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This resource has been provided by the Women’s Missions and Ministries Office of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma because of the generous gifts of Oklahoma Baptists through the Cooperative Program.

Kelly King Women’s Missions and Ministries Specialist Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma 3800 N. May Oklahoma City OK 73112 (405) 942-3800 www.bgco.org/women

V. Arguments for Christianity

A. Evidence for the Resurrection – The Minimal Facts Argument6

1) The Resurrection, as a real event in history, is the foundation of the Christian faith.

2) Without a resurrected Jesus, there is no Christianity.

3) 1 Corinthians 15:14-15 “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More

than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised

Christ from the dead.”

4) The Minimal Facts Argument: Four facts from the New Testament that are considered by scholars as historically

reliable facts from an ancient text:7

#1 – Jesus died by Roman crucifixion.

#2 – Jesus’ tomb was empty.

#3 – Jesus’ disciples believed Jesus had appeared to them after his death and this belief

transformed their lives.

#4 – A non-believer and an enemy of Jesus believed Jesus had appeared to them after his death and this

belief transformed their lives (James and Paul).

5) When all possible hypotheses are checked against these four facts, the only one that accounts for all of the

facts is that Jesus was resurrected and appeared to his followers and his foes.

6) Any skeptic of the resurrection of Jesus must also account for these facts from the historical texts of the New

Testament letters; and provide first century evidence to support their case.

B. Argument from the Reliability of the New Testament Texts

1) Can we know now what they wrote then? Yes!

2) With how much accuracy? 97 to 99%

3) There is a growing amount of manuscript evidence for the New Testament (manuscript: another word for a copy,

consisting of a fragment, letter, or whole New Testament).

a. 24,000 manuscripts total

b. 5,700 Greek manuscripts (original language)

c. The manuscripts can be cross-checked for accuracy.

i. If an error is found, it can then be corrected in our text.

ii. As more and more manuscripts are found (50 more manuscripts discovered by Center for

the Study of the New Testament Manuscripts in the last five years), the accuracy of our

texts is growing beyond the 97% to 99%.

d. Fragments dating from as early as 90-100 A.D. (Ryland fragment)

e. Nearly whole letters from as early as 180 A.D. (Bodmer papyrus – Book of John)

f. A whole Bible dating from 300’s A.D. – Codex Sinaiticus

g. If we had no manuscripts, we would still be in great shape!

h. Early church fathers quoted the New Testament over 1 million times and could piece together a vast

majority of the texts from church fathers alone.

4) No other text from ancient history even comes close to the New Testament in:

a. amount of available copies (manuscripts) for cross-referencing

b. amount of early copies available of the original texts (with 10 to 50 years)

5) We can trust our Bible as an accurate copy of the original letters–

Daniel Wallace, noted professor of New Testament Greek, at Dallas Theological Seminary, states, “We have an

embarrassment of riches” when it comes to determining what was written in the original New Testament texts.

D. Plus, there are many more arguments that together establish an extremely solid case for Christianity.

6 Gary Habermas. Michael Licona. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus. (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2004).7 There are more than four, but due to clarity and space, only four will be looked at here.

VI. Resources For Further Study in Apologetics

A. Books Cited

1) Holman QuickSource Guide to Christian Apologetics Doug Powell

2) True For You But Not For Me: Deflating the Slogans that Leave Christians Speechless Paul Copan

3) The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus Gary Habermas and Michael Licona

4) Reinventing Jesus: How Contemporary Skeptics Miss the Real Jesus and Mislead Popular Culture J. Ed Komoszewski, M. James Sawyer, and Daniel B. Wallace

5) Without a Doubt: Answering the Twenty Toughest Faith Questions Kenneth Samples

B. Further Suggested Books

1) I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek

2) Can Man Live Without God? Ravi Zacharias

3) The Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics Norman L. Geisler

4) How Do You Know You’re Not Wrong? Paul Copan

C. Confident Christianity, Inc.

1) The apologetics and discernment ministry of Mary Jo Sharp

a. Answering arguments and opinions raised against the knowledge of God

b. 2 Corinthians 10:5 “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets

itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought

to make it obedient to Christ.”

