Dear Friends:
There is a new radio show called "Embrace the Truth with Abdu Murray, sponsored by God321"! That was the announcement recently that thrilled my heart.
A supporter of our ministry, Dan Hutchins, has graciously donated an hour of radio time on Thursdays for me to discuss apologetics and evangelism with the wide audience that radio brings. I'll be tackling tough issues that Christians face as they share their faith and we'll be having leading thinkers on the program as well. We've already had some great guests, including Alan Shlemon of Stand to Reason, and Dr. Daniel Wallace, a leading expert on the New Testament manuscripts and biblical Greek.
In the Detroit area you can listen to the show on Thursdays from 2-3 pm EST on the radio dial at WLQV AM 1500, or online anywhere at www.faithtalk1500.com.
During my recent interview with Dr. Wallace we discussed his debate with Dr. Bart Ehrman, a renowned skeptic, on the reliability of the New Testament. Dr. Ehrman sought to challenge the Christians' faith in the Bible by pointing out the hundreds of thousands of variants in the words of the New Testament and both intentional and unintentional errors that have crept into the text over the centuries. Dr. Ehrman contended that no one could possibly know whether the New Testament can be trusted to accurately convey Jesus' words or the theology that we think of today as Christian orthodoxy.
But then Dr. Wallace presented the counterpoint and exemplified the truth we find in the Old Testament, that "The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him" (Proverbs 18:17 ESV). Dr. Wallace deftly pointed out that though there are hundreds of thousands of variants in the New Testament text, the vast majority of these are spelling errors and unimportant word omissions that copyists left out by mistake.
During my interview with Dr. Wallace, I did not focus on the details of the debate (I encourage you to pick up a copy of the DVD debate from our webstore), but I wanted to focus on the tactics both debaters used in the debate to try to convince their audience. This is important because the kinds of tactics used in debates are often the kinds of tactics we use in everyday conversation.
Dr. Ehrman tried to push Dr. Wallace into a dogmatic position that would be impossible to defend. Dr. Ehrman kept saying that there's "no way to know" what the original New Testament text was and kept pressing Dr. Wallace to tell the audience "how he knows" that the original text is within the manuscripts.
Dr. Wallace recognized that defending a position of absolute certainty is virtually impossible and if he tried to do so, he would be destroyed. So, Dr. Wallace took the better position. He argued that although we can't know with absolute certainty that we have the original text of the New Testament, we can have a high degree of probability in believing that we do. By the end of the debate, Dr. Ehrman had to agree that the issue didn't boil down to absolutes, but to degrees of probability.
Understanding how this debate unfolded is critical to understanding how to engage with non-believers. Dr. Wallace correctly avoided a position Christians tend to take: absolute certainty about historical facts. Non-Christians expect--and even demand--that Christians prove their beliefs with absolute certainty or "beyond a shadow of a doubt."
But, as I've pointed out on many occasions, no one holds their worldview with absolute certainty. We live our lives based on probabilities.
At Aletheia, we are committed to equipping you with critical thinking skills and methods to share your faith. I continually hone my own skills as I engage with non-Christians in formal and informal debates and teach Christians around the world to offer the credibility of the Gospel.
And it is through the prayers and financial support of people just like you that seek to deliver that experience and knowledge to you and other Christians. So many opportunities are on the horizon for us this year--from hosting a radio show to debates across the country to training believers in Asia—and we need your help if we are to realize those goals.
So will you take a moment and send a much needed gift to Aletheia today? Your gift of $25, $35, or more will help us keep meeting the amazing opportunities that God is bringing our way.
In His Service,
Abdu Murray