As part of my association with the Southern Baptist Convention's Certified Apologetics Instructor program, I have put together a series of topical teachings on a variety of subjects which are coordinated with printed material with more depth on the same topics. These materials will together be referred to on this site as the Tekton Building Blocks.

If you are interested in having us come to your church to teach from one of these Building Blocks, please contact me. Questions about speaking engagements are answered here.

The following are the currently available Building Blocks. Lessons are able to be tailored for adult or youth audiences.

The New Testament is the foundation record of our faith. Today its reliability has come under attack on multiple fronts. This block contains five teachings:

• Authority and Authenticity: Three Ways to Know Who Wrote What. This lesson shows how the authorship of an ancient document is determined, using three criteria:
  1. Internal evidence of attribution (what the document says about who wrote it)
  2. External evidence of attribution (what others say about who wrote the document)
  3. Internal evidence of content (what the style and content of the document says about authorship)

  The lesson uses a secular ancient work (Tacitus' Annals), a Biblical work (Matthew), and a heretical work (Gospel of Thomas) to show how the evidence is used to arrive at a conclusion about authorship.

• Texts and Transmission: Two Objections Claiming the Bible was Distorted. This teaching addresses claims that the New Testament was distorted as it was copied over time, refuting two major objections commonly made:
  1. We don't have the originals, so we can't be sure what the Bible originally said.
  2. The Bible has more than 400,000 errors in copying in it, so it cannot be relied upon.

  The lesson pays special attention to the claims of Bart Ehrman, author of Misquoting Jesus. There is also a related lesson available titled Deceit and Cunning in Chapel Hill that zeroes in more closely on Ehrman's claims.

• Talkin' the Talk That Walks: Three Myths About Oral Transmission. This teaching addresses the reliability of oral transmission, the primary means of communication of teachings in the Biblical world, and refutes three myths about it:
  1. Oral transmission is unreliable.
  2. Oral transmission is inferior to writing.
  3. Oral transmission is hearsay, so it is worthless.
• The Canon Under Fire: Two Falsehoods About the New Testament Canon. The formation of the New Testament canon is outlined, and two major falsehoods about its formation are dispelled:
  1. That the canon formation process was careless, or done by force;
  2. That important books were excluded, or unworthy books included.
• Can We Trust the New Testament? Three Guarantees of Reliability. Summary versions of material presented in the first three lessons above.

There will be a supplemental book associated with this block of teachings that we presently plan to publish by December 2008.

There is a popular thesis gaining ground among critics of Christianity claiming that the very founder of the faith, Jesus Christ, did not even exist as a person. This block contains four teachings to answer that argument:

• The Evidence for Jesus: Two Aspects of the Case for Christ. This lesson makes a positive case for the existence of Jesus using two points:
  1. Myths in the Christ myth. A discussion of misplaced expectations in the case for the Christ myth.
  2. The evidence for Jesus. A look at the two most important references to Jesus in secular works of the ancient world, and how Christ-mythers respond to it.
• Soundless Silence: Three Aspects of a "Biblical" Case for the Christ Myth. This teaching discusses the case for the Christ myth as presented by those who use the Bible as a source:
  1. The theorists -- who promotes this thesis.
  2. The arguments -- how they make their case.
  3. The examples -- a look at specific Biblical arguments for the Christ myth and how they are refuted.
• The Pagan Christ Zeitgeist: Three Aspects of a Spirit of the Age. This lesson discusses the case for the Christ myth as presented by those who use pagan myths as a source:
  1. The theorists -- who promotes this thesis.
  2. The pagan Christs -- a close look at three of the "pagan christs" commonly regarded as sources for the life of Jesus.
  3. The methods -- an overview of common flaws in the "pagan christ" thesis.
• The Christ Myth Thesis: Two Theories Gaining Ground. Summary version of the three lessons above.

There will be a supplemental book associated with this block of teachings that we presently plan to publish by May 2008.