PAUL'S CONVERSION: Proof of Christianity

The following are videos from my class on Acts. (Sorry about the quality. You will need to turn the volume up to hear it. I will be working on this in the future.):

*PAUL'S ENCOUNTER WITH JESUS: Contradictions, Vision or Real?

*PAUL'S CONVERSION: Proof of Christianity

Resources for these two class sessions:

*Parallel Accounts of Paul's Conversion from Acts 9, 22 and 26....plus pertinent sections from his letters and additional cross references related to the accounts of Paul's conversion found in Acts. All Scripture quotations are from the New International Version (NIV). This is the handout used in the first video posted above ("Paul's Encounter With Jesus: Contradictions, Vision or Real?).

*Handout for "Paul's Conversion: Proof of Christianity

*Observations on the Conversion and Apostleship of Paul by George Lyttleton. This is a condensed version (about 9 pages) of the original 90 page book. This is what my class is based on, as mentioned.

*Observations on the conversion and apostleship of St. Paul : in a letter to Gilbert West, Esq. The book originally published in 1754.

THE OLD TESTAMENT CANON: Resources for Study

 ARTICLES

*Josephus: Historical Evidence Of The Old Testament Canon. Here is an excellent short article on the clearest evidence that we have for the extent of the Old Testament during the time of Jesus and the apostles. Josephus was a Jew and was from a wealthy priestly family. This article gives two important quotes from Josephus: one tells us of the extent of the Old Testament and the other tells us how firmly it was established that no one dared add or subtract from it. Josephus is our earliest and clearest evidence for these issues.

VIDEOS

*How we got the OT Canon: Evidence for the Bible pt11 by Mike Winger (50 minutes)

*How was the Old Testament canon formed? (8 minutes)

BOOKS

*The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church and Its Background in Early Judaism by Roger Beckwith. The standard book on this subject.

*The Canon of Scripture by F.F. Bruce (1988). Covers both the Old and New Testament canons. 

THE GOSPEL OF MARK IS PETER'S TESTIMONY: 6 Early Church Fathers Confirm

Here are six early church fathers who provide reliable, authoritative and independent confirmation that Mark's Gospel is based on the testimony of the apostle Peter. 

These testimonies are all written within 40 to 130 years of the earliest possible date for the death of Mark. 

Dates for the publication of the Gospel of Mark itself range from c.40 to 70 AD. So these testimonies for the origin of Mark's Gospel are all given within a range of 40 to 160 years of its publication. That is extraordinarily early unanimous independent testimony for its origin. I am unaware of any other ancient document that has this kind of testimony to its provenance.

Papias, quoting the apostle John, of whom he was a disciple (writing c.110 AD):

"And the Elder [the apostle John] used to say this: 'Mark, having become Peter’s interpreter, wrote down accurately everything he remembered, though not in order, of the things either said or done by Christ. For he neither heard the Lord nor followed him, but afterward, as I said, followed Peter, who adapted his teaching as needed but had no intention of giving an ordered account of the Lord’s sayings. Consequently, Mark did nothing wrong in writing down some things as he remembered them, for he made it his one concern not to omit anything which he had heard, or to make any false statements in them.' Such, then, is the account given by Papias with respect to Mark" (from Papias' 5-volume work The Exposition of the Oracles of the Lord as recorded in Eusebius' Church History 3.39)

*for more on Papias, see my blog article: The Importance of Papias, The Disciple of the Apostle John

Justin Martyr (writing c.132-165 AD):

“And when it is said that He changed the name of one of the apostles to Peter; and when it is written in the memoirs of him [Peter] that this so happened, as well as that He changed the names of other two brothers, the sons of Zebedee, to Boanerges, which means sons of thunder. . ." (Dialogue with Trypho 106, emphasis mine). Compare this with Mark 3:16-17: "These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”),...." This is found only in the Gospel of Mark and not in the other three New Testament Gospels or any of the gnostic or apocryphal writings (including the Gospel of Peter that some have carelessly attributed as the source of Justin's statement).

Irenaeus, a disciple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of the Apostle John (writing c.180 AD):

"....Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter." (Against Heresies, Book 3, Chapter 1)

Clement of Alexandria, who assumed leadership of the catechetical school founded by Mark at Alexandria (Clement assumed leadership of this "seminary" and wrote c.180-200 AD):

"But so great a light of godliness shone upon the minds of Peter’s listeners that they were not satisfied with a single hearing or with the oral teaching of the divine proclamation. So, with all kinds of exhortations they begged Mark (whose Gospel is extant), since he was Peter’s follower, to leave behind a written record of the teaching given to them verbally, and did not quit until they had persuaded the man, and thus they became the immediate cause of the Scripture called “The Gospel According to Mark.” And they say that the apostle, aware of what had occurred because the Spirit had revealed it to him, was pleased with their zeal and sanctioned the writing for study in the churches. Clement (of Alexandria) quotes the story in the sixth book of Hypotyposes, and the bishop of Hierapolis, named Papias, corroborates him" (as quoted in Eusebius' Church History 2.15; also see 6.25 and 24:.1: written c.324 AD).

