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31 results for “Cumulative evidence”
Clear searchThe positive argument of the whole series, brought together
Why the Cumulative Case Points to a Pretribulation Rapture The positive argument of the whole series, brought together The case for a pretribulation rapture should not rest upon one disputed word, o…
Read article →Christianity, Islam and the verdict of the evidence
The Sum of These Things Christianity, Islam and the verdict of the evidence “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens” (Hebrews 8:1). The ev…
Read article →Simon Greenleaf · Legal examination of testimony · 1846
…and the cost of maintaining their testimony. It remains a stimulating contribution to the cumulative case for the trustworthiness of the Gospels. This is a work of nineteenth-century legal apologetics, not a modern historical or legal consensus. Greenleaf assumes traditional Gosp…
View recommendation →What the historical evidence proves—and what it does not
Did Darby Invent the Pretribulation Rapture? What the historical evidence proves—and what it does not The historical objection is often stated in absolute terms: no Christian taught the rapture before John Nelson Darby devised it in the nineteenth century…
Read article →Testing Islam's evidence for divine revelation
Is the Qur'an a Miracle? Testing Islam's evidence for divine revelation Christians are frequently placed on the defensive. Has the Bible been corrupted? Did Jesus really claim to be God? Was He actually crucified? Has the doctrine…
Read article →The divine identity of Jesus across the Gospels
…messenger and servant of God, not God the Son. His miracles are signs granted by God, not evidence that He shares God's identity. He must not be worshipped, and the Christian confession of His deity is treated as a corruption of true monotheism (Surahs 3:45-49; 4:171; 5:72-75; 19…
Read article →Why the final seven is unfinished, future, and centred upon Israel and Jerusalem
…"until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in" (Romans 11:25). This present period is not evidence that God has abandoned Israel. Jewish people continue to be saved through faith in Christ, and the gospel goes to all nations. It means that Daniel's measured programme for Israel a…
Read article →A response to Hank Hanegraaff on resurrection, Daniel’s final week, and the Tribulation
…ct does not establish pretribulationism, but it invalidates Hanegraaff’s proposed test. A cumulative conclusion must be judged by the passages from which it is constructed and by whether their distinctions are real. The pretribulation case correlates several lines of evidence: Ch…
Read article →Michael Brown, 2 Thessalonians 1, and the public vindication of the saints
…oposed: does it withstand examination in Scripture, and does it explain the whole body of evidence better than the alternatives? Nor is it impossible for the distinction to arise through the study of Scripture. John Nelson Darby did not inherit a mature pretribulation system from…
Read article →Earth-dwellers, heaven-dwellers, and the literary structure of the Apocalypse
…the Lamb are. The Bride is already in heaven Revelation 19 gives the strongest narrative evidence: "The marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready." —Revelation 19:7 The Bride receives fine linen, "clean and white", identified with the righteousness of sa…
Read article →Why apantēsis does not settle the timing of the rapture
…n both scenes, the welcoming party joins the arriving person and continues with him. This evidence makes the idea of honourable welcome plausible in 1 Thessalonians 4. The saints do not meet a stranger. They greet their rightful Lord and from then onward remain in His company. Bu…
Read article →The event is explicit; the real dispute is its timing
…ete Tribulation timetable. Pretribulationism must therefore be established from the wider evidence: the identity and calling of the Church, Daniel's unfinished programme for Israel and Jerusalem, deliverance from the coming wrath, imminency, Revelation's distinction between earth…
Read article →Isaiah, John, and the Divine Identity of Jesus Christ
…ake root before His breath reduces them to nothing. These are rhetorical questions with a cumulative answer. God has no teacher, no equal and no cosmic rival. The chapter identifies Him as the everlasting Creator in verse 28. His people may be exhausted; their God is not. No pred…
Read article →The near was real. The far is still coming.
