Education

MASTERS IN LIBRARY SCIENCE, 1991

Florida State University

BACHELORS IN ENGLISH

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

Received certificate from North American Mission Board, Interfaith Witness Instructor program, February 2010.

Published Writings

Christian Research Journal

• Celsus Strikes Again. 23(2), 2000, 60-1.
• The Imitation Sensation (Review of The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark), 24(2), 2001, 56-8.
• Popular Mormon Apologetics - Staking Claim on Christian Ground (Review of Biblical Mormonism and Restoring the Early Church), 24 (4), 2002, 54-6.
• When Apologetics Was Evangelism, 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), 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), 27 (1), 2004.
• Under the Banner of Sensationalism (Review of Jon Krakaeur's Under the Banner of Heaven), 27 (3), 2004.
• Politically Correct Afterlife (Review of Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven), 27 (5), 2004.
• Answering Questions About 'Televangelists', ibid.
• Faith Behind the Fence, 27 (6), 2005.
• Witnessing to Those Fallen From Faith, 28 (1), 2005.
• Mary Magdalene's Modern Biography, 29 (2), 2006.
• "Ex-Christians" and Homespun Atheist "Apologetics", 31 (2), 2008.
• Effective Evangelism: An Apologetic for Apologetics in Cyberspace, 31 (3), 2008.
• A Kinder, Fuzzier Atheism: Andre Comte-Sponville's Little Book of Atheist Spirituality, 31 (5), 2008.
• Dealing with Dunning's Syndrome, 31 (6), 2008.
• Lighting a Path for a Church Apologetics Program, 32 (2), 2009.
• Answering the Spirit of the Age (review of The Zeitgeist Movie), 32 (5), 2009.
• A Tolerant Condescension (Review of Karen Armstrong's The Case for God), 32 (6), 2009.
• Experiments in Biblical Living (Feature article on books like A. J. Jacobs' Year of Living Biblically), 33 (1), 2010.
• Secularism's Evangelists (Review of Philip Johnson and John Mark Reynolds' Against All Gods), 33 (3), 2010.
• The Mesmerizing Misinformation Maelstrom, 34 (2), 2011.
• Context is Everything, 34 (3), 2011.
• Apologetics Through Internet Videography, 34 (6), 2011.
• Robbing Paul to Pay Peter and James, 35 (5), 2012.
• The Legendary Flat Earth Bible, 36 (3), 2013.
• A Social Science Tour of Scripture (Review of Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes), 36 (5), 2013.
• Was Hitler a Christian?, 37 (1), 2014.
• John Hagee's Magic Apologetics, 37 (2), 2014.
• Is the Bible Still Believable? (Review of Can We Still Believe the Bible?), 37 (5), 2014.
• The Spirituality of Schadenfreude, 38 (1), 2015.
• Is Jesus' Name Used in Vain? 38 (2), 2015.
• Defining Inerrancy, 38 (3), 2015.
• Jonathan Cahn's American Revelation, 38 (6), 2015.
• Jephthah's Bloodless Sacrifice, 39 (4), 2016.
• Christians in the Courtroom, 40 (1), 2017.
• An Epitaph for Expertise (Review of The Death of Expertise), 40 (5), 2017.
• Technological Dystopia (Review of World Without Mind), 41 (1), 2018.
• The Paradigm.
• Jeremiah, Preacher of Prosperity? 41 (2), 2018.

