I can't thank you enough for joining my list. It's been extremely gratifying to curate content that I also benefited from as I worked through these apologetics issues.

That said, I've decided to pursue a different path.

Moving forward I will primarily send out a monthly email linked to a visualization related to apologetics, like the kinds I've built here and here. I would rather augment the apologetics world with something unique while practicing my data visualization skills.

A monthly cadence allows me time to create something you're likely not to run across elsewhere. This doesn't mean I won't occasionally send a traditional email newsletter when the mood strikes, but those will be rare.

It's totally cool if you unsubscribe now or at any point. I know there are a zillion good blog posts, podcasts and other great ways to learn apologetics. So I won't at all take it personally if you'd rather exit now or later.

I'm not certain when my first visualization will come out. Perhaps in late October, but possibly not until January 2022.

For now, I'll say thanks once again for reading. I'll leave you with my favorite verse: Proverbs 23:23 - "Buy the truth and do not sell it. Also get wisdom, instruction and understanding."

A. Initially we covered why the copies of the Old Testament haven't changed, validated in part by sources outside the Bible. These same scribes set in place standards for copying text that carried over into the New Testament as well. One I didn't mention was that the Masorete scribes also used math to check their copies. The total number of verses and words at the end of each book had to match up, this is according to J Warner Wallace's book Cold Case Christianity page 232, citing Gleason Archer's A Survey of Old Testament.

B. Next we discussed how archeology, historical events and prophecy all provide additional reasons to believe the Old Testament was accurately preserved.

C. In shifting our focus to the New Testament, last month we highlighted 14 pieces of archeological evidence that backed up what’s written in the New Testament.

Today we're focusing on other reasons you can believe the New Testament, written over a span of 50 years during the second half of the first century A.D., can be trusted.

1. Early recognition:

Skeptics often talk like the books that made it into the Bible were chosen haphazardly at the Council of Laodicea from 350 - 363 A.D. Contrary to this, documents show that the words of Jesus and books about him that later were bound together into the Bible were transmitted orally and written down shortly after Jesus ascended from the earth. There was no gap of hundreds of years between when Jesus lived and when what we consider the New Testament was recorded.

"By the second century, several of the books of the New Testament were considered to be divinely inspired Scripture: the four Gospels, Acts, Paul's epistles, 1 Peter, and 1 John," according to The Origin of the Bible. By around 350 A.D. the other books of the New Testament were accepted as divinely inspired and worthy of inclusion in the New Testament cannon.

2. Faithful transmission:

In addition to the eyewitnesses to Jesus, early Christians living in different parts of the ancient world confirmed the early New Testament cannon, namely:

• Clement of Rome in AD 95

• Polycarp, a disciple of John in AD 108 in Smyrna

• Ignatius of Antioch in about AD 112

• Irenaeus in Asia Minor in AD 185

• Origen in Alexandria, Egypt in AD 225

• Hippolytus in Rome in AD 220

• Eusebius in Caesarea, Palestine in AD 324

• Athanasius in Alexandria, Egypt in AD 325

Read more

3. The Gospel of Luke and Acts include true representations of Roman culture, such as:

1. A correct description of the two paths to Roman citizenship in Acts 22:28

2. An accurate explanation of how Romans were brought to trial in Acts 24:1-9

3. A real example of invoking one's Roman citizenship and appeal to Caesar in Acts 25:6-12

4. A realistic example of being in Roman custody in Acts 28:16 and 30-31

5. The geography is also accurate

4. The New Testament is confirmed by prophecy

1. Peter denying Jesus three times

2. Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed

3. The church would survive and grow

4. The Gospel will be preached to the world

5. The words of Jesus would not be forgotten

Read more

On a side note, time is ticking if you want to grab a copy of Person of Interest and be eligible for the bonuses. I wrote a lengthy book review here. At the bottom you’ll find not only a free chapter of the book you can listen to, but my growing list of curated videos and podcasts about the book as well.

One of the sections in the book Person of Interest which I did not touch on in my review, is all about the impact of Christianity on the world of science.

Starting on page 185, the book provides seven arguments for how Jesus and his followers helped fuel the field of science.

Followers of Jesus:

1. Considered matter something good and worth studying

2. Thought the world was a product of a singular, orderly, rational God

3. Believed God was distinct from His creation

4. Were motivated by their desire to worship the God of the universe

5. Theorized that they could better understand God by observing His activity in the “book of nature.”

6. Pursued physical and intellectual investigations of their environment

7. Created modern universities where like-minded scholars and students began gathering and finding home bases for experimentation.

Author J. Warner Wallace in his 279-page case file, provides the names of past and present scientists, and in many cases why he believed they followed Christ.

From that, I've developed a pictograph to help illustrate a group of living scientists who follow Jesus. If you scroll over each figure, you'll see which scientist that particular image represents. I hope to continue to add to this pictograph so eventually everyone mentioned in the case notes will be represented here.

See pictograph

Why take the time to create this visualization and gather this data? It's important to note that science and Christianity don’t conflict and these many past and present followers of Jesus underscores that reality. No one should believe that you need to set aside what you know about the world when reading the Bible or heading to church.

In fact, it was science itself that helped lead scientist Dr. Hugh Ross to believe in Jesus and found Reasons to Believe. He shares his story below.

In an effort to further convince you why you should pre-buy Person of Interest, I'm creating interactive visualizations that help illustrate concepts in the book I found particularly interesting and useful to share.

In today's issue I'm sharing my first one on this topic, an interactive visualization of the drawing from page 37.

This shows that Jesus embodied all the characteristics of the deities who were worshipped leading up to Jesus coming on the scene.

See visualization

If didn’t catch last week’s issue, I reviewed a pre-release copy of the book.

Beyond Reasonable Doubt

Person of Interest book review

Person of Interest, available beginning September 21, relies on historical documentation, largely outside the Bible, to showcase why Jesus is the pivotal person around which civilization turns. Having read a pre-released copy, I've decided it will be my go-to book to hand to any skeptic who wants to investigate whether…

Read more

5 years ago · Patrick Garmoe

.

Having read a pre-released copy, I've decided it will be my go-to book to hand to any skeptic who wants to investigate whether Jesus is who he says he is.

While Person Of Interest, written by retired cold-case homicide detective turned pastor and apologetics author J. Warner Wallace, is 257 pages without the 55-page case notes section at the end, it is a fairly fast read. Also an artist, Wallace drew hundreds of illustrations. You could get the gist by only looking at the pictures. The book’s chapters are all individual arguments that can stand alone, but together provide strong evidence to the open minded that Jesus is worth paying attention to.

The genre of this book falls into what I would call historical apologetics, arguments built on trying to persuade the reader the Bible is true, based on historical facts outside the Bible. Other excellent books that fall into this category include How Christianity Changed The World, The Book that Made Your World and What if Jesus Had Never Been Born. Anyone who wants to share the good news of Jesus should read Wallace’s book, as it serves as a great starting point for explaining why the Bible might be true.

The book is split into two sections, pre and post Jesus

Before Jesus’ arrival several historical factors came into play that allowed the message of Christianity to spread quickly.

At the time Jesus entered the Roman Empire there was for the first time:

• growing literacy and a common Greek language

• papyrus to write on instead of bulky clay tablets

• nearly 250,000 miles of roads

• the best postal system of its time

• peace in the Roman Empire from 27 BC to 180 AD

• worship of different deities who each bore some, but not all, the attributes of Jesus

After Jesus, many of the institutions society holds dear began:

• written alphabets for people who until Christians came did not have one, for example the Cyrillic alphabet for the Slavic people of Eastern Europe was created by Saint Cyril; the justification for the written alphabet came from the need for a Bible in that group’s own language

• public education for children and those with disabilities

• the original three universities of Oxford, Bologna and Paris — all founded by Christians — gave birth to the universities of the scientific revolution and more broadly served as the models for hundreds of universities of higher learning

• notable universities in the United States such as Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale University and many more, were all founded by Christians to teach Christian principles

• just about every branch of science was founded or significantly influenced positively by Christians

• far more books, movies, songs and paintings depict Jesus or his message than any other person in history

Jesus of Nazareth made such an impact that even if you just read what early Christians and non-Christians said about him you could learn the core tenants of the Bible, Wallace illustrated.

