JP Holding on the Christ Myth

I came across this brilliant lecture from JP Holding.He discusses the growing movement denying that Jesus Christ existed. He also took on the assertions that Christianity borrowed from several pagan religions. It's an awesome summary. It should be he runs Tekton which i pulled a lot of resources to write my posts concerning the relationships between Jesus and several pagan myths. the man has a sense of humor and it shows through in his articles. I think that this one is definitely something everyone should listen to.

JP Holding on the Christ Myth

Christian Apologetics - Life and Doctrine: Jewish / Judaism : the Psalm 22 Controversy, part 1 of 4

Mariano is starting another series about how Judaism looks at a particular passage contrasted with how Christians look at it. This time he considers Psalm 22. I was aware that while I, as a Christian, would say that it is a messianic prophecy of the crucifixion of Christ from about 1000 years before Jesus was crucified and long before crucifixion was invented. When Jesus was on the cross He said

About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34

The Christian interpretation is that He was quoting Psalm 22:1 and was pointing out that at that moment the whole of Psalm 22 was being fulfilled. In light of this, I always wondered how do Jews who reject Jesus' messiahship answer this. Mariano has begun a series to answer this very question! Thanks, Mariano.

Christian Apologetics - Life and Doctrine: Jewish / Judaism : the Psalm 22 Controversy, part 1 of 4

Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament: The Sanctity of Marriage

Dr. Claude Mariottini is starting a series on his blog that should be extremely interesting . He started with pointing out that Joseph Fletcher wrote a book in 1966.Mariottini wrote the following:

The book, Situation Ethics (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1966), caused a furor because Fletcher was advocating a new form of morality, a morality based on individual responsibility in which a situation decided whether an action was right or wrong.

Fletcher developed the argument of his book by saying that “any act, even lying, premarital sex, abortion, adultery, and murder, could be right depending on the circumstances.” To Fletcher, when love reigns, love dictates what must be done. Thus, when a person is confronted with a moral decision, the solution is relative. The most loving thing is the answer to the problem. The introduction to Fletcher’s book quotes him saying: “Rising above any creed, this renewed morality of loving concern is based on agape, the love of which only God is capable, but which every man must endeavor to emulate. Just as Jesus defied convention to make decisions on the basis of particular people and particular circumstances, so must modern man.”

The reason I think we need to discuss these points that Mariottini is bringing up is that moral relativism is a drum being beat by the "new" atheists. They really think that under certain circumstances anything is moral. They conclude that with no objective moral standard that there is no god. The problem I have with Fletcher's book is that the Bible does not give situational ethics any quarter. It never says "Thou shalt not....unless.....".  Agreed Jesus defied the traditions of  his day, but never the law of God.  I agree that there is the "letter of the law" and the "spirit of the law". I even agree that we must always do the most loving thing - but the most loving thing is what God tells us to do and in our own human intellect it doesn't seem all that loving all the time because it's not what we want to do; I know we need to obey God and use his definition of "loving" not our own. . 

Fletcher illustrated his points by providing anecdotal scenarios where immoral acts could be more moral given their context. In his series of posts, Mariottini is going to present  some of them and is inviting readers to comment on them.  Checkout the link below to get the first  one.


Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament: The Sanctity of Marriage

Diary of a Tired Black Man - The Movie

I recently had the opportunity to see the movie called Diary of a Tired Black Man. It is really more of a documentary than a drama. The film contains dramatized scenarios in a marriage of a black couple and then after the scene, real people are interviewed for their reactions. It's very telling. The film is actually an answer to many of the other movies depicting angry black woman who are angry because they have been misused and abused by black men. I think the movie is good because both men and women are interviewed. I really liked the scenes. The woman took out her pain from previous relationships on her husband although all he tried to do was be good to her. The film was not saying that all men were good or that all women were bipolar and evil Unfortunately, many movies brow beat men so much and make it sound like there are no good men left. I highly recommend this movie because it's great to generate discussion.





http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=887748A73F0DBC0E&search_query=Diary+of+a+Tired+Black+Man


Diary of a Tired Black Man - The Movie

Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament: Praying for the Death of the President

Dr Claude Mariottini has written a great article on his blog refuting Wiley Drake who is advocating that we prary that God kills Barack Obama. His article is awesome and really exegetically sound. I think its important that Christians stand up and call Wiley Drake's remarks what they are: unbiblical. I would also add that  I think Wiley Drake is racially motivated. It can't be because of Obama's religion or policies because the truth is they are not much different than any President we have had up until now.  I loved the graphic Mariottini included in his post. Please read his post.

Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament: Praying for the Death of the President: "Wiley Drake"

Christian Apologetics Pagination

Mariano had done us a favor. He has created a one-stop website that aggregates his considerable web presence in one place!. This is a portal to his blogs, t-shirts, twitter feed, merchandise he creates, and resources that he considers valuable! He also lists his favorite websites and blogs for more information. IT is now one of my favorite places on the internet. He has also done me the favor of linking to this blog. Go check this site out.

Christian Apologetics Pagination