April 25, 2010- God's Grace

I want to thank Keith for a wonderful class. Our class seems more complete when Keith and Linda are with us, and I hope they will join us as often as they feel lead by God.

Summarizing Keith's lesson would be futile on my part. The questions concerning why bad things happen to good people is complex and difficult to understand in our temporal state. We all go through difficult times in life as a result of living in a fallen world. Just lean on the promise of God that He is always with us and through His plan of salvation, we will one day return to a perfect state where troubles will be no more. Hallelujah!

Thank you for being such a loving, caring class. Without exception, there's not a day goes by that I don't think about one or all of you and thank God for the blessing you are to both Candice and me. I love each and every one of you, and I will always be here for you...to listen, to cry with you, to pray, to celebrate, or just lift you up in whatever manner you need.

Next week we're back to Case for Christ in Chapter 6. See you there.

April 18, 2010- Carbon Dating: Science or SciFi?

The class took a brief hiatus from Case for Christ to discuss another issue important in apologetics...carbon dating.

The media will often report the age of an ancient artifact in a matter-of-fact manner than gives the perception carbon dating is scientifically accurate and reliable. A closer look at the science, however, reveals that the science is far from either.

Chemistry of Carbon Dating

• Understanding how carbon dating works requires a basic understanding of chemistry.


• Atoms are the building blocks of all matter. Atoms are made up of smaller particles called protons (+), neutrons, and electrons (-). The protons and neutrons make up the nucleus of the atom.


• The number of protons determines the type of element. An atom with 6 protons is a carbon atom. If there are 7 protons, it would be nitrogen.

• An isotope is a given atom with a different number of neutrons (giving it a different atomic mass). In carbon dating, the isotopes carbon-14 and carbon-12 are used. Carbon-14 contains 6 protons and 8 neutrons (thus the 14). Click here for more info.


• Some isotopes are radioactive, meaning they decay by losing energy (radiation). Carbon-14 is radioactive.

• All living things take in carbon-14 and carbon-12 through one process or another. Carbon-12 is a stable isotope and doesn't decay.


• When organic organism dies, the amount of both isotopes is initial static. As carbon-14 decays through radiation, the amount of the isotope reduces at a fixed rate (half-life).


• Since the amount of carbon-12 remains the same, the ratio between the isotopes can help determine the age since death of the organism (plant, animal or human). If the ratio is the same as the ratio in the atmosphere, there are 1 trillion c-12 isotopes to every single c-14 isotope. That ratio was determined by Dr. Willard Libby in 1949.

More specific information on carbon dating can be found here.


Problems with carbon dating

• The science of carbon dating makes a number of assumptions:

1. The ratio of 1(c-14):1,000,000,000,000 (c-14) is accurate and constant

• If the ratio is not correct, the basis for carbon dating is greatly flawed. A number of factor could have a tremndous impact on the ratio being constant: (a) Earth magnetic field seems to be weakening and would appear not to be a constant force. This greatly affects the process of c-14 and c-12 being made in the atmosphere. (b) Volcanic activity releases excess CO2 into the atmosphere affecting the ratio. (c) Made-made CO2 being released into the atmosphere at a greater rate today. (d) Nuclear weapons testing and nuclear power plants would affect the ratio with unnatural amounts of radiation.

2. Radioactive decay (half-life) may not be constant. Scientist believe it is actually quicker.

3. The biblical flood would have created an immense infusion of carbon into the soil making time-lines of millions now more into thousands.

Conclusion

• The assumptions made in the science of carbon dating are too vast for the science to be considered reliable or accurate. If the the assumptions are 100% correct (which is highly unlikely), the science is still only accurate to 80,000 years due to the limiting factor of the half-life of carbon-14 being only 5720 years.

April 11, 2010- Chapter 5 Scientific Evidence

Strobel interviews Dr. John McRay, a renowned archaeologist and author on matters related to archaeology and the New Testament.

Science can only play a supporting role

• Archaeological findings only verify the locations mentioned in the Gospels. Findings cannot tell the story alone.
• Many location mentioned in the Gospels have been discovered by scientist.
• Luke is confirmed to be an accurate historian by archaeologist. While not providing absolute validation to his account in the Gospel of Luke, he does show his was careful and accurate with his writings.
• Digs within the past century have unearthed locations also mentioned by John and Mark.

Puzzles from the Gospels

• The census mention is association with the birth of Christ has been a point of contention with scholars through the years. Why would people be required to return to the city of their birth to be counted? References have been found from Roman documents that confirm citizens were required to return 'home' every 14 years to be counted and pay taxes.
• The concept isn't foreign today. Our Birth Certificates document the city of our birth and tie us to that location throughout our lives.
• Nazareth as been debated as an actual city in Galilee at the time of Jesus, but Nazareth was a very small village at the time and complete not noteworthy until the story of Jesus.
• There are no historical records that mention the slaughter of first born by Herod which would appear to us as 'news worthy,' but Herod was bloodthirsty king that killed thousands of people during his reigns, and the slaughter in Bethlehem of what probably amounted to only a dozen or so actual babies. Bethlehem was not a very large city at the time. Even today, it is smaller than Bristol, TN. The killing of a dozen or so would pale in comparison to the onslaughts that took place through Herod time.

Next Week: The science of carbon dating (research a bit before then)

April 4, 2010- Easter Sunday...He lives!!

A shorter class due to Easter services, we veered away from Case for Christ to talk about other world religions.

There are five major world religions that account for 80% of the world population.

The 3 Abrahamic religions:

• Christianity
• Judaism
• Islam

Plus:

• Hinduism
• Buddhism

Many times, any sect that includes a 'Jesus element' is included under Christianity (i.e. Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Gnosticism). Although Jesus is an element of Islam (as a prophet, not the Savior), it is counted separated.

An excellent quick-reference chart can be found here.

Breakdown of major religions by percent of population:

Next Week: Chapter 5 Case for Christ

March 28, 2010- Chapter 4 finished

Quick review of Josephus and his importance in corroborating the events of the Gospels.


Chapter 4 Continued

Other writings from the time also corroborate some of the events in the Gospels. Written from a strictly secular point of view and as historical documentation, the writings naturally paint of different point of view from those closest to and following Jesus, but they do in fact reinforce certain events of the time surrounding Christ.

• Tacitus- First century Roman historian

Mentions Christ in Annals

• Pliny the Younger- Governor of Bithynia

Tortured/killed Christians to get them to renounce their faith

Highly concerned about his legacy, so he was thorough about documentation

• Thallus- Reference to darkness at the time of the crucifixion

The Role of Ignatius

• Ignatius was the third Bishop of Antioch, the first Gentile Christian community (Peter was the first Bishop)
• Antioch is the principle city of Syria and third largest in Roman Empire
• Condemned to die in the Roman Colosseum, he writes 7 letters on the road to Rome
• Was alleged to be a student of John the Apostle
• Known to have taught the deity of Christ
• Died for his beliefs by being feed to lions as a spectacle in the Colosseum (108A.D.)
• His letters are pivotal in the development of the Catholic theology