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Hardback Color Interior $18.87 +SH WAS $24.95 +SH SKU: BC-HBC ISBN: 978-1-7329735-0-3	PDF Color Interior $4.99 With immediate downoad. SKU: BC-PDF ISBN: 978-1-7329735-2-7
Case of 12 price for Classes $9.99 each book Write or call to arrange purchase 1-248-344-4423 / jonah@ninevehscrossing.com

CLICK HERE for AL KRESTA INTERVIEW ABOUT THE BOOK (8 min) BOOK FEATURES AND DESCRIPTION Appropriate for Christians or non-Christians wanting to understand the historical facts, archaeological evidences, and logical reasons for the authenticity of Christianity. Excellent resource for home school high school students or as a college level text book. Suitable for all faith traditions: Protestants, Orthodox and Catholics (lectured by Evangelical Protestant, but edited by Catholic apologist. So, it's doctrine neutral, but heavy on facts and logic.) 33 chapters/lectures. 196,000 words. in See topics below. Suitable for mature high school students and all adults 33 Christian themed B.C. cartoon strips by Johnny Hart 50+ color photographs of the Greek and Roman culture that Christianity overcame Trim size: 8.5" x 8.5" (overall size 8.75" x 8.75" x 0.78") Weight: 2 ounds 6 ources Length 374 pages. Topic index in print editions. Electronic search for PDF version. Many footnotes and citations. Based on 4 small classic text books: Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis), Basic Christianity (John R.W. Stott), The New Testament Documents: Are they Reliable? (F.F. Bruce), and Christian Beliefs: A Brief Introduction (I. Howard Marshall) Dr. Stan Walters is known for his mastery of clear thinking. See bio at the bottom of this page. In this remarkable series of lectures, Dr. Stanley D. Walters, archaeological and ancient language scholar, makes clear the historical, logical, textual, and archaeological evidences supporting Christian belief. By providing hard facts and clear thinking, Walters's insightful lectures meet the four criteria of a good argument. The information and evidence he presents are: (1) directly relevant to the argument that the New Testament is historically accurate; (2) acceptable to a wide range of scholars, many of whom are not believers; (3) sufficient in kind and weight to justify the conclusion that the claims of Christ and Christianity are true; and (4) robust rebuttals to the strongest counterarguments against the claims of Christ and the Christian faith. These lectures have bolstered the faith of thousands and have provided logical ammunition to a society that has moved from something we might call "post-Christian" to "post-reason." Accessible and evergreen, they are a treasure trove of reasons for why Christianity is the answer to society's woes. This volume is presented with the hope that Christians will always be prepared to make a reasoned defense to anyone who asks for an account for the hope that is within them, and will do it with gentleness and reverence (1 Peter 3:15). TABLE OF CONTENTS Lecture 1. The Goals of This Course - FREE AUDIO Download The BOP method • No nose flattening • AIMS OF THE COURSE • An adult level understanding of Christianity • Evidence based • Skills in thinking about life from a Christian standpoint • To provide answers for pressing questions about life • All human nature is ultimately religious • Paper assignment: The presuppositions of my life. Lecture 2. What is a Christian Liberal Arts College - FREE AUDIO Download WHAT IS A LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE? • A breadth of knowledge • Value ideas for their own sake • Develop critical thinkers • WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE? • Not an escape • Not a church • Learning around Jesus Christ • Materialism vs. Theism • The wholeness of Christian education Lecture 3. Thinking for Yourself in Religion - FREE AUDIO Download INDEPENDENT THINKING • Do you have your own opinion? • Can we think for ourselves about religion? • THINKING FOR YOURSELF IN RELIGION • Get the facts • Accept outside information • Dealing with God a special problem • Think! • Think hard about the things that matter most. Lecture 4. Getting Information About God - FREE AUDIO Download - WATCH VIDEO BELOW Is one idea as good as the next idea? • Personal experience • Christian tradition • Differences of other religions • Scientific discoveries • Greek and oriental religions • The Incarnation • Factual Evidence • Areas of uncertainty Lecture 5. By Word