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Manifold Grace By Philip Cottraux Webster’s dictionary defines manifold as “marked by diversity or variety: many: comprehending or uniting various features.” In 65 AD, the Great Fire of Rome destroyed much of the city. Many blamed Nero in the aftermath, but the truth is that it was more than likely an accident waiting to happen. The city had been a tinderbox; years of poor construction, overcrowding, and garbage-filled streets made for a ticking time bomb. Nevertheless, the emperor needed someone to blame fast. Christianity, a new, fast-growing religion that people viewed suspiciously due to its refusal to bow to the...

Lessons from the Woman at the Well By Philip Cottraux By the time Israelites arrived at the Promised Land, Joseph’s descendants had grown to two large tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh. Ephraim would be the largest Israelite tribe in the North. When the kingdoms split, its largest city, Samaria, became the capital while Jerusalem remained capital of Judah. Sometimes in the Old Testament, “Ephraim” is used to describe Israel as a whole. But the Assyrian invasion in 722 BC would bring Israel’s magnificence to a catastrophic end. The northern territories toppled like dominos. II Kings 17:6: In the ninth year of...

Zacharias By Philip Cottraux God hadn’t spoken to the Jews in 400 years. Malachi was the last prophet before the long gap between Old and New Testaments. But there’s a final word that bridges the two together: Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: (Malachi 3:1). Now to be clear, God did move for His people before Christ came. He intervened during the Maccabbean revolt, then miraculously supplied enough oil to consecrate the temple. But as far as actually prophecy, He still remained silent. And now over a century had passed since Judah...

Jesus Walking on Water and the Problem of Suffering By Philip Cottraux Job lost everything. His livestock was destroyed, his children all died, and he was smitten with painful boils from head to toe. His friends rebuked him and his wife urged him to curse God and die. Job cried out not so much for an end to his suffering, but an explanation. In the last four chapters, God finally appears in a whirlwind, first chastising his friends, then turning to him with an intriguing answer: Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee,...

Can the Word of God Contain Errors? By Philip Cottraux When I read Lee Strobel’s The Case for the Real Jesus, one quote in particular stood out to me. This was during his interview with Daniel Wallace, a professor of New Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary: STROBEL: “It was almost as if (Bart) Ehrman were saying ‘Find me one error and I’ll throw out the whole Bible.’ That’s something you hear at some ultraconservative Christian schools.” WALLACE: “Good grief, that’s such a shockingly naïve approach to take! You’ve basically turned the Bible into the fourth person of the Trinity,...

Hi everyone! I usually post these on Wednesdays but in the holiday rush I haven't had much time so either film a video or write a new blog. So I decided to just make the last Why the New Testament Was Written video as a substitute for my usual Saturday blogs.I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! This week's concluding video is on why Revelation was written. Rather than delve into the divisive theological issues of eschatology, I decided to focus solely on the historical context of John's vision and the book's authorship.Why John...

Hello everyone! I'm a few days late posting this due to technical difficulties. But the good news is I got it resolved. This week's episode of "Why the New Testament Was Written" focuses on Peter's second epistle. It also takes a further look at how the Nero persecutions ended and the long-term ramifications they had on early Christianity.Video: Why II Peter Was WrittenVideo clocks in at 10:17. Two more to go!

Hi everyone! It's Wednesday night Bible study!For this week's Why the New Testament was Written video, we're talking about why Paul wrote the second letter to Timothy. I consider it to be the saddest book of the New Testament, as Paul's farewell letter to the church and to the world in general. This is part 15 of the series (should be three more to go...next week is II Peter, then Jude, then finally Revelation).Why Paul Wrote II TimothyVideo clocks in at 9:29.

Hi everyone! Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble gobble!This week's Wednesday night Bible study is part 13 of our video series on why the New Testament was written. Tonight we're talking about the writings of John. I had a hard time coming up with a title for this one, and "Why John Wrote His Gospel and Epistles" is honestly the least-awkward thing I could come up with.Anyway, here's the video.Why John Wrote His Gospel and EpistlesA bit of a lengthy one this week (clocks in at 17:44). Twitter's been having a field day with me on this, so I can't wait to see...

