The Sean McDowell Show

Bart Ehrman posed it as a hypothetical question: What if the canon had ended up containing the Gospels of Peter, Thomas, and Mary instead of Matthew, Mark, and Luke? I put that question to Dr. Greg Lanier, who has just written a GREAT BOOK on the Apocryphal Gospels. His answer is that the scenario has no historical basis, and that if you actually had only those three, you'd have no coherent story of Jesus at all. Dr. Lanier's argument throughout is that the Apocryphal writings are downstream of the canonical Gospels, not competitors with them.
CHECK OUT: Greg's channel: https://youtube.com/@GregLanier-d5r
CHECK OUT: Consider Supporting the Ministry! (https://seanmcdowell.org/give)
READ: Apocryphal Gospels: Separating the Real Jesus from Fan Fiction (https://amzn.to/4qqO3nM)
CHECK OUT: Logos Bible 60 Day Free Trial (https://logos.com/mcdowell)
*Get a MASTERS IN APOLOGETICS or SCIENCE AND RELIGION at BIOLA (https://bit.ly/3LdNqKf)
*USE Discount Code [smdcertdisc] for 25% off the BIOLA APOLOGETICS CERTIFICATE program (https://bit.ly/3AzfPFM)
*See our fully online UNDERGRAD DEGREE in Bible, Theology, and Apologetics: (https://bit.ly/448STKK)
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
Twitter: https://x.com/Sean_McDowell
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sean_mcdowell?lang=en
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmcdowell/
Website: https://seanmcdowell.org
Timestamps 0:00 — Do these writings threaten the historical Jesus? 0:51 — Responding to Ehrman's what-if 3:36 — Why write a book on fake gospels? 6:42 — What "apocryphal" actually means 11:08 — Sayings, fragments, and full compositions 16:57 — Peter, Mary, Thomas, and Judas 22:28 — How much history is in them? 27:04 — Why scholars now say they're downstream 31:11 — From the Jesus Seminar to the Da Vinci Code 33:33 — The Jesus Wife fragment 41:56 — Bad apologetics on both sides 44:05 — The Infancy Gospel of Thomas 52:15 — The Protoevangelium of James 57:16 — Your nativity scene isn't in Matthew or Luke 1:00:07 — How the apocryphal gospels argue for the four 1:07:19 — What the church fathers actually said 1:12:04 — Why he does this work
Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Here's a question worth sitting with: what are the principles you actually live by? In this message I look at Daniel. They changed where he lived, what he studied, the language he spoke, and even his name. But the text says he had resolved not to defile himself (past tense). He didn't develop those convictions under pressure. He arrived with them.
CHECK OUT: Logos Bible 60 Day Free Trial (https://logos.com/mcdowell)
CHECK OUT: Consider Supporting the Ministry! (https://seanmcdowell.org/give)
*Get a MASTERS IN APOLOGETICS or SCIENCE AND RELIGION at BIOLA (https://bit.ly/3LdNqKf)
*USE Discount Code [smdcertdisc] for 25% off the BIOLA APOLOGETICS CERTIFICATE program (https://bit.ly/3AzfPFM)
*See our fully online UNDERGRAD DEGREE in Bible, Theology, and Apologetics: (https://bit.ly/448STKK)
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
Twitter: https://x.com/Sean_McDowell
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sean_mcdowell?lang=en
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmcdowell/
Website: https://seanmcdowell.org
0:00 — What principles do you actually live by? 1:15 — A lesson from my dad 3:06 — Daniel: a man of principles 6:08 — Daniel 1: the siege of Jerusalem 11:01 — Why Babylon actually won 13:42 — Chosen for the king's court 17:16 — Living somewhere unsympathetic to your beliefs 19:38 — They changed his name 21:09 — Why the food? 23:59 — What hills will you die on? 25:43 — Jana and the assignment she wouldn't do 27:20 — An athlete who walked away 29:31 — What Os Guinness told me about legacy 30:56 — Decide before the pressure comes
Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Scott Stripling's team put out a press release about their latest season at Shiloh. Roughly 400 news stories followed. What his team actually found is more interesting. Since 2017 they've been excavating a building whose dimensions, orientation, and dating all match what we'd expect of the tabernacle and Scott is careful to say it's a strong candidate, not a confirmed identification. He's running the largest dig team in the Middle East, largely funded by people who want the Bible confirmed. What keeps that from shaping the conclusions? His answer is worth hearing.
CHECK OUT: Logos Bible 60 Day Free Trial (https://logos.com/mcdowell)
CHECK OUT: Consider Supporting the Ministry! (https://seanmcdowell.org/give)
*Get a MASTERS IN APOLOGETICS or SCIENCE AND RELIGION at BIOLA (https://bit.ly/3LdNqKf)
*USE Discount Code [smdcertdisc] for 25% off the BIOLA APOLOGETICS CERTIFICATE program (https://bit.ly/3AzfPFM)
*See our fully online UNDERGRAD DEGREE in Bible, Theology, and Apologetics: (https://bit.ly/448STKK)
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
Twitter: https://x.com/Sean_McDowell
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sean_mcdowell?lang=en
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmcdowell/
Website: https://seanmcdowell.org