Tertullian (writing c. 207 AD):

"....I mean the Gospels of John and Matthew — while that which Mark published may be affirmed to be Peter's whose interpreter Mark was."(Against Marcion, Book 4, Chapter 5).

Origen, one of the greatest intellects of the early church (writing between 215 and 250 AD):

"The second [Gospel] is by Mark, who composed it according to the instructions of Peter, who in his Catholic epistle acknowledges him as a son, saying, 'The church that is at Babylon elected together with you, salutes you, and so does Marcus, my son.'" [1 Peter 5:13] (as Eusebius notes was recorded in Origen's "first book on Matthew's Gospel, Eusebius' Church History 6.25.3-5: written c.324 AD)

CONCLUSION:

From this we can conclude that the Gospel of Mark is based faithfully and accurately on the eyewitness testimony of the Apostle Peter as written down by his beloved assistant Mark (1 Peter 5:13: "my son Mark"). And note that the Apostle John is emphatic that Mark "made it his one concern not to omit anything which he had heard, or to make any false statements in them." 

Flemish School (c. 1600), Christ Calling Saint Peter (public domain via Wikimedia Commons)

WHO ARE THE APOSTLES & THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS?

 The following are resources used in or as follow-up for a presentation that I am doing February 4, 2023 at 10:30am at Maple City Chapel in Goshen, Indiana for a meeting of the GOSHEN APOLOGETICS FELLOWSHIP: 

• Who Are The Apostles?
• CHART #1: Apostolic Fathers & 2nd Century Church Leaders (Fathers)
• CHART #2: Apostolic Fathers & 2nd Century Church Leaders (Fathers)
• Records of the Apostolic Fathers Relationships to the Apostles
• What the Apostolic Fathers Said about the Apostles
• The Presentation Slides (Unfortunately it did not format correctly but can be used to easily make a new set of presentation slides.)
• The video of the presentation will appear here later.
• My blog page: "Who Are The Apostolic Fathers?"

"If there is a god, why is there so much suffering in the world?"

 I'm in a group on Facebook for those who have a rare form of kidney cancer called chromophobe. And many of us freely share our faith there and how we trust God in spite of what we are going through. Someone shared this beautiful picture of Jesus standing in the midst of the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as an artist's conception of the story from the book of Daniel. This, of course, got a lot of amens from several Christians in the group. But a couple of people had a very different response: "...if there is a god, why is there so much suffering in the world?"

I took the time to respond and I thought I would share that response here, too:

//That is probably the #1 question among both Christians and non-Christians: If God exists, why is there so much suffering in the world?   Interestingly, very few people ask: If God does not exist, why is there so much beauty and good and love in the world? And I think that question presents a much bigger challenge when examined carefully. 

But I don't say that to minimize the difficulty of the question you raise. I found out 9 years ago that I had kidney cancer. And I have been living for 6 1/2 years as a stage 4 chromophobe patient--realizing that I am constantly being threatened with death. And I have seen people that I care about deeply and have prayed for earnestly (including in this group) suffer greatly and die. So, yeah, I have asked this question myself and had my own angry, tear-filled arguments with God. 

To make matters worse, there is no simple answer. No where in the Bible does God send someone with a simple satisfying answer to this question. In the book of Job (which deals with this question more directly than any other place in the Bible), the only answer that Job gets is (to paraphrase): "Job, you aren't big enough to understand. I'm the God who created this world and your just a puny little human. You are just going to have to trust me with this."

That is not the kind of answer that we naturally want, of course. But when we actually learn to trust God, there is a peace that transcends any attempts at understanding.

That is not to say that we should not seek any kind of answer or that the Scriptures give us no answer. I myself have spent more than 40 years thinking about these difficult kinds of questions and doing my best to answer them reasonably and with integrity. Thirty years ago I took a masters level class exploring this very issue. And the issue is very very complex. But if I were to boil it down, I think the overall answer looks something like this: God created us as beings with free will because he wanted beings like himself that are able to love--and you can't get that with a robot programmed to do only what you want it to do. He did it knowing that we would inevitably do what was unloving. And we did and continue to do so. And those unloving acts are what we call sin. And sin destroys and causes suffering and ultimately death. And we all recognize that at some level. We at least recognize the pain and suffering that others cause us--though we may be slow to recognize how some sins do so...especially our own. And we may be slow to understand how our sin has led to the decay in the world that leads to natural disasters and disease. 

And again, though God knew all this would result, he had a plan to bring something beautiful out of all of it. He has a plan to limit the extent of this destruction of sin. It will not go on forever. When the time is right, he will intervene and make all things right. And the suffering of this world will seem like nothing in light of our eternity with him. For "our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all" (2 Corinthians 4:17).

But I think there is a nagging question that really lies behind this question: "Does God care about our suffering? Or does he just sit out there on his throne far removed from us in some other dimension that we call heaven?" And the Bible does give a clear answer to that important question--a clear and emphatic answer. He became one of us and lived in the midst of our pain and experienced it in every way that we do. And then he died and suffered a very cruel and humiliating death to pay the cost for the sin that he allowed--our sin. And he did it so that he could be both just and the justifier of those who put their trust in Jesus (Romans 3:25-26).

So that is as concise an answer as I can give to this very thorny and emotional question. I hope it helps. I know that it has been helpful to me. Blessings, friends.//

 

AN UNDESIGNED COINCIDENCE Between Acts and Archaeology

 I recently learned a new undesigned coincidence while watching a documentary. The documentary ("The Last Apostle"--included with Amazon Prime) features a modern-day William Ramsay named Dr. Mark Fairchild. Fairchild is professor of New Testament at Huntington University in Huntington, Indiana. And the documentary follows Fairchild on a two-week trip through Turkey, following the footsteps of Paul. Very interesting and worth the two hours.

Anyways, in Acts 13:4ff, Paul and Barnabas meet the proconsul Sergius Paulus on the island of Cyprus and he becomes a believer. After they leave Cyprus, they sail to Perga and from there make the 3-4 week trek by foot to Pisidian Antioch. Towards the end of the documentary, Fairchild begins to talk about this event as they head towards Pisidian Antioch. And he says (in a rather matter-of-fact way) that after the proconsul Sergio Paulus is converted, he asks Paul and Barnabas to go to Pisidian Antioch to bring the Gospel to his friends and relatives. 

I didn't remember reading that, so I turned to Acts 13 and found that Acts says nothing about such a conversation--not even a hint. So I'm a little confused at this point. (Maybe I missed something Fairchild said, as I was doing something else as I was watching.) At any rate, after Fairchild reaches Pisidian Antioch, he heads to the local museum where they are housing a recently discovered inscription bearing the name Sergius Paulus! So Fairchild concludes rather confidently that Sergius Paulus is from Pisidian Antioch and that the reason that Paul and Barnabas travel to Pisidian Antioch is because Sergius Paulus pleads with them to do so. This makes good sense in light of the recent find of this inscription of Sergius Paulus at Pisidian Antioch--yet Luke does not even hint at it in Acts.

This is an interesting way in which archaeology fills in information that Acts does not give us but which makes perfect sense in light of what Acts does tell us. This does not happen with fiction. This happens with reliable eyewitness accounts. 

Check out this excellent article from Bible Archaeology Report that not only has a photo of the Sergio Paulus inscription featured in Fairchild's documentary but also another found near Pisidian Antioch and others from Cyprus (where Paul met Sergius Paulus in Acts 13).

Also, here is the link to The Last Apostle documentary where I first learned about this.

To learn more about what an "undesigned coincidence" is, why it is such a powerful evidence of reliable eyewitness testimony and to see many more examples....see my article here.

Elymas the sorcerer is struck blind before Sergius Paulus. Painting by Raphael. Public domain.

ARE THE GOSPELS FACT OR FICTION?: A conversation with three experts

The YouTube video that preserves this live stream event is found here.

............

Don't miss this! I am super excited about this opportunity--as I've been asked to host this interview!

Here's your chance to hear evidence for the Gospels that you likely never heard before....as three experts offer new and creative insights into the Gospels from philosophy, literature, ancient history, and comparative religions.

FREE ONLINE SEMINARY: Course of Study, Phase 3

NOTE: Phase 3 is still partly under construction, but I wanted to make this available since it has been a year since Phases 1 and 2 were made available.

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in Phase 3, you will:

• start building an understanding of systematic theology,
• survey the New Testament, completing an overview of the Bible,
• look closely at the life, death and resurrection of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke,
• learn how the Gospel began to spread through the world as seen in Acts,
• take a brief look at the apostolic fathers, their contemporaries and their disciples,
• gain an understanding of the formation of the canon of Scripture,
• be encouraged to be an intercessor for others,
• continue to build on your knowledge of New Testament Greek, and 
• keep working on your major project.

1. SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY
*ONLINE CLASS: "Systematic Theology" by Wayne Grudem. Do the first half of this class for this phase and the last half for Phase 4.

*MEMORY VERSES: Don't forget to make note of verses used in the lectures to memorize as you work through this class.
*READING: Choose from the following:

*Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem. Cheaper at Ebay. FREE at Internet Archive. (Make sure you get the complete book and not one of the partial editions. The revised edition was published in December 2020, and if you can afford it, you should get that. If not, the first edition will be fine and will save you a lot of money.

*Old Paths: Being Plain Statements of Some of the Weightier Matters of Christianity by J.C. Ryle. FREE at Internet Archive and here. FREE audio here (or Librivox app). One of the great preachers and Christian thinkers of the 19th Century. In this book, he confronts the liberal "Christian" movement (whose heirs today often call themselves "progressive Christians") that was beginning to have great influence and would sadly soon take over the mainline denominations. See a brief biography of Ryle here with links to much more (including an audio biography).

*Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof. (Kindle only $2). Hard copies cheaper at eBay. FREE at Biblical Training's Online Library. A classic reformed work on systematic theology. Theologian Wayne Grudem (whose systematic theology is considered by many to be the best today) has called Berkhof's Systematic Theology "a great treasure-house of information and analysis....probably the most useful one-volume systematic theology available from any theological perspective." (as quoted in the Wikipedia article on Berkhof)

*Introduction to Dogmatic Theology by E.A. Litton. FREE at Hathi Trust. A systematic theology by a 19th Century Anglican that has recently been republished and received a lot of positive reception.