Jesus so impacted the world that many of the world’s religions and myths have either retro-fitted Jesus into their beliefs or incorporated attributes of Jesus as the religion began. Jesus however, never incorporated religious beliefs from any other religion.

Wallace’s central argument about the dramatic impact of Jesus is so audacious and backed up with mounds of evidence that I fear many skeptics will simply ignore it as being too good to be true, that a biased author simply twisted history into an argument that supported his view.

Thankfully, he doesn't simply provide you with a book you can quickly breeze through and either believe or reject. In addition to the 55-page case notes appendix, he also provided a link in the book to another 279-page downloadable PDF file that includes much of the research he relied on to make the claims in the book. You not only can fact-check his work, but use it as a jumping off point for your own investigation.

The book is filled with crisp sound bites to classic skeptic questions

Just like in his other books, Wallace sprinkles in lots of short responses to objections skeptics raise to Christianity, such as that no good reasons exist to believe in miracles, that Christianity is anti-science and its proponents advocated violence to advance the Gospel.

He also includes a fascinating section walking you through the real history of scientist and Christian Galileo Galilei. It was his scientific position arguing the earth rotated around the sun that was opposed by those advocating an older scientific position at the time, despite the narrative of the story being that Galileo was fighting on behalf of science against religion.

If you order the book by October 1, 2021, publisher Zondervan is providing some good bonus ebooks related to the book. If you really can’t afford the book, hit reply on this email with your address and I’ll send you a free copy.

Learn more

Not a big reader?

I'm curating videos and audio interviews and presentations Wallace has done about the book below. You can get the gist of the book just by watching some of these.

You can listen to the first chapter for free here:

Public presentations using material from the book:

Interviews he’s done discussing the book:

• Listen to an audio podcast between J. Warner Wallace and Dr. Frank Turek.

• Listen to an audio discussion from Apologetics 315 about the book.

• In-depth written review of the book.

Order Person of Interest

Now I look at data like what I’m sharing below to see if it points in a certain direction.

I’m in essence asking: What is the most reasonable conclusion we can draw given what archeologists and historians have found overall?

When you think about it, nearly everything in life is based not on absolute proof, but on what’s reasonable to believe. Being crushed to death in your bed by an elephant typically isn’t something people worry about. Why? They have an underlying, reasonable belief that everything that happens is caused by something. So an elephant can’t spontaneously appear in a bedroom.

This 26-minute video walks you through 10 archeological find that collectively seem to fit with what is written in the New Testament. I’ve summarized what they talk about below with links to those parts of the video, along with including a few more finds not mentioned in the video.

Items found that fit the New Testament narrative:

1. Yohanan Ben Ha'galgol was crucified with a nail through his heel bone, confirming the kind of crucifixion depicted in the Bible was practiced. — 20:58

2. Nazareth inscription warning specifically that the Jews were not allowed to steal bodies, likely issued in response to the story of Jesus rising from the dead. — 12:43

3. Pool of Silom mentioned in John 9:1-12 and Isaiah 8:6 has been located. — 4:53

4. Evidence of the second temple of the time of Jesus: The temple warning inscription limiting where the Gentiles could go, which was why people were upset when they erroneously thought in Acts 21:29 Paul had brought Trophimus the Ephesian past this barrier. — 10:10

Verification that certain people mentioned in the Bible really existed:

1. A piece of pavement was discovered in Corinth in 1929 confirming the existence of Erastus, the city treasurer Paul refers to in Romans 16:23. — 6:10

2. A first-century ossuary (a stone bone box) with the name Joseph son of Caiaphas has been found. It is possibly the bones of the high priest Caiaphas who presided over the Sanhedrin and pronounced Jesus worthy of death in the gospels. — 7:46

3. A piece of limestone was discovered in Caesarea bearing an inscription with Pontius Pilate's name, discussed at 15:43. Caesarea was a provincial capital during his term in 26 AD. "This single discovery corroborates what the gospel writers said about Pilate's existence in history, his position within the government and his relationship to Tiberius Caesar, J. Warner Wallace wrote on page 204 of Cold-Case Christianity.

4. Sergius Paulus was the proconsul from Cyprus in Acts 13. He has been confirmed by three inscriptions. — 2:45.

5. The Gallio inscription in 52 A.D. also called Delphi Inscription from the same Emperor Claudius mentioned by Paul in Acts 18:2. This helps with dating much of what happened to Paul. — 14:23

6. Luke 2:1-3 wrote that Joseph and Mary returned to Bethlehem because a Syrian governor named Quirinius was conducting a census. The Census by the Quirinius inscription revealed someone named Quirinius was a proconsul of Syria and Cilicia from 11 BC to the death of Herod. Quirinius's name has been discovered on a coin from this period and on the base of a statue errected in Pisidian Antioch, according to Cold-Case Christianity by J. Warner Wallace. There's also a controversy surrounding the timing of the census mentioned in the Bible.

7. Two inscriptions have been discovered mentioning Lysanias by name, who Luke described as a tetrarch ruling over Abilene when John the Baptist began his ministry in Luke 3:1. One of these dated between AD 14 to 37 identifies Lysanias as the tetrarch in Abila near Damascus. So it's reasonable to believe two men named Lysanias ruled prior to the birth of Jesus - one of whom historian Josephus refers to as ruling from 40 to 36 BC — and the tetarch mentioned in Luke.

Locations and dating:

1. Luke described the city of Iconium in Acts 13:51 as having been in Phrygia. A monument was discovered in 1910 confirming Iconium as being in Phrygia, despite some ancient writers like Cicero writing that it was in Lycaonia, according to page 202 of Cold-Case Christianity.

2. 19 inscriptions were discovered using the word "politarch" as Luke did. Five were in reference to Thessalonica, the very city in which Luke was claiming to have heard the term), according to page 204 of Cold-Case Christianity.

3. The earliest link to one of the original writings of the Bible is a small fragment containing John 18:31-33 and 37-38 called the John Ryland papyrus, or P52. It dates to between 125 -175 AD. Early church history records that the Apostle John did his writing late in the first century AD, so at worst, the fragment was copied within 100 years of John writing the original. It was also discovered in Egypt, meaning within 100 years of its original writing copies had already been widely distributed. — 18:22.

