Fall Theme 2016
BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING
Genesis 12:3
September 23, 2016
Jeff Lampl
Jeff Lampl
9/25 Beyond Ourselves
Meet people whose lives have been changed by Christ.
10/2 – 11/6 Marriage
A 5 week
series for married couples and single people including interviews of couples of
all ages. Topics include;
‘The Secret’ . . . ‘Godly Tantrums’. . . ‘The
Purpose’ . .’Who is this person’? . .‘The Power’ . . . ‘Sex’. .
10/16 Is Christianity
Credible?
One Week
only, Sunday 10/16. Bible Scholar David Marshall will preach at
both services on the believability of Christianity. His goal is to both strengthen the faith of believers and to
present Christianity to skeptics in a way that will help them consider
Christianity on its merits.
Dr. Marshall will also teach at ‘Life Café’ on Wed. evening 10/19 and on Saturday
morning 10/22 at 9:00 and 10:30.
Topics: Jesus and Other
religions, Is Jesus a Myth?, and Can the
Bible be Believed? There is no charge
for his teachings and childcare will be provided.
I am hoping that you will attend each of these
teachings not only so that you grow in your confidence and ability to explain your faith to skeptics, but also so
that you will take this opportunity to invite skeptical friends who might be
open to discovering that there are solid answers to their questions and doubts.
Dr. Marshall’s calling is to provide a solid,
rational and historically grounded response to the groundswell of those who are
questioning the credibility of Christianity
Dr. Marshall’s newest books are How Jesus
Passes the Outsider Test: The Inside Story, Jesus is no Myth. Just click on the link to purchase.
Read more about Dr. Marshall:
Dr. Marshall is a
Christian scholar and founder of the new East West Center for Christian Thought
in Seattle. He worked for 15 years in East Asia as a missionary and educator.
He labored to awaken the Asian church to the needs of young women caught in the
sex industry, researched Chinese culture, and studied theology at China
Evangelical Seminar. He then taught at Siebold University and Nagasaki
University in Nagasaki, Japan, his wife's hometown.
Dr. Marshall is author
of seven published books, on China and Christianity, world religions, the
Gospels, and the New Atheism, as well of articles for Christianity Today, Books
and Culture, Touchstone, and other magazines, and editor of Faith Seeking
Understanding: Essays in Memory of Paul Brand and Ralph Winter (William Carey Library).
Marshall has a doctorate
from Oxford Centre for Missions Studies, and MA and BA degrees in China-related
topics from the University of Washington in Seattle. He has debated
skeptics including Dr. Richard Carrier, John Loftus, Dr. Robert Price,
and Dr. Phil Zuckerman, and has spoken at leading churches in America, and also
in Canada, Great Britain, and many countries of East Asia. He blogs
at christthetao.blogspot.com.
He writes that, “The truth of the gospels lies at the heart of the Christian faith.
But in recent years, their historicity has been challenged in works that
have been granted tremendous media attention”
Jesus is No Myth answers these challenges by analyzing "forensic"
evidence for the trustworthiness of the gospels, helping Christians and
unbelievers recognize the dynamic, revolutionary character of the stories of
Jesus, why they are deeply credible as historical sources, and how they have
changed the world.
For the past 35 years,
Dr. Marshall has been studying three vital questions: "What has the Gospel
done for humanity?" "Can the gospels be trusted?" His previous
book, How Jesus Passes the Outsider Test: The Inside Story, which focused on Christ and other
religions, was compared by some reviewers to Mere Christianity and Orthodoxy.
Book Reviews
Jesus is No Myth (just out)
Dr. Craig Blomberg (Denver Seminary):
“David
Marshall presents a rare combination of forms of expertise . . .
Support
for the credibility of Christianity can be found here that
is
available nowhere else. A must read. ”
Dr. Timothy McGrew, Chair of the Department of Philosophy
at Western Michigan University:
"Full
of fresh insights, penetrating analysis, and dry wit – t
he
section on the Baal Shem Tov alone is worth the price of the book –
and
some of the best material from the rich storehouse of the history
of
apologetics."
How Jesus Passes the Outsider Test: The Inside
Story, 2015
"David Marshall
unlocks a wealth of wisdom . . . This book is a treasure chest. Read it
and you will be enriched." Miriam Adeney, Seattle Pacific Missiologist:
"At one point, I
was thinking to myself: "I can't remember the last time I enjoyed reading
a book this much." (And I read a lot.) Then I remembered that
it was when I read Chesterton's Orthodoxy. Quite honestly, I think this
book even surpasses that for me." Brad Cooper:
"For some time now,
Christianity’s cultured despisers have claimed that the Christian faith fails
the so-called outsider test for faith. In this delightful riposte, David
Marshall demonstrates the opposite is the case: Christianity, of all faiths, is
most adept to pass this test. Nor is this a dry academic volume: Marshall
presents his case with rhetorical wit and the cosmopolitan vision of a true
world citizen. A must have for any apologist."