of Mouth - Oral Transmission - FREE AUDIO Download EVIDENCE THAT THE NEW TESTAMENT IS TRUSTWORTHY • Word of mouth • The information gap • The canonicity question • The copy gap • BY WORD OF MOUTH • How do we know there is an information gap? • Where did the information gap come from? • Safe guarding the accuracy • ORAL EXAGGERATION? • Teaching was by repetition • Mnemonic devices • Semitic parallelism • Grouping in Threes and Sevens • Parables, metaphors, and similes, The power of memory • The nature of preaching • The public nature of the transmission • The oversight of eyewitnesses • The knowledgeability of the opposition • Inconvenient items • Items which are embarrassing to the church • Inconsistences between the Gospel accounts • Reader familiarity with the tradition taken for granted by Mark • The church distinguishes Christ's teaching from its own. Lecture 6. Source Criticism & The Synoptic Gospels - FREE AUDIO Download Writing chronology of the four Gospels • Form criticism • The Q, M and L sources • Poetic features • consistent sources • The four-document hypothesis Lecture 7. Authenticity of the Fourth Gospel FREE AUDIO Download Geography • Chronology • Style • Picture of Christ • Authorship • Eyewitness • Internal evidence • External evidence Lecture 8. Outside Independent Evidences - Part 1 FREE AUDIO Download PAUL • Paul's conversion • Paul as evidence of Christianity's truth • The integrity of Paul's message • LUKE • The Roman centurion in Caesarea • Circumcision of Gentiles • Luke's political knowledge • Luke's nautical knowledge • Luke's historical accuracy • ARCHEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE • The Trophimus Riot • The Pool of Bethesda • Paul as Hermes and Barnabas as Zeus • Discovery of New Testament Fragments Lecture 9. Outside Independent Evidences - Part 2 FREE AUDIO Download Ossuaries • Papyrus • EARLY NON-BIBLICAL WRITINGS • Jewish Writers • Rabbis • Josephus • Beheading of John the Baptist • Death of Herod Agrippa • Jesus • NON-BIBLICAL GENTILE WRITERS • Thallus • Mara BarSerapion • Suetonius • Tacitus • Other possible sources • Pliny the Younger. Lecture 10. The Resurrection of Jesus - FREE AUDIO Download The Importance of the Resurrection Question • LOGICAL EVIDENCE • Jewish authorities said the tomb was empty • The empty tomb was available for inspection • Why was the tomb empty? • Did the disciples remove the body? • Did Roman or Jewish authorities take the body? • Was Jesus Really Dead? • Did the women go to the wrong tomb? • EYE WITNESSES • DISCIPLES TRANFORMATION • No proofs but strong probability • THEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE • The resurrection demonstrates that Jesus was God. • The resurrection of the body of the Christian gives hope. Lecture 11. Can Miracles Happen at All? The curse of Oklahoma's water • The blessing of no rain • Pious disbelief • Miraculous vs. regularity • The rise of the great machines • WHAT DO WE MEAN BY MIRACLE? • The miracles that are common • The miracle of timing • The miracles of natural law • the miracle for a person • MIRACLES AND NATURAL LAW • Cause and effect • Does what is, have to be? • Natural laws vs. moral laws • How natural law is never violated Lecture 12. Arguments Explaining Miracles Why explain miracles? • To strengthen faith • To battle skepticism • THREE ARGUMENTS TO UNDERSTAND MIRACLES • Equivocation for atheists • Person with a purpose argument • The coin flip: Honest or weighted? Naturalist or theist? • The sock analogy and Natural Law intervention • High species argument: Miracles for the nutritive plant, Miracles for the sentient animal, Miracles for the rational person • The Multi-dimensional argument: Mr. and Mrs. Flat Living in Flatland • Multi-dimensions of God • Red flags. Lecture 13. Are Miracles a Means to an End? IN TERMS OF PURPOSE • Cause and effect vs. purpose • The development of personality • Miracles: A significant adaptation of means • Three implications: Things don't happen by accident, The Universe is run by the eternal purpose of God, Christians need to be open to the novel and unexpected • Psychics and clairvoyants • A miraculous calling Lecture 14. Text Criticism - Part 1 SOURCE CRITICISM • The Book of Mormon • Writing styles • The copy gap • TEXT CRITICISM • First century Greek • Variations and implications regarding inspiration • ROSETTA NOTE: inspiration, inerrancy and infallibility. Lecture 15. Text Criticism - Part 2 The Information Gap vs. The