2) www.confidentchristianity.com & confidentchristianity@gmail.com

By Mary Jo Sharp

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Mary Jo Sharp is a former atheist from the Pacific Northwest who thought religion was for the weak-minded. After coming to know the Lord, she now holds a Masters in Christian Apologetics from Biola University, is writing a book on the nour-ishing of the Christian mind and is the first woman to become a Certified Apologetics Instructor through the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Con-vention. Mary Jo has spoken to numerous groups, including audiences of over 1,000 people. Some of her speaking engagements include: The Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma State and Youth Evangelism Conferences, the Southern Baptist Con-servatives of Virginia Youth Evangelism Conference, The Southern Baptists of Texas Leadership Conference and the University of Houston Baptist Collegiate Ministries Luncheon. Mary Jo administrates the website, Confident Christianity, and the Facebook group, Two Chix Apologetics, where she engages people from around the world in dialogue concerning the truth of Christianity.

A Woman’s Guide to Apologetics Mary Jo Sharp • Confident Christianity, Inc.

I. A Defense of the Faith is Essential to Your Role as a Christian Woman

As a mother:A. Our children are greatly influenced by our religious beliefs, attitudes and participation1.

1) The depth and reality of our beliefs make a difference in how our children view their own belief in God.

B. We are preparing and training our children for a spiritual battle. (Ephesians 6:10-17)

1) Preparing for a battle of the mind:

a. Against the inundation of secular media, university, public education attitudes and beliefs about God.

b. Against the abundant opportunity for exposure to atheist organizations and organizations hostile to

Christianity available on the internet.

c. Against poorly constructed arguments masquerading as “rational thinking” or “free thinking”.

2) Training to aptly express the reasons for their belief in Jesus Christ as God. (Acts 17:2-3)

a. Apologetics can provide young Christians with a tool to explore the validity of their belief in God.

b. Apologetics can lead students to confidence in what they believe as ultimate truth. (Colossians 2:8)

As a believer in Christ:C. As Christians who professes the truth, we must take a stand for truth.

1) Modern philosophy has greatly damaged the concept of truth:

a. Truth is ultimately unknowable,

b. Therefore whatever is true for you is what is true,

c. Not as a real truth in this world, but just for you.

2) However, truth is still alive and well.

For example:

a. People still believe in the truth of their hard-earned money.

b. People still believe in the truth of lab and test results.

c. Modern philosophers still believe in the truth of their theories.

1 “All researchers agree that parents’ religious values are a strong influence on a youth’s church attitudes.”(e.g., Woodward, 1932; Newcomb & Svehla, 1937; Landis, 1960; Putney & Middleton, 1961; Strommen, 1963; Jarvis, 1967; Zuck & Getz, 1968; Havighurst & Keating, 1971; Johnson, 1973; Thomas, et al., 1974).” R. Hoge and Gregory H. Petrillo, “Determinants of Church Participation and Attitudes among High School Youth,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, vol. 17, no. 4, (Dec., 1978), 360.

3) We need to be strongholds of truth:

a. God has given us minds capable of discovering the truth about reality,

b. Therefore we are to confront and combat untruth giving glory to God, (2 Corinthians 10:5)

c. Not with arrogance, but with love and respect. (1 Peter 3:15)

II. How to Start

A. Apologetics Study Bible, Lifeway Christian Resources

B. Websites:

1) www.bethinking.org – BeThinking.org, a website with apologetics articles at beginner, intermediate,

and advanced levels; very easy to navigate

2) www.4truth.net – The North American Mission Board Apologetics Resource site

3) www.leestrobel.com – Lee Strobel’s website

4) www.carm.org – The Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry

5) www.confidentchristianity.com – Confident Christianity Apologetics and Discernment Ministry,

Mary Jo Sharp’s website

C. Become familiar with common objections and be comfortable answering them.

1) Not suggesting a mastery of these areas,

2) Suggesting interaction with these objections demonstrating:

a. an interest in the validity of the Christian faith.

b. a true concern for people who may hold these objections.

