Did the Idea of Jesus' Deity Develop Over Time? A Conversation with Dr. Tony Costa

Here is the recording of this past Saturday's webinar of the Apologetics Academy (see complete schedule here for currently confirmed speaker lineup). Here, Dr. Tony Costa speaks about early church Christology and addresses the question of whether the earliest Christians believed that Jesus was God. Spoiler alert: It features a lively interaction with Muslim polemicist Paul Williams.

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On Historic Christian Theology, Muslim Apologist Paul Williams Gets the Basics Wrong

In this short video, I reveal how Muslim polemicist Paul Williams makes a fundamental mistake about historic orthodox Christian theology. Enjoy!

Are Christians Required to Follow the Jewish Law? Paul Williams Exposed

In this video, my good friend Vladimir Šušić and I continue to expose the sloppy thinking and shallow arguments of Muslim apologist Paul Williams at Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park, London. Here, we address whether Christians under the new dispensation are required to follow all of the Old Testament Jewish laws.

Paul Williams Exposed: Commentary and Analysis by Jonathan McLatchie and Vladimir Susic

Here is a video commentary that I did jointly with my good friend Vladimir Susic regarding an encounter between Muslim polemicist Paul Williams and an Irish Christian gentleman at Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park, London. Enjoy!

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Complete Hyde Park Encounter, with Commentary by Jonathan McLatchie and Vladimir Susic

My good friend Vladimir Susic and I had much fun making this commentary on my recent discussion at Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park with Paul Williams and Mansoor Ahmed. The video commentary exposes in detail the numerous mistakes and blunders of those Muslim polemicists. Enjoy!

How to Refute the Qur'an According to Paul Williams and Bart Ehrman

In a post titled "Today is Good Friday," Paul Williams shared a response he gave to someone who quoted the Testimonium Flavianum, which refers to a famous, and much disputed, statement about Jesus in the writings of Flavius Josephus, a first-century Jewish historian and eyewitness to the destruction of Jerusalem. The statement as it currently appears in Josephus is as follows:

"At this time there appeared Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was a doer of amazing deeds, a teacher of persons who receive the truth with pleasure. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. And when Pilate condemned him to the cross, the leading men among us having accused him, those who loved him from the first did not cease to do so. For he appeared to them the third day alive again, the divine prophets having spoken these things and a myriad of other marvels concerning him. And to the present the tribe of Christians, named after this person, has not disappeared." (Ant. 18.3.3)

Here is what Paul Williams said in response:

After making this comment, Williams then cited Bart Ehrman on the reasons why many scholars believe something has been interpolated into what Josephus originally wrote about Jesus:

The reasoning offered above by Ehrman, which Williams appealed to, is of no consequence for Christianity; however, the same can't be said for Islam. Just as this reference in Josephus must be seen as a corruption of what he said since he would not have referred to Jesus as "the Christ," so it also shows either that the Qur'an was corrupted or that the author of the Qur'an simply didn't know what he was talking about. According to the Qur'an, Josephus' co-religionists made the following boast: 

“Surely we have killed THE MESSIAH [al-Masih], Isa the Son of Marium, THE MESSENGER of Allah” (S. 4:157). 

If, as Ehrman pointed out, Josephus would not have identified Jesus as the Christ, for which reason the Testimonium Flavianum must be seen as a corruption, then it follows that the Qur'an is either wrong when it puts such words in the mouth of the Jews or the Qur'an has been corrupted. QED.

Happy Resurrection Day, Paul!

Is it Racist to Criticize Islam?

Until I entered the arena of apologetics to Muslims, I could never have imagined that some people would consider criticism of ideas to be tantamount to racism. I quickly learned, however, that there are indeed some who see it as such.

One such individual, Paul Williams of BloggingTheology.net, is one of them. Recently, on Twitter, a discussion broke out between a friend of mine and Paul Williams on the identity of the suffering servant in Isaiah 53. I suggested to Paul Williams that we engage in a moderated debate on whether Isaiah 53 is Messianic. Among his reasons for declining my invitation, he tweeted this:

Racial abuse of Muslims... Seriously? Since when was Islam considered a race? And since when was the criticism of ideas tantamount to racism? "Racial abuse" is a serious charge, implying either physical or verbal assault.

It is certainly true that Williams and I part ways on many issues, including the justifiability, from the Qur'an and other Islamic sources, of atrocities committed by the Islamic State and other groups. This, however, is an academic difference of opinion on how to best interpret those sources. I hold no ill-feeling whatsoever towards Muslim people. In fact, my heart is filled with compassion for them, and I long for them to be saved by the same grace that saved me.

I of course recognise that, while the Islamic State represent a valid expression of Islam, they are not normative for all Muslims. Muslims are a very diverse group of people, and I have long recognized the folly of branding or stereotyping all Muslims in any particular way.

In refutation of Williams' false and defamatory allegation, my friend, Gunter, helpfully linked to a post of mine on Facebook from early December of 2015, in which I repudiated in the strongest of terms Christians who agreed with the anti-Muslim immigration policy promoted by Donald Trump:

It truly saddens me that such defamatory tactics are exercised all too commonly among many of the internet Muslim polemicists.