jpholding
March 31st 2006, 04:48 PM
March 2006 Newsletter
Greetings to all! This is the first newsletter we've issued in a while, having decided first of all to reduce it from a bi-weekly to a monthly production, and second, having decided to upgrade the contents a bit. There will be all of the usual features we used to have in the past, plus some new ones. If this is your first newsletter, please pardon us for the extra explanations we've added for those who remember the old version. :-)
Website Updates
This opening section of the reformatted newsletter will be much the same as in the old one -- listings and descriptions of new items uploaded to the Tekton website. But we'll also add some further descriptive material now and then.
Classics Library. In March there was a great deal of work done on this special project, including many new entries as well as streamlining of older ones. This will continue for a while as we strive to make it the best resource it can be. The arguments that skeptics use today have already been addressed by Christians -- centuries ago, in fact. The Classics Library (as we call it, "Classic Works of Apologetics") is a repository of responses from orthodox Christian scholars and statesmen, such as the father of international law, Hugo Grotius, noted archaeologist Sir Frederic Kenyon, scientists Sir Isaac Newton and Blaise Pascal, and philosopher William Paley. The Classics library even includes documented proof of the Christian faith of statesman such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Rush, Patrick Henry, Daniel Webster, and refutations of the skeptical arguments of Voltaire, Gibbon, Paine, and Hume. These books, essays, and letters -- many of which could only be accessed in a handful of libraries -- are now available online for all the world to read, preserved for future generations. The words of the great defenders of Christianity are now yours to read, for your edification and encouragement, and for the glory of God. http://www.tektonics.org/classics/clasics.html
Scholarly Diplomacy Series. There were some new entries to this project, as I took up discussion with a new debate partner, Matthew J. Green, on two topics: The case made by Skeptic Peter Kirby against the Resurrection of Jesus; and the efforts of Skeptic Robert Price. Matthew is an interesting and informed opponent of high caliber, and I think you'll enjoy our discussions! http://www.tektonics.org/sdseries.html
Rogues Refuted. There was a new entry made in the Encyclopedia for Dennis Diehl, author of a piece titled "Questions Pastors Will Hate." Look for his entry at http://www.tektonics.org/TK-D.html None of Diehl's questions were particularly threatening, so a simple entry was deemed all that was warranted, though some links are given to other responses.
Two levels of exchange were done on the subject of comparing Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon to the Resurrection in terms of evidence. It is a popular argument of apologetics that there is as much evidence for the Resurrection as there is for Caesar's Rubicon crossing, and this article was begun as a close look at that claim. Since then, the Secular Web's Richard Carrier has come to the defense of his own view and we have responded. http://www.tektonics.org/qt/rubicon.html
Foundational Items. The first steps were taken to put together the Apologetics Bible Study on Galatians. We'd like to complete commentaries for the entire New Testament as soon as possible. http://www.tektonics.org/gk/galstudy.html
Ministry Projects
Here's one of our new sections for the newsletter -- commentary and news about new and/or upgraded projects we have in the offing.
At this time we'd like to announce the beginning of a new project that has been in mind for a while. Our article titled The Impossible Faith ( http://www.tektonics.org/lp/nowayjose.html ) has been one of our most influential, and the time is right to offer a version of it in the form of a book. Standard routes of using a publisher are no longer open, as publishers have adopted a "don't call us, we'll call you" stance when it comes to submissions. Thus we are left only with the option to self-publish (as was done with The Mormon Defenders).
As some may recall, this article so disturbed one particular Skeptic that he paid another Skeptic at least five thousand dollars to write a rebuttal to it. If this is the sort of influence the arguments in The Impossible Faith can have, then it certainly makes sense to give them a wider hearing.
To pursue this project, we will need financial support, and options are available for as little as $1200 and no more than $4000. We'll decide what options to pursue depending on support received from various source, including readers of the site. If this is something you'd like to help support, please visit the page at http://www.tektonics.org/doninst.html for instructions on making a gift to the ministry, and include a memo of some sort to indicate that the gift is earmarked for this project. If you wish to see a "prospectus" for the project, please write me and let me know if you are able to take documents in either Microsoft Word of Microsoft Works format.
Service Report
This new part of the newsletter will be for the number crunchers out there. It'll be a report on how many people made use of the website over the month, and how many contacts were made. If you find this kind of stuff dull, you absolutely have my permission to take a nap through this one!