3) Determine if a specific question would truly undermine belief in the Christian God or not:

a. Some questions, though good questions, are not detrimental enough to merit complete rejection of God.

b. You may need to lovingly point this out to the questioner.

4) Also, be ready to reply that you do not know an answer to an objection.

a. Honesty is the still the best policy.

b. Let the objector know you will gladly look an answer up for them.

D. Get Started

1) In the next sections, we will explore a few introductory arguments,

2) However, there are plenty more areas to investigate.

a. You can get started using the resources provided in this pamphlet.

III. Intolerance and Christians

A. Christians are not intolerant for proclaiming to have the truth about God

1) Tolerance is defined as “sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting

with one’s own.” 2

a. Infers that there must be a disagreement in order to be tolerant.2) The popular misunderstanding of tolerance is “accepting all beliefs as true.”

B. The person who claims that the acceptance of all beliefs is the only way of being tolerant is actually

intolerant of those who disagree with them.

C. Think about it: Apply the popular misunderstanding of tolerance to other people in our lives from whom

we would expect the truth:

a. doctors

b. bankers

2 Merriam-Webster, Inc: Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Eleventh ed. Springfield, Mass. : Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2003

c. public educators

d. government officials

e. judges

1) Don’t we want these people to tell us what is absolutely true and act according to that belief?

2) It is absurd to say these people are intolerant for proclaiming to have the absolute truth in these areas.

D. If you think you have truth, it does not logically follow that you are intolerant; even in the area of religious belief.

1) Quote from Allan Bloom: “Openness used to be the virtue that permitted us to seek the good by using reason.

It now means accepting everything and denying reason’s power.” The Closing of the American Mind.

IV. Arguments for the Existence of God

A. Kalam Cosmological Argument

1) Everything that begins to exist has a cause.

a. There is no such thing as an effect that was not caused3

2) The universe began to exist,

3) Therefore, the universe has a cause.

a. Since the universe is an effect, it must have had a cause.

b. The cause of the universe would have to be a “first cause” or an uncaused cause.

c. What kind of first cause?

#1. Impersonal (not a being, natural)

#2. Personal (a being, supernatural)

d. The first cause of the universe would require the ability to create, including intention and will

e. Without a will to create, nothing would be created; an impersonal first cause does not have the

will to create.

f. Therefore, the first cause is a personal cause.

4) God is the best explanation of this personal cause.

B. Moral Law Argument

1) Morality is universal in scope and applies to all people in all places at all times4.

a. Morals are objective; right and wrong exist outside of, and regardless of, our beliefs.

i. This is how people operate on a daily basis.

ii. They believe in absolute rights and wrongs.

i.e. It is wrong to steal, murder, or rape; all people think they personally should be

treated with dignity and respect.

b. Alternative is relative morality; in which the individual’s own beliefs are the basis for all decisions

concerning right and wrong.

i. People cannot live according to this view.

ii. Any and all actions would be justifiable under this system.

i.e. It is not ultimately wrong to steal, murder, rape, or treat anyone with disrespect.

2) Morals come from a transcendent person who has the power and authority to impose a moral law on us5.

a. Because morals transcend times and places, their source must also transcend times and places.

b. Since morals are authoritative, they must come from an authority.

c. Authority can only be held by a person.

d. This authoritative person must be able to impose their moral will on all people in all places

at all times.

e. The Christian God is the best explanation for this transcendent, morally authoritative being.

C. Plus, there are many more to investigate.

3 Doug Powell. Holman QuickSource Guide to Apologetics. (Nashville: Holman Reference, 2006), 32.4 Ibid., 87.5 Ibid., 88.

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