Exploring the Bible

People of faith accept the teachings of Jesus as told in the Bible as fact. It may come as a surprise to some that critics of the Bible and Christianity dispute the fact Jesus was even a real person. These critics will tell you Jesus is not mentioned by any early historians. Because of this, they claim Jesus was not a real person and was created centuries later, nothing more than a fictional character to support a fictional belief system. These critics dismiss the Bible authors as unreliable and argue it is circular reasoning to use the Bible to prove the Bible. Are these critics correct? Did early historians ignore Jesus because He never lived? Is it right to dismiss the Bible as an historical document? The facts are, these critics ignore a great many facts, and outright deceive people by saying there are no historical records of Jesus outside of the Bible. There are in fact, many.   While we have several external mentions of Jesus, let us begin with the Bible. The word 'Bible...

 The authenticity of the Shroud of Turin has been hotly debated for many decades. Is the Shroud the burial cloth of Jesus and could it possibly contain an image of Jesus? Some believe this is exactly what the Shroud is, while others insist the Shroud is a fake manufactured sometime during the Middle Ages. A new study in Italy has now given us new reason to believe the Shroud may indeed be from the first century and therefore, could be the actual burial cloth of Jesus. The primary area of controversy surrounding the Shroud is the age of the fabric. If the fabric is from the first century, or earlier, then it opens the door for the Shroud to be authentic. If the fabric was produced in the Middle Ages, then obviously the Shroud is a fake and all but worthless.   For years the church would not allow testing of the Shroud because the testing would require the destruction of a small piece of the Shroud. While the church does not official say the Shroud is genuine or fake, they hav...

The Bible tells us two different versions of the empty tomb of Jesus, but which is accurate? In Matthew 28:11 we are told the guards reported the tomb was empty but were given money to report the body was stolen during the night. While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. (Matthew 28:11-15)   Of course, the other version is that the tomb of Jesus was empty because He had risen in total defiance of death, in an ultimate victory over de...

Angels are mentioned in the Bible 273 times, so they are certainly not unknown to people. There are however a great many questions associated with Angels, their origins, their duties, and just where they came from. Below are many of the most common questions people have concerning angels and what the Bible teached us about them.  Where did angels Come from? As with all things, Angels were created by God. According to the Book of Job (38-7) the Angels were present at the creation of the world. This would mean Angels were created some time before the Book of Genesis but exactly when is unknown. While the Book of Genesis tells of the creation of the heavens and the earth, this does not mean it was God's first creation. - " by Him all things were created,  both  in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible," Were angels ever human? No. Angels are an entirely different type of being than humans. Humans and Angels are actually not created equally. In Palsm 8:4-5 we are ...

 Did God part the Red Sea for the people of Israel, is it just a morality tale, or is it just a lot of non-sense? The parting of the sea is a key point in the Exodus story. This element not only clearly shows the power of God, but it allowed the people of Israel to escape while simultaneously destroying the Egyptian army. There are several points to the Parting of the Red Sea which often come into question. One of the most interesting aspects, is that the parting of the sea has happened again, and there were witnesses. The first, and very pivotal element, of the story is the sea itself. The Red Sea is a very large and very deep body of water. This has caused many to doubt the story. Suppose God did part the waters of the Red Sea as the Bible says. At some of the narrowest points the Red Sea remains nearly thirty miles across. While in many aspects this is not a long distance, we must remember the Israeli people had to cross this span in a single day. Traveling thirty miles, with el...

 The bible records the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus in some detail. In the Gospel of Luke, we are told "It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining." (23:44) This is an astounding claim which is obviously disputed by critics, scientist and non-believers. After all, claiming the sun stopped shining for three hours is a most remarkable and bold claim. Surely this was just an exaggeration of the biblical authors and should not be taken literally. Gospel of Matthew - " From noon on, darkness came over the whole land [ or , earth] until three in the afternoon". Gospel of Mark - " When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour."   We know the crucifixion took place following a full moon, so no eclipse would be possible, and there is no other scientific reason for the sun to 'appear' to stop shining. If such an event had taken...

[Excerpt from "The Bible - Some Assembly Required" ] The early Christian church was no stranger to oppression and persecution. Jesus had been beaten and crucified, which the religious leaders of the time hoped would put a stop to this new cult. When Jesus rose from the dead on Easter morning, He destroyed these hopes and plans. Unfortunately, the opponents of Jesus were not so easily silenced. Their violence continued as is evident by the death of Stephen, James and also with the persecution of Christians by such people as Saul, who in a short time would become one of the new church's greatest leaders. Throughout the early years and even centuries of the Christian church there were many who opposed it. Not only were they opposed and persecuted by the Jewish religious leaders, but also by the Roman government. Under rulers such as Nero and Diocletian, Christians were stripped of their property and legal rights. They were often imprisoned, and many put to death. Because of ...