In March 2006, the site received 137,843 visits. The five most popular items were:
http://www.tektonics.org/davincicrude.htm -- comments on The Da Vinci Code, with 3406 visits
http://www.tektonics.org/jesusexist/jesusexisthub.html -- hub essay for series on the issue of Jesus existing, with 1963 visits
http://www.tektonics.org/jesusclaims/trinitydefense.html -- defense of the doctrine of the Trinity, with 1553 visits
http://www.tektonics.org/gk/jesustrial.html -- on the trial of Jesus, with 1314 visits
http://www.tektonics.org/copycat/mithra.html -- answering the claim that ideas for Jesus were stolen from the pagan god Mithra, with 1264 visits
In March we received a total of 632 emails requiring response or action.
Testimony of the Month
The idea of this new section is to make things a little more "personal". We'll feature a testimony from someone out there just like you who has found Tekton helpful in their Christian walk. Readers are welcome to submit their own testimony about how Tekton has been of help to them, for inclusion in this newsletter.
Our selection this week comes from a longtime reader, Jonathan, who writes:
"I first visited Tekton about 4 years ago because of an e-pal's recommendation. I have always been a Christian, but was hungry for some intellectual enlightenment as to why I should believe what I believe as opposed to the 'competition'. Apologetics was relatively new to me at the time, but Tekton introduced me to a world that provided the much-needed education about the Bible that would ultimately result in a greatly increased faith in my risen Lord and Savior. JPH himself was (and continues to be) of tremendous help by providing answers to many questions I sent to him via e-mail on almost a daily basis. Although I by no means plan to quit studying, after four years of studying (in my spare time) the numerous issues in greater depth, thanks certainly in large part to Tekton and all of the great resources it has pointed me to, I have found myself to be standing upon very solid intellectual ground in my beliefs in historical Christianity. It is difficult to guess where I'd be had I not discovered the kind of IN-DEPTH apologetics and scholarship that I needed to find, and which JPH provides, but I think it not extreme to suggest that my worldview might have morphed into something along the lines of Deism, or perhaps I'd still have been a nominal Christian, but with very little to no passion for my faith."
Prayer Requests
This section will remain much the same as the one we used to have -- prayer requests from readers. Feel free to submit your own for inclusion -- it is not necessary to use your name, but initials will be helpful at least. We will now, however, divide this section between permanent and occasional requests.
Permanent Requests.
1) For "J.L." -- general intercession.
2) For J.B's father, for salvation especially.
3) “Vince M.” – health issues and matters of personal faith.
4) For K. W. and his brother.
5) For T., P., and B., a family
6) For Duane Ragland, for salvation.
7) For Tim J., with several issues.
Occasional Requests.
1) Brian -- for success in surgery and for an end to a spiritual drought.
Support Report
This section is also like the one we used to have, but as a way of starting fresh with it, we'll explain it a bit. The date I give for when we are "in the running" until means how much further we'd be able to keep Tekton going, if right now, NO MORE support came in. The date does not account for certain future support (that is, gifts that are certain to come in after the day of the report). To improve clarity on this point, we will hereafter offer two dates: an "in the running" date, and an "anticipated running" date. We'll note what these terms mean every once in a while for the sake of clarity.
Presently the "in the running" date is February 2007, while the "anticipated running" date is June 2008.
At this time I'll say a word about general ministry support (aside from special projects as above) -- and it's not to ASK for it, but to make clear what it is for any why I don't go asking for it every time I turn around.
Despite what some ideological foes of mine would like for you to think, I won't be entering the poorhouse without readers supporting this ministry. Your gifts to Tekton determine only how much time I can devote to Tekton -- not whether or not I personally survive. I won't be desperate for work or any such thing as that -- there's plenty of opportunities that could be taken advantage of if needed.
Presently the level of support received allows me to spend an average of 35-40 hours a week on ministry-related activities for the bulk of the year, which is the ideal. I have secondary work that keeps me busy 10-20 hours a week mostly during the winter, and that also substantially reduces the need to draw upon ministry funds for a certain amount of time. But the point I wish to stress is that general support for Tekton "buys time" for the work -- it doesn't buy a sole source of living. If general support ever dried up, all it would mean is that it would go back to being a spare time engagement; or if it only partly dried up, it could become a 20 hour per week job rather than 35-40.
It is the discretion of those who find Tekton's work of value to decide whether it warrants more or less time to be worked on. In either event consider myself at your service to the best that my abilities and time allows.
That's all for now. We'll be continuing to look for ways to spruce up the newsletter, but hopefully this will be a good start.
Take care and God bless,
Your fellow servant in Christ,
J. P. Holding
Greetings to all! This is the first newsletter we've issued in a while, having decided first of all to reduce it from a bi-weekly to a monthly production, and second, having decided to upgrade the contents a bit. There will be all of the usual features we used to have in the past, plus some new ones. If this is your first newsletter, please pardon us for the extra explanations we've added for those who remember the old version. :-)
Website Updates
This opening section of the reformatted newsletter will be much the same as in the old one -- listings and descriptions of new items uploaded to the Tekton website. But we'll also add some further descriptive material now and then.
Classics Library. In March there was a great deal of work done on this special project, including many new entries as well as streamlining of older ones. This will continue for a while as we strive to make it the best resource it can be. The arguments that skeptics use today have already been addressed by Christians -- centuries ago, in fact. The Classics Library (as we call it, "Classic Works of Apologetics") is a repository of responses from orthodox Christian scholars and statesmen, such as the father of international law, Hugo Grotius, noted archaeologist Sir Frederic Kenyon, scientists Sir Isaac Newton and Blaise Pascal, and philosopher William Paley. The Classics library even includes documented proof of the Christian faith of statesman such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Rush, Patrick Henry, Daniel Webster, and refutations of the skeptical arguments of Voltaire, Gibbon, Paine, and Hume. These books, essays, and letters -- many of which could only be accessed in a handful of libraries -- are now available online for all the world to read, preserved for future generations. The words of the great defenders of Christianity are now yours to read, for your edification and encouragement, and for the glory of God. http://www.tektonics.org/classics/clasics.html
Scholarly Diplomacy Series. There were some new entries to this project, as I took up discussion with a new debate partner, Matthew J. Green, on two topics: The case made by Skeptic Peter Kirby against the Resurrection of Jesus; and the efforts of Skeptic Robert Price. Matthew is an interesting and informed opponent of high caliber, and I think you'll enjoy our discussions! http://www.tektonics.org/sdseries.html
Rogues Refuted. There was a new entry made in the Encyclopedia for Dennis Diehl, author of a piece titled "Questions Pastors Will Hate." Look for his entry at http://www.tektonics.org/TK-D.html None of Diehl's questions were particularly threatening, so a simple entry was deemed all that was warranted, though some links are given to other responses.
Two levels of exchange were done on the subject of comparing Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon to the Resurrection in terms of evidence. It is a popular argument of apologetics that there is as much evidence for the Resurrection as there is for Caesar's Rubicon crossing, and this article was begun as a close look at that claim. Since then, the Secular Web's Richard Carrier has come to the defense of his own view and we have responded. http://www.tektonics.org/qt/rubicon.html
Foundational Items. The first steps were taken to put together the Apologetics Bible Study on Galatians. We'd like to complete commentaries for the entire New Testament as soon as possible. http://www.tektonics.org/gk/galstudy.html
Ministry Projects
Here's one of our new sections for the newsletter -- commentary and news about new and/or upgraded projects we have in the offing.
At this time we'd like to announce the beginning of a new project that has been in mind for a while. Our article titled The Impossible Faith ( http://www.tektonics.org/lp/nowayjose.html ) has been one of our most influential, and the time is right to offer a version of it in the form of a book. Standard routes of using a publisher are no longer open, as publishers have adopted a "don't call us, we'll call you" stance when it comes to submissions. Thus we are left only with the option to self-publish (as was done with The Mormon Defenders).
As some may recall, this article so disturbed one particular Skeptic that he paid another Skeptic at least five thousand dollars to write a rebuttal to it. If this is the sort of influence the arguments in The Impossible Faith can have, then it certainly makes sense to give them a wider hearing.
To pursue this project, we will need financial support, and options are available for as little as $1200 and no more than $4000. We'll decide what options to pursue depending on support received from various source, including readers of the site. If this is something you'd like to help support, please visit the page at http://www.tektonics.org/doninst.html for instructions on making a gift to the ministry, and include a memo of some sort to indicate that the gift is earmarked for this project. If you wish to see a "prospectus" for the project, please write me and let me know if you are able to take documents in either Microsoft Word of Microsoft Works format.
Service Report
This new part of the newsletter will be for the number crunchers out there. It'll be a report on how many people made use of the website over the month, and how many contacts were made. If you find this kind of stuff dull, you absolutely have my permission to take a nap through this one!
