Reply to Robert Turkel (1998) Farrell Till   [Editor’s Note: We publish here in its entirety Farrell Till’s series of replies to Robert Turkel, the anonymous apologist of Tekton Apologetics Ministries also known as James Patrick Holding. Although the Internet Infidels have known Mr. Turkel’s real name for over a year now, he requested that […]

PROPHECIES: IMAGINARY AND UNFULFILLED Farrell Till Prophecy fulfillment is a popular argument that bibliolaters rely on in trying to prove the divine inspiration of the Bible. They claim that the Bible is filled with recorded events that prophets foretold years and even centuries before they happened. They argue that there is no way to explain […]

Reply to Robert Turkel: Concluding Postscript Farrell Till I must say that I am flattered. After assuring his readers that I was not worth any further comment from him, Turkel has posted a 240K article in reply to my rebuttal of his attempt to reconcile the approval of Jehu’s massacre at Jezreel (2 Kings 10:30) […]

Articles: Journeys to the Twilight Zone "Journeys to the Twilight Zone" was the name of a regular column authored by Farrell Till for The Secular Humanist Bulletin from 1995?-1997. Given that some articles refer to the previous article, articles are listed in chronological order. Pioneers of Loophole Religion (1995/1996) (Off Site) Even in the heyday […]

Five minutes isn’t very long, and certainly that’s not long enough for me to make much of an argument, but I’m going to try to. I had a reason for asking Mr. Horner if the body of Jesus had experienced rigor mortis, or if it experienced decay. Remember when Jesus was at the tomb of […]

I brought with me a book that somebody inquired about, who came up to my desk to talk to me. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. It’s the Book of Mormon. Every version of the Book of Mormon that I have ever seen has, in the front of it, the "Testimony of the Three Witnesses." […]

This could very rapidly deteriorate [in]to a contest of his scholars and my scholars. At the end of his speech, he put a transparency on the screen where someone said something to the effect — and I won’t ask you to put it back on — but someone said something to the effect that it’s […]

Time is always an enemy of the debater, so I’m going to be just as brief as I can in the preliminaries so that I can say as much as I can possibly say in the twenty-five minutes that I have. I assume everybody understands that I’m happy to be here. I always consider it […]

[Taken from the program handed out at the debate] I.) The claim of a literal resurrection from the dead is so extraordinary that it requires extraordinary proof. A.) The evidence offered as proof of the resurrection of Jesus is very ordinary. 1.) No apostles or disciples or non-disciples of Jesus ever claimed to have actually […]

Questioner #1: My first question is to Mr. Horner. Mr. Till says that Christianity is so much like a lot of other, I’ll call them pagan religions, that were developing around the same time. My question to you is, why would you think that if this is so, why did Christianity flourish so much and […]

Introductory Remarks (Jeff Lowder, Debate organizer) Our moderator for this evening is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of California at Davis, where he double-majored in both Greek and Latin. Although his journalism career started in broadcast news at KQED-TV in San Francisco, he quickly found his niche with newspaper journalism, and he […]

Readers wanting additional information on the resurrection controversy or other biblical issues may contact the participants in this debate at the following addresses:   Michael Horner Farrell Till Campus Crusade for Christ of Canada Skepticism, Inc. P.O. Box 529 P.O. Box 717 Suma, WA 98295-0529 Canton, IL 61520-0717 Email: michaelh Email: JF Till Phone: (604) […]

Well, tonight I made two main claims. One, there are good reasons to affirm the resurrection, and two, there are no good reasons to deny the Resurrection. I argued that the tomb was empty, Jesus physically appeared to many witnesses, and that the origin of the Christian religion is inexplicable apart from a real resurrection. […]

Well, this may seem to you like a long, drawn-out event, but I guarantee that to us we’re thinking more time, I need more time. I want to use my outline as my outline for what we’re going to do here. I said I’m going to make two main points: there are good reasons to […]