*ASSIGNMENT: Choose an issue of theology has focused your heart on God or helped you greatly in your understanding and create an essay, blog article, sermon, devotional, or YouTube....or perhaps write a hymn.


2. NEW TESTAMENT SURVEY
*ONLINE CLASS: New Testament Survey: Part 1 (Gospels) by Dr. Robert Stein
*ONLINE CLASS: New Testament Survey: Part 2 (Acts to Revelation) by Dr. Robert Stein

*MEMORY VERSES: Choose memory verses from your reading of the New Testament.
*READING: Read the entire New Testament in coordination with the classes.
*WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Keep a notebook or document for writing a brief summary of each book of the New Testament following the class related to that book.
*OPTIONAL READING (but highly recommended as a resource that you can turn to again and again): An Introduction to the New Testament by D.A. Carson and Douglas Moo. Or find it cheaper at Ebay or Addall.
*Also, don't forget that you can find many more FREE resources here: "Bible & Theology Reference Works Online: Massive Selection + My Recommendations"




3. GOSPEL OF LUKE

*INTRODUCTION TO THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS:

*Video: "What Are the Synoptic Gospels and Where Do They Come From?" (9 minutes)

*Article: "Why Four Gospels?" by David Alan Black

*Article: "The So-Called Synoptic Problem" by Brad Cooper. There is a short article followed by lots of resources if you want to study this issue further.

*ONLINE COURSE: "The Gospel of Luke from the Outside In" by Dr. D.A. Carson

*MEMORY VERSES: Choose verses to memorize as you are reading through Luke.
*READING: 

*Read or listen to the Gospel of Luke once. Then read through it again in conjunction with the online course above.

*CHOOSE A  COMMENTARY BELOW TO FOLLOW THE ONLINE COURSE:

*Expository Thoughts on Luke by J.C. Ryle. (After clicking on the link to the FREE PDF version, scroll down in the PDF file to find "Expository Thoughts on Luke.") If you want a commentary that will fill your mind with wisdom, application and fire, this is it. Also FREE in audio in 2 volumes: Volume 1 & Volume 2....or on the Librivox app. FREE PDF at Internet Archive: Volume 1 and Volume 2. Paperback and FREE Kindle version at Amazon. 

*Luke (The IVP New Testament Commentary Series) by Darrell Bock. An excellent and relatively concise, non-technical commentary.

*The Expositor's Greek Testament (General Editor, Nicoll W. Robertson): Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke by A.B. Bruce: Introduction to the Synoptic Gospels & Commentary on Luke. This is a classic commentary and one of the best older technical commentaries for exegesis of the Greek. But you will have to have some knowledge of Greek to make good use of this. Also available in Kindle format for $2.99. Also online here.

**If you have the money to spend (and there are cheap copies of the first one), check out these excellent commentaries:

*The NIV Application Commentary: Luke by Darrel Bock. An excellent non-technical commentary by one of the greatest living authorities on Luke. Also at Ebay.

*Luke (IVP Commentary series) by Darrel Bock. Also at Ebay.

*Luke (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament) by Darrel Bock. An incredible 2-volume technical commentary. My personal favorite. Also on Ebay and Addall.

*Also, don't forget that you can find many more FREE resources here: "Bible & Theology Reference Works Online: Massive Selection + My Recommendations"

*WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Suggested Options: Create a Bible study with questions and answers for teaching a class through Luke, a theme from Luke or a passage from Luke. Write a sermon based on a passage in Luke. Write a blog devotional or even a series of devotionals based on Luke. Write a paper answering a question that  you have concerning the Gospel of Luke.


4. ACTS 

(I recommend that you complete the course on the GOSPEL OF LUKE above first.)

*Timeline for Acts by Brad Cooper
*ONLINE COURSE: "23 Lectures on Acts" by Dr. Craig Keener

*MEMORY VERSES: Choose verses to memorize as you are reading through Acts.
*READING: 

*Read or listen to Acts once. Then read through it again in conjunction with the online course above.

*CHOOSE A  COMMENTARY BELOW TO FOLLOW THE ONLINE COURSE: 

*A Commentary on Acts of Apostles by J. W. McGarvey. A classic. Also here. Several cheap editions on Kindle.

*The Expositor's Greek Testament (General Editor, Nicoll W. Robertson), Volume 2: Commentary on Acts. This is a classic commentary and one of the best older technical commentaries for exegesis of the Greek. But you will have to have some knowledge of Greek to make good use of this. Also available in Kindle format for $5.98. Also online here.

**If you have the money to spend (and there are cheap copies of the first one), check out these excellent commentaries:

*Acts (New International Commentary on the New Testament) by F.F. Bruce. An excellent non-technical commentary by one of the greatest New Testament scholars of the past century. Also at Ebay and Amazon.

*Acts (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament) by Darrel Bock. An excellent technical commentary. Also on Ebay and Amazon.

*Also, don't forget that you can find many more FREE resources here: "Bible & Theology Reference Works Online: Massive Selection + My Recommendations"

*WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Suggested Options: Create a Bible study with questions and answers for teaching a class through Acts, a theme from Acts or a passage from Acts. Write a sermon based on a passage in Acts. Write a blog devotional or even a series of devotionals based on Acts. Write a paper answering a question that  you have concerning Acts.