Copy Gap • What text criticism does and does not do • Examples: The Pool of Bethesda, Snake Handling and Poison • RSV Criticism • Comparison of Translations, Versions and Paraphrases Lecture 16. Canon of the New Testament The question: Why were these 27 picked? • How were they selected? • THE STANDARD • Apostolicity • Authority • Time • Acceptance • Holy Spirit • THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS • Hastening canon's completion • The need to read Christian writings in worship • The need to refute heresy • The need to know what's worth dying for Lecture 17. Geo-political Background of Mark SIX BACKGROUND FACTORS FOR THE GOSPELS • A uniquely propitious time • Greek language • Roman roads • Roman law • Jewish independence in Palestine • The political messianic expectation • Jesus is his name, Christ is his title • The meaning of "Gospel" • The idea of the "kingdom of God" Lecture 18. Greek and Roman Civilization A pictorial review of the civilization in which Jesus lived and the Early Church grew • Geographic extent of the Roman Empire • The pagan religious worship of Baalbek • Temple of Jupiter • Temple of Bacchus • Baalbek's ruins • Roman architecture • Roman construction techniques • Valleys and trade routes • Roman roads • The Decapolis • Jerash • Forums • Temples of Zeus • Greek theater • City planning • The Parthenon & Athena statue • Greek philosophy • Greek love of order • Temple at Jerusalem • Formlessness of Hebraic culture • Greek expansion • Temple of Concord at Agrigento • Mount Etna • Palermo Cathedral • Influence of Spanish, Norman, French and Arabic architecture • Herculaneum • House designs • Circus Maximus • Coliseum • Appian Way • Temple of Castor and Pollux • Palace of Caesar Augustus • Lecture 19. What Made Jesus Different Reverend Major Jealous Divine • Gospel of Mark uniqueness • RISE OF POPULARITY • Message • Followers • Miracle healing: unclean spirit, Peter's mother-in-law, after sunset, leper • RISE OF OPPOSITION • Forgiveness of sins • Tax Collector • Fasting • Grain in the field • Withered hand • THE PLOT THICKENS • Teaching authority • Authority over the demonic • Authority to revise the law • DECADES OF POMPOSITY DEFLATED Lecture 20. Jesus's Power Jesus's power on display • Power over nature: Calming of the storm • Power over demons: Healing the Demoniac • Power over disease: Healing Incurable Hemorrhage • Power over death: Healing Jairus's daughter • Jesus rejected by his own people • The Mission of the 12 • The Death of John the Baptist • Jesus feeds the 5,000 • Jesus walks on sea. Lecture 21. Jesus's Last Week and Pilate Pilate • Ecclesiastical trial • Political trial • Herod • Flogging • Crucifixion • Executive clemency • Barabbas • Roman provincial administration • Tetrarch • Procurator • Caesar • Palestine • Roman Standards • Caesarea • Jewish protest against Pilate • E.M. Blaiklock • Judge Lyle and Gangland Chicago • Personal Responsibility Lecture 22. Right vs. Wrong as Evidence of God Right and wrong: Evidence of God's existence • The impulse of conscience • Objections • Instinct • Social convention • Human level • Beyond instinct • Beyond social convention • A standard is needed • Logically sound • Where does moral "oughtness" come from? • The moral argument for God's existence • Objections to the moral argument • Moral relativism • Differences are not essential differences • Differences diminish as the level of civilization rises • Differences do not rule out the one that is right • Some anthropological research on societal mores is superficial • There is such a thing as moral blindness Lecture 23. Concepts of God What's your concept of God? • "God could care less about sanitation" • Pantheism • Dualism • The Christian God • Creation was good, then something happened • A liar or a lunatic, but not a great teacher • C.S. Lewis, the writer Lecture 24. Why Believe in God - Part 1 The materialist, God, and equivocation • Why come up with reasons for believing in God? • It is no sin to doubt • How should we proceed? • Two fundamental reasons there is doubt about God: The church and science • Theism vs. atheism • The new atheism • Arguments not proofs • Cause and effect • The Moral Argument / Categorical imperative Lecture 25. Why Believe in God - Part 2 Argument from design / Teleological argument • Whittaker Chambers • Asparagus anonymous • Physiology • The religious experience argument • General experiences with God • Personal experiences with God • The argument from Christ • Logic does not force you to believe Lecture 26. The Character of Christ Mrs. Steele and the 2nd Coming of Christ • What is the evidence? • Jesus considered himself sinless • Jesus's friends claimed he was sinless • Jesus's enemies considered him of uncommon character • Was Jesus uniquely divine or not? Lecture 27. Jehovah's Witnesses and Jesus Christ Arianism • Charles Taze Russell • Joseph Franklin Rutherford • Nathan Homer Knorr • Christ's 1914 return • The 144,000 • Odd beliefs and practices • Changes coming • Changes in class • Good things • Interest in the Bible • Zeal • The Trinity • Their own Bible translation • Begetting and begotten • How to witness to a Witness Lecture 28. Sin in the New Testament Defining sin • Violation of God's laws • Blow to a loving heart • Essence of sin is pride • Sin is universal • The consequences Lecture 29. What is a Christian? What does not define a Christian? • Use of "Christian" in the Bible • Short Definition • Scriptural Basis • Redemption and interpersonal relationships • A created relationship • Man: Administrator of creation • Man: Spiritually subordinate to God • Sovereignty of God • Expressing the character of God • Two kinds of independence • A broken relationship • A restored relationship Lecture 30. What Happens in Christian Conversion Justification • Regeneration • A qualitative and quantitative change Lecture 31. How to Become a Christian Becoming a Christian is not automatic • Many answers given • "Christian" is not really a Biblical term • Biblical terms are not self-explanatory • Meeting Conditions vs. earning salvation • AWAKENING • REPENTANCE • What kind of change and in what sense? • More than regret • More than remorse • Definition • Acquiescence • Repudiation • SAVING FAITH • What it means to believe • New Testament terminology • Trust • Self • Transfer • Christ • Conversion Lecture 32. Christianizing the Christian Making the Christian holy • What does it mean to be holy? • Separation • Moral Excellence • Radiance • How do we become holy? • Christian Conversion • Christian Growth • A hunger, not an understanding Lecture 33. Carpe Diem Dei - Final Chapel Talk A devotional talk encouraging students to appropriate and recondition the ordinary moments of every day, redeeming them so that they somehow become shaped by that moment of truth which we have seen. Hardback Color Interior $18.87 +SH WAS $24.95 +SH SKU: BC-HBC ISBN: 978-1-7329735-0-3 PDF Color Interior $4.99 With immediate downoad. SKU: BC-PDF ISBN: 978-1-7329735-2-7 Case of 12 price for Classes $9.99 each book Write or call to arrange purchase 1-248-344-4423 / jonah@ninevehscrossing.com STAN WALTERS BIO Stanley D. Walters, Ph.D. led a distinguished and recognized career as interpreter of Scripture, as teacher, preacher and scholar. Professional Experience Tyndale University College, Toronto, Canada, (2004-2010). Professor of Religious Studies, undergraduate instruction in Old Testament and biblical interpretation. Now Emeritus. Minister of Word and Sacrament, Rosedale Presbyterian Church, Toronto, Canada (1992-2001), First Presbyterian Church, Bucyrus, OH (2001-2004) Knox College, University of Toronto, Canada, (1976-1992). Professor of Old Testament Languages and Literature, Hebrew exegesis, master's and doctoral thesis direction, graduate seminars and supervisions. Sessional Lecturer (1992-1995). Centre for Religious Studies, School of Graduate Studies, University of Toronto, (1979-1997). Professor of Old Testament Languages and Literature, cross-appointment from the theological faculty. Associate Director (1980-1982). Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, (1970-1976). Professor of Religion where he was instrumental in setting up tghe department of religion. Greenville College, Greenville, Illinois, (1961-1968). Professor of Religion, Bible, classical Greek and theology. Undergraduate instruction. Chairman, Department of Religion and Philosophy. Education Ph.D., Yale University Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Literature Th.M., Princeton Theological Seminary Biblical Studies B.D., Asbury Theological Seminary Greek B.A. Greenville (Illinois) College History ENDORSEMENTS A sampling of what his students said 50 years later. Dr. Walter's course in Basic Christianity was the best class I ever attended. Thank you, Dr. Walters! (D.F.) In the words of the Bard, "I can no other answer make but thanks, and thanks; and ever thanks." The Basic