Questions from Skeptics

A Reason for Hope Question of the Week, December 16th, 2016

Question of the Week: Does anybody really know what day Jesus was born on? If not, why do we celebrate Christmas on December 25th?
Verses: Romans 14:4-6, Luke 3:1-2

The easiest answer to this question is that we just don’t know. The amount of historical evidence given to us by Doctor Luke in his gospel account give us an extremely clear picture of the year as well as the reality that it happened. We know it was when Caesar Augustus was Emperor since His reign and census accounts are well documented during the years 27BC to 14AD. We know Qurinius was governor of Syria from 51 BC to 21 AD with a few breaks in between. And as well, we know that the other historical figures beyond Jesus’ birth are also established and verifiable historical figures. Pilate was appointed the Consul of Judea by Tiberius Caesar (14AD-37AD) from 26AD to 36AD and the High Priest Annas was replaced by his son in law Ciaphas in 14AD. All of this side information ultimately brings us back to the event being a historical one. While we don’t have the exact day and many have taken it upon themselves to present their own opinions on the matter, we need to understand some very important things. First, Jesus isn’t so sensitive that He’ll be upset if we celebrate on the wrong day. What matters to him is that we’re celebrating it, more than when we’re celebrating it. Second, Our choice culturally to celebrate it on December 25th is as valid a guess as any other. When people choose to celebrate Christmas, there are just as wide a variety of ways people choose to celebrate Christmas as well. Not all of them are Christian, but this doesn’t invalidate the purpose of the holiday. We choose to take this day to honor and remember the fact that God gave us a gift and we honor that gift by doing the same to those we love around us. And Third, understand that it doesn’t matter what day we chose to honor God. Every day is an opportunity to honor God and thank Him for the gift of eternal life through His Son. It’s not a matter of getting the right day that makes Christmas Christmas. It’s that we honor it the right way. That’s what matters.

For more excerpts from A Reason For Hope, visit our page HERE.

R4H Revision.001 — A Reason For Hope is a ministry of Calvary Christian Fellowship of Tucson

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A Reason for Hope Question of the Week, November 11th, 2016

Question of the Week: How do we know the gospel of Barnabas doesn’t belong in the Bible while Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all do?
Verses: Matthew 24:35, 2 Timothy 3:16
The Bible’s claim to be the inspired word of God calls itself to be held to an extremely high standard of accuracy, preservation, and reliable sources. The original 4 gospels that are called canonical, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are all based on the first-hand accounts of eye-witnesses of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. These men went to their deaths claiming this was true, showing the reliability of their claims in these gospels was not something they made up on their own. The objection that the Bible has been changed over time has to deal with the manuscript evidence. The Apostles themselves didn’t pass on these accounts through oral tradition or here say. They wrote down copies and made copies of those copies in such numbers throughout the centuries that the number of them we are aware of total in the hundreds of thousands. And in all of these accounts, the only changes in the text between modern English Bibles and Ancient Greek Texts are the changes in language over time. Even the most liberal of scholars would admit that 7/8 of the New Testament we have today are the same things they were reading in the first century. The remaining 1/8 are errors involving the spelling of proper names and word order. The actual variants in text of the old and new Testaments combined total to one half of one page of text. And in this half page, no major doctrine of Christianity is brought into question. This brings us to the Gospel of Barnabas. The Gospel of Barnabas is popularized by Muslims since it agrees with the Quran’s view of Jesus’ crucifixion never actually happening to Jesus Himself and gives credence to Surah 4:157. The problem is that Barnabas was a first century Christian, and the earliest manuscript accounts of “his” gospel don’t appear until the 15th century during Islam’s Golden years of dominance over the Middle East. Beyond denying proven history and inconsistency with the other eye witness accounts, the evidence it provides to prove itself as actually from Barnabas, let alone the word of God, is not even close enough to be taken seriously as a reliable account of Jesus’ life.

For more excerpts from A Reason For Hope, visit our page HERE.

