Religion is now viewed by many as a placebo or emotional crutch precisely because that is how we often pitch the gospel to unbelievers
J.P. MorelandThe disciples had nothing to gain by lying and starting a new religion. They faced hardship, ridicule, hostility, and martyr's deaths. In light of this, they could never have sustained such unwavering motivation if they knew what they were preaching was a lie. The disciples were not fools and Paul was a cool-headed intellectual of the first rank. There would have been several opportunities over three to four decades of ministry to reconsider and renounce a lie.
J.P. MorelandThe soul is the ego, the โI,โ or the self, and it contains our consciousness. It also animates our body. Thatโs why when the soul leaves the body, the body becomes a corpse. The soul is immaterial and distinct from the body.
J.P. MorelandI would rather commit a sin of commission than a sin of omission, and the evangelical community is exactly the opposite. The evangelical community would rather not do something wrong and the price they're willing to pay for not doing something wrong is they're willing to fail to do something right; they're so afraid of making a mistake. Now the reason they're afraid of making a mistake is they're cowards and our community produces cowards.
J.P. MorelandInstead of responding to these attacks with a vigorous intellectual counterpunch, many believers grew suspicious of intellectual issues altogether. To be sure, Christians must rely on the Holy Spirit in their intellectual pursuits, but this does not mean they should expend no mental sweat of their own in defending the faith
J.P. Moreland