Dr Paul Allen

The historical evidence for Jesus of Nazareth is both long-established and widespread. Within a few decades of his supposed lifetime, he is mentioned by Jewish and Roman historians , as well as by dozens of Christian writings. Compare that with, for example, King Arthur , who supposedly lived around AD500. The major historical source for events of that time does not even mention Arthur, and he is first referred to 300 or 400 years after he is supposed to have lived. The evidence for Jesus is not limited to later folklore, as are accounts of Arthur. What do Christian writings tell us? The value of this evidence is that it is both early and detailed. The first Christian writings to talk about Jesus are the epistles of St Paul , and scholars agree that the earliest of these letters were written within 25 years of Jesus’s death at the very latest, while the detailed biographical accounts of Jesus in the New Testament gospels date from around 40 years after he died. These all appeared

Copia desde la Crucifixion dibujada hacia 1540 por Miguel Angel Buonarroti para Vittoria Colonna. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) One of the so-called contradictions that we hear brought up concerns the disagreement between the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of John as to the time of the crucifixion of Jesus .  Mark 15:25 ( KJV ) states, “and it was the third hour, and they crucified him,” while in John 19:14 (KJV) we read, “And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews , Behold your King!”  This does indeed present a difficulty, since Mark has Jesus being crucified at the third hour, or nine o’clock in the morning, according to Jewish reckoning, while John places Jesus before Pontius Pilate at about the sixth hour, or noon.  Many say this discrepancy is impossible to reconcile, while others say the difference between the two is a result of a mistake early in the copying process. Neither of these two views is plausible or accepta

“Spiritual understanding primarily consists in this sense, or taste of the moral beauty of divine things.” – Jonathan Edwards ,  Religious Affections Oh, how glad I would be if I could be of a little service to the souls of some of God ’s people the way Jonathan Edwards has been to me. Neither he nor I is an inspired spokesmen of God, as the apostles were. But we are, with them, in some measure, “stewards of the mysteries of God” ( 1 Corinthians 4:1). These stewards were household managers of the owners’ resources, handling them in a way that brought benefit to the members of the house. As a good steward, Edwards spoke of these “mysteries” — these once-hidden, now revealed wonders of God — in such a way that for forty years he has quickened my soul like no other teacher outside the Bible. What C.S. Lewis has done to waken me to the beauties of the world, Edwards has done to waken me to the beauties of God. Here is a glimpse of one way Edwards has transformed the way I se

We live in a time when "tolerance," "diversity" and "inclusivism" are considered by many cultural virtues that supersede all others. This popular relativist notion disregards something far more important: Truth.  We live in a time when "tolerance," "diversity" and "inclusivity" are considered by many to be cultural virtues that supersede all others. This popular relativist notion disregards something far more important: Truth. Yet, and to borrow from Pontius Pilate , " What is truth? " Jesus is truth. Either that or, as C.S. Lewis famously observed, He is a liar, a lunatic or the "Devil of Hell" himself. Christ was both tolerant and intolerant—utterly exclusive and wholly inclusive. He said in no uncertain terms: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" ( John 14:6 ). Let's break that down. The Way Jesus asserted over and again tha

Does prayer make any difference? Absolutely! And prayer makes a difference because the living God , the Holy Spirit , lives inside the one praying. Further, when God’s people get together and pray as a community, amazing things happen! I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of those before-and-after photos advertising the latest weight loss and fitness program. The Bible gives us a pretty neat before-and-after picture of the early church. Before the Holy Spirit empowered the church at Pentecost , the apostles are waiting, hiding, and hoping. And they’re praying. Then Pentecost occurs. The fire falls. The Spirit empowers. And things begin to happen. Thousands are saved and added to the church. Miracles occur. Healing takes place. The impact is so tangible that the church leaders start getting in trouble for bringing attention to the crime of the unfair crucifixion of Jesus. Peter and John heal a crippled man at one of the Temple gates and it lands them in jail where they take a beating and

English: Icon of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) EVERY PERSON COMES TO THE matter of homosexuality with an established opinion, which has been shaped by a worldview. By worldview I mean a person’s concept of self, the world, and everything else. Every worldview encompasses what one views as real, the nature of truth, how we come to know what is true, and how we define what is “good” in an ethical sense. One’s worldview determines whether homosexuality is perceived as right or wrong. My own worldview is founded upon my confidence in the existence of a creating and governing God . This God has spoken or communicated both in general revelation through the created order and in the special revelations of Scripture and His Son, Jesus Christ . General revelation includes the complexity of the design and creation of the human body, the awareness of the spiritual self and conscience, and the unfolding of a plan that is shown through history. Reality encompasses both seen and unseen

  “That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ ” ( 1 John 1:3). All commentators, except the most radical of scholars, agree that all three John letters come from the same author. However, the question remains, who was this author? Unlike the other General Epistles , none of these letters gives us the name of the author. Tradition holds that the author of these letters also wrote the Gospel of John . Indeed, there are many discernible syntactical and thematic similarities between the Gospel and the letters that bear John’s name. Some have denied common authorship based on what they call subtle doctrinal differences between the Gospel and the letters. However, a closer investigation reveals no substantial differences exist, although the letters sometimes apply the teachings of Jesus a little differently than John’s Gospel does. But that should be n

During the trial of Jesus, Pontius Pilate asked a question that has resounded through the ages: " What is truth? " That is the key question for today, when the idea of absolute truth is increasingly and soundly rejected in our culture.  To help us understand what's at stake, we're examining the conversation between Jesus and Pilate in John 18 . In the first post, we looked at the rejection of God's truth as that which lies behind all sorts of evil in society today. This post will look at the reality of truth. Let us look at our passage again: Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm." Therefore Pilate said to Him, "So You are a king?"  Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to t