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A Reason For Hope Weekly Update, November 1st, 2016

Question of the Week: How can people understand the Bible when there are so many different ways people interpret it?
Verses: 1 Corinthians 13:9-12, Proverbs 8:9, John 16:12-15
Interpretation of Scripture is a lot like Calculus. There are people who get it and there are people who struggle with making heads or tails out of it. The issue isn’t with Calculus, it’s what the person is bringing to their study of the topic that keeps getting in the way of understanding the formulas. It works the exact same way with scripture. You only need to answer the questions; who, what, when, where, why, and how and any passage of scripture can be made a clear as day. The difficulties people have with scripture are when it conflicts with what they want it to say. That’s why when we come to scripture, we not only need to leave our bias’s out of the experience but also understand the Bible comes with its own tutor. When you let the Holy Spirit guide, the plain things of scripture are the main things in scripture, and that any difficulties we have are because of our error rather than any lack of clarity in the text, the message will be very easy to understand the way it was intended to be.

For more excerpts from A Reason For Hope, visit our page HERE.

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A Reason For Hope Weekly Update, September 8th, 2016

Question of the Week: Why did God create Evil?
Verses: Ecclesiastes 7:29, Revelation 13:8

Evil is not a creation of God because it isn’t something tangible. You can’t have a jar of evil or contain it in any one particular place. Evil is the absence of good, and by extension, a natural result of separation from God’s presence and character. To make the claim that God replaced everything with evil is to think in the same terms of wondering why all of the heat replaced everything with cold. The terms need to be understood properly in that one isn’t a thing, it’s merely the absence of the other. Why God allowed evil was the very reason He created the universe. We were created with the ultimate purpose of receiving, enjoying, and sharing God’s love in a true relationship with Him. However, true and genuine love requires a choice and for that choice to be respected even if it is to the ultimate harm of the other person. When God created the universe and human beings to govern it with the capacity for free will, He respected our choice when we ultimately chose to reject Him. The curse on the world making evil a natural part of our natures is caused by that absence of God in our lives. That’s why when Jesus is called our Savior from Sin and Death, He didn’t just do so in response to our poor choices. He created us knowing ultimately what it would cost Him to give us the capacity to receive and enjoy His love. Why did He go through with it then? Because you were worth it to Him.

For more excerpts from A Reason For Hope, visit our page HERE.

Listen: Monday – Friday 5-6pm, AM 940 KGMS

Call with your questions:
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A Reason For Hope Weekly Update, August 5th, 2016

Question of the Week: What did Jesus mean when He called a group of Jews gods?
Verses: Psalm 82:6, John 10:34-38

The term “god” is a title referring to one having a high level of authority. When Jesus was confronted about His claims as Messiah and went so far as to claim the status of deity, the Jews picked up stones to execute Jesus for blasphemy. His reply causes a great amount of controversy since His claim is taken from a 21st century perspective and not a 1st century Jewish perspective. Just like His claim to Deity in calling Himself the Son of God, the Jews responded so fiercely because He was quoting the Old Testament Messianic term they understood so clearly they were ready to kill Him for claiming such a title. Jesus’ response to this was the exact same thing. He quoted David in the Psalms when the term Elohim was used to identify the judges, or people who represented God to the people of Israel. Since we know the time of the Judges was no spiritual high point in Israel’s history, Jesus was pointing out to them that Psalm addressed how they continue to fail to use the authority they were given as representatives of God like David was addressing during the time he wrote the Psalm that Jesus was quoting. By pointing this out to them, He was noting the ironic of the entire situation since He was the first living being in Israel’s history to properly represent God’s heart, and they were calling Him a fraud and a blasphemer. When Jesus then turned on them and pointed out they too were called gods, He wasn’t calling them deities to be worshiped, but people who should have been able to recognize the True and Living God when they saw Him in front of them.

For more excerpts from A Reason For Hope, visit our page HERE.

Listen: Monday – Friday 5-6pm, AM 940 KGMS

Call with your questions:
1(877) 556-1212 (Toll Free)
(520) 790-5663 (Local)

Email your questions:
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Follow Twitter: @ScottR4H

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Watch our Frequently Asked Questions on GodTube or YouTube.

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A Reason for Hope Question of the Week, December 16th, 2016

A Reason for Hope Question of the Week, November 11th, 2016

A Reason For Hope Weekly Update, November 1st, 2016

A Reason For Hope Weekly Update, September 8th, 2016

A Reason For Hope Weekly Update, August 5th, 2016

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