Okay., this concept of extraordinary proof that’s required here is critical, and so I’m going to touch on that first. This statement, "extraordinary events require extraordinary evidence," creates a phantom standard that virtually nothing could meet. It amounts, as Dr. Till… [Turning to Till] Dr. Till, I just gave you an honorary doctorate. As Mr. […]

Thank you very much. I would like to begin by thanking the local ASSP and, in particular, Jeff Lowder, and the Seattle Bible Science Association for sponsoring the debate and inviting me to participate. I consider it a real privilege to be here at Seattle Pacific University and to be debating Mr. Till on such […]

[Taken from the program handed out at the debate] I.) There are good reasons to affirm the Resurrection. A.) The writings about the Resurrection are too early for legend to prevail over the truth. B.) The tomb was empty. C.) Jesus appeared to many witnesses. D.) The origin of the Christian movement is inexplicable apart […]

This is a transcript of the debate between Michael Horner and Farrell Till on the historicity of the Resurrection which was held May 30th, 1995, at Seattle Pacific University. This transcript has been published by mutual agreement of Farrell Till and Michael Horner. We express appreciation to Don Morgan for transcribing the debate from audio […]

I’ll use this time to refer to some things that I didn’t have the oppurtunity to refer to during the regular speeches. Dr. Geisler made the statement that the pagans saviors were not like Jesus because they did not experience bodily resurrection. But I want to assure you, my friends, that that is not so. […]

This is my ninth debate. No, this is my tenth debate. And I have seen a first. Did you notice that Dr. Geisler read a manuscript for his first speech? That’s okay, because he won a toss and he was the first speaker. So if we wanted to read a manuscript that he had written, […]

Like Dr. Geisler, I want to express my appreciation for the opportunity to be here. I always consider it a privlege to speak on subjects like the issue under discussion tonight, and I certainly want to thank those who arranged this event for asking me to be a part of it. At the same time, […]

[After the second round of speeches, Geisler and Till answered questions from the audience. All questions were submitted on cards and specifically addressed to one of the speakers. The speaker to whom a question was addressed had two minutes to answer the question; his opponent then gave a one-minute response.] Question for Till: What does […]

1994 Used by Permission of Dr. Norman L. Geisler Southern Evangelical Seminary 5801 Pineville-Matthews Road Charlotte, NC 28226-3447 (704) 543-9475 and Farrell Till, Editor The Skeptical Review P.O. Box 717 Canton, IL 61520-0717 (309) 647-4764 Prepared by Apologetics Press (230 Landmark Drive, Montgomery, AL 36117) in cooperation with Farrell Till.

I have presented strong evidence and contemporary evidence that Jesus died and rose from the dead. No such evidence for the contrary view has been presented. This evidence is sufficient for anyone who wants to believe. But what about those who choose not to believe? They are, of course, free to do so. But they […]

For the purposes of contrast and comparison, I’ll frame my response to Till over against the evidence I presented for the resurrection. First, I argued that the basic evidence for the New Testament is found in the fact that the New Testament documents are reliable, having more evidence for them than for any other book […]

It is an honor to be here. On the topic under discussion, I affirm that Jesus of Nazareth died and rose bodily from the grave. I offer two points in support of this claim. First, the New Testament documents are historically reliable accounts. Second, these documents reveal that Jesus really died on the cross and […]

Dr. Norman L. Geisler (author, educator, and Dean of Southern Evangelical Seminary, Charlotte, NC) and Mr. Farrell Till (editor of The Skeptical Review and English teacher at Spoon River College, Canton, IL) met for public debate March 29, 1994, at the Columbus College Fine Arts Hall (Columbus, GA). The proposition was "Jesus of Nazareth died […]

The Geisler-Till Debate Did Jesus of Nazareth Bodily Rise from the Dead? (1994) Norman L. Geisler and Farrell Till   Participants and Format of the Debate Dr. Norman L. Geisler’s First Speech (twenty minutes) Mr. Farrell Till’s First Speech (twenty minutes) Dr. Norman L. Geisler’s Second Speech (ten minutes) Mr. Farrell Till’s Second Speech (ten […]