4. Archeology backs up the Old Testament:

A few of the discoveries which fit with Old Testament passages include:

1. The Ebla Tablet

2. Archaeological digs in the city of Bogzakoy, Turkey

3. Archeological digs in Sargon's Palace in Khorsbad

4. The Belshazar Tablet

5. The Nebo-Sarsekim Tablet

Read more

5. Historical events in the Old Testament corroborated by other sources:

a. The campaign into Israel by Pharaoh Shishak (1 Kings 11:40; 14:25-26; 2 Chronicles 12: 2-9) is recorded on the Bubasite Portal of the Temple of Amun in Thebes, Egypt.

b. The revolt of Moab against Israel (2 Kings 1:1; 3:4-27) is recorded on the Moabite Stone, also known as the Mesha Inscription. It was commissioned by Mesha King of Moab to commemorate his achievements. “Mesha makes his version of a war fought with Israel in 850 BC prominent,” says notes in the Archeology Study Bible page 519. “The two accounts differ: Mesha emphasizes his victories over Israel, while the biblical writer emphasizes Israel’s successful counterattacks.”

c. The fall of Samaria (2 Kings 17:3-6, 24; 18:9-11) to Sargon II, king of Assyria, is recorded on his palace walls.

d. The defeat of Ashdod by Sargon II (Isaiah 20:1) is recorded on his palace walls.

f. The seige of Lachish by Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:14, 17) is recorded on the Lachish reliefs. This five-minute video puts the reliefs in context. If you have 30 minutes, check out all three videos related to Lachish.

e. The campaign of Sennacherib against Judah (2 Kings 18:13-16) is recorded on the Taylor Prism.

g. The assassination of Sennacherib by his sons (2 Kings 19:37) is recorded in the annals of his son Esarhaddon.

h. The fall of Nineveh as predicted by the prophets (2 Kings 2:13-15) is recorded on the Tablet of Nabopolassar.

i. The fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24:10-14) is recorded in the Babylonian Chronicles.

j. The captivity of Jehoiachin, King of Judah, in Babylon (2 Kings 24:15-16) is recorded on the Babylonian Ration Records.

k. The fall of Babylon to the Medes and the Persians (Daniel 5:30-31) is recorded on the Cyrus Cylinder.

l. This is a list of hundreds of artifacts in Biblical archeology.

See more detailed information

6. The Old Testament has been confirmed by accurate prophecies of historical events:

1. Babylon will rule over Judah for 70 years.

2. Babylon's gates will open for Cyrus.

3. Babylon's kingdom will be permanently overthrown.

4. Babylon will be reduced to swampland.

5. The Jews will survive Babylonian rule and return.

6. The Ninevites will be drunk in their final hours.

7. Nineveh will be destroyed by fire.

8. Tyre will be attacked by many nations.

9. Tyre's stones, timber and soil will be cast into the sea.

10. The Jews will avenge the Edomites.

Read more

7. If the New Testament is true, the Old Testament must be

Dr. Frank Turek says in his book I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist that Jesus taught that the Old Testament was the Word of God in seven ways:

1. Divinely authoritative — Jesus quoted the Old Testament to Satan (in Matthew 4:4 Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 and in Matthew 4:7 he quoted Deuteronomy 6:16). So he must have considered it an authoritative source of truth. Turek said on 92 occasions Jesus or his apostles pointed to the Old Testament as support for what they were saying.

2. Imperishable — In Matthew 5:18 Jesus said the Law will remain intact until the end.

3. Infallible — In John 10:35 Jesus said when people are on the verge of stoning him to death that the scripture cannot be broken.

4. Inerrant — In Matthew 22:29 Jesus told the Sadducees that they were wrong, relying on the Scriptures as his evidence.

5. Historically reliable — Jesus affirmed the story of Noah in Matthew 24:37-38 and Jonah in Matthew 12:40 as well as teaching in Matthew 24:15 that Daniel was a prophet. He also quotes Isaiah in Matthew 7:6-7; 13:14-15; Luke 4:17-19 and never claims there was more than one Isaiah, as some critics argue.

6. Scientifically reliable — In Matthew 19:4-6 Jesus referenced the story of God creating men and women as scientific facts.

7. Ultimate supremacy — In Matthew 15:3 and 6 he corrected the Pharisees in claiming they should obey what today we call the Old Testament, calling them hypocrites.

8. Fulfilling the Law — In Matthew 5:17 and Luke 24:26-27 He said He came to fulfill the “Law and the Prophets.”

The table on page 360 showing where Old Testament texts are cited in the New Testament is by itself enough reason to buy this 436-page book by Turek and Dr. Norman L. Geisler.

Buy book

But have the 39 books that make up the Old Testament say what the original authors meant it to when written more than 2,000 years ago?

Yes, I’ll argue below.

The 7 reasons include:

1. The detailed techniques involved with copying the text meticulously by people trained to do this.

2. The nearly identical copies and fragments written more than 1,000 years apart.

3. Other ancient documents talk about the 39 books we call the Old Testament as being viewed as a collection of books, a cannon.

4. Artifacts fit with what the Old Testament says.

5. Historical events spoken of in the Bible are recorded in non-Biblical documents.

6. Prophecies in the Old Testament turned out to be true.

7. If the New Testament is true then so is the Old Testament.

1. Scribes were just as good as a copy machine

Because the original authors and community of original hearers believed it to be from God, there was a strong desire, tradition and set of techniques around copying accurately what would later be called the Old Testament texts.

These two videos walk you through that process.

I've marked some of the interesting spots where he talks about:

9:55 - Codex Leviticus

15:00 - How text was preserved. There were two kinds of copying. One was repetition. A person copied something letter for letter, word for word. Even the way text was arranged on the scrolls was copied, so in the end the goal was for it to appear exactly as it appeared in the first version, akin to if it was being run through a printing press. Read more about the strict standards those who specialized in this work went through to catch errors.

18:39 - Resignification (making it understandable to the next generation), was the other kind of copying. Scribes updated the text from Phonecian style script to Aramaic, so children could read text, similar to how today we constantly update computer programs, language in dictionaries and maps. Both techniques are about being faithful to the text. If they don't remain faithful to the wording, people won't grasp it. If they write it using terminology someone would only understand today, the next generation won't grasp it.

In the next video the speaker expounds on the different groups who did the copying.

1:34 - He recaps the two types of copies.

5:50 - Samaritans copied the Bible independently of the Jews after second century BC, because there was no more friendly contact between the two.

10:20 - A good example of this is with the Dead Sea Scrolls.

15:07 - The Masada scroll showcases the strict repetition of the text at the end of the first century BC. The later Masoretic text is virtually identical to the texts copied 1,000 years later.

18:14 - The Septuagint was a translation from Hebrew and Aramaic into Greek. It's older than the Hebrew scrolls.

21:25 - Two of the oldest manuscripts are Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, from 4th Century AD. The layout looks the same as Masada scrolls.

2. The Dead Sea Scrolls

Scrolls found in caves near the Dead Sea in 1947 and 1948 were like a time capsule of texts that validated the Masoretic texts written 1,000 years later. The copies showed no substantial differences. The scrolls included significant portions of all the Old Testament books except for Esther, according to a small book called The Origin of The Bible. If you're interested in going into depth on the similarities, the speaker above mentioned the following video.

Watch video

3. Ancient sources outside the Old Testament confirm the early canon of the Old Testament

These sources include:

1. Prologue to Ecclesiasticus

2. Philo

3. Jamnia

4. The Early Church Fathers

5. Josephus

Read more

Premise #2: Objective moral values and duties do exist

Objection: According to philosopher Dr. William Lane Craig in his book On Guard, generally people seem to object more to where objective morals values came from, not so much that they exist. Evolution and genetics leads to morals, people argue.

Response 1: If we in fact did come to our morals through evolution and social conditioning, then the argument is self-defeating, because it's based on random evolutionary processes and therefore is not to be trusted.

Response 2: This assumes atheism is true, and that the social conditioning argument is true, but there's no reason to think it is.

Response 3: How we came to hold morals is irrelevant to whether those morals are true.

Craig’s immensely helpful argument outlines have been published separately in a PDF You can download it by clicking on the button below. The one pertaining to the moral argument discussed here started on page 20.

Moral argument outline

Here are some short arguments for morality:

Morals are necessary:

No God means no one can logically be held responsible for their actions. I can't be an atheist because I can't imagine a world where rape and murder are not objectively wrong.

Morals are like a book:

Objective morality is like a book, according to Dr. Frank Turek. A book can exist, even if you don't know who the author is. But the book wouldn't exist if an author who wrote that book didn't exist at all. So you either have morals from God, or no morals and no God, but you can't as a practical matter have both.