…on, forgiven inhabitants, judgment upon the nations and the return of the redeemed. Their cumulative movement calls for an explanation large enough to accommodate all these things together. We should allow that movement to develop before deciding where it belongs in an eschatolog…
Read article →One Messiah, one gospel, and God's continuing purpose for Israel
…Jesus, Acts, Romans, Galatians, Hebrews, and the history of Christian interpretation, the cumulative answer is no. God has judged Israel severely. The nation remains largely in unbelief and cannot inherit saving blessing apart from Jesus Christ. Yet God has not revoked His oath t…
Read article →Abraham, Lot, divine wrath, and a pattern that must be used carefully
…same day. Jesus Himself treats the history as an eschatological pattern. It belongs in a cumulative case even though it cannot establish the timing of the rapture alone. Persecution is not the same as divine wrath The Church is repeatedly promised trouble from the world. Jesus s…
Read article →Christ the promised Seed, Gentile inheritance, and Paul's final blessing
…e continuing Israel-Gentile distinction in Romans must contribute to the verdict. On that cumulative evidence, believing Jewish people—the faithful remnant within the Church—are the most natural referent. The conclusion is strong enough to prefer, but not so unambiguous that oppo…
Read article →Fulfilment in Christ, the inclusion of the Gentiles, and Israel's future mercy
…upon language spoken to Israel at Sinai. This passage is frequently treated as conclusive evidence that Israel's titles have been transferred to a predominantly Gentile Church. The identity of Peter's audience, however, should not be assumed. Peter was especially entrusted with t…
Read article →The covenant son and the sacrifice that points to Christ
…he promised Seed and presents Jesus as God's unique beloved Son and sacrificial Lamb. The cumulative pattern is extraordinary. The unique beloved son Abraham is commanded to offer his unique son, whom he loves. At Christ's baptism the Father says: "This is my beloved Son, in whom…
Read article →Sources behind Qur’anic narratives
…ccusation is easy: Muhammad heard old legends and copied them into the Qur’an. Historical evidence rarely permits such simplicity. We do not possess a list of Muhammad’s informants, a library catalogue or a signed acknowledgement of literary dependence. A story can travel orally…
Read article →Why a loaded label does not settle the question
…to the foreground. Silence alone cannot prove absence. Yet the change belongs within the cumulative evidence. Heaven contains worshippers, elders, crowns and white robes; judgement unfolds upon the earth; and by chapter 19 the prepared Bride is in heaven before Christ descends.…
Read article →The Messiah cut off before the Temple fell
…to Jesus. Those qualifications matter. They prevent an apologetic argument from claiming evidence it does not possess. But they do not remove the problem. Daniel 9 existed within Judaism before Christianity. Its prophecy places the cutting off of an anointed figure before the de…
Read article →Which Gospel does the Qur'an affirm?
…ance works only if the earlier readers are competent witnesses to something relevant. The cumulative pattern is clear: God gave the Gospel. It contained guidance and light. The Qur'an claims to confirm earlier revelation. A community called the People of the Gospel existed. They…
Read article →The brothers of Jesus, the sons of Mary, and an argument of strong plausibility
…Psalm 69:8 from functioning as an independent proof. Nevertheless, they do not remove the cumulative force of the evidence. The Hebrew phrase is narrower than the Greek word adelphoi. The psalm does not merely predict rejection by relatives; it identifies the rejecters as the suf…
Read article →What mercy, holiness and the cross reveal about God
…rrogantly (28:76). The precise English wording varies, and some descriptions overlap. The cumulative pattern does not. The contrast in Surah 3:31-32 is especially revealing. Those who follow Muhammad are promised Allah's love and forgiveness. The next verse commands obedience to…
Read article →Four popular claims tested in context
…a minor claim. If Muhammad was genuinely foretold in the Bible, Christians must face the evidence. A prophecy does not cease to be true because its fulfilment is unwelcome. Muslim apologists commonly appeal to four passages: the prophet like Moses in Deuteronomy 18; the Servant…
Read article →The wicked husbandmen, the fruit-bearing nation, and what Jesus said afterwards
…ons. The apostles will still judge the twelve tribes of Israel The clearest chronological evidence comes at the Last Supper, after the controversy in Matthew 21. Jesus told the apostles: "And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; That ye may eat and d…
Read article →Election within Abraham's family, the believing remnant, and the future of the nation
…ondition. Romans 11 returns to the same point. Paul himself is an Israelite and therefore evidence that God has not cast away His people. As in Elijah's day, God has preserved "a remnant according to the election of grace" (Romans 11:1-5). Paul then writes: "Israel hath not obtai…
Read article →Defining the position before testing it
…nsational label cannot substitute for exegesis. The view which best explains both sets of evidence should prevail. The cumulative case of this series is that the New Testament enlarges the company of the blessed without cancelling the nation through which the blessing came. Refer…
Read article →A forensic reading of Christ's Olivet Discourse
…erased from Matthew 24. Could the people in view still be identified from the surrounding evidence? What do the geography, institutions, prophetic references, vocabulary, and promised gathering tell us? This article treats the passage as a textual investigation. No single clue ca…
Read article →How Christians can think politically without surrendering conscience to a package deal
…. Repeated is not the same as confirmed, but the mind can easily confuse familiarity with evidence. Network structure can also create a "majority illusion" in which a relatively uncommon view appears common because highly connected or highly active people are disproportionately v…
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