Final Lecture Test Flashcards
What are the five minimal facts from Gary Habermas?
- Jesus died by crucifixion.
- Jesus’ disciples believed that He rose and appeared to them.
- Paul, who had been persecuting the church, was suddenly changed.
- James, the skeptical brother of Jesus, suddenly changed.
- The fifth fact, the empty tomb, is not accepted quite as widely as the other four so is treated separately. Nevertheless, at the time they wrote the book, Habermas found that seventy five percent of scholars believed that the tomb was empty.
How did Christianity influence society with regard to the value of life, education, sexual morals, and violence?
Christians valued life, especially of infants, which was in contrast to the pagan culture. Christians opposed the gladiatorial combat that was common as entertainment. They opposed human sacrifice and suicide. They opposed promiscuity, homosexuality, and other perversions. Women were treated as equals.
RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE. What is the problem in the “predication about God issue”? How does analogical predication attempt to answer it? [Recall that something is
“analogical” if it is in some ways the same and some ways different. So how is that a solution?]
We can still use words like “power” and “love” in reference to God, even though they mean something different than if we apply them to a person. We use words differently anyway (“the ant is powerful” vs “the tractor is powerful”).
ALLEGED CONTRADICTIONS IN DOCTRINE. How would you answer the alleged contradictions that God cannot be three and one, Christ cannot be both God and man, we
cannot be free and responsible if God knows beforehand what we will do; He cannot be omnipotent if He cannot, for example, lie, make square circle or married
bachelor, make Himself not exist, not make a fourth member of the Trinity? (Note that there are different ways to answer different objections).
Trinity: 3 persons and 1 God
Freedom: His knowledge doesn’t affect our ability to act.
Omnipotence: It is reasonable to say that God cannot do something that is logically inconsistent.
ALLEGED CONTRADICTIONS IN THE BIBLE. Solution?
When quotation appears to be inaccurate, the author may have meant only to refer to it rather than quote it word for word. The Gospels represent independent perspectives on an event, picking out different details.
PROBLEM OF EVIL. What is the argument that evil is a lack of good, or privation? Freewill defense? What view of the will and determination is assumed by the freewill defense? What is the argument from higher goods, or secondary goods? What is a response about animal capabilities that blunts the force of the objection to Christianity (or theism) from animal pain? What is the argument from the need for regularity in the universe? The argument from justice? The argument from eschatology, or the future?
Evil is a lack of good. It depends for its existence on good. It is the privation, corruption or perversion of something good.
Freewill defense: it is a logical contradiction for God to make a person who both has free will and is sinless.
A world with some evil is a better environment for producing people in the image of God. If we never sinned, we would not know as much about God’s wrath, justice, etc.
Justice: Some pain is deserved.
Eschatology: God offers a limitlessly better future to all who will accept it.
ARCHAEOLOGY. Which empire mentioned in the Bible was said not to exist a century ago? (It was subsequently discovered to be a great civilization.) What is the significance of discovering the Code of Hammurabi, Lachish letters (la KISH), Ebla.
The Hittite. Code of Hammurabi shows laws existed very early.
EVIDENCE FOR SUPERNATURAL NATURE OF THE BIBLE. What are the evidences for the supernatural nature of the Bible?
It’s unity (lack of contradictions despite many authors over a long period, etc., ), preservation from persecution, accurate transmission via manuscripts (what did the Dead Sea scrolls show as far as the accuracy of copying over 1,000 years? very accurate), fulfilled prophecy
(know the basic concepts behind the prophecy and outcome for Tyre and Sidon).
MANUSCRIPT EVIDENCE. How does the number of manuscripts of the Bible compare with the number for other ancient documents, for example, the Illiad and India’s
Mahabarata?
We have a vastly larger amount of manuscripts of the Bible compared to other ancient documents, yet those are not questioned.
What are the names of the manuscript families of the New Testament?
Western, which was found in the western part of the Empire.
Caesarean, found in Palestine.
Byzantine, the “majority text,” which was probably collected from the best manuscripts available after Constantine made the Empire friendly to Christianity (this was the basis for the King James Version).
Alexandrian, found around Alexandria, Egypt.
DIFFERENCES IN TRANSLATIONS. Which family do most modern translations depend on more heavily?
Alexandrian.
What is dynamic equivalence? How does it differ from formal equivalence?
a
HISTORICAL ARGUMENT. What is the minimal facts argument constructed by Gary Habermas? What advantage does he believe it has over the traditional approach of
arguing for the reliability of the Bible?
- Jesus died by crucifixion.
- Jesus’ disciples believed that He rose and appeared to them.
- Paul, who had been persecuting the church, was suddenly changed.
- James, the skeptical brother of Jesus, suddenly changed.
- The fifth fact, the empty tomb, is not accepted quite as widely as the other four so is treated separately. Nevertheless, at the time they wrote the book, Habermas found that seventy five percent of scholars believed that the tomb was empty.
What is Habermas’s argument from minimal facts? What minimal facts does he use?
- Jesus died by crucifixion.
- Jesus’ disciples believed that He rose and appeared to them.
- Paul, who had been persecuting the church, was suddenly changed.
- James, the skeptical brother of Jesus, suddenly changed.
- The fifth fact, the empty tomb, is not accepted quite as widely as the other four so is treated separately. Nevertheless, at the time they wrote the book, Habermas found that seventy five percent of scholars believed that the tomb was empty.
LEGAL ARGUMENT. Why does J. W. Montgomery believe that the Bible can be accepted as evidence even though it can’t be cross examined? In other words, why does
he believe it should not be rejected legally on grounds that it is hearsay? What is the ancient documents rule?
a
