is my first TEDtalk , using the TEDtalk generator : "(Laughter.) Thank you very much. You know, you don't diverge from the path et cetera, et cetera. That's why I think the way to true happiness also means keeping your back straight et cetera, et cetera. But most importantly, you need the brain to recognize the exact way it's supposed to think et cetera, et cetera. It is like French phrases such as "et cetera, et cetera". But I should be more specific when referring to a milky weak coffee making you jittery et cetera, et cetera. So I thought maybe a mirror will not get something bad fixed et cetera, et cetera. It's therefore much better to create a choice to consciously solve a problem. To illustrate my point, I'll give you a very dramatic example of a patient who came in bored but all of a sudden this intense need for creativity made him feel alive again. I could use this data to gain insight, but not make decisions." ************ Please ta...

The popular movies of the day are “Clash of the Titans” (a remake of the 1981 movie, loosely based on the central mythological story of Persius—“and all the other ‘-us’-es”) and the modernized version, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.” Any summary for these tales contains the central word “overthrow,” as this is the theme of the story, no matter how it is told. In short, the Greek gods are at war. For the most part, the story marks a certain and definite theological shift in the minds and lives of the ancient Greeks. That the stories have any significance or draw today is a bit of a mystery, as these deities no longer have the center of worshipful attention they once had . . . or do they? This is the age of so-called “tolerance,” where every viewpoint is to be received, and none rejected. A small exercise in logic demonstrates the impossibility of this worldview. There is a vast difference between viewpoint (“the way I see it”) and truth (the way something actuall...

A witness of the gospel lays his life down because of the gospel—this is inherent by the very word from which we derive our word for “witness” (“martyr”). A martyr is a witness and this requires faithfulness to the very end, whatever that may be. When we witness for Christ, we are taking a stand against all that is not for Christ; contrariwise, a witness for all that is not Christ is setting himself against all that is Christ. There is no middle ground. Flesh and blood is not our enemy. The Lord Jesus Christ spent His flesh and blood to redeem flesh and blood that will repent. Our witness of what Christ accomplished is to flesh and blood, so this is not our enemy. Our adversary is the devil, who is always opposed to Christ and His glory. John’s revelatory vision communicates several vital principles in this regard that we would do well to attend. Revelation 12 describes the vision of a great red dragon with seven heads, seven crowns, and ten horns. This dragon is standing before a woma...

As my pastor says, "let's go back to the top" and consider how grade one thinking from the highest pinnacle of thought actually informs man's situation. It can be said theologically that “anthropology is the study of man” in terms of a literal definition. Man’s creation, existence and purpose has only one logical explanation in the person of God, the uncreated Creator. The Scriptures clearly and distinctly teach that God created man, that he is the result of an act of immediate divine creation. Asking the question, "how can we trust God’s perspective as recorded in the Bible?" moves us from level two to level one thinking, demonstrating we are pursuant of truth. First, the Bible can be trusted because it introduces and contains certain, verifiable history. Second, quotes itself and is quoted by people throughout history as being true. Third, the facts recorded in the Bible, including the creation and probation of man, lie at the foundation of God’s whole...

One could not help but notice the pagan response to this event as it occurred. Longest Solar Eclipse Shrouds Asia in Darkness - Science News Science & Technology Technology News - FOXNews.com Posted using ShareThis

"In yer FACE!" Does that sound familiar? Not so long ago in a galaxy, well, right here, we used to hear this term used in derogatory ways, “in yer face!” The phrase connotes a retaliatory “same to you and more of it” kind of attitude. Now it is more commonly heard as trash-talk in the venues of sports and games. It’s a prideful insult, “getting’ all up in it [the face].” Doing Hebrew studies a few years back I learned that Exodus 20:3 (commonly translated as “You shall have no other gods before me”) really reads in a surprisingly contemporary manner. From the Hebrew we read, “No there will be or become from you gods of another kind [according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against upon above, over from upon, from over] my face.” In other words, “You will have no other god in my face.” Will it suffice to say we are to simply have no other gods besides the one true God? No. We are ...

Isaiah 6:3 ; Revelation 1:8 ; Isaiah 43:25 ; 1 John 3:18-22 ; James 4:13-16 ; Micah 4:2 The Lord our God is enthroned on High, and we live in His world unstunned by His glory. The angels in God’s presence don’t dare to look or be uncovered in His sight; yet they dare not look at anything but Him nor do anything that is not pleasing to Him. They dare not say anything beyond calling out who He is. They are not merely overcome with astonishment, but are mobilized by the fear of who He is. Men live, move and have their being without guilt or shame, uncovered with high-handed sin in His sight. There is no fear of God before our eyes. If we did fear Him, He would receive much higher praise, louder and longer praise by all we say and do. “ Einstein had so little use for organized religion, although he strikes me as a basically very religious man. He must have looked at what the preachers said about God and felt that they were blaspheming. He had seen much more majesty than they had every imag...

Suppose that a person wants to become a missionary and bring the gospel to a tribe that had never heard it. But the person finds the process of preparation too long, difficult and expensive: years of language training, preparation to live in a primitive culture, raising financial support, etc. So the would-be missionary comes up with a brilliant idea—travel to a key place where the tribal members meet, sneak in at night, construct a huge cross, and leave the country without saying a word—and carries out the plan. The next day the entire tribe gathers to marvel at the cross and ponder where it came from and what it meant. Perhaps, in time, they would even come to relish the cross and see it as a sign from beyond their world. Read the rest here .

Prior, Kenneth. The Gospel in a Pagan Society . Downers Grove: Intervarsity, 1975. The author's may not be a name well known, but his little 120 page book is perhaps the best examination of Acts 17:16-34 to date. Kenneth Prior does not merely deliver a concise commentary on the passage, rather he gives his readers a guided tour through the mindset of the Ancient Near East and helps to discover principles for application for preaching the good news of Jesus in our modern setting. First, Prior contrasts the results of Paul’s missionary activity with what we may consider successful missionary activity today. In contrast to the events of Pentecost, Paul would not be considered to be a success, for there were no streams of converts pouring into the church. We are challenged to realize the difference between sowing and reaping and how, since the prophets, sowing the gospel is a process that will not see immediate results. Furthermore, we are caused to remember that nothing grows unti...