Morals are like a M.A.P.

You can't play baseball (or life) without rules (objective morals), an authoritative umpire (God) and a goal (purpose).

For any justice to be done now and into eternity, a (Morals, Authority, Purpose) M.A.P. must exist: an objectively good, all-knowing, authoritative person who transcends life, gives it purpose and can hold people accountable.

1. Morality requires objective morals: standard, unchanging rules that transcend human opinion. Therefore, the standard must originate in someone beyond human opinion. Without God, no objective goodness exists. Therefore there is no way to judge, in an objective sense, between different behaviors. For example, the only way that we know Mother Teresa was better than Joseph Stalin is because we compare the two and find that Mother Teresa more closely meets the standard of good than does Stalin.

2. Morality requires an authoritative being who transcends the world to communicate and enforce the rules. God is the umpire, in other words. Why? Because human beings are changeable. They are therefore, not the standard of good. They cannot therefore hold absolute authority over other human beings, nor can they hold other people accountable into eternity.

3. You need a purpose or objective for life that transcends human opinion. Otherwsie living is purposeless.

Turek walked through the M.A.P. analogy at the 12-minute mark in his debate with skeptic Michael Shermer over whether God or science better explains morality.

Even a God who really exists but does not judge doesn’t make sense

“Rejecting divine judgment means accepting that there’s no such thing as real evil or injustice. It means affirming that there’s nothing fundamentally wrong in the world and deserving of either human or divine intervention and correction. It means human suffering is only the result of misunderstanding our differences and never any true moral depravity,” argued Pastor Sky Jethani in the With God Daily email for July 30, 2021. “Do we want a world in which evil is merely a point of view to be understood rather than a contaminant to be purged? Is it compassionate or merciful to make the perpetrators of genocide, racism, and human trafficking morally equivalent to their victims?”

The moral argument boils down to:

1. A moral law requires a moral law giver.

   If God does not exist, there's no way to objectively tell what's right or wrong because all we have is the natural world and morals are simply illusions. While we might find the notion of rape abhorrent because our culture despises it, it's no more right or wrong than a cat killing a mouse.

2. Objective moral values and duties do exist, even atheists would agree.

3. Therefore, God exists.

Responses to objections to premise #1:

A. Morals cannot simply exist without any foundation

• Some might argue evolution generated herd morality out of sheer necessity for survival. Like all animals, Homo sapiens have just evolved to have social constructs as it's advantageous for survival.

  • Even if true, that still doesn't lead to morality. Great white sharks, Craig wrote, forcibly copulate with females while lions kill zebras. In these cases we don't say sharks rape other sharks, nor that lions are guilty of murdering zebras.

• It also doesn't seem reasonable that evolution would generate exactly the kind of people who would have some sort of built-in moral system. It's more reasonable to conclude both the natural and moral realm are under the authority of a God who gave us both laws and nature, and the moral law just happened to fit our natural world, according to On Guard, pages 137 and 138.

• On page 91 of Stealing From God, Dr. Turek quotes a conversation between interviewer Justin Brierley and Richard Dawkins: "Ultimately, your belief that rape is wrong is as arbitrary as the fact that we've evolved five fingers rather than six," Brierley said, to which Dawkins responded "You could say that, yeah."

• Science can't help with discovering morality because it's morally neutral, and an entirely different category. You can't weigh justice or give someone a shot of love.

B. Whatever contributes to human flourishing is good

• The problem here is with the definition of human flourishing. It could mean anything anyone wanted it to. I saw a Nazi propaganda film recently that talked about how grievously we humans have sinned against natural section by allowing “inferior life forms” to live. “where thousands of drooling imbeciles must be cared for — individuals lower than any beasts.” And aren't we putting human flourishing arbitrarily above what's best for mice and mosquitos? If no God exists, this seems very arbitrary and favoring our species over another.

C. Morals don't necessarily translate into moral duties

Even if you accept that morality could exist without God, that doesn't necessarily mean moral duties do. “You don’t have to help anybody. That’s what this country is all about!” proclaimed attorney Jackie Chiles in the final episode of Seinfeld. If God doesn't exist you have no obligation to show anyone mercy or love, or to not always act in your own self interest.

D. The Euthyphro dilemma

The basic dilemma is covered in the video at the top, but I thought this article by Tellable Truths included a unique argument focused on the concept of Trinity.

E. Does a moral law really require a moral law giver?

If you want to dive even deeper into this topic, this lengthy, dense article by writer and speaker John Njoroge is worth savoring. It took me several hours to read and digest. Read the article and my notes https://www.notion.so/garmoe/QECs-Why-does-reality-require-a-moral-law-giver-a6f80107829f408682ffacf9fc1cb371

I’ll respond to to the second objection in a a future article.

7 ways the slavery discussed in the Bible is different than the kind in North America

In this five-minute video by Minister Alan Parr he says:

1. God did not create slavery. He created laws to eliminate mistreatment of the enslaved, as an initial step toward its elimination.

2. Servitude was the social welfare system of its day.

3. In Hebrew culture, people chose servitude if they couldn't find any other way to feed themselves or pay off debt. They would hire themselves out.

4. Kidnapping was punishable by death in the Old Testament, which by default means you couldn’t have the kind of slavery practiced in North America.

5. Servitude was limited to six years.

6. They were to be treated with respect, like employees. A master was buying the services, not the person. Slaves had equal rights, could own property and could purchase their freedom.

7. Slavery was never condoned based on race.

Christianity planted the seeds from which grew the movement to end slavery

This page includes a video briefly covering the same ground as the video above, but then links Christian ideas to people who began speaking out, arguing to end slavery.

1. Servitude not slavery.

2. The bible planted the seeds for ending slavery.

3. The bible provided the perspective that all people are equal, the foundational principle that initially motivated Christians to go against the culture to end slavery.

Watch video or read transcript

Prescriptive vs. Descriptive

Portions of the Bible are historical records that provide context or are warnings about the consequences of disobeying God. Other sections are instructions on how we ought to live in order to serve God and enjoy the most fulfilling lives possible. This distinction is critical when considering issues like slavery. This article highlighted multiple locations in the Bible where the concept of human rights was described and prescribed to people in the Bible.

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Culture sucked Christians in

Christians who embraced slavery simply accepted the culture norms around them rather than fighting them. The same applies to Christians with racist attitudes who weren’t in favor of slavery.

"The erring Christians who supported and owned slaves indicate at least three important truths: (1) as sinful beings, they were either ignorant of Paul's words or knowingly ignored them; (2) they let the prevailing culture of pagan societies influence their behavior; and (3) they ignored Christ's words that said his followers were to be in the world but not of it," Alvin Schmidt wrote in How Christianity Changed the World.

The good news? God didn’t give up.

God nudges people toward ending slavery in Europe and North America

Sometimes seeing God move takes thousands of years. Let's fast-foward through the progression.

1. The ideal began in Genesis 1:26-27, "...in which God's image-bearers lived and worked together harmoniously and fairly, graciously treated; they are viewed as full persons and equals; and genuine humanness is restored in Christ, the second Adam/the new man," Paul Copan wrote on page 63 of Is God a Moral Monster. If this ideal had been adhered to, slavery would have never existed.

2. Rules prior to the Old Testament were brutal and demeaning for the enslaved or anyone who considered slavery wrong. In the Code of Hammurabi, those helping runaway slaves received the death penalty. Under the less-severe Lipit-Ishtar, Eshnunna and Hittite laws, if you as a slave did escape but were caught, you'd have your ears slit and be branded, Copan wrote on page 131 and 132.

