Mission/Ministerial Statement

Tekton Apologetics Ministries is committed to providing scholarly answers to serious questions which are often posed on major and minor elements of the Christian faith. We believe in the importance of sound Christian doctrine which is based on a careful exegetical analysis of scriptures from the Holy Bible. We also believe that it is important to incorporate the findings of various theological and scientific disciplines in order to properly assess the veracity of scriptural evidences, and to carefully evaluate issues which are relevant to the Church as a whole.

I consider the Tekton ministry to be my life's vocation. God burdened my heart with this ministry to make it a full time effort in September 2001 and has blessed the ministry's efforts considerably since that time.

Education

MASTERS IN LIBRARY SCIENCE, 1991

Florida State University

BACHELORS IN ENGLISH

Received certifcate from North American Mission Board, Certified Apologetics Instructor program, November 2007.

About Tekton Apologetics Ministries

Scope

Tekton is presently the largest apologetics website run by a single individual. It contains over 60MB of material, consisting of over 1700 separate articles compiled over a span of 10 years. Most of the articles are under the authorship of James Patrick Holding, but the site also features several contributing writers.

Method

Tekton is specifically oriented towards making Biblical scholarship accessible to the lay reader. This is done through the use of such tools as humor and recasting of complex issues in easy-to-understand language. One of our goals is to help people understand the Christian faith as it was understood by the apostolic church. Western Christianity is regrettably deficient in this regard.

Service

The Tekton website receives an average of 2000-3000 visitors a day, or 60,000-90,000 visitors a month. Tekton also receives an average of 120 e-mails a week that require some sort of response. The ministry offers a monthly e-mail newsletter with approximately 1400 subscribers.

Published Writings

• Is the raqiya' ('firmament') a solid dome? Equivocal language in the cosmology of Genesis 1 and the Old Testament: a response to Paul H. Seely. Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal 13(2):44-51, 1999
• Is the 'erets (earth) flat? Equivocal language in the geography of Genesis 1 and the Old Testament: a response to Paul H. Seely. Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal 14(3):51-54, 2000.
• Celsus Strikes Again. Christian Research Journal 23(2), 2000, 60-1.
• The Mormon Defenders: How Latter-day Saint Apologists Misinterpret the Bible. Self-published, August 2001.
• A Summary Critique: The Imitation Sensation (Review of The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark). Christian Research Journal 24(2), 2001, 56-8.
• A Summary Critique: Popular Mormon Apologetics - Staking Claim on Christian Ground (Review of Biblical Mormonism and Restoring the Early Church) Christian Research Journal 24 (4), 2002, 54-6.
• When Apologetics Was Evangelism. Christian Research Journal 26 (1), 2003, 10-11, 51.
• Surveying the Spiritual Lineup (Review of Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz's Bruce and Stan's Guide to the Cults). Christian Research Journal 26 (2), 2003.
• The Watchtower's Reign of Error (Review of Edmund Gruss' Jehovah's Witnesses: Their Claims, Doctrinal Changes, and Prophetic Speculations). Ibid.
• Revisiting a Cracked Conspiracy (Review of Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code). Christian Research Journal 27 (1), 2004.
• A Summary Critique: Under the Banner of Sensationalism (Review of Jon Krakaeur's Under the Banner of Heaven). Christian Research Journal, 27 (3), 2004.
• A Summary Critique: Politically Correct Afterlife (Review of Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven). Christian Research Journal, 27 (5), 2004.
• Answering Questions About 'Televangelists' Christian Research Journal, ibid.
• Faith Behind the Fence. Christian Research Journal, 27 (6), 2005.
• Witnessing to Those Fallen From Faith, Christian Research Journal, 28 (1), 2005.
• Review of M. J. Phelan's The Documentary Hypothesis. Journal of Creation (formerly Creation ex Nihilo Techinical Journal), 19 (3), 2005.
• Review of Floyd McElveen's The Mormon Illusion. Countercult Apologetics Journal, January 2006,
• Mary Magdalene's Modern Biography, Christian Research Journal, 29 (2), 2006.
• 'Not to Be Used Again': Homologous Structures and the Presumption of Originality as a Critical Value. Creation Ministries International, http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/4781 and Journal of Creation, 21(1), 2007.
• The Impossible Faith. Self-published, May 2007.
• A Summary Critique: "Ex-Christians" and Homespun Atheist "Apologetics", Christian Research Journal, 31 (2), 2008.
• Effective Evangelism: An Apologetic for Apologetics in Cyberspace, Christian Research Journal, 31 (3), 2008.
• Shattering the Christ-Myth: Did Jesus Not Exist? Self-published, July 2008.
• Effective Evangelism: Dealing with Dunning's Syndrome, Christian Research Journal, forthcoming.
• A Summary Critique: Andre Comte-Sponville's Little Book of Atheist Spirituality, Christian Research Journal, forthcoming.

