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James Patrick Holding

James Holding

The Impossible Faith Paperback – May 1, 2007

by James Patrick Holding (Author)

27 ratings

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A Thesis So Explosive, An Atheist Paid $5,000 for An Answer The Impossible Faith offers the proposition that Christianity could not have succeeded unless it had indisputable proof of the resurrection of Jesus. Had there not been such evidence, Christianity would have been an "impossible faith". Using his seventeen years of experience in apologetics ministry, the author will demonstrate the impossibility of Christianity in the eyes of the people of the first century and present an apologetic for Jesus' resurrection. Christians will be encouraged and emboldened by the message of The Impossible Faith, realizing "how firm a foundation" they have in Christ Jesus. Non-Christians will be challenged to consider the truth of Christianity in a new light. The arguments in this book are so powerful that one atheist paid over $5,000 for a response. It is impossible to estimate the evangelistic impact that is possible because of The Impossible Faith. James Patrick Holding is President of Tekton Apologetics Ministries , one of the leading apologetics ministries on the Internet. Tekton Apologetics Ministries was recommended by apologist and prominent author Lee Strobel on Hank Hanegraaff's The Bible Answerman in December, 2001. Holding has written over 1700 articles for his ministry, as well as articles for the Christian Research Journal and for the publications of Creation Ministries International . He has also published The Mormon Defenders: How Latter-Day Saint Apologists Misinterpret the Bible. He lives in Central Florida with his beloved wife and a very small, very spoiled poodle.

Print length

112 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Xulon Press
Publication date

May 1, 2007
Dimensions

5 x 0.27 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

1602660840
ISBN-13

978-1602660847
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Xulon Press (May 1, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 112 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1602660840
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1602660847
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.27 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,319,823 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4,453 in Christian Apologetics (Books)

Customer Reviews:
27 ratings

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2 star		5%
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wake

A five if it was a little bigger

Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2014

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I like this book because it does make you think. Why has Christianity gone as far as it has? There have been other religions and faiths that have come and gone, but as old as Christianity is, what makes it tick as long as it has. I admit I was never familiar with the society before I read this book, and the society back then does pose a few problems if Christianity was a false religion. I assume this book is more of a "get your feet wet" deal considering it's size. So I plan to get what I believe is the real meat "Defending the resurrection" since I like the writing and the research of the author, and this book seems to be a precursor to that one. I'm only giving this book a 4 because I would of liked more material, even as a starter book. Plus, I didn't want it to stop because I felt myself getting into it. Besides, it may sound snobbish, but it's hard for me to give a small book a 5.

2 people found this helpful

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Reuben

These atheists are impossible to please.

Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2010

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I give this book 4 stars. Really easy and quick read, I would have improved the last chapter where he pleads with the reader to consider the resurrection for what it was. I feel that he should have a little more of a Gospel message at the end and explain a bit about the need not only to believe the resurrection but to repent of our sins and put our faith in Jesus Christ for our salvation and eternal life. Other than that, it was good quick read. I don't think this is meant to be exhaustive but it covers a few basic points.

All of these atheists saying that it's a horrible book riddled with logical fallacies are way over the top. If you're a Christian or a non Christian who isn't antagonistic towards the Gospel and aren't already all filled with hate for God, then you should enjoy this book.

Forget what the atheists have to say about it...they are impossible to please.

8 people found this helpful

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S.D. Parker

An Excellent Thesis

Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2007

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James Patrick Holding is my favorite apologist. He's dealt with a plethora of objections to Christianity having written well over a thousand articles. He's honest, knowing when something is beyond his purview (such as evolution), and sticks to the topic at hand. And last but not least, he does his homework citing only the most credentialed scholars when making his case. In fact, he is one of the few non-credentialed Bible scholars who I take just as seriously (if not more so) than many of those who are. Furthermore, his website -- Tekton Apologetics Ministry -- is one of the few sites I bother to read on a regular basis.

So it may not be much of a surprise to find that the Impossible Faith, while rather short, offers a most powerful and original argument for the truth of the Christian faith. As the back cover states, the book presents "a thesis so powerful, an atheist paid $5,000 [!] for an answer". The book's aim is to show that given the social and historical context wherein Christianity began, that unless there was some overwhelming evidence for its truth, it would not have been able to survive.

In the first chapter, Holding shows what happens to religions that cannot stand up to the obstacles of reality. Using Sabbatai Sevi as a case example, Holding states that in Sevi in 1666 had established himself as the Jewish Messiah in the minds of many. However, one day Sevi appeared before the Sultan's council, only to come out from the chambers a convert to Islam! However, later in his life, Sevi began showing signs of reversing his apostasy and was banished into isolation. It was there where Sevi died. However, one of his followers made the prediction that after 12 months, Sevi would raise from the dead. Of course, this didn't happen and as a result his religion fell to relatively few members. As Holding states, "[s]ocial, theological, and historical pressures inevitably come to bear and force most religious faiths to either change with the times, or cease to exist". Holding's point thus is that somehow, despite "impossible" obstacles, Christianity survived in its earliest stages. And that can almost certainly only be because it's true.

In the second chapter, Holding highlights just how important honor was to people in Jesus' society. Honor was, in fact, "of primary importance". Holding quotes scholar David DeSilva who states, "The promise of honor and threat of disgrace [were] prominent goads to pursue a certain kind of life and to avoid many alternatives". Holding goes on to discuss the crucifixion and how absolutely horrendous it was to the minds of 1st century folk - not merely because of the physical pain which is of more modern concern and emphasis, but because of the nonphysical pain of dishonor. Most Christians are aware of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:18. But such extant remarks were hardly limited to the apostle. Josephus, Justin Martyr, Celsus, and an oracle of Apollo all testified to the enormous disgrace and dishonor that the crucifixion was. The point Holding makes here is that the severity of the crucifixion in an honor-and-shame culture such as the first century known world was a virtually insurmountable obstacle for Christianity, and the only way to explain the fact that Christianity did overcome this obstacle is that there must have been some sort of incredible proof that despite what Jesus experienced, that he was still vindicated; a la the Resurrection.

In the next chapter, Holding shows how people in the first century were hardly politically correct! In fact, what we today call stereotypes, meant quite a lot to those of Christ's day. And three in particular counted very much against Jesus. (1) He was a Jew; (2) He was a Galilean; (3) He was of Nazareth. (1) was not good because for a religion that aimed to convert not only Jews but Gentiles also, because as Holding shows in quoting Tacitus, the Jews were thought of as superstitious and were a people considered to despise everything non-Jewish. (2) was of a similar nature. Holding quotes Josephus who states the Galileans were naturally predisposed against Rome that they were "trained for war" against it. Galileans were also thought to lack intelligence. Holding notes a rabbinic account where a teacher spent 18 years trying to teach the Galileans though finally left frustrated by their lack of learning. (3) served as a problem, for in Christ's time your home town said a lot about you. However Nazareth, being a backwater town, could only serve to hurt the earthly image of Jesus. Even so, these obstacles were also overcome.

Holding next notes how the preaching of a physical resurrection was an unappealing message for most Gentiles. Many Gentiles thought the body and material matter not to be good, but evil. As the author states, "[t]he best hope was for us to get rid of our body, not desire for it to be raised again!"

Last but not least, Holding notes the obstacles Christianity made for itself by proclaiming, not unlike Judaism, things such as an exclusive path to God and salvation, and separation from the world. As Holding states, Christianity also taught people to break away from their families, advocated changes in social roles, and abolished the sacred symbols of Judaism. It is hard in our Western age and society, and in a book review no less, to underscore how seriously negative the reaction to these teachings would have been. Indeed all these factors made Christianity a most "impossible faith".

Holding then moves on to apply his thesis to other religions, such as Islam and Mormonism. After all, its not as though other of the more successful religions do not, or have not, experienced some kind of trials. Holding seems most willing to grant this. However, the trials these other religions experience simply were not up to par with what Christianity had to bear. For instance, although Mormons endured much persecution in their early years, being in a modern Western civilization, martyrdom was no more the vehicle of shame that it was for Christianity, but rather served to further its cause. Islam on the other hand was and is an impressive faith in how it came to be, and as Holding acknowledges may even pass the test of being an impossible faith if it were not for one major factor: through the sword was it able to sweep through the Middle East, enforcing and maintaining the status quo. Christianity, on the other hand, totally lacked this major advantage. As Holding asks, if Muhammad's tactical and military victories were instead failures, or simply did not happen, where would Islam be today?