5. WHO ARE THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS?
*ARTICLE: "Who Are The Apostolic Fathers?" by Brad Cooper
*LECTURE: "Apostolic Fathers" by Dr. Ryan Reeves (28 minutes)
*READING: Read or listen to the Apostolic Fathers for yourself using The Apostolic Fathers (2nd Edition) by Lightfoot, Joseph Barber and J.R. Harmer. Edited by Michael W. Holmes. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989. A standard collection of the writings of the apostolic fathers with introductions and commentary. An older edition of this work is in the public domain and is available for FREE! many places. You can find both the text and MP3 audio files FREE! to download here (click on the book icon next to the title you want).  Also available FREE! in ebook here. It may be read online or downloaded as a PDF. A nice online version is also available FREE here.

*ASSIGNMENT: Create an essay, blog article or YouTube explaining the importance of the apostolic fathers or focusing in on just one of them that you find most intriguing.


6. APOLOGETICS: THE BIBLICAL CANON
*MEMORY VERSES: Choose verses from the resources below.
*LECTURE: "How we got the Old Testament Canon" by Mike Winger (49 minutes)
*DIALOGUE: "James White & Michael Kruger on the Biblical Canon" (60 minutes)
*ONLINE COURSE: "The Origins of the New Testament Canon" by Michael J. Kruger (4 sessions)
*"The New Testament Canon: Human Invention Or Divine Gift?" by Brad Cooper
*READING: The Historic Evidence of The Authorship and Transmission of the Books of the New Testament by Samuel Prideux Tregelles. (London: Samuel Bagster & Sons, 1881). Available for FREE at Internet Archive.
*OPTIONAL READING (but both highly recommended): 
*Canon Revisited by Michael J. Kruger
*The Heresy of Orthodoxy by Michael J. Kruger

*ASSIGNMENT: Create a paper, blog article, YouTube video or class explaining why we can have confidence that the books of the New Testament are the books that God wanted us to have.


7. PRAYER & INTERCESSION
*SERMON: "
*MEMORY VERSE: Choose verses from the resources below.
*READING:  

*Power Through Prayer by E.M. Bounds. Paperback version is cheaper on eBay. And FREE here in ebook and audio. "Power through Prayer has been called one of the truly great masterpieces on the theme of prayer." The complete collection of E.M. Bounds on prayer: The Complete Collection of E. M. Bounds on Prayer. FREE here.

*Article: "The Proof Of The Living God As Found In The Prayer Life Of George Müller Of Bristol" by A.T. Pierson. FREE! Optionally read Pierson's biography of Muller. (Free Kindle book). Also FREE at Internet Archive. Also FREE in audiobook (or Librivox app)

*JOURNAL: Continue your daily prayer journal. Make the entries as long or as brief as you want. Write down prayer requests, answers to prayer, thanksgiving and worship, etc.  If you have nothing to write down, then simply make note of that.


8. NEW TESTAMENT GREEK

*READING: A Manual Grammar of The Greek New Testament by H.E. Dana and Julius R. Mantey
*Choose from the FREE resources at my blog page here. I will try to find more advanced FREE resources to post there.

9. MAJOR PROJECT
*By now you should be starting to gain a firm grasp on your subject--perhaps even having gained a certain level of expertise (depending on many factors). 
*Do more reading in this area. Search for courses or videos related to tis area. Continue working on your project.

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THOUGHTS FOR YOUR JOURNEY

COULD THE APOSTLES HAVE WRITTEN THE NEW TESTAMENT IF THEY WERE UNEDUCATED?

"When they [members of the Sanhedrin] saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." (NIV)

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The claim is sometimes made that the apostles could not have written the New Testament because Acts 4:13 says that "they were unschooled, ordinary men."

Is that so?

No. And here is why:

First, the relevant passage at Acts 4:13 only refers to Peter and John at a point soon after the resurrection (33AD). It tells us nothing of the education of the other apostles. For example, Matthew was a tax collector and probably had training similar to an amanuensis (that is, a secretary). Nor does it tell us of any education the apostles received in the intervening decades between the resurrection and the writing of the New Testament. 

Second, it does not make any difference if they used an amanuensis (secretary). It was very common in the ancient world for someone to dictate to an amanuensis/secretary whatever they wanted to be written down in a letter, etc. The amanuensis would take notes and then write it all down for them. 

• This was the case with all of Paul's letters (though he was very highly educated). He only wrote the closing greeting (2 Thessalonians 3:17)  
• And in the case of Peter, Mark was the writer of his Gospel account and he almost certainly used an amanuensis for at least one of his letters. 
• In the case of John, he also almost certainly used an amanuensis for his Gospel (which I strongly believe was John's disciple Papias). 

Finally, this comment by members of the Sanhedrin recorded in Acts 4:13 probably has nothing to do with whether they could read or write, but rather with whether they had received training under one of their approved Rabbis or something beyond the ancient world's equivalent of grade school. "Higher education" in the ancient world was focused on rhetoric. And probably they were amazed that in spite of the fact that they had none of the rhetorical skill that came with that kind of higher education, they were still able to speak very effectively.