Christianity course blessed many lives, mine included. (J.L.) Dr. Stan Walters was simply the best teacher I ever had. He spoke eloquently as he made difficult subject matter easy to understand. (J.F.) Stan Walters's class on Basic Christianity was the turning point of my faith. (D.W.) I left school and felt like I was floating on air. I will never forget Dr. Stanley Walters. What an incredible witness for Christ he was. (B.S.) Basic Christianity: Reasons for the Faith, is an excellent, analytic review of the Christian life and very reaffirming. It not only covers the foundational topics well, but also explains why many non-Christian views are just not correct. (J.W.) OTHER VIDEOS / ENDORSEMENTS THE STORY BEHIND THE BOOK When I was in college I was required to take a course in Basic Christianity designed and taught by Dr. Stan Walters, a Yale ancient language scholar. This was at a Christian liberal arts college in southern Illinois -- Greenville College (now Greenville University). I was a terrible student, but the content greatly intrigued and excited me. So, the next year in the spring of 1968 I got permission to record the lectures for my personal use after college. I wanted to understand the material better. What was intriguing about the content is that Walters did not deal very much with doctrine or spirituality, but rather with the facts, evidences and reasons for Christianity's authenticity. I was a physics major, and facts, evidences and logic always caught my attention. So, I recorded the 40 or so lectures from the college radio station since I was a production manager there and had audio links to the lecture hall where Walters was teaching. My future wife, Pam, was in the class by the way. Little did we know that the semester I recorded these lectures would be the last time the course would ever be taught by Walters or with the emphasis he placed on historical facts, archaeological evdiences and logical reasons. Walters was due for a year of sabbatical research, but was told that when he returned he could not teach Basic Christianity, the very course he had created and which this book documents. It became clear that the administation of the college (in 1968) was not comfortable with his approach to Christianity; it contained too much reason...and not enough "faith alone." Many of his former students believe it was great loss for the school. So, after the Spring-1968 semester Walters was spirited away by Carl Henry's Institute for Advanced Christian Studies, and spent two years in biblical research and writing, one year at Yale and a second at Oxford. A few years after college I hauled out the reel-to-reel tape recorder I had purchased for the project (a Sony TC-280) and started to outline the course. It was good material and I liked it a lot. But marriage, babies, and jobs got in the way, and I put the box of tapes aside. Decades later, in 2014, while researching and writing my faith-memoir, Growing Up Christian, I knew I wanted to dedicate a chapter to my experience with Dr. Stan Walters and his amazing Basic Christianity course. We discovered that Dr. Walters was living only a couple hours drive from us. We contacted him and he agreed to meet us for lunch near Toledo, Ohio, (picture at right). At the end of lunch I reminded him that I still had tapes of his lectures, and I mused about turning them into a book. He said he might be willing to let me do that. After I finished making a film in 2017-2018, I was wondering what to do next, and I started to think seriously about doing something with Dr. Walter's taped lectures. By now, Pam and I had Nineveh's Crossing, a distribution company, and I had published a few books, although mostly we produced DVDs and a few CDs. After prayer and realizing the commitment would be at least two years, Pam and I started in. The POD perfect bound edition came out in 2019, and the mass produced (layflat, sewn binding) books arrived May 8, 2020. It's an impressive volumne, mostly because it presents the facts, evidences, and reasons that in Christianity "something happened" that changed the world forever. - Stan Williams Hardback Color Interior $18.87 +SH WAS $24.95 +SH SKU: BC-HBC ISBN: 978-1-7329735-0-3 PDF Color Interior $4.99 With immediate downoad. SKU: BC-PDF ISBN: 978-1-7329735-2-7 Case of 12 price for Classes $9.99 each book Write or call to arrange purchase 1-248-344-4423 / jonah@ninevehscrossing.com

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