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Gary Habermas has likely studied the historical evidence for the resurrection more than anyone who has ever lived. He's just finished a four-volume work on it and he told me the final volume, on theology and practice, may be the last thing he writes on the subject. It's my favorite of the four, and I wanted to ask him why he made the turn.
READ: On the Resurrection: Volume 4, by Gary Habermas (https://amzn.to/4gE7qGI) Make sure to subscribe and check out some of my other videos for more on Christianity, Theology and other aspects of culture!
CHECK OUT: Logos Bible 60 Day Free Trial (https://logos.com/mcdowell)
CHECK OUT: Consider Supporting the Ministry! (https://seanmcdowell.org/give)
*Get a MASTERS IN APOLOGETICS or SCIENCE AND RELIGION at BIOLA (https://bit.ly/3LdNqKf)
*USE Discount Code [SMDCERTDISC] for 25% off the BIOLA APOLOGETICS CERTIFICATE program (https://bit.ly/3AzfPFM)
*See our fully online UNDERGRAD DEGREE in Bible, Theology, and Apologetics: (https://bit.ly/448STKK)
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sean_McDowell
TikTok: @sean_mcdowell
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmcdowell/
Website: https://seanmcdowell.org
Timestamps 0:00 — How central is the resurrection? 1:21 — Why he turned from evidence to practice 2:32 — Why the resurrection completes the gospel 6:50 — Faith and radical commitment 9:04 — Not by works, but unto them 10:47 — Suffering: his first wife, and now Eileen 13:31 — Why errors in the gospels wouldn't undo the resurrection 16:44 — Persecution 21:11 — Emotional doubt, and why it's most of it 25:32 — The fear of death 28:05 — Living in the power of the resurrection 30:37 — Why the final chapter is on heaven 36:03 — The card he received when his first wife was dying 37:08 — Is he finished writing on the resurrection? 44:06 — The book he might still write, on simple living 47:20 — The new questions he's living with at 76 50:07 — Living with questions you can't answer
Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

How reliable are the eleven witnesses who attest to the Book of Mormon? Dr. Rob Bowman, author of Jesus' Resurrection and Joseph's Visions, joins me to do a deep dive comparing them alongside the Gospel witnesses to the Resurrection of Jesus, asking questions such as: What did they really see? Can we trust their testimony? Etc. Let us know what you think!
READ: Jesus' Resurrection and Joseph's Visions by Robert M Bowman Jr (https://amzn.to/4wMqmbn)
CHECK OUT: Logos Bible 60 Day Free Trial (https://logos.com/mcdowell)
*Get a MASTERS IN APOLOGETICS or SCIENCE AND RELIGION at BIOLA (https://bit.ly/3LdNqKf)
*USE Discount Code [smdcertdisc] for 25% off the BIOLA APOLOGETICS CERTIFICATE program (https://bit.ly/3AzfPFM)
*See our fully online UNDERGRAD DEGREE in Bible, Theology, and Apologetics: (https://bit.ly/448STKK)
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
Twitter: https://x.com/Sean_McDowell
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sean_mcdowell?lang=en
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmcdowell/
Website: https://seanmcdowell.org

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.