One of the most fundamental Christian doctrines is that of the Trinity. It separates genuine Christianity from the cults and from other religions and is essential to understanding the Gospel. We recently received a message challenging an article I had written responding to a critic who denies the third Person of the Trinity: The Holy Spirit.
We have been examining the claims of critics who deny the biblical teaching of eternal hell. Often, those who deny central Christian doctrines will deny that the major English versions of Scripture are well-translated. They must argue this way because all the conservative English translations show that the duration of punishment and torment in hell for unbelievers is the same as the duration of heaven for believers – namely eternal. So, in this segment, we will look at Tracy’s claims that the original languages deny eternal hell.
In this final segment, we continue to critique William Lane Craig’s claim that Genesis 1-11 is mytho-history. The New Testament often quotes from the Old Testament as if the events recorded therein actually happened. Craig attempted to show that some such references may not be endorsing the historicity of such events, but merely using them as literary illustrations. However, none of the examples he provided suggested anything other than a reference to actual historical events. There is nothing wrong with using a fictional story to illustrate a point. But there is no evidence that any biblical author thought of Genesis as anything but straightforward history.
In analyzing William Lane Craig’s comments on Genesis in his recent article in First Things, we have seen that when New Testament authors quote or allude to Old Testament passages (including Genesis 1-11), they do so as if these events really occurred and often with consequences for our present world. This would seem to be further evidence that Genesis 1-11 is historical narrative, as the text itself indicates along with its context.
We here continue to examine William Lane Craig’s claim that Genesis 1-11 is not meant to be read as literal history.