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truth not trickery
some knotty problems we seek to shed light on
Why ArborHigh?
What's our greatest Problem...?
Which came first?
What we aim to do. What we believe.
Which came first?
What's our greatest Problem...?
Which came first?
Which came first- the chicken or the egg? If that's a knotty problem, how about this one- which came first, the butterfly, the egg, the caterpillar, or the pupa? Which one of these stages came first in the life cycle of butterflies? And how did the programming for all the other stages arise?
What's our greatest Problem...?
What's our greatest Problem...?
April's long read. Can we be sure Jesus rose from the dead?
We have plenty of candidates- Pollution, Poverty, Pandemics, Propaganda (deepfakes, etc.). At the top of the P list at the moment is Presidents- more specifically Presidents who abuse their power. But many are in denial about the greatest Problem we face- Perishing....
April's long read. Can we be sure Jesus rose from the dead?
April's long read. Can we be sure Jesus rose from the dead?
April's long read. Can we be sure Jesus rose from the dead?
Each month we address a subject at greater length and in more detail. This Easter we consider the truth at the very heart of Christianity- the resurrection of Jesus.
Who can you trust?
April's long read. Can we be sure Jesus rose from the dead?
Do I know what you're thinking?
Seeing can no longer be believing, when AI fakery can produce such realistic images. A recent BBC series is entitled- "Everything is fake, and nobody cares". People are regularly whipped up by online "ragebait", much of which turns out to be false. Who can we trust?
Do I know what you're thinking?
April's long read. Can we be sure Jesus rose from the dead?
Do I know what you're thinking?
If you're ever in Southampton city centre I may well know what you're thinking. A team of us go there most Fridays between 1pm and 3pm, preaching the gospel, giving out Christian literature, and engaging interested passers-by in conversation. What do they say to us?
Coming soon....
Coming soon....
Coming soon....
Keep checking in as we add more.
which came first?
Revelation 4:11
The butterfly’s life cycle poses an infinitely knottier problem than the chicken’s. A butterfly emerges from a pupa. As soon as its wings are inflated and ready it can fly perfectly,. Last year we spent at least an hour in the Wye Valley Butterfly Zoo, and didn’t spot a single mid-air collision or crash landing. And yet no flying instructors or air traffic controllers operated in that artificially restricted and overcrowded airspace.
This is quite extraordinary. Because the butterfly entered the pupa stage as a flightless caterpillar. In the pupa it underwent a total metamorphosis, controlled by DNA instructions. Those included coding to build every body part, the skills required to use them, and all the other information needed to be able to fly.
That pupa required a caterpillar- whose body had to contain all those DNA instructions to know how to completely break down and re-assemble itself into a butterfly.
That caterpillar required an egg, also with all that DNA. That egg had to be carefully laid on the correct type of food leaf, so the infant caterpillar could emerge to eat and grow large enough to enter the pupa stage.
But of course that egg required a butterfly, able to fly competently, to mate, and to know where best to lay it.
And that butterfly emerged from a pupa- so we’re back where we started.
Which of these four stages came first, in order that the others might somehow evolve from it? That’s a nonsense question- the DNA instructions for all 4 stages of the life cycle must have come first, in order for any one of the four stages to exist. It’s a closed loop. No butterfly, pupa, caterpillar, or egg could ever have come into existence until all of that DNA coding had been written. And that raises this question- who wrote it?
The Bible sheds light on that- “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honour and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed and were created.” (Revelation 4:11)
our greatest problem
John 3:16
We have plenty of candidates for our greatest problem. If we just limit ourselves to problems starting with P the list includes Pollution, Poverty, Pandemics, and Propaganda (deepfakes, etc.). At the top of many people's P list at the moment is Presidents- specifically Presidents who abuse their power. But by far the greatest Problem we face is the one many people are in denial about- Perishing.
Many in the UK make their wills and pay for their own funeral in advance. They prepare for the inevitable end of life in this world. But they do nothing to prepare for what will follow- the resurrection of the dead to eternal life or to eternal Perishing.
The Bible sheds light on this. In John 3:16, Jesus says- "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." This is not a promise that believers in Jesus will never die, but that they will be raised to eternal life when He returns. Perishing is the opposite of eternal life, it’s eternal death.
Elsewhere Jesus explains that eternal death doesn’t mean the absence of any life- e.g. annihilation. Rather it is an eternity of conscious punishment in Hell for those who have refused to believe in Jesus. Perishing will be such an appalling eternity that no one in their right mind would want to face it. All the other P’s will cease on the day Jesus returns to bring about perfect justice. But God knows Perishing is our greatest problem, because He gave Jesus to save believers from it for all eternity.
Avoiding Perishing is not complicated- Jesus says, “believe in Me”. That means more than believing He died in our place to pay the price for our sins (although that’s the starting point). It means trusting in Him totally and following wherever He leads. It’s not about being religious or doing good works to try and earn salvation. It’s about depending on His love poured out for us on the cross. And the great news is that Jesus says “whoever” believes can be saved from Perishing. No one is excluded.