On the other hand.....

Pointing to their lack of training in rhetoric only brings up a more serious problem for the skeptic, as pointed out by the quote below....and also in the book Too Good To Be False by Tom Gilson.

THE EVIDENCE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL'S LIFE: From Top Persecutor of Christianity to Leading Missionary

In the 18th Century, when deists and atheists were quite popular among the elite, Lord Lyttleton and his friend Gilbert West (who were both convinced that Christianity was a farce) set out to disprove Christianity once and for all. West set out to unravel the case for the resurrection of Jesus and Lyttleton set out to show that Paul's conversion was for some reason other than having actually seen Jesus risen from the dead. When they met again, they had both come to the conclusion that Christianity was indeed true and published their findings in the works linked to below.

VIDEO SUMMARY OF LYTTLETON'S ARGUMENT

Here is a 30-minute video from my friend Erik Manning that summarizes Lyttleton's argument:

*"How Investigating Paul's Conversion Turned a Skeptic Into a Christian Apologist"

SUMMARY OF LORD LYTTLETON'S ARGUMENT FOR THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY FROM THE CONVERSION OF PAUL by Erik Manning

(about 7 pages published on his blog on September 19, 2019): 

*"The Power Of Paul’s Testimony: How Investigating Paul’s Conversion Turned A Skeptic Into A Christian Apologist"

SUMMARY OF LORD LYTTLETON'S ARGUMENT FOR THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY FROM THE CONVERSION OF PAUL by J.L. Campbell 

originally published in 1910 in volume 5 of the 12-volume collection of articles entitled The Fundamentals and edited by R.A. Torrey:

*"Observations on the Conversion and Apostleship of Paul" (13 pages in the original printing) 

LORD LYTTLETON'S FULL ARGUMENT (126 pages): 

*Observations on the Conversion and Apostleship of St. Paul : in a Letter to Gilbert West, Esq (1754) by George Lyttleton. FREE at Internet Archive. 

*NOTE: Some day I would love to be able to find the time to update this argument (as solid as it is) because there is so much more that could be said.

THE CASE FOR THE RESURRECTION BY GILBERT WEST (Lyttleton's Friend referred to above)

*Observations on the History and Evidences of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. FREE here.

Lord Lyttleton (1709-1773)
Public Domain Image

FREE ONLINE CLASS: A Study in Paul's Letter to the Philippians

Here are links to my class on Paul's letter to the Philippians, which I taught at Ligonier Christian Church between October 11, 2020 and December 2020:

VIDEO OF THE CLASS SESSIONS

*Week 1: Introduction and Background

*Week 2: Philippians 1:3-18

*Week 3: Philippians 1:19-30

*Week 4: Philippians 2:1-11

*Week 5: Philippians 2:12-18

*Week 6: Philippians 2:19-30

*Week 7: Philippians 3:1-11

*Week 8: Philippians 3:12-4:1

*Week 9: Philippians 4:2-9

*Week 10: Philippians 4:10-23

RESOURCES

FREE RESOURCES

Below are a few of my favorite classic commentaries on Philippians and they are FREE! (in alphabetical order, not order of recommendation)

*Barclay, William. Philippians (Daily Study Bible). FREE!

*Lightfoot, Joseph Barber. Saint Paul's Epistle to the Philippians (Revised Edition: 1868, 1888). FREE! Lightfoot is one of the giants of 19th Century New Testament scholarship and his influence is still felt to this day. This is a technical commentary for which knowledge of Greek and early church history will be very helpful if not necessary.

*Moule, Handley C.G. Philippians Studies: Lessons in Faith and Love (1898). FREE!

*Moule, Handley C.G. The Epistle to the Philippians (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges). (1893). Explains Greek words to the English reader. FREE! Online version here. PDF version here.

*Moule, Handley C.G. The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Philippians (Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges). (1923) FREE! Online version here. PDF version here. This is a technical commentary for which knowledge of Greek will be very helpful if not necessary.

*Nicoll, W.R. (editor). Expositor's Greek Testament. Philippians by H.A.A. Kennedy (1902, 1910). (Kindle version is $3). Might be cheaper at Ebay. FREE at Internet Archive. Also FREE at StudyLight and Hathi Trust. This is a technical commentary for which knowledge of Greek will be very helpful if not necessary.

*Robertson, Archibald T. Paul's Joy in Christ (1917). FREE!

*Robertson, Archibald T. Word Pictures in the New Testament (1931). FREE! The title link will take you to the Philippians section of an online version of this classic work. Many other versions of it are available online.

*Vincent, Marvin R. A Critical And Exegetical Commentary On The Epistles To The Philippians And To Philemon (Volume 38 of The International Critical Commentary Series). (1897, 1950). Also FREE at BiblicalStudies.org.uk. This is a technical commentary for which knowledge of Greek will be very helpful if not necessary.

*MASSIVE FREE LIBRARY ON PHILIPPIANS at Precept Austin. Tons of excellent FREE resources here.

