Countercult Apologetics

Bill McKeever was a guest on Issues Etc. yesterday discussing the Mormon/Christian Dialogue. Here are the programs:

Part 1 (starts about half-way through)

Part 2.

David Reed was on Issues, Etc. once again. Except this is a two-part series. Program aired Sunday, September 16th:

Part 1
Part 2

James White discusses these two verses on his program The Dividing Line (9/20/07).
Here is the link.

“Although many books and articles have been written about the problem of cults from both a psychological or sociological point of view, this series of teachings treats cults from a Biblical perspective. These videos are designed for Sunday school classes or Bible Study groups. Dr. Martin provides the viewer with an in-depth Biblical perspective of who these people and what they believe . Dr. Martin’s insights and research coupled with many on-location interviews with cult leaders themselves as well as ex-cult members makes this series of documentaries uniquely hard-hitting for Christians. You’ll get a first-hand look at various cults as well as the occult “up close” with an in-depth look at the effects they are having on the world we live in today. Recent surveys indicate that there is scarcely a family anywhere on the planet that hasn’t been affected by one type of a cult or another. Because this unique problem is so pervasive, special interviews are featured with noted experts in this unique field of specialization. These interviews provide practical advice on what to do if a family member or friend gets involved in various cultic or occultic groups.”

To purchase these videos here.

I recently finished Scottish Theology by John Macleod and found this great quote:

“There are great times in which a crop of great men is raised up. In one sense all times are great by reason of the opportunities which they offer and the duties for which they call. Men in quite times, however, live in an age that tells on the more stirring times ahead and their influence will contribute to the stir and bustle of those times when they come. The quite times see the stream of life running a more smooth and less exciting course. They may be said to be the days of the average man or of the leading man that is distinctly small. The days of the Second Reformation were not the tame and uneventful kind. They were days which things happened that are not forgotten and great men appeared on the field and had the chance to show there quality.”

Scottish Theology in Relation to Church History. John Macleod (Reformed Academic Press, 1995), pg. 66).

Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend this conference. But some of you might:

No Other Gods: How Islam and Today’s “Cultural” Gods Oppose Christianity

Speakers: Robert Peterson and Craig Branch
Location: Westminster Presbyterian Church, 2151 Oregon Pike, Lancaster PA.

Click here for a brochure.

Read the review by Bill McKeever and Aaron Shafovaloff. Click here to read.

If you have not heard this already, you must. Reflections on the Life and Thought of John Owen, by John Piper.

I pray that if I ever become a pastor, I would feed God’s sheep like John Owen (and certainly others) had done.

See also:

John Piper’s notes on this lecture.

http://www.johnowen.org/.

One of my favorite preachers is Alistair Begg. Truth for Life recently aired his two sermons on the above passages. Llisten in:

Part 1
Part 2.

Alistair mention Joseph Smith, but others such as Charles Taze Russell and Joseph Rutherford (WTBTS) could have been mentioned.

A new book by Darrell L. Bock and Daniel B. Wallace titled Dethroning Jesus: Exposing Popular Culture’s Quest to Unseat the Biblical Christ (Thomas Nelson, 2007; ISBN#: 078522615X).

Book Description:
New York Times best-selling author Darrell Bock teams with Daniel Wallace to help lay readers separate fact from fiction and help from hype in the recent best-selling Jesus books and television specials.

There is a quest going on. It’s the quest to reduce Jesus to a mythic legend or to nothing more than a mere man. Scholars such as Elaine Pagels and James Tabor are using such recent discoveries as the Gospel of Judas and the Gospel of Thomas to argue that the Christ of Christianity is a contrived figure and that a different Christ-one human and not divine-is the “true” Christ.

In his trademark easy-to-understand style Darrell Bock takes on these attempts to redefine Jesus in a convincing, winsome way that will help readers understand that the orthodox understanding of Christ and his divinity is as trustworthy and sure as it ever was. Joining Bock for the first time is fellow scholar Daniel Wallace.
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TOC:

Introduction: A Tale of Two Jesus Stories—Christianity versus Jesusanity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

CLAIM 1: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

The Original New Testament Has Been Corrupted by Copyists So Badly That It Can’t Be Recovered

CLAIM 2: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 7

Those Secret Gnostic Gospels Such as Judas Show the Existence of Early Alternative Christianities

CLAIM 3: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 7

The Gospel of Thomas Radically Alters Our Understanding of the Real Jesus

CLAIM 4: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3 1

Jesus’s Message Was Fundamentally Political and Social

CLAIM 5: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 7 3

Paul Took Captive the Original Movement of Jesus and James, Moving It from a Jewish Reform Effort to a Movement That Exalted Jesus and Included Gentiles

CLAIM 6: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 9 3

Jesus’s Tomb Has Been Found and His Resurrection and Ascension Did Not Involve a Physical Departure

Conclusion: A Look at Some Popular Claims about Jesus . . . . . . . .215

Works Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .229