Andreas Köstenberger. Friday, March 20, 2015. College of William and Mary. Millington 150. 7pm. Sponsored by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.
Does truth really matter? Is the New Testament really reliable, and can I have confidence in what it teaches? The New Testament is under attack, and many people today find it difficult to accept the trustworthiness of the Scriptures. Furthermore, many Christians find themselves unable to defend their faith against this form of skepticism.
Andreas Köstenberger, Senior Research Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, will be speaking at the College of William and Mary InterVarsity Christian Fellowship large group meeting, Friday, March 20, 2015, at 7:00 pm. Köstenberger is co-author of a recent book highlighted earlier here on Veracity along with Darrell Bock, Truth Matters: Confident Truth in a Confusing World. Köstenberger lectures on college campuses addressing issues related to the criticism of the New Testament and the nature of Christian marriage. For people living in the greater Williamsburg, Virginia area, Köstenberger’s talk promises to provoke a wide-ranging discussion of issues that many people, believer and skeptic, struggle with in today’s world. If you wrestle with these type of questions, please come and engage in the conversation.
College of William and Mary: Millington 150
(Directions to Millington Hall available here)
See you Friday night!!
Veracity 
March 25th, 2015 at 8:04 pm
My evaluation of Köstenberger’s presentation….
Köstenberger’s lecture was essentially a summary of Chapter 2 of his book, Truth Matters, which I highly recommend as a very accessible introduction to many of the apologetic concerns raised by popular skeptical authors, such UNC Chapel Hill’s Bart Ehrman. Chapter 2 mainly addresses the problem of suffering and evil, and astutely observes that this is “the” fundamental problem that many, including Bart Ehrman, find so difficult to deal with regarding the Christian message.
The bottom line for Köstenberger is that everyone has to deal with the problem of evil, including folks like Bart Ehrman, and frankly no one has a comprehensive understanding of the issue, whether they be Christians, agnostics or atheists. However, Christian faith does offer a way forward by arguing that it is the message of the cross that shows that suffering is not foreign to God. Just as Christ suffered on the cross for our sakes, we can have the confidence that God is indeed with us in our suffering, if we would be only willing to accept God as He is presented to us in the Gospel message.
My only reservation about Köstenberger is that he was not able to fully address some of the questions brought by students in the follow-up Q&A session. Thankfully, Köstenberger was honest in saying that as a New Testament scholar, he was not competent fully as a philosopher to adequately address a number of the student’s concerns. I appreciated the fact that he admitted his shortcomings. I find it particularly bothersome when other Christian apologists try be to “all things to all people” in how they make their apologetic appeal, when it is clear that not all apologists have expertise in every area. I find this particularly embarrassing when Christian scholars who are trained in philosophy begin to pontificate in areas of New Testament criticism, when it is clear that they lack enough formal training in biblical studies to make some of the types of arguments that they are making (I need not name any names). So it was very refreshing to have Köstenberger make such an admission. It makes him, as a person, seem a lot more approachable, which is a crucial part of apologetics needed today. In other words, how we say something is just as important, if not MORE important, than what we say.
However, I did find it puzzling that Köstenberger chose the topic that he did when he admitted that this area is not his strong suit. Yet then again, he was right to say that generally the apologetic concerns regarding the reliability of the Bible are nothing in comparison to the philosophical dilemma being the problem of good and evil.
Interestingly, Köstenberger says that his next area of focus will be in the area of how the New Testament uses the Old Testament. In my view, this issue will become a major apologetic issue in the coming years. I look forward to what Köestenberger will be doing with this new area of focus.
My bottom line? Get Köstenberger’s book, Truth Matters! Read it for yourself. Give it to every high school student heading off to college as a graduation gift. Young people desperately need to hear this message.
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