Total Time: 1 hour 36 minutes:
Start at 1 minute:
From the book: J Warner Wallace, Person of Interest, covering 2 of 10 chapters
Video Notes:
Every bomb has a fuse.
The FUSE (before the event) and the FALLOUT (after the event), can tell you about a crime scene
FUSE – three aspects = Cultural, Spiritual, Prophetic
Video discusses the Spiritual aspect
Spiritual Fuse:
Humans think about God a lot.
Default position is not atheism, children start with a creator, atheism is the acquired position.
Atheiest professor claimed that Mithras had characteristics that preceeded Christ, but the story is not true.
Example: born or a virgin VS. born out of the side of a mountain leaving a hole.
15 commonalities of ancient mythologies:
- Inevitable – his coming was foretold
- Imperial – has a royal lineage,
- Inexplicable – supernatural
- Insolated
- Inveigled = To win over by coaxing, flattery, or artful talk.
- Identified
- Incredible
- Interactor
- Instructive
- Indemnifier
- Indicted
- Inviter
- Intercessor
- Immortal
- Indicter
Ancient deities in order from oldest to newest 3300BC to 350BC
Osiris
Tammuz
Shangdl
Marduk
Indra
Attis
Thakurjlu
Adonis
Dionysus
Zoroaster
Heracles
Krishna
Zalmoxls
Mithras
Buddha
Serapis
Jesus of Nazareth possesses all 15 attributes
C.S. Lewis: the story of Jesus is a True Myth
Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David and Jonah were all “types” of Jesus who shared common life experiences.
BOA: “The person of Jesus was expected by the ancients”
Jesus arrival in the spiritual and cultural environment was optimal.
FALLOUT: 5 aspects = Dissemination, Imagination, Education, Exaltation, Exploration
Video discusses one which is Exploration
EXPLORATION:
The Freedom from Religion Foundation (Catherine Fahringer) claims “We would be 1,500 years ahead if it hadn’t been for the church dragging science back by it’s coattails and burning our best minds at the stake”
History of science timeline: 2020BC to 2020AD
Where is Jesus in the sequence?
Muslims were scientifically active for 7 centuries and then they stopped.
Christians dominated the scientific revolution.
Time: 37:34
7 reasons why Christianity ignites the sciences:
- Christ followers believed that matter was good and worthy of study
vs. gnostics matter is evil - Christ followers believe their world was the product of a singular, orderly, rational God
- Christ followers believed God was distinct from his creation
Johannes Kepler: “I was merely thinking God’s thoughts after Him…” - Christ followers were motivated by their desire to worship the God of the universe
Galileo: “The Bible shows the way to go to heaven, not the way the heavens go”
Wernher von Braun: “Although I know of no reference to Christ ever commenting on scientific work, I do know that He said, ‘Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’ Thus I am certain that, were He among us today, Christ would encourage scientific research as modern man’s most notable striving to comprehend and admire His handiwork.” - Christ followers believed they could better understand God by observing his activity in the “Book of Nature”
- Christ followers pursued physical and intellectual investigation of their environment
- Christ followers created a place to advance the sciences
Hall of Fame of Christians who did science:
Far more Christians doing science post Darwin than before
Scientific Disciplines fathered by Christians to numerous to type, see the video.
Christ followers have initiated every major scientific discipline.
Christ followers have won virtually every major scientific prize.
Christians have won 65.4% of Nobel Prizes. 21.1% were Jewish. Atheist/Agnostic 7%
The Science Fathers personal writings could be used to reconstruct the story of Jesus.
Including miracles, His death on the cross, and His resurrection.
“Would you trust what scientists said about Jesus?”
The greatest impact on Literature the world has ever known.
The writings on non-Christians include everything you need to know about the story of Jesus
Jesus has had the greatest impact on the ARTs that the world has ever known.
More artists have depicted Jesus than any other person
Every episode of every gospel is displayed in art.
No one has been sung about more than Jesus
Education: the top 15 universities were founded by Christians, 75 of the top 100 were founded by Christians
“You can learn more about Jesus from the science fathers then you will from the church fathers”
Religion:
Jesus has the greatest impact on other non christian religions.
Other world leaders did not have the impact on the world that Jesus did.
Jesus, born and raised in an obscure village, spent only 3 years as an itinerant preacher, never traveled more that 200 miles from this birthplace, didn’t have a family and kids to extend his legacy, rejected by the religious, hunted by the powerful, eventually abandoned by his followers, never led an army, never ruled a nation, never wrote a book, falsely accused, brutally mocked, executed and crucified, buried in a borrowed grave, … – YET! HE Changes Everything!
He spoke as God, and that He was equal to God:
John 10:25-29 “I and the Father are one”
John 8:23-24 ESV
23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
He came from the same place as God.
He accepted the worship of God.
He claimed the name of God:
John 8:58
58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
He possesses the authority of God:
Of the three options:
Mythology, Man, Messiah – Only one accounts for His impact
Jesus influenced the world because He matters.
End of Video notes at 1:08:55
BOA Questions:
Did you agree that the time of Jesus’ arrival on earth is optimal?
Is Jesus a true catalyst to the bump in scientific discovery?
Which of the arguments presented did you find to be the most compelling?
Who in history would run second to Jesus in regards to his impact?
Do you Know this Jesus?
Person of Interest book on Amazon: