Really Recommended Posts 8/14/15- changing the Bible?, apologetics, carbon dating, and more!

Another round of Really Recommended Posts for you, dear readers! This week we have textual criticism, an interview with an author, discussion of how stories change the way we think, historical apologetics, and examination of the reliability of carbon dating. Check out the posts and let me know what you think here!

Why Publishers Change the Bible (And That’s OK)! (infographic)- A very helpful, concise, and visual way to see how textual criticism works and why sometimes verses are taken out or added into the Bible.

Interview with God’s Crime Scene Author J. Warner Wallace– J Warner Wallace is a cold-case homicide detective but also a Christian apologist. Here’s a great interview with him about his apologetics ministry and his recently-released book, God’s Crime Scene, which I reviewed here.

The Best Stories– How do fictional stories impact us in “real world” ways? Here’s a post that discusses the impact that stories can have on our lives and the way we think.

A Look at the First Apologists–  Here is a great post that shows how the first Christian apologists approached the task of defending the Christian faith. The interesting thing to note is that the first apologists were all Messianic Jews.

Can We Verify Carbon Dating’s Reliability?– Young Earth Creationists often question the reliability of dating methods used to verify an “old earth” perspective. Here’s a post that shows how carbon dating can be independently verified.

10 Questions for Target Critics Regarding “Boys’ Toys” and “Girls’ Toys”– I’ll admit it, I’m not a huge Rachel Held Evans fan. But I do think that the questions she asks here, although somewhat tongue-in-cheek, get at some good points of concern regarding some comments about Target’s “gender neutral toys” policy. Specifically, she references an article by the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood and asks some pointed questions of it. I think it’s worth seeing a different perspective on the issue, and I think that some of the comments by CBMW are clearly ridiculous (see RHE’s question #s 3 and 4).