Ron Rhodes - 5-Minute Apologetics for Today. 365 Quick Answers to Key Questions

5Minute
APOLOGETICS
for TODAY

Ron Rhodes

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Verses marked NIV are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Verses marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Verses marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Verses marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

All emphasis in Scripture quotations is added by the author.

Cover by Dugan Design Group, Bloomington, Minnesota

5-MINUTE APOLOGETICS FOR TODAY

Copyright 2010 by Ron Rhodes
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Rhodes, Ron.

5-minute apologetics for today / Ron Rhodes.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-7369-2457-3 (pbk.)

1. ApologeticsMiscellanea. I. Title.

BT1103.R56 2010

239.7dc22

2009017210

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 / DP-SK / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Kerri

Kerri, David, and Kylie
Words are inadequate to express my gratitude
for your enduring love and support.
I am truly blessed!

All my friends at Harvest House Publishers
Thanks for your collective hard work.
You are hugely appreciated!
It is always a delight to partner with you.

W ould you like to gain more Christian wisdom, biblical discernment, and doctrinal expertise over the next year, all in just five minutes a day?

If so, then this book has been designed especially for you. You are my target audience. If youll commit just five minutes a daynot just to read the brief material, but to ponder it, meditate on it, and perhaps look up some of the verses I citethen over the next year, you will learn a lot. I can promise you that.

This does not mean you will learn virtually everything there is to know about the Bible or Christianity or doctrine or ethics over the next year. But it does mean that by the time the year is through, your Christian wisdom and biblical discernment skills will be significantly more than they are today! And youll be better off for it.

If you feel you already have a good level of Christian wisdom and biblical discernment, then consider this book a review. Who among us couldnt use a little tune-up from time to time? You may even learn something new!

I have been motivated to write this book because of the strange times in which we are living. Our country has become a virtual cafeteria of different religions, cults, and non-Christian worldviews that are all vying for supremacy on Americas religious landscape. Our country is also currently confronted by many tough domestic and global issues. We need Christian wisdom and biblical discernment as never before.

In this book, I devote a single pageone page for each of the 365 days of the yearto an issue that is related in some way to Christian apologetics, such as these:

truth (such as the distinction between absolute truth and relative truth)

hermeneutics (principles of Bible interpretation)

Christian doctrine (including such issues as the Trinity, the absolute deity of Christ, and the personality of the Holy Spirit)

Christian ethics (including such issues as abortion, suicide, capital punishment, homosexuality, different views on war, and divorce)

alleged Bible contradictions

difficult Bible verses

philosophies of Bible translation

archaeological discoveries that support the Bible

extrabiblical literature that supports the truth of Christianity

atheistic arguments

the problem of evil

creationism and evolution

cults and false religions

end-times prophecy

I even address some controversial issues, including whether life exists on other planets and whether Ezekiel saw a UFO. All in all, this book will expose you to a wide variety of topics and issues that will sharpen your apologetics acumen.

You will notice that in some cases, several consecutive days deal with loosely related topics. In other cases, a new day brings a completely new and unrelated topic. I hope this arrangement will help to keep things interesting!

May the Lord be pleased to use this book to strengthen your spiritual convictions. That is my hope and prayer!

A s we begin our 365-day journey together, lets start with the recognition that absolute truth is real. In fact, Christianity rests on a foundation of absolute truth, and that foundation is as sturdy as a rock. (See 1 Kings 17:24; Psalm 25:5; John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 6:7; Ephesians 4:15; 2 Timothy 2:15; 1 John 3:19.)

Biblical Christians believe that moral absolutessuch as You shall have no other gods before me and You shall not murder (Exodus 20:3,13)are grounded in the absolutely moral God of Scripture (Matthew 5:48). God stands against the moral relativist, whose behavior is based on whatever is right in his own eyes (Deuteronomy 12:8; Judges 17:6; 21:25). The absolutely moral Creator-God (Isaiah 44:24) has communicated precisely what moral behavior He expects of us (Exodus 20:1-17), so we, His creatures, are responsible to render obedience (Deuteronomy 11:13,27-28).

This is an important issue because moral relativism leaves no way to distinguish between truth and error, right and wrong. The road of moral relativity has no center stripe of absolute truth. Consequently, this highway is littered with casualties (see Proverbs 5:23).

Pearl of Wisdom:You can be absolutely sure that absolute truth is real and that each of us will one day face the absolutely moral God of the universe to give an account for the way we responded to His absolute truth.

G od is a God of reason (Isaiah 1:18), and He has created us as rational creatures in His image (Genesis 1:27; Colossians 3:10), so surely He intends for us to utilize the gift of reason. God wants us to take an intelligent step of faith in the light of good evidence, not a blind leap of faith into the dark (see John 20:27).

The Bible is filled with exhortations to use reason. Jesus commanded His followers, Love the Lord your Godwith all your mind (Matthew 22:37). The apostle Paul taught, Whatever is truethink about these things (Philippians 4:8), and he reasoned with Jews and philosophers (Acts 17:17,22-31). Church elders are instructed to refute those who contradict sound doctrine (Titus 1:9). Paul says he was appointed for the defense of the gospel (Philippians 1:16). Jude urged, Contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3). Peter commanded us to be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15). All these activities involve the use of God-given reason.