MORE RECENT COMMENTARIES:

*Hellerman, Jospeph H. Philippians (B&H Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament). I highly recommend this to anyone with a knowledge of koine Greek. Those without abilities in koine Greek will probably find this a very difficult work to consult.

*Rienecker, Fritz and Cleon Rogers. Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament. Probably cheaper at Ebay. My favorite go-to first resource for studying the New Testament since I first learned to read Greek. Very concise and helpful overview of key Greek words in every verse of the New Testament.

*For reviews of other more recent commentaries on Philippians: See Best Commentaries, Tim Challies, Bible Sumo and Ligonier.org.

ARTICLES ON FIRST CENTURY PRISONS

*McRay, John. "Stench, Pain and Misery." FREE! A brief article by a top scholar on the history of New Testament times.

*UNRV Roman History site. "Roman Prisons." FREE! A brief but well written article that accurately speaks of Roman prisons in general. There were exceptions to some things stated here, but in general this is a nice overview.

*Rapske, Brian M. "Prison, Prisoner" on p.827-30 of IVP Dictionary of New Testament Background (First Edition: 2000), edited by Craig Evans & Stanley Porter

*Yamauchi, Edwin & Marvin R. Wilson. "Police & Prisons" on p.1408-10 ("D. The Greco-Roman World: Rome") in Dictionary of Daily Life in Biblical & Post-Biblical Antiquity (Complete in One Volume)

FREE ONLINE SEMINARY: Course of Study, Phase 2

Phase 2 will build on Phase 1 and you will:

• learn about the attributes of God, 
• get an overview of the Old Testament, 
• go deeper in learning sound principles for interpreting Scripture, 
• make worship an integral part of your prayer life, 
• get a handle on a basic cumulative case for the Christian faith,
• learn some practical tactics for having good conversations with unbelievers,
• finish your first year of New Testament Greek, and
• continue work on your major project.

1. A BROADER LOOK AT THEOLOGY
*ONLINE CLASS: "A Guide to Christian Beliefs" by Dr. I. Howard Marshall
*ARTICLE: "15 Amazing Attributes of God: What They Mean and Why They Matter"
*MEMORY VERSES: From the online course immediately below, choose one verse to memorize for each of the attributes of God.
*ONLINE COURSE: "The Attributes of God." 
*READING: For each section of this course, a section of Jen Wilkin's book None Like Him is assigned. This book is very reasonably priced, but you may alternatively choose to use the links for "additional resources" which will take you to the appropriate sections of books (some of them classics), which you can read online for FREE.

OPTIONAL READING: 

*Knowing God by J.I. Packer. (Available in Kindle and audiobook) Cheaper at Ebay. This is a classic and "named by Christianity Today as one of the top fifty books that have shaped evangelicals,..."

*The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer. (Very cheap on Kindle). Paperback cheaper at Ebay. FREE PDF version. This another great classic.

2. OLD TESTAMENT SURVEY
*SERIES OF SHORT VIDEOS: 
*"The Old Testament in 8 minutes" at the Intelligents YouTube channel
*"Overview: Genesis Ch. 1-11" by the Bible Project (8 minutes)
*"Overview: Genesis Ch. 12-50" by the Bible Project (8 minutes)
*Note about the Bible Project: You may want to watch the rest of their videos giving overviews of the books of the Bible. The videos are excellent and do a great job of laying out the narrative of the Bible as the story of God's plan of salvation. This is an important perspective and central to understanding the Bible; however, the authors have a very lop-sided view of the nature of Scripture that fails to understand (even undermines) other dimensions of God's revelation in Scripture--so use discernment.
*"An Overview of Old Testament History | A Timeline of Biblical Events" by Mario Escobedo (21 minutes). Begins with Moses in the book of Exodus.
*ARTICLE: Chronology of the Old Testament
*READ through the Old Testament in sync with the online class below and take notes.
*WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Keep a notebook or document in which you write a brief summary for each book of the Old Testament. If you can sum it up in a sentence or two, all the better.
*ONLINE CLASS: "Old Testament Survey" by Dr. Douglas Stuart
*PROJECT: Create a timeline of the Old Testament. You can choose to do it on a large sheet of paper or posterboard....or a blank wall in your house or your church....or using an online timeline creator like TimeGraphics (which I have been using lately and really like). Or if you want a real fun challenge, try constructing one in 3-D and making a video of it. There are a seemingly endless number of ways of constructing one. Here are several examples for you to use as resources for information and examples of different ways to construct a timeline:

• Perspectives on ancient chronology and the Old Testament—part 1
• The Old Testament in 8 minutes. Link to download timeline.
• Timeline of the Bible [Whiteboard Bible Study]
• A Chronological Map from the Creation to the Fourth Century A.D. at Blue Letter Bible
• Bible Hub
• Adams Synchronological Chart or Map of History. Zoomable image.
• Timeline Of Major Old Testaments Periods
• Rose Publishing has excellent charts and timelines and some are FREE (including one of the Old Testament, which can be found a little way down the page at this link).
• Floyd Nolen Jones' Timelines and Chronology. His Old Testament Timeline.
• Let's Make a Bible Timeline! (PDF)
• 55 Free Bible Chronology and Timelines by Steven Rudd
• Bible Chronology of the Old Testament by Matt Slick at CARM
• Bible Timelines for Children
• Old Testament Timelines at Swartzentrover.com
• FREE BOOK: Chronology of the Old Testament: A Return to the Basics by Floyd Nolen Jones.
• More resources for Old Testament Chronology