3. The Old Testament law — though still not ideal — limited punishments and Israel served as a sanctuary country for those who sold themselves into servitude due to dire circumstances.

4. In the New Testament, slaves were fully incorporated into the Christian community without any distinction from masters, hearkening back to the vision in Genesis. Skeptics might counter that Paul said to honor your slaveholders, but that was related to guidance to slaves who during their lifetimes had to live in an age where slavery was enforced. So given the circumstances, Paul is instead advising slaves on how to live. For one example of this watch Pastor John Piper’s Look at the Book where he analyzes one of Paul’s verses on slavery.

5. William Wilberforce, Elijah Lovejoy and a variety of Christians and former enslaved people like Sojourner Truth battled for hundreds of years on both sides of the Atlantic to end slavery in Europe and the United States. Check out my online timeline to see a larger list of Christ followers who spoke out against slavery in the United States back when they were in the minority. It's the same timeline I created to show how Christians started what we consider modern-day health care. Now you have an option to see either the impact of Christians on health care or the abolition of slavery.

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Whether it's how ancient Israel ate, worshiped, related to one another publicly and privately — God aligned all aspects of life to reflect His perfect plan. That's the through line of the Old Testament text that helps account for some of the Old Testament laws, according to Paul Copan's book, Is God A Moral Monster.

Even in 2021, that notion undergirds how we as Christ followers are to live in all aspects of life, not just the socially acceptable ones.

"Food, clothing, and planting laws weren't nitpicky commands God gave to oppress Israel. The prophets reminded her [Israel] that God was primarily concerned about justice, mercy and walking humbly before God (Deuteronomy 10:12; Micah 6:8)," Copan wrote on page 74. This through line helps clarify the whys behind some of the weirder parts of the Old Testament law.

Why weren’t all animals fine to eat?

Israelite laws stated some animals were clean (Kosher) while others weren't, based on whether they crossed boundaries, Copan argued, just as the Israelites were to purely follow God's law, not mix in ideas about other deities.

Animals were clean if they were clearly created to either fly in the air, walk on land or swim in water. Those that crossed between categories were not to be eaten, in the same way Israelites were to avoid worshiping other deities. "Their diet, which was limited to certain meats, imitated the action of God, who limited himself to Israel from among the nations, choosing them as the means of blessing the world," he wrote on page 81. Animals that crossed categories, such as snakes, eels and flying insects, were considered unclean and represented the fall, death and abnormality, and therefore were to be avoided.

They were also not to eat animals or live in ways symbolic of uncleanness. He cites Leviticus 21:18-20 and 23 where the law talks about unblemished priests sounded a lot like the language a chapter later verses 18-22 discussing unblemished animals.

Unclean = loss of life in ancient Israel, not hygine

Today “clean” is inextricably linked to health and hygine. Not so in ancient Israel.

"For the Hebrew, life wasn't mere biological existence. Humans could be biologically alive yet living in the realm of death — spiritual, moral, psychological/emotional ruin and alienation (e.g., Prov. 7:23-27)," Copan wrote on page 75.

The penalties were also lighter than we might realize. Being unclean only meant they couldn't enter the temple, not that they couldn't worship or take part in feasts or that you were sinful, Copan explained.

Israel was chosen, not favored

Israelites were punished just as harshly as non-Israelites, Copan wrote on page 72.

"Indeed, the Creator of the world had chosen them for a special relationship and purpose rather than any other nation, but it was not because Israel was better than the other nations. In fact, God makes clear he chose them because they were smaller and weaker than the other nations (see Deuteronomy 7:7). In other words, the Lord did not choose Israel because Israel was great, but precisely because it was not," wrote Pastor Skye Jethani in the With God Daily devotional on June 24, 2021.

God made Israel "chosen" in that through Him he would bless all nations and all people. It was never about favoring a single nation temporarily, Copan argued.

Old Testament sacrifices mirrored how we pray today

The sacrifices of animals reminded Israelites of human sin and unholiness and great need for God's help, Copan explained on page 85. He cited work by researcher Richard Hess, who classified sacrifices into three arenas:

1. Purification from sin

2. Burnt offerings, indicating total dedication to God

3. Fellowship (ordination)

These parallel what Jesus instructed us to do in the New Testament in the form of confession of sin, dedication to God and then fellowship with God.

If you're interested in a more nuanced explanation of animal sacrifice in ancient Israel and how it is linked with Jesus, this blog post by the Bible Project takes at least 15 minutes to digest, but provides a fresh perspective on the topic.

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What to make of dishonorable discharges?

"In contrast to the surrounding nations, wives in Israel weren't possessions to be used for sexual pleasure. Men had certain restrictions regarding when they could have sex with their wives, which was to help give women a greater measure of independence," Copan wrote on page 85. This ethic stood in contrast to other cultures, where it wasn't unusual to have sex with temple prostitutes as an element of worshiping deities.

Semen and vaginal blood symbolically linked back to life and death and therefore fell under the same practices of being clean and unclean mentioned above, he wrote.

God created laws to guard Israelites from being negatively influenced

I also thought it interesting that God, Copan wrote, provided some rules so in essence Israelites wouldn't be unduly influenced by the bad behavior of nearby cultures. Hence the need, he argued, to avoid breeding of cattle with others, mixing the planting of crops, plowing with different animals, mixing fibers or crossing sexual boundaries like with bestiality, adultery or incest.

"These antimixing commands attempted to portray a sense of wholeness, completeness and integrity," Copan wrote on page 77.

The Old Testament was just a chapter in the story of God rescuing His followers.

If you read the Old Testament without realizing that, it can appear to be a jumble of weird laws with odd punishments.

If you consider that it was written to the Israelites who were surrounded by other cultures and deities after being rescued by God from enslavement in Egypt, it makes more sense.

That’s the gist of Is God a Moral Monster, by author Paul Copan. He proposed a three-part framework for critically analyzing the Old Testament.

• Realize the laws of the Old Testament were inferior to what God originally set up in Genesis 1 and 2.

• Evaluate the text in context of the world in that Near Eastern period, not Western culture.

• Keep in mind the Old Testament was a stop-gap set of laws meant only for Israelites.

The Old Testament was the first step of a plan to redeem the world

God's original plan was laid out in the first two chapters of Genesis. God created men and women as equals, with them becoming one flesh and living together in a sin-free world.

Because that plan was destroyed when people began choosing to prioritize themselves before God, a loving God embarked on the long trek back toward redeeming the human race.

It had to be slow, because God chose the incremental approach of altering the hearts of people in order to keep our free will intact. If he had tried to shift people from a patriarchal culture to one of full equality the plan likely would have been dead on arrival. God started in about 1440 B.C. with Moses creating a better version of laws compared to what other Near Eastern civilizations had.

Compared to law predating it, the Old Testament law was dramatically kinder

Old Testament laws are generally more humane than the most well-known law code of that era, the most notable of which was the Code of Hammurabi — created in about 1755 B.C.

For example, instead of thieves being killed as punishment according to the code of Hammurabi, Old Testament law simply demanded twice the compensation of what you stole, Copan wrote on page 104.

"This contrast is one of the many reminders that persons mattered more in Israel's legislation than in other cultures in the ancient Near East," Copan said on page 93. "On top of all this, in Babylonian or Hittite law, for example, status or social rank determined the kind of sanctions for a particular crime. By contrast, biblical law held kings and priests and those of social rank to the same standards as the common person," Copan added.

In Hammurabi's code, there's no ethical or spiritual principles. The foundation of the Old Testament Mosaic law, in contrast stresses the need to care for the widow and sojourners (outsiders). I appreciated how this blog post written for students outlines that the Old Testament law introduces concepts including:

• Sanctity of human life

• Favoring the privileged vs. protecting the oppressed

• Justice

• Mercy

Despite these and many other differences, some still argue Moses plagiarized Hammurabi’s code. There's no evidence that directly links the Old Testament law to Mesopotamian law codes. The similarities could be due to the limited amount of crimes being discussed.