I give my parting thoughts on the Mohammed Hijab-David Wood debate which took place at York College last week, as well as dissect the Muslim approach to "debate," and explain how the Bible does show Jesus's sonship and lordship.

Good evening, everyone! Hope you're all ready for a little break from politics, us being in the aftermath of the midterms. This is part 12 (I can't believe I've done a dozen of these) of our vlog series on Why The New Testament Was Written - this week focusing on Titus.Why Paul Wrote TitusTitus is a short book, so a short video this week (clocks in at 6:44).

Okay, I'm a day late on this (due to an extremely busy week). Nevertheless, here is part 11 of our video series on why the New Testament was Written.Why Hebrews Was WrittenSource is The Untold Story of the New Testament by Frank Viola. Video clocks in at 13:57.

Over at the Institute for Family Studies, Nicholas Wolfinger, a sociologist at the University of Utah, has found that Americans who have only ever slept with their spouses are most likely to report being in a “very happy” marriage. Meanwhile, the lowest odds of marital happiness—about 13 percentage points lower than the one-partner women—belong to women who have had six to 10 sexual partners in their lives. For men, there’s still a dip in marital satisfaction after one partner, but it’s never as low as it gets for women,... (Skip) In an earlier analysis, Wolfinger found that women with zero...

Good evening!I'm a day late on this (been working some ridiculous hours). However I finally got home from work early enough to post this week's "Why the New Testament Was Written" vlog. This week, in part 9, we're talking about why Paul Wrote I Timothy.Why Paul Wrote I TimothyVideo clocks in at 11:31. Normally with first-and-second books of the New Testament we talk about both in one video, but Paul wrote to Timothy twice for very different reasons. This also gave me a chance to talk about gnosticism, which some historians believe originated in Ephesus and was the false doctrine...

It's Wednesday Bible Study, everyone! This is continuing our weekly video series on why the books of the New Testament were written - this week (part 8) we're taking a look at Philippians.Video: Why Paul Wrote PhilippiansFor those of you who've complained that I can be a tad long-winded, this is the shortest video I've made so far...clocks in at 6:36.

Hey everyone! Welcome to Wednesday night Bible study!This is part 7 of our weekly vlog series on why the books of the New Testament were written. This lesson is a three-for-one, as Paul wrote his first three imprisonment letters (Colossians, Philemon and Ephesians) at the same time for essentially the same reason.Why Paul Wrote Colossians, Philemon, and EphesiansVideo clocks in at 14:19.

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Who's ready for another "Why the New Testament Was Written" vlog?In part 6, we're studying the synoptic gospels...that is, Matthew, Mark and Luke. We'll talk about the historical reason the early church decided to record the life of Christ 20+ years after the fact, and we'll compare and contrast the original three.Why the Synoptic Gospels Were WrittenVideo runs at 16:19.

Welcome to Wednesday night Bible study!I was off last week due to a vacation. This week, however, we're resuming the vlog series on why the New Testament was written, focusing on Romans.Why Paul Wrote RomansA little shorter than last time, but the history behind Romans isn't all that complicated. Video runs at 11:16.

Hi everyone! I've been doing a vlog series on YouTube about why historically the New Testament books were written. I usually upload these on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, but will be out of town this week so I decided to do it a few days early.Video: Why Paul Wrote I and II Corinthians.Since the story behind these epistles is somewhat complicated, this will probably be the longest video in the series, clocking in at almost 26 minutes.Source is Frank Viola's Book "The Untold Story of the New Testament."

One of the most powerful ways a person can know that the testimony of Jesus is not the product of late legendary fictions is the evidence of pre-New Testament (pre-NT) material found in the New Testament text. Perhaps the most popular and important of the pre-NT material is the resurrection creedal formulation of 1 Corinthians 15:3-7. Other important pre-NT material includes Colossians 1:15-20 and the hymn of Philippians 2:5-11. Gary Habermas also includes the following texts from Acts as pre-NT material: Acts 1:21-22; 2:22-36; 3:13-16; 4:8-10; 5:29-32; 10:39-43; 13:28-31. Habermas's writings indicate that there are many, many more of these...