*Recommended Resources: 
*Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament by C.F. Keil and Franz Delitzsch. A 19th Century commentary but still the best commentary covering the whole Old Testament. Find it cheaper on Ebay. FREE at Step Bible or Internet Archive.
*A Survey of Old Testament Introduction by Gleason Archer. Possibly cheaper on Ebay or Addall.
*Also, don't forget that you can find many more FREE resources here: "Bible & Theology Reference Works Online: Massive Selection + My Recommendations"

3. BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION
*MEMORY VERSES: Psalm 119:33-34
*ONLINE COURSE: "Biblical Hermeneutics" with Dr. Robert Stein. 
*BOOKS: The first book is an easier read and the second much longer and more in depth. You may want to only read one of these or both.
*God-Centered Biblical Interpretation by Vern Sheridan Poythress. FREE here.
*Biblical hermeneutics: A Treatise on the Interpretation of the Old and New Testaments by Milton S. Terry. Free at Internet Archive.
*Resources for further study and research: "Biblical Interpretation: Resources"


4. PRAYER & WORSHIP
*SERMON: "Pray and Be Alone With God" by Paul Washer
*DAILY DEVOTIONAL: "Praying the Names and Attributes of God." Begin your prayer time by praising God for who he is and asking for a greater glimpse of glory. This is a 30-day exercise.
*READING: After finishing the 30-day exercise above, begin to pray through the Psalms. One each day (or part of a psalm). That is read the Psalms as your prayer and then respond further by worshiping God in what has been revealed to you.
*MEMORY VERSES: As you are praying through the Psalms, choose verses to memorize that most move you to worship.
*READING: The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. FREE at Project Gutenberg.
*OPTIONAL READING: 
*The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul. Cheaper at Ebay and Addall.
*The Purpose of Man: Designed to Worship by A.W. Tozer. Cheaper at Ebay. 
*How to Worship Jesus Christ: Experiencing His Manifest Presence Daily by Joseph S. Carroll. Cheaper at Ebay.

*JOURNAL: Continue your daily prayer journal. Make the entries as long or as brief as you want. Write down prayer requests, answers to prayer, thanksgiving and worship, etc.

5. APOLOGETICS: A CUMULATIVE CASE
*"How to Have Confidence in Christ That Changes the World (Apologetics 101: A Cumulative Case)" by Brad Cooper
*MEMORY VERSES: Luke 1:1-4; Mark 12:28-31 
*OPTIONAL READING: If you want to dig in deeper, there are resource links related to each class (at the page linked to above).


6. APOLOGETICS: TACTICS
"A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions" with GREG KOUKL
*ONLINE COURSE: Session 1  Session 2   Session 3  Session 4
*READING: Faith Has Its Reasons by Kenneth Boa and Rob M. Bowman, Jr. Read for FREE! online here.
*MEMORY VERSE: 1 Peter 3:15-16
*OPTIONAL READING (but HIGHLY recommended): 

*Tactics by Greg Koukl (available in Audiobook).

*Fool's Talk: Recovering the Art of Christian Persuasion by Os Guinness. (Audiobook available). Cheaper at Ebay.

*Recommended Viewing: "Suitable For Framing | Full Episode | Columbo" (If you don't know who Columbo is, this will be a great introduction. And if you do, consider this a needed refresher. :) )

7. NEW TESTAMENT GREEK
If you chose "Option 2" during Phase 1, complete the rest of that class:
*ONLINE CLASS OPTIONS FOR OPTION #2: 
*A: Mastering New Testament Greek by Ted Hildebrandt: This is an amazing page filled with every resource imaginable for learning Greek....and it's all FREE (including the textbook)!
*B: Norlan De Groot has a 2-part Introduction to Biblical Greek that can be taken for FREE (see instructions at the top of the page linked to) and you can get the textbook for FREE also: New Testament Greek for Beginners by Gresham Machen. Might find it cheaper at Ebay or Addall. FREE here or here. Charts for the various declension charts can be found beginning on p.225. So you can take this course completely FREE. 
*C: Biblical Greek by Dr. Bill Mounce: The class is FREE but the textbook costs money.
*D: More FREE CLASS options that use David Alan Black's textbook: Learn to Read New Testament Greek, which you might find cheaper (about $8 including shipping right now) at Ebay or Addall. "Daily Dose of Greek" by Dr. Rob Plummer is surely the best of these.


*ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: "Learning New Testament Greek: Resources" You will find lots of FREE resources here to help you along.

8. MAJOR PROJECT
*Continue working on your major project. 
*If you feel stuck, ask for feedback in our private Facebook group about what the next step in this process should be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THOUGHTS FOR YOUR JOURNEY
You've come a long way already. When you finish this phase, you will be one third of the way through this course of study. Take a moment to think about how much you have learned and grown in these first two phases. Give God praise for what he is doing in you and ask for the wisdom, strength and endurance to finish.

LINK TO PHASE 3