Not meant for everyone, everywhere, nor forever

As Christians today, we’re not supposed to obey all of what is in the Old Testament because Jesus fulfilled the demands of the Old Testament. There are moral laws such as the 10 Commandments in the Old Testament which are repeated in the New Testament, validating that they still apply. This short video does a nice job summarizing which parts are relevant and why. I really appreciated how he compared some Old Testament laws to state laws relevant to that state, versus federal laws that apply in all 50 states.

"God's historical action of delivering enslaved Israel from Egypt becomes a model for how Israel is to live — for example, how to treat aliens and the disadvantaged in their midst," Copan wrote on page 68. Pastor J.D. Greear also separated the Old Testament into civil, ceremonial and moral laws, a distinction I found helpful.

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"I fundamentally don't buy the idea that we can fix people in the criminal justice system. I don't pretend to know what the answer is. I just kind of feel confident that like what we are doing now is not working that well," said Dana Bazelon, an assistant district attorney at the 28:30 mark of the second episode of the documentary Philly D.A. on PBS.

My wife and I are currently watching Philly D.A. a documentary series about a progressive prosecutor who becomes the District Attorney in Philadelphia PA. It is a great example of illustrating that there are no easy answers to solving our problems. These stories from World Magazine on the struggles to help those on drugs and the mentally ill illustrate this as well. Easy answers don’t exist. Sin complicates and messes up everything.

Often it's easier and far more comforting to think that if the people on the other side of the political aisle simply got out of the way, our ideas could make the world a whole lot better.

We as Christians can help by spending more time loving others, instead of pointing fingers.

Strive to be humble, honoring everyone

The most honorable, knowledgeable men of ancient Israel failed to judge Jesus correctly and then used their power to pervert justice, condemning Jesus to torture and death.

"The lesson we should take from this is simple and humbling—while justice is a universal human desire, we are universally incapable of achieving it. Our fallible natures cause us to regularly misidentify who is innocent and guilty, or our fallen natures cause us to deliberately misapply justice to protect the guilty and punish the innocent. This is why humility and virtue are indispensable qualities we should expect from our leaders who are called to pursue justice on earth, and why our hope for ultimate justice must always remain with our God in heaven," wrote Pastor Skye Jethani in his "With God Daily" email devotional for June 7, 2021.

Jethani's daily email devotional for $5 a month is one of the few I've ever encountered that I’ve liked. It connects with real life, in part because he writes it based on recent events. If you're looking for an online devotional that grapples with what it looks like to follow Christ in 2021, I strongly recommend taking a look. Each written email also comes in an audio format.

Don't give in to hollow philosophies

Unlike God, no one person on earth has all the facts. In Philly D.A., those from the previous administration being fired or pushed aside often talk somewhat derisively about the entire process being a "social experiment."

I contend everything in life that doesn't at least try to follow the guidelines laid out by God in the Bible is a "social experiment" because God wants what's best for us. If we flaunt those rules it can lead to horrific consequences.

That is why it is so critical to continue to love God with your mind, and understand the flaws in other philosophies.

To that end, I strongly suggest wrestling with the book Stealing from God: Why Atheists Need God To Make Their Case, by Dr. Frank Turek.

This book is good for people who want to know why, philosophically, ditching God makes no sense.

Turek builds a convincing case for why the very laws of logic and other factors atheism claims are not true. The structure of the book is built on CRIMES — Causality, Reasonableness, Information and Intelligence, Morality, Evidence and Sin.

If no god exists, Turek argued, neither do these concepts. At 270 pages, it's not a book you can rapidly read. I stopped often to ponder concepts. It helped me to take his online course at the same time.

The further I dig into apologetics, the more I've noticed understanding philosophy is intertwined with making an effective case for Christ. The conversation starts with how we know certain things are true (epistimology) but eventually progresses to why those truths exist at all (ontology). This book is really about that latter concept.

Over Memorial Day weekend I attended my grandmother’s funeral. She had Alzheimer's and stopped recognizing me years ago. Her death therefore elicited more relief than sadness. I assumed many people from her Jehovah Witness community might attend her funeral, but they do not attend funerals or wakes. This piqued my curiosity regarding what they do believe.

The fork in the road between her beliefs and my own in orthodox Christianity stem from whether Jesus is God. I've addressed that question in this issue. If he is, then that path leads toward orthodox Christianity beliefs. If he is not, it leads toward being a Jehovah Witness, Mormon or any other religion or cult.

I reached this conclusion after watching and reading several free, online resources.

Are Jehovah Witnesses Christians?

Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, orthodox Christians and mainline Christians, all define themselves as Christians. Are they all Christians? On Stand to Reason's podcast episode from August 4, 2016, at the 1:06 minute mark the hosts discuss the definition of a Christian is, and then discuss whether this applies to the Jehovah Witness community.

Listen

Watch these two talks and absorb the notes below them:

Tim Barnett, now a speaker with Stand To Reason, posted two 45-minute talks from 2014 — see session 1 and session 2 — on how he responds when Jehovah Witnesses come to his door. These sessions provide an excellent education in many of the points and counter points you could encounter. Thankfully, he posted the notes he gave the audience beneath the video, which I found extremely helpful.

Here are three tactics I learned:

1. Use the Jehovah Witnesses New World Translation — he includes relevant verses from it in his notes — in order to avoid a debate over which translation is accurate.

2. Learn the Greek words for some of the verses — he walks you through them — to find common ground on the meanings of certain verses.

3. Talk about verses in their Bible where Jesus acts like or compares himself with God.

Watch and get notes

Download this free ebook

This 52-page book by Dr. Michael Licona walks you through exactly what to say if Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses come to your door.

This book overlaps somewhat with Barnett's videos, while discussing other verses and arguments you might encounter. I consider it at a minimum wise to read or hear multiple takes on a topic from different experts. This allows me to form and feel confident in forming my own take on the topic.

Download book

Offer to pray first with them

This five-minute response by John Piper provides a framework for what you might say if a Jehovah Witness walks up to your door, as well as a bit on how to navigate their theology.

Listen or read

"I was sick and you looked after me" - Matthew 25:36 Jesus of Nazareth modeled caring for physical and emotional needs of others, not just spiritual ones.

The deeper I delve into Christian history, the more I'm astounded that the institutions I take for granted only exist because of the influence of Christianity.

For example, erase Christianity from existence, and you've just erased the institution of health care.

In order to showcase this more effectively, I’ve built a rudimentary timeline, which you can explore by clicking the link below.

Hover over events with your mouse to get more details. Use the scroll bar at the top to adjust the time period.

Open Dashboard

This initial timeline on health care was based primarily on the book, How Christianity Changed the World, by Alvin Schmidt. Out of hundreds of books I’ve had the privilege of reading, it's in my top 10 list of favorites. It convincingly argues that Christianity has given us everything as a society we consider good.

While Christians certainly fail often to follow Jesus well, it's important to at least contemplate how good this world can be when Christians live out Jesus' commands about caring for the hurting of this world.

Before Christianity, you had to be useful to others to be cared for

Caring for the sick during plagues was a standard part of being a Christian, in stark contrast, Schmidt argued, to non-Christians who dumped sick people in the streets in favor of always focusing on self-survival and comfort.

"'A man is a wolf to a man whom he does not know,'" said Plautus, a Roman philosopher, according to What if Jesus Had Never Been Born? on location 2475 in the Kindle ebook version.