Media Appearances

• March 2000, KTKK, Salt Lake City, The Richard Hopkins Show
• October 2001 and July 2002, WBRI, Indianapolis, From Fables to Faith
• December 2001 and December 2003, KJRT, Amarillo, The Source
• November 2003, December 2004, January 2005, February 2005, May 2006, July 2008, August 2008, September 2008, KFUO/Issues Etc./Morning Show/Afternoon Show, St. Louis
• December 2003, Radio 702, Johannesburg, Believe It or Not
• February 2004, WORD, Pittsburgh, PA, Let's Talk About Jesus
• April 2004, CDR Radio Network, Ohio, The Path
• May 2006, Spin 1038, Dublin, Ireland, McKenna and McCrea
• October 2006, The Narrow Mind, unchainedradio.com
• May 2007, The Sci Phi Show (Internet radio)
• October 2007, What Do You Believe? (Internet radio)
• November 2007, July 2008, Truth Talk Live, Greensboro, NC
• December 2007, The Real Jesus (DVD by The Apologetics Group)

Speaking Engagements

• May 2004, Crystal Springs Assembly of God, Jacksonville, FL
• August 2004, September 2005 Bethel Baptist Church, Spring Hill, FL
• October 2004, United Brethren Church, Heidlersburg, PA
• October 2004, Christian Fellowship Center, Jeanette, PA
• December 2004, St. Joseph Catholic Church, Hanson, MA
• December 2004, Ascension Community Church, Prairieville, LA
• February 2005, Southeastern College, Lakeland, FL
• July 2005, Church on the North Coast, Lorain, OH
• July 2006, No Other Gods conference, Resource Center for Theological Research, Middletown, PA
• April 2007, Attended Dynamic Communications Workshop, Asheville, NC
• June 2007, August 2007, September 2007 First Southern Baptist Church, Lady Lake, FL
• July 2007, October 2007 Orlando Community Church, Orlando, FL
• August 2007, Church at Westridge, McDonough, GA
• October 2007, Carrollwood Baptist Church, Tampa, FL
• November 2007, July 2008, Shepherd's Fellowship, Greensboro, NC
• November 2007, Chestnut Level Baptist Church, Blairs, VA
• November 2007, Mill Creek Baptist Church, Chatham, VA
• November 2007, West Cobb Baptist Church, Marietta, GA
• June 2008, First Baptist Church, Winter Park, FL, youth "apologetics boot camp"
• Plus various informal teaching engagements at my home churches over the years (First Baptist Sweetwater, Longwood, FL; First Baptist Leesburg, Leesburg, FL).

References -- National

Kevin Bywater, Director of Curriculum, Summit Ministries

Tekton Apologetics Ministries was recommended by apologist and prominent author Lee Strobel on The Bible Answerman in December, 2001. Editor in Chief of the Christian Research Journal Elliot Miller described Holding as "one of our foremost lay apologist writers" and an "effective and clear communicator" on The Bible Answerman in March, 2005.

Tekton Apologetics Ministries was listed as a "helpful website" in Appendix B of Lee Strobel's The Case for the Real Jesus and is also cited within the book twice. The same citations were used in an article by Strobel in a 2007 article in the Christian Research Journal (Vol. 30, #5, p. 21).

Five different Tekton items -- two by a guest, three by J. P. Holding -- were cited positively as sources in Paul Eddy and Gregory Boyd's The Jesus Legend.

Skeptic and Jesus Seminar member Robert Price published a rebuttal to the Tekton essay The Impossible Faith in his book Jesus is Dead, where he also responds to N. T. Wright and William Lane Craig.

Holding's article for the Christian Research Journal, "Mary Magdalene's Modern Makeover," is cited in Hank Hanegraaff's book The Apocalypse Code.

Holding's article on The Da Vinci Code, published on the website for Answers in Action, is cited as a resource in Hangraaff and Maier's The Da Vinci Code: Fact or Fiction.

Holding's site was listed as a resource for further information in Norman Geisler and David Hoffman's Why I Am a Christian.

Holding's review of Reinventing Jesus is quoted along with those of Paul Maier, Josh McDowell, and others on the promotions webpage for that book.

Holding's review of The Da Vinci Hoax is quoted along with those of Darrell Bock, Philip Jenkins, and others on the promotions webpage for that book.

References -- Local

Dr. Jimmy Knott, First Baptist Church, Orlando, FL

Dr. Charles Roesel, pastor emeritus, First Baptist Church, Leesburg, FL