In March 2006, the site received 137,843 visits. The five most popular items were:
http://www.tektonics.org/davincicrude.htm -- comments on The Da Vinci Code, with 3406 visits
http://www.tektonics.org/jesusexist/jesusexisthub.html -- hub essay for series on the issue of Jesus existing, with 1963 visits
http://www.tektonics.org/jesusclaims/trinitydefense.html -- defense of the doctrine of the Trinity, with 1553 visits
http://www.tektonics.org/gk/jesustrial.html -- on the trial of Jesus, with 1314 visits
http://www.tektonics.org/copycat/mithra.html -- answering the claim that ideas for Jesus were stolen from the pagan god Mithra, with 1264 visits
In March we received a total of 632 emails requiring response or action.
Testimony of the Month
The idea of this new section is to make things a little more "personal". We'll feature a testimony from someone out there just like you who has found Tekton helpful in their Christian walk. Readers are welcome to submit their own testimony about how Tekton has been of help to them, for inclusion in this newsletter.
Our selection this week comes from a longtime reader, Jonathan, who writes:
"I first visited Tekton about 4 years ago because of an e-pal's recommendation. I have always been a Christian, but was hungry for some intellectual enlightenment as to why I should believe what I believe as opposed to the 'competition'. Apologetics was relatively new to me at the time, but Tekton introduced me to a world that provided the much-needed education about the Bible that would ultimately result in a greatly increased faith in my risen Lord and Savior. JPH himself was (and continues to be) of tremendous help by providing answers to many questions I sent to him via e-mail on almost a daily basis. Although I by no means plan to quit studying, after four years of studying (in my spare time) the numerous issues in greater depth, thanks certainly in large part to Tekton and all of the great resources it has pointed me to, I have found myself to be standing upon very solid intellectual ground in my beliefs in historical Christianity. It is difficult to guess where I'd be had I not discovered the kind of IN-DEPTH apologetics and scholarship that I needed to find, and which JPH provides, but I think it not extreme to suggest that my worldview might have morphed into something along the lines of Deism, or perhaps I'd still have been a nominal Christian, but with very little to no passion for my faith."
Prayer Requests
This section will remain much the same as the one we used to have -- prayer requests from readers. Feel free to submit your own for inclusion -- it is not necessary to use your name, but initials will be helpful at least. We will now, however, divide this section between permanent and occasional requests.
Permanent Requests.
1) For "J.L." -- general intercession.
2) For J.B's father, for salvation especially.
3) “Vince M.” – health issues and matters of personal faith.
4) For K. W. and his brother.
5) For T., P., and B., a family
6) For Duane Ragland, for salvation.
7) For Tim J., with several issues.
Occasional Requests.
1) Brian -- for success in surgery and for an end to a spiritual drought.
Support Report
This section is also like the one we used to have, but as a way of starting fresh with it, we'll explain it a bit. The date I give for when we are "in the running" until means how much further we'd be able to keep Tekton going, if right now, NO MORE support came in. The date does not account for certain future support (that is, gifts that are certain to come in after the day of the report). To improve clarity on this point, we will hereafter offer two dates: an "in the running" date, and an "anticipated running" date. We'll note what these terms mean every once in a while for the sake of clarity.
Presently the "in the running" date is February 2007, while the "anticipated running" date is June 2008.
At this time I'll say a word about general ministry support (aside from special projects as above) -- and it's not to ASK for it, but to make clear what it is for any why I don't go asking for it every time I turn around.
Despite what some ideological foes of mine would like for you to think, I won't be entering the poorhouse without readers supporting this ministry. Your gifts to Tekton determine only how much time I can devote to Tekton -- not whether or not I personally survive. I won't be desperate for work or any such thing as that -- there's plenty of opportunities that could be taken advantage of if needed.
Presently the level of support received allows me to spend an average of 35-40 hours a week on ministry-related activities for the bulk of the year, which is the ideal. I have secondary work that keeps me busy 10-20 hours a week mostly during the winter, and that also substantially reduces the need to draw upon ministry funds for a certain amount of time. But the point I wish to stress is that general support for Tekton "buys time" for the work -- it doesn't buy a sole source of living. If general support ever dried up, all it would mean is that it would go back to being a spare time engagement; or if it only partly dried up, it could become a 20 hour per week job rather than 35-40.
It is the discretion of those who find Tekton's work of value to decide whether it warrants more or less time to be worked on. In either event consider myself at your service to the best that my abilities and time allows.
That's all for now. We'll be continuing to look for ways to spruce up the newsletter, but hopefully this will be a good start.
Take care and God bless,
Your fellow servant in Christ,
J. P. Holding