There's evidence Greeks and Romans had places where the general public who were sick could pray for healing, or be diagnosed, but not convalesce.

A facility called valetudinaria cared for gladiators and slaves and possibly soldiers — in other words people of value to someone else. There was no place for the general public to rest and be treated, until Christians came along.

The creation and growth of formalized hospitals and hospices began in the late 300s, once the persecution of Christians ended.

By the mid 1500s 37,000 Benedictine monasteries cared for the sick, Schmidt wrote on page 157.

Nursing: A Christian Innovation

On page 163 Schmidt credited many Christian women with inventing and institutionalizing the field of caring for the sick, including Fabiola, a widow and associate of Saint Jerome. She helped found a hospital in Rome in 390 AD.

It wasn't until Florence Nightingale came along however, that the field of nursing became recognized as integral to caring for the sick. That wouldn't have happened had Nightingale followed the standard path for aristocrats like herself in England. She instead chose to serve others, spurred to this vision by her belief in Christ.

"'On February 7th, 1837, God spoke to me and called me to His service,'" wrote Nightingale in her diary, as quoted by Sam Wellman on page 58 of Florence Nightingale Lady with the Lamp a Heroes of the Faith series biography.

If you're interested in reading about her early life and struggle with faith, it's a great book. The book reminded me that the path of following God's will often seems confusing, counterintuitive and uncertain from our perspective. Too often we look at heroes of ours and compare where we are today to their best moments in the limelight, inadvertently leaving out the decades they often spent toiling in obscurity and uncertainty. The book appears to be written for high-school age readers and at 202 pages makes for an easy read.

The story chronicles the decisions she — and we Christ followers — make that are only logical if God really does exist. In a section on dealing with the 1854 cholera outbreak in London for example, "Flo threw herself into the nursing effort, spending her time at Middlesex Hospital. She was committed to helping the sick, no matter how dangerous it was to herself. Her will — which she considered God's will — crushed objections raised by doctors," Wellman wrote on page 14.

She's also well known for helping advocate for sanitary conditions in hospitals and the training of nurses.

In this 10-minute slice starting at 20:36 of this much longer video, these data visualization experts discuss her famous chart and how she cared so much about providing clear, helpful, un-hyped information to convince leaders of the value of cleanliness in health care.

What if Jesus had never been born?

That question was originally tackled well in the 1994 book What if Jesus Had Never Been Born? by the late Dr. D. James Kennedy and Dr. Jerry Newcombe. They highlighted numerous other aspects we take for granted when it comes to Christian influence on health care, including:

• Many hospitals began as places where the poor were welcomed, not just the sick.

• The research of Christian, Louis Pasteur gave rise to pasteurization, sterilization and the development of vaccines. See my timeline for details.

• Most American hospitals were started by Christian denominations. Here in Omaha some of the big health care systems are named Methodist and Catholic Health Charities.

• All sorts of Christian relief agencies that serve the world were started by Christians — the Red Cross, Young Man's Christian Association (YMCA); The Salvation Army, and even today the biggest are affiliated with various Christian groups. One wonders where all the support would come from if Christian relief organizations vanished. Would these sorts of institutions have sprung up without Christianity? It's doubtful. During the French revolution a third of France's hospitals ceased operating, and private charity largely dried up, they wrote.

• If you’re not interested in reading this ebook, which only costs .99 cents, this is a 50-minute video version of the book.

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."- Colossians 3:23–24.

The Bible has quite a bit to say about investing your time wisely. Having just read A World Without Email, I'll connect some of its themes to how Christians ought to view efficiency at work.

Consider ways to remind yourself of how short life is

Christ followers should strive to set an example of being earnest workers who value how brief life is. One thing that’s helped me is this calendar, which helps me visualize just how short my life really is. Each box represents one week, through age 90.

The blog post about this calendar is worth reading.

Generate value for 30 minutes to an hour at a time

In A World Without Email, Cal Newport, a Georgetown computer scientist, argues knowledge workers operate opposite of how our brains were designed. We ought to structure work, Newport argues, by focusing for extended periods of time on a single project.

We tend to work haphazardly, constantly shifting our attention, reacting to the latest email or instant message. He calls this the hyperactive hive mind. It severely hampers what most organizations aspire toward: to create valuable products and services.

Instead of simply ping ponging conversations all day with coworkers, he advocates for the creation of processes. You work out ahead of time with others a series of steps to get a project from A to Z. Then everyone simply repeats those same steps. This approach coupled with short, focused meetings with others can eliminate 90 percent of the communication needs served by email and collaboration apps, Newport argues. He created a series of five short videos about the book.

I can attest to how effective shifting to processes and fewer ad hoc messages can dramatically lower stress and propel your projects forward faster.

In his book and Deep Questions podcast, he points out that no matter who you are or where you work, there are some mindset shifts to how you're working which can really help you use your time more effectively.

Give each hour of your day a job

Newport explains this process here. At the beginning of the day pre-plan what you will work on during each time block, so you don't gravitate to email or whatever task is easiest at that moment. Though things change and you have to adjust, time-blocking helps you proactively get what's most important done, instead of constantly deciding what to do next.

Guard against slipping into social media at work

Last week I talked about the value of being quick to listen and slow to speak in the context of race. It also applies to how we handle our time at work. I'd argue that unless social media on behalf of your company is part of your job, eliminate that temptation during work hours.

This technique allows me to extract value from social tools like Facebook, instead of the tool using me. If you choose to use social media, I recommend first figuring out what your goal is. Then work backward to see how much you really need the tool to accomplish that goal.

I need to post advertising on Facebook for work. I bookmarked key pages that allow me to do that. That allows me to avoid seeing the main news feed. I therefore don't get sucked into seeing what others are posting or wanting to comment.

Imagine your goal is to check in on your Facebook friends to make sure you don’t miss any cute kid or animal photos or significant life announcements. This could include checking your feed once a day or week for 30 minutes from a computer. This means you don't need the app on your phone, constantly tempting you. If you feel addicted to technology and want to deep dive on this topic, I strongly recommend Newport's previous book Digital Minimalism.

For me, the event and its aftermath triggered a year of reflection on what Jesus might think about all this based on Biblical principles. I listened to several books on race — representing Christian and secular worldviews — along with podcasts and videos.

When it comes to trying to learn deeply about a topic, I focus on books. They allow the writer to provide a fully-orbed treatment of a topic, instead of summarizing analysis into a sound bite. If you want to explore the racial issues in America beyond surface-level platitudes, here are some resources I found valuable.

Don’t hide where Christians compromised to fit in with culture

I’d urge every white evangelical Christian to read The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby. It sobered and humbled me to learn slavery was accepted by some evangelicals. Even those who opposed slavery sometimes rejected full racial integration. In writing about evangelist and abolitionist Charles Finney, he illustrates this conflict.

Finney started Oberlin College, the first college accepting of women and Blacks. He was however not in favor of equality or social integration of the races. He would not allow white slaveholders to be members. Black worshipers could become members in his church, but not vote, hold office or sit anywhere they chose.

His stance for abolition but against integration stemmed from his belief social reform would come from people becoming followers of Jesus and then changing unjust systems, not institutional reform, Tisby argued. Once you believed in Jesus, you would naturally work toward justice and change, he argued. I’ve seen that same “focus on salvation” message dominate discussions in churches I’ve been in.

As humans we have a proclivity to latch on to information that supports what we want to believe while downplaying information that does not, according to The Data Detective, by Tim Harford. Tisby’s book uncovered a lot of what makes me as a Christian squirm. Christians I’ve looked up to as heroes were sucked in to justifying slavery or racism. This book is a great reminder that culture can easily drag any of us off course if we aren't really serious about obeying the words of Christ.

