Erik Manning

Erik is the creative force behind the YouTube channel Testify, which is an educational channel built to help inspire people's confidence in the text of the New Testament and the truth of the Christian faith.

There’s one terrible reason to believe the gospels were written late, and there are 7 historical reasons to believe that they were written early

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Here’s a question that’s raised by skeptics from time to time. Why were the gospels written a generation after Jesus died? I mean, it’s only the “Greatest Story Ever Told.” Why did it take them so long to write this thing down if it was so important? One terrible reason to believe the gospels were written late: The consensus of critics tells us that the first gospel was written around 70 AD. The other three followed within the next 5 to 20 years. But where does this consensus come from? I’ll be straight up here. This dating comes from historians who rule out the supernatural. You see, Jesus had a lot to say about the … Read more

Jesus Never Explicitly Said, “I’m God”. Did He Really Need To?

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“Ahem! Excuse me! May I have your attention, please! I just thought it would be important for you all to know that I’m God. You should probably start worshipping me now since I’m the one who is sustaining your every breath.” — Things Jesus Never said. Recently I was talking to a Muslim. His hang-up was that Jesus never explicitly said: “I am God”. Since he never said that, why did Christians come to believe that he was God? I’m sure you’ve heard something like this before. Jesus Never Explicitly Said I’m God It’s true to say that Jesus never said the words “I am God”. But does someone have to come out and say … Read more

Preach the Gospel at All Times, and Words are Absolutely Necessary

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“Preach at all times. Use words if necessary.” You probably have heard this quote before if you’ve been in churches any length of time. It’s been attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, but there’s some dispute about whether or not he actually said it. I remember hearing it for the first time and thinking a couple of different things: 1. “Wow! How I live in the world really matters. I need to live a life of integrity and love in the world.” 2. “Whew! What a relief! I’m already pretty introverted, so now I’m excused from evangelism. If I’m a good enough person, some people will eventually ask me what makes me so different” Guess … Read more

The Christian and the Euthyphro Dilemma

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One of the arguments raised against God being the basis for morality is the age-old Euthyphro Dilemma. Socrates, in Plato’s dialogue, asks Euthyphro: “Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?” The modern adaptation raised against theism goes something like this: “Is what is morally good commanded by God because it is morally good, or is it morally good because it is commanded by God?” The Catch-22 for the theist is this: God could command any arbitrary thing that popped into his head – like killing kittens – and we’d be obligated to obey and call it good because God says … Read more

Is Jesus Alive?