Randal Rauser,
Canadian philosopher:
"Marshall’s
undertaking is breath-taking in its scope, as he brings together an amazing
array of factual evidence from history, literature, religions and an
unbelievable diversity of other sources in a brilliantly woven case that
effectively invalidates the skeptical claim that people of faith live in a
`closed door’ universe that could never survive the rigorous intellectual
scrutiny of the `Outsider Test’. Marshall is uniquely gifted as a writer – his
careful scholarship, depth of insight and logical analysis is matched only by his
illustrative genius as he skilfully blends inspired prose and vivid imagination
in a much-needed, readable counter to the contemporary assault of the new
atheists. This is a book you will not want to put down once you begin to read
it, and a `must-read’ for any thoughtful follower of Christ. It has immense
value both as a apologetic and pastoral tool - to help demolish obstacles to
faith among genuine skeptics, and to encourage the weak and equip the strong
within the community of faith." Ivan Satyavrata, theologian, Chairman,
Kolkata Mission of Mercy:
"An engrossing
historical tapestry laden with insight . . . Read on and be
enriched!" Don Richardson, author, Peace Child and Eternity in Their
Hearts:
"In the earliest
days of the church there was a skeptic named Celsus whose works have been lost,
and whose name would be forgotten had not Origen written his important
rebuttal, Contra Celsus . . . Much as Celsus has become a footnote to Origen, I
suspect (skeptic John) Loftus is destined to become a footnote to Marshall . .
. an outstanding read by a terrific storyteller, broad in scope, great in
depth." Tom Gilson, Thinking Christian blog:
Faith Seeking Understanding, 2012
Philip Jenkins, Penn
State historian:
"David Marshall has
gathered a really distinguished array of contributors, who have all thought
deeply about faith in its global context, and the different essays work
wonderfully well together. The book makes a splendid memorial to two truly great
individuals, Paul Brand and Ralph Winter."
Nicholas Wolterstorff,
Yale philosopher:
"What makes the
collection especially fascinating and valuable is the individuality and
particularity of the stories -- a concrete testimony to the fact that the Christian
intellectual life takes many forms."
The Truth Behind the New Atheism, 2007
Ralph Winter, founder,
US Center for World Missions: "Spectacularly argued, spectacularly
written, and even more spectacularly timely."
Rodney Stark (author of
The Rise of Christianity and For the Glory of God) "A wonderful revelation
that unreflective, blind faith is most prominently displayed these days by the
"new atheists"
Paul Griffiths, Warren
Chair of Catholic Thought at Duke Divinity School, "Dennett's and Dawkins'
arguments are given a full and fair showing, and their strengths acknowledged,
which makes all the more impressive the fact that only tumbled fragments of
their atheistic edifice remain by the time Marshall is done."
John Lennox, Oxford
University mathematician, philosopher of science, "I am enjoying (it)
immensely . . . I am sure it will be a great help with my own thinking on the
subject."
The Truth About Jesus and the "Lost
Gospels": A Reasoned Look at Thomas, Judas, and the Gnostic Gospels, 2007
Craig Blomberg:
"Marshall's work introduces the real historical facts as effectively as
any work in print today. Learned but very readable, wide-ranging in coverage,
and even tinged with self-effacing humor, this book sets the record
straight."
Jesus and the Religions of Man, 2000.
Frederica
Matthewes-Green, of Christianity Today: "David Marshall takes cultural
analysis several levels deeper, and in prose that is several levels higher,
than we've come to expect. The result is not only enlightening but also a great
deal of fun to read."
David Leshana, President
Emeritus, Seattle Pacific University: "Very well done . . . This book
should be read by all who . . . are preparing for ministry in an increasingly
multicultural world."
Leslie Keylock, professor
of Apologetics, Moody Bible Institute (retired): "Carefully reasoned and
beautifully written by a man who has read widely . . . One of the finest books
on world religions I have read in a long time."
Fort Worth
Star-Telegram, "Learned, urbane, and refreshing."
True Son of Heaven: How Jesus Fulfills the
Chinese Culture, by David Marshall, 1996.
Richard Sherburne, S.
J., Marquette University scholar of Tibetan religion: "I read (the) entire
book last night -- really found it hard to put down. A wonderful job of
de-europeanizing Jesus."
James Hudson Taylor III,
founder, China Evangelical Seminary: "An amazing piece of writing."
Don Richardson, author,
Peace Child, Eternity in Their Hearts: "An exciting read!"
Tony Lambert, China
researcher, "Showing deep, original thought, the author challenges the
assumption that God and Christ are totally alien to the Chinese tradition, and
writes a modern book on Christian apologetics in the process . . . Stimulating
and provocative."
Wright Doyle, Global
China Center, "It seems to me that Marshall has followed in the footsteps
of C.S. Lewis, who told us that are desires are to weak, not too strong; and of
Blaise Pascal, who urged Christians to show how lovely, how utterly delightful,
is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The True Son of Heaven presents us with
effective contextualization of the Christian message without dilution of its
essence . . . Marshall’s style, both poetic and colloquial, requires a
translator of the very highest skill in both English and Chinese to render the
beauty and subtleties of this fine work."
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