Read an excerpt

Quit ignoring the ripples of sins of the past on minorities

One of the things that's been really challenging over the past year, is to actually define words like systemic racism, white privilege, etc., and how the Bible intersects with these concepts.

One book that proved immensely helpful to me in this regard was The Third Option by Pastor Miles McPherson, who is of mixed race himself and leads a multi-cultural church in San Diego, California.

The book served as a how-to manual for thinking through these issues and taking action.

It was a breath of fresh air. The author was someone who did not fit into a standard political affiliation on the subject of race, yet also pointed out that racism unfortunately is alive as well in sins of omission such as:

• not loving our neighbors who may not look like us

• not venturing out into other communities and cultures to see what we might learn from others, instead of thinking we just have something for them to learn

• not working to be part of the solution to making sure justice and opportunity is more evenly spread across all races.

He also talked about the spiritual dimension of all this, saying too often the devil tries to pit us into thinking our options on a topic are either to join perspective A or B. As Christians, we should always strive to consider the issue in light of how Christ wants us to live. And that can look altogether different. The Third Option is about seeking ways we Christians can build unity with others unlike us through mutually honoring one another. It is a false dichotomy to think there are only two sides of an issue.

Each chapter concluded with three ways to implement what you learned, such as visiting an unfamiliar place where people who don't look like you congregate.

On a side note, he explained why saying “I’m colorblind” or “I don’t see color” sounds hurtful to some Black people. Though he recognizes it’s an effort by White people to accentuate we’re all equal, it comes off like we want to avoid celebrating the unique individuals we all are. When you get a tan on vacation, people tend to compliment it. Yet if you’re born dark skinned, people think the most respectful thing you can do is pretend your shade is something to ignore.

Read an excerpt

Wrestle with arguments opposed by your worldview

I also listened White Fragility and How to Be an Anti-racist. In reading all these books I appreciated that rooting out racism isn’t as simple as any of us would like it to be. It left me with far deeper empathy for my non-white neighbors, even if I don't necessarily agree with some arguments voiced in these books. As Christians, we shouldn’t dodge arguments that oppose our worldview. Analyzing books that sometimes argue against what we believe is a good way to clarify and sharpen what we hold true.

Get started with these two videos

Phil Vischer, creator of Veggie Tales, produced two videos for his evangelical audience, which helped me expand my mind on racial issues. If you only have time for one, watch Part 2 below. The 26-minute video responds to a lot of the standard narratives evangelicals believe when the subject of race is discussed among evangelicals. At 18 minutes, Part 1 is also worth watching as he lays out his case for why evangelical Christians should care more about race.

As it says in Micah 6:8 - "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Deuteronomy 20:16 - “But in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, 17 but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded, 18 that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the Lord your God.” - English Standard Version.

Dr. Frank Turek argued in this 7.5-minute video:

God:

• Didn't decide to target a random communities of quiet, loving people. For 400 years they were burning their children alive to the ancient god Molech. Greek writer Plutarch says they would bang drums loudly during these ceremonies so the parents in the village wouldn't hear the screams.

• Probably did not actually command the destruction of these groups. Phrases like “you shall save alive nothing that breathes” was typical hyperbolic (exaggerated) language in the near eastern world, similar to how we might say team A "destroyed" team B.

• Talks about blessing the Canaanite people and the Bible discusses a variety of issues related to living in the land with the Canaanites long after they were supposedly eliminated in war.

• Isn't murdering when he ends lives. He’s just moving people to the next location.

Atheists:

• Argue both that God is evil for not perpetually loving people regardless of what they do, yet also get mad when God doesn't get involved to stop evil.

• Can’t argue anything is an “atrocity,” or is good or bad. If there is no God, then nothing logically qualifies as good or bad.

Is God a Moral Monster? - Book Review

I listened and read the book mentioned in this video by Dr. Paul Copan. At 252 pages it was like watching someone unlock a vault of detailed responses to questions I had — and even more I'd never contemplated — about the Old Testament. It has the kind of dense, factual undergirding you typically expect in textbooks. The writing however, is clear and geared for a general audience. I recommend you read, not listen to it. It's a reference you'll want to return to repeatedly. Audio books I've found are difficult to use as reference material, as it's challenging to find specific things you heard later, unless you marked it initially. He goes in depth on the question above, with three how chapters devoted to it.

The book covers a variety of Old Testament Topics, including:

• Was Abraham being told to kill Issac cosmic child abuse?

• Why were there so many weird laws in the Old Testament?

• Was God trying to create or defeat a patriarchal society?

• Does religion cause violence? I discussed that topic here, but he provides lots of additional insight.

• Without God, there's no foundation upon which goodness can flourish.

If you're not ready to buy the book, watch this presentation by Copan. He summarizes the main arguments in his book. Beneath the video I've provided links to key moments in the video. Warning: lots of corny jokes are included.

1. 4:59 — Evil denotes a departure from the way things ought to be. But without a God, there is no such thing as "ought."

2. 20:30 — God has set up a special relationship with Israel. The laws were given to this group of people for a unique time. He raises a good argument for avoiding saying we "take the Bible literally," he said, because there are a variety of generes in the Bible. Instead, he advises saying we "read the Bible literarily."

3. 25:30 and 46:59 — He makes the same arguments Turek did above about the Canaanites.

4. 33:40 — We're not seeing the ideal ethic of equality in men and women in Israel, like with Genesis 1 and 2. We’re seeing God use Israel to slowly return this nation back toward equality.

5. 35:59 — The laws of God for the first time introduced concepts such as elevating people above property, and treating slaves like human beings.

• Answering the objection as concisely as possible.

• Challenging the objector to think more deeply about his or her claim.

• Facilitating a gospel conversation.

1. Let's define "send." Pretend someone who wanted to date you asked you out and reached out to you in socially acceptable ways a few times but you kept turning that person down. Yet, he or she doesn't give up no matter how forcefully you tell that person to leave you alone.

I’d call that person a stalker. Wouldn’t you?

Ultimately God reaches out to us to make himself known throughout our lives and asks us to love Him. But He's not going to force His way on us because He loves us enough to give us free will to choose or reject His love.

Eventually He allows us to spend eternity in a place without Him, and that's ultimately what hell really is - a place absent of His love. So isn't the most loving thing He can do is respect your free will and allow you to live free of Him, even if it makes you miserable for eternity?

2. What do you mean by "hell?" While the Bible certainly talks in terms of hell being punishment, exactly what the torment will be like remains unclear. The Bible also suggests in Matthew 11:24 degrees of punishment. Some people who hurt others may be punished more severely than those who lived quiet lives but did not obey God. Have your notions of hell been formed by what the Bible says, or what you’ve seen in fictional movies?

Summary of verses about hell

3. Shouldn't your definition of “loving” require God to dole out justice as well? Would God still be loving toward the victims if he allowed child murderers, mass shooters and genocidal dictators the same eternal life as people who have spent their lives doing good to others? If God is totally loving and just, he would let no crime go unpunished. If someone is damaged because of sexual abuse, isn't a loving God going to justify that wrong? At the same time, we've all been guilty of sinning, so God allows for all of us to avoid hell. Isn't having the option to be pardoned of our past the most loving thing a God could do?

4. Shouldn’t we be careful about defining "love" by our own standards when God, who knows everything, tells us we don't see the full picture in Isaiah 55:9. If God knows all, it could just be that we're not seeing the whole picture, and therefore will never fully understand this concept of how God could do things in perfect love that we could never grasp? Do you think it’s worth discussing if we can trust God?

Dive deeper into exploring what hell might be

If you want to explore the subject of what hell is, I strongly recommend Erasing Hell. At 130 pages, it's a short book but gives you an overview of the most common way many Christians view hell.