Apologetics 315: Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus MP3 Audio by Craig Hazen

I got this great lecture from Craig Hazen about the evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus from Apologetics 315. It's awesome. He discusses it and gives us 12 facts the majority of scholars agree on concerning Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection and then goes through all the major theories for explaining those facts and how only his physical, bodily resurrection fits all of those facts. Take a listen using the link below.


Apologetics 315: Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus MP3 Audio by Craig Hazen

Biblical Exegesis: Exodus 32:30-35

This time I would like to interact with Exodus 32:30-35. It was pointed out to me that sometimes people interpret verse 33 as referring to the "Book of Life or the "Lamb's Book of Life" discussed in Revelations. This book refers to the list containing all those who will be saved. from Hell. See Revelation 20:15 , Revelation 3:5; 20:12; and Philippians 4:3.  and Revelation 13:8; 21:27. This is confused with the "book of life" in Psalm 69:28: “Let them [David’s enemies] be blotted out of the book of the living.”. This is the "book" is Moses and God are discussing. Look at the context in the passage itself.

 ³⁰ The next day Moses said to the people, "You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin."
 ³¹ So Moses went back to the LORD and said, "Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. ³² But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written."
 ³³ The LORD replied to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. ³⁴ Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin."
 ³⁵ And the LORD struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.

I see this as totally not talking about the book in Revelations because in the context these events take place right after 3000 people were killed after Moses found Israel worshiping the Golden calf. I read about this issue in an article that defends the doctrine of "Eternal Security" also known as "Perseverance of the Saints". We know that as a nation, Israel was punished by lots of the people dying by the sword and by that plague.

Source
What is the Book of Life?

Christian Apologetics - Life and Doctrine: Jewish / Judaism : the Psalm 22 Controversy, part 3 of 4

Here is part 3 of  Mariano's series discussing Psalm 22 from Judaism and Christian point of views. This is awesome. This part deals with various scholars from across all the centuries. Here is Mariano's introduction:

There seems to be two issues in dealing polemically with Psalm 22. One issue is whether v.16 should read “they pierced” as Christianity claims, or “like a lion” as Judaism claims. The second issue is the question of whether this Psalm is Messianic or not.

Christian Apologetics - Life and Doctrine: Jewish / Judaism : the Psalm 22 Controversy, part 3 of 4

Iron Sharpens Iron: Leslie Wagner-Wilson: The Jonestown Suicide-Massacre: A Survivor's Testimony

A few months ago, one of the survival of the Jonestown Massacre was interviewed on Iron Sharpens Iron and the mp3 has recently became available.  Here is the description!

Leslie Wagner-Wilson, author of "Slavery of Faith", will address the theme: "The Jonestown Suicide-Massacre: A Survivor's Testimony".

Tomorrow (Wednesday, November 18) marks the 31st anniversary of the "Jonestown Suicide-Massacre" in a remote jungle settlement in Guyana, South America. 918 United States citizens died that day. An estimated 93% of those who died were African American. It was the largest number of American civilian lives lost in a single event "(before September 11, 2001, during which there were 2,974 fatalities on American soil, out of which there were 2,669 American lives lost: 2,266 civilians and 403 among the FDNY, NYPD and Port Authority Police Dept.)". This included United States Congressman Leo Ryan and his entourage. His assassination marked the first and only murder of a U.S. Congressman in the history of the United States.

After surviving sixteen months in the armed jungle compound and through daily prayer amongst a world of madness, our guest Leslie Wagner-Wilson, then twenty one years old, escaped Jonestown walking thirty odd miles through the jungle along with nine other members of the cult on the morning of November 18, 1978. Strapped to her back was a 40-pound care package - her son, later to be known as the youngest survivor of Jonestown. After reaching a small outpost that night, she would be told that Congressman Leo Ryan and four of his entourage had been assassinated along with a Temple defector. Within the next two days she would be told that all of the residents of Jonestown had died, including her husband, mother, brother, sister, niece, nephew, sister in law, brother in law and friends she had grown up and loved since 13.

Since Jonestown, Slavery of Faith also chronicles Leslie's return to the U.S. under a veil of secrecy in fear of the “death squads”, her fight to maintain faith in her darkest hours; suffering Post Traumatic Stress, survivors’ guilt, drug addiction, a family suicide, redemption and finally forgiveness. All the while holding on to the only thing she knew was true-God. It shares her journey through psychological and spiritual jungles to reach a place of remembrance—- to “live their love and not their deaths.”

I have given this a listen and I am amazed. Her testimony is nothing short of miraculous. I'm so sorry that her family was killed but the story of how she survived is amazing. She also spoke about although it wasn't reported often that most of the victims were black. We are talking about 0ver 900 civilians killed almost at the same time. I've seen documentaries. Listened to the news. However nothing like hearing it from someone who was there. I thought Jim Jones started out orthodox, but Leslie testifies that he wasn't and they were so brainwashed and so caught up they couldn't see it.

Iron Sharpens Iron: Leslie Wagner-Wilson: The Jonestown Suicide-Massacre: A Survivor's Testimony