April's long read-can we be sure Jesus rose from the dead?
We can be sure because of the Evidence from the New Testament record
Bible quotes are in italics
(1) “The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, “After three days I will rise again.” So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first. ’Take a guard,’ Pilate answered. ‘Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.’ So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
“After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
“The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: “He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.” Now I have told you.’
“... While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, ‘You are to say, “His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.” If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.’ So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.” (Matthew 27:62 - 28:15)
A few points here - (1) If the Pharisees could have produced a body they would have; (2) If the disciples had made this account up and wanted to be taken seriously they would never have used women as witnesses - the fact that women saw the risen Jesus before the disciples did is strong evidence that this account is exactly as it happened; (3) If the body had not been missing the guards would not have had to tell the story about the disciples stealing the body.
(2) “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-6)
Five hundred witnesses is a lot of people. Notice two things - (a) When Paul wrote this he could say that most of the witnesses were still living, so he would not have been able to get away with making this up; (b) Paul, who had started out persecuting Christians and was converted after being met by Jesus on his way to Damascus, suffered enormously for being a Christian, and according to tradition was finally executed for his faith. Would he have gone through all that he went through if he had known that what he believed was based on fiction?
We can be sure because of the evidence from history
(1) The twelve disciples of Jesus did not start preaching that He had been raised from the dead straight away. In fact John records that before the disciples first saw the risen Jesus they were hiding because they were afraid:
“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.” (John 20:19-20)
What happened that transformed this cowering group of men into the apostles who boldly proclaimed the message that Jesus had risen from the dead? They saw the risen Jesus, and just as He promised them they were filled with His Spirit (you can read about this in Acts 2).
Not only did the disciples (later called apostles) proclaim that Jesus was risen from the dead, but some of them died for proclaiming this. James was killed with the sword, and tradition has it that Peter was crucified upside down. Would they really have been willing to risk their lives, and then die, for something they knew to be a lie?
(2) Paul not only met the risen Christ himself on the Damascus road, which resulted in his conversion, but he was alive at the same time as the people who had witnessed the life, death and resurrection of Jesus as well. Before his conversion he ruthlessly persecuted the Christians and this is the Bible record of the growth of the church and its subsequent persecution:
“They [the early Christian believers] devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:42-47)
“On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.” (Acts 8:1-3)
Many of those early believers, if not most of them, had witnessed the life and death of Jesus. Many of them had also witnessed at least one of His resurrection appearances. If they had not been convinced of the fact that He was God, and had risen from the dead, they would not have become Christians, and they would certainly not have remained Christians once they were being persecuted for it.
(3) In his book Jesus and the Logic of History Paul W Barnett says the following:
“’History’, wrote the Tudor historian G. R. Elton, ‘deals with events, not states; it investigates things that happen and not things that are.’ Its concern is for ‘the transformation of things (people, institutions, ideas and so on) from one state to another’. History, therefore, may be defined as ‘those human sayings, thoughts, deeds and sufferings which occurred in the past and have left a present deposit; and it deals with them from the point of view of happening, change and the particular.’ In short, history so defined deals with phenomena, and, where possible, seeks to explain them.
“This understanding of history appears to have informed the thinking of C. F. D. Moule in his important work, The Phenomenon of the New Testament. Moule referred to ‘the coming into existence of the Nazarenes’, that is, an event, which called for an explanation. His own explanation is that the phenomenon was brought about by ‘a most powerful and original mind and a tremendous confirmatory event’. According to Moule, the existence of the Nazarenes is accounted for by the ‘powerful and original mind’ of Jesus and the event of his resurrection from the dead. I find this logic compelling. The phenomenon of the coming into existence of early Christianity is well attested. Its sudden emergence is as historically secure as any event in Palestine in that century. So the historian asks: what plausible explanations can be found for this event?”
Who Moved the Stone?
Frank Morrison was a British journalist who set out to disprove the bodily resurrection of Jesus, and so to disprove Christianity. The result was that he found so much evidence that proved Jesus really had risen bodily from the dead that he became a Christian. The book that was meant to disprove Christianity became the story of his conversion, and a detailed account of the evidence he uncovered. His story is well summed up by someone who has read his book Who Moved the Stone?
“Frank Morrison's testimony can be found in Who Moved the Stone? What makes this story compelling on many levels is that Morrison, an English journalist and one-time skeptic of Christianity, actually began this book as a means to disprove the very foundation of the Christian religion: the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He researched numerous historical documents including the four gospels found in the Bible and it became apparent that over the course of his research one question continued to plague him, thus the title of his book.
What began as a narrative aimed at refuting the resurrection soon became a testimonial of how one man transformed from skeptic to follower. Rather than argue the case for the resurrection with faith alone, Morrison uses logic and reason to discount the counter-theories that he once believed to hold the truth. For example, why would the Jewish high priests hide Christ's body when the resurrection itself poses such a substantial threat to their power? Why would the disciples do the same and not immediately proclaim that Christ had risen, knowing that not doing so would risk the movement running out of steam as had been the case with other philosophic and religious leaders at the time? Instead, they waited months before doing so, perhaps because they were asking the same question that Morrison was asking. And if the resurrection were false, how could such a large following have developed on its heels?”
who can you trust?
John 14:16
This image did the rounds on social media in the summer of 2025. It purported to show President Macron of France, and other European leaders, lined up like humble supplicants outside Donald Trump's office. It doubtless enraged many Europeans, and encouraged MAGA supporters. However, unless President Macron has grown an extra pair of legs, you can see that the image is faked. This line-up never happened.
Increasingly sophisticated AI is making tell-tale glitches like this much less common. We have now reached the point where so much is faked that it is impossible to trust much of what we see, hear or read online. And yet many people claim they get their news solely from whatever their social media algorithms put in front of them!
Of course newspapers and TV stations can be biased and selective in what they report. But at least media outlets like the BBC run fact-checking departments, to try and make sure they don’t simply regurgitate the lies and deceptions which clog the internet.
In this sea of fakery it's more urgent than ever to know whose words we can trust. So it's wonderful to know that there is Someone Who always tells the truth - Jesus Christ. He says, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” (John 14:6). And we read, “It is impossible for God to lie,” in Hebrews 6:18.
Jesus will never deceive us. He will never go back on His promises. And because He is God He will never be forced to go back on them because of unforeseen circumstances or “force majeure”. We can depend on Him absolutely to do what He has said He’ll do. Isaiah 55:11 says, "So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it."
Furthermore, Ephesians 3:20 tells us He is, “able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.”
Who is the “we” and the “us”? It’s all those who have put their trust in Jesus. They believe He only speaks the truth. They believe He is Almighty God, capable of keeping His promises no matter what. And they know that Jesus doesn’t just care for them, He loves them. He kept His promise to save them, even though it cost Him the unimaginable suffering of the cross.
If you can't trust Jesus, then who ever could you trust?
Do i know what you're thinking?
Romans 10:14
One of the talks I give in Southampton is entitled “What people often say to us”. It distills many conversations in the street down into three opinions we often hear. Perhaps you might hold one or more of them?
We often hear people say, “I’m a good person”. Sometimes we ask people to place themselves on a scale from 1-10, with 1 being evil and 10 good. Some people have claimed to be a 10! But most people rate themselves as pretty decent- perhaps 7 or 8.
What does God say about that? In Mark 10:18 Jesus says- “No one is good- except God alone.” We are all guilty sinners.
Now if that’s true, then another thing people say comes into sharp focus- “There’s no heaven or hell.” This is the practical religion of most people in the UK who say they’re not religious. They hold it as an article of faith that there is no God, we’re just here by blind forces of chance, and when we die that’s the end of us, So we might as well live as we please and do whatever we want.
God’s answer to that is in 2 Corinthians 5:10 “We must all appear before Christ’s judgment seat.” It doesn’t matter what our opinion is about life after death, this is the reality. Everyone will end up in one of two places, heaven or hell. And unless you’re a perfect 10 you can’t enter heaven. “Nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying shall ever come into it.” Revelation 21:27. No one can make themselves a perfect 10 by their own efforts. But don't despair- read on!
The final thing people say is the most common, “I don’t need Jesus Christ.” This doesn’t even need to be articulated. All someone needs to do is to walk on by the preacher, shouting out an insult, or rolling their eyes.
But anyone who thinks they don’t need Jesus must reckon with Romans 5:8- “While we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Why would Jesus have done that if we didn’t need Him? Why would God send Jesus to die pointlessly? He wouldn’t have. God sent Him to die for us sinners because, as Acts 4:43 says, “All who believe in Him receive forgiveness of sins.” Forgiveness of sins means we become a 10, and can enter heaven. It means that when we die we don’t need to fear the judgment. We know we’ll be in glory with Jesus for all eternity.
The other day in Southampton I heard a passer-by say to her friends, “People shouldn’t push their belief on to you, they should let you come to them.” I’d have every sympathy with her if we actually had been “pushing”- being aggressive or argumentative. But we weren’t.
I didn’t get to speak to her, but just perhaps I know what she was thinking, if she's like so many. She may be thinking she’s good, or that there’s no judgment to come, and she doesn’t need Jesus. But false beliefs like that will have dreadful consequences for all eternity. How can anyone who knows the truth keep quiet about this? "How will they hear without a preacher?" (Romans 10:14)
About ArborHigh
What's in a name?
Not far from the woods on our header page, in Derbyshire's White Peak, lies the ancient stone circle of Arbor Low. Its builders and purpose are unclear, but we may presume it involved un-enlightened religious beliefs. In contrast ArborHigh exists to enlighten by bringing Biblical wisdom to bear on vital issues that concern all of us. AI helped design and build the website. It also keeps on offering to write it for us, but we will keep on refusing that help. The only AI generated text on this site will be Almighty Intelligence- that is God's wisdom from the Bible.