Having established his thesis, Holding goes on in the last couple chapters of the book to defend the Resurrection against alternative, naturalistic hypotheses. Holding tackles the untenable (yet sometimes advocated) swoon theory, as well as theories that someone stole the body of Christ. He rightly argues that these alternative theories to be substantially less supported by the evidence.

In the end, despite all the shame, ostracizing, and contempt that Christianity had to face in its earliest stages, it somehow was able to overcome despite boldly and daringly espousing miracles that were easily verifiable in that day. And if we can discount dishonor as an incentive for converting [!], there can really only be one other reasonable rationale for doing so: the miracles attested in the Gospels and New Testaments were indeed verified to such an extent that all dishonor was overturned and the message vindicated. For it's only by such indisputable proof that such a result could have occurred.

As mentioned at the beginning, Holding has put together quite an impressive and powerful thesis defending the Christian faith. I would recommend it to anyone seriously thinking about and investigating the Christian faith. At just over a hundred pages, it doesn't take much investment out of anyone's extracurricular time to read. Holding doesn't waist any time or words, and so gets right to the point. And even if one is poised to doubt and/or disagree with Holding's thesis, I would encourage him or her to read it anyway. For anyone who is going to claim that Holding is wrong must deal with the facts he has presented. Hand waving and casual dismissal will not suffice.

Overall, highly recommended.

18 people found this helpful

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D. Adams

The Impossible Faith, a great resource.

Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2007

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The Impossible Faith

This book conflates a total of nine chapters that designates why Christianity is the Impossible Faith. After reading the book, I agree that Christianity was rather difficult religion of faith that survives even today. In a culture where postmodernism, revisionists, and non-qualified skeptics seem to be crawling from the woodwork--James Patrick Holding takes the reader to a more in-depth culture-relevant journey.

The author covers the honor-shame concept of the ANE culture and "how the crucifixion was the greatest shame that Jesus endured for our sake" in Chapter one. In Chapter two, JP talks about "the three strikes against Jesus with respect to widely-held ancient prejudices and stereo-types."

Commencement of Chapter three talks about the so-called problems of Christ's resurrection being unique before the time of final judgment. Chapter four covers the concepts of Forsaking family, Reversing Social Roles, Forsaking Symbols, and Teaching Subversion all relevant to the culture at hand. Often times our culture totally disregards the culture of the Jewish community through an Occidentalized view of individualism.

Chapter five is a comparison of other religions in how they are not so closely related to Christianity when it comes to impossiblity. Chapter six speaks of the three pillars of early evangelism. This chapter describes three appeals which cover Miracles, wonders, signs, the empty tomb, and fulfillment of the OT prophecy by Jesus.

Chapter seven covers the wishful thinking canards such as the apostles suffering from hallucination of a guardian angel as covered in the Talmud (when it came to the resurrection). This section also covers a discussion about a physical versus a spiritual resurrection of Christ.

Chapter eight covers the survival game which speaks about some of the typical alternative counter-explanations of the resurrection. This chapter includes the defunct swoon theory, the Romans expertise on execution, typical signs and stages of algor, rigor, and livor mortis (and how they are distinguishable even to the lay person). Also this segment dispels the myths about certain anesthesia drugs during the first century believed to seemingly put Christ asleep before his burial, including a discussion with Dr. Noel on this subject.

Chapter nine finishes on the subject of the claims of snatching the body through a total of three possibilities. This book highlights the basic tenets of Christianity and how it survived almost impossible odds at its conception. While the book is comprised of only 110 pages do not let the small size fool you. This is a book that serves as a quick reference tool that answers the skeptics but goes beyond that to invoke a more positive view of Apologetics for the 21st century.

15 people found this helpful

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Nigel V

One for everyone

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 26, 2013

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A clear and vital defence of a foundational truth and it should be picked up and read by as many as possible.

One person found this helpful

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