Creationist Periodicals and Websites

• 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.
• Review of M. J. Phelan's The Documentary Hypothesis. Journal of Creation (formerly Creation ex Nihilo Technical Journal), 19 (3), 2005.
• 'Not to Be Used Again': Homologous Structures and the Presumption of Originality as a Critical Value. Creation Ministries International website and Journal of Creation, 21(1), 2007.
• Roger Bolton Discovers Sliced Bread, Creation Ministries International website, October 2008.
• Dawkins' Ironic Hypocrisy. Creation Ministries International website, November 2008.
• Communication vs. Accommodation. Creation Ministries International website, December 2008.
• Newsweek's Gay Apparel: Lisa Miller's Travesty of Exegesis. Creation Ministries International website, January 2009.
• Please Pardon This Interruption, Creation Ministries International website, June 2009.
• A Sloppy Kind of Christianity (Review of Brian McLaren's A New Kind of Christianity), Journal of Creation 24 (3), 2010.
• Settling for Less (review of Kenton Sparks' God's Words in Human Words), Journal of Creation, 27 (2), 2013.
• The Cosmologist's Gambit (review of Kyle Greenwood's Scripture and Cosmology), Journal of Creation, 30 (3), 2016.

DVDs

• Hitler's Christianity: The Nazi Religious Cult Unmasked, The Apologetics Group, 2014.

Other Publications

• "Oh, a Wise Guy, Huh?", Answering Islam website, 2005.
• Review of Floyd McElveen's The Mormon Illusion. Countercult Apologetics Journal, January 2006.

Ministry Products

• The Mormon Defenders: How Latter-day Saint Apologists Misinterpret the Bible. August 2001.
• The Impossible Faith. May 2007.
• Shattering the Christ-Myth: Did Jesus Not Exist? July 2008, with updated ebook versions in years following.
• Blowing the Doors Off: A Defense Manual for Christian Youth. 2008.
• Trusting the New Testament. 2009.
• Defending the Resurrection. 2010.
• What In Hell is Going On?, 2011.
• The Atonement Contextualized, 2012.
• Hitler's Christianity, 2013.
• Know Your Enemy: Annotated and Corrected, 2013.
• Christmas is Pagan and Other Myths, 2013.
• Jesus Was a Mushroom and Other Lies You Won't Believe, 2014.
• Christian Answers to This Generation's Questions, 2014.
• Easter is Pagan and Other Fables, 2014.
• Blood Moon Lunacy, 2014.
• Defining Inerrancy, 2014.
• The Inside Guide to Becoming a Christian Apologist, 2014.
• Scripture and Slavery, 2014.
• Groundless, 2015.
• Contextual Encyclopedia of Biblical Inerrancy, Vol. 1-4, 2015-2018.
• Blood Liable, 2015.
• Rendered by Caesar, 2015.
• The Antichrist is Orange and Other End of the World Weirdness, 2016.
• The Misinformation Maelstrom, 2017.

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, May 2014, June 2014, 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)
• November 2008, Veritas Forum (Dr. Craig Johnson), multiple appearances
• January 2009, June 2009, Faith and Reason, Boise, ID
• December 2009, Midwest Apologetics podcast
• June 2011, July 2013, November 2013, Healing Ex-JWs
• July 2012, Christan Meets World
• December 2012, Backpack Radio
• October 2013, The Bob Dutko Show
• November 2013, Deeper Waters podcast
• February 2014, November 2017, DebateGod podcast
• July 2014, The Mind Renewed
• April 2015, The Black Reformed Baptist podcast
• July 2017, Bridges Ministry podcast
• November 2018, Postmodern Realities podcast (Melanie Cogdill, CRI)
• August and December 2020, Expedition Truth

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"
• November 2008, Bethel Christian Fellowship, Agoura Hills, CA
• April 2009, International Society of Christian Apologetics, Chicago, IL
• June 2009, First Baptist Church, Leesburg and Umatilla, FL, youth "apologetics boot camp"
• August 2009, TheologyWeb convention
• April 2010, International Society of Christian Apologetics, Fort Worth, TX
• May 2010, Battle for the Bible conference, Tampa, FL
• April 2011, Amador Christian Center, Plymouth, CA
• April 2011, International Society of Christian Apologetics, Raleigh, NC
• November 2012, R.O.C.K. Church, Tampa, FL
• June 2018, R.O.C.K. Church, Philadelphia, PA
• September 2018, First Southern Baptist Church, North Hollywood, CA
• May 2019, R.O.C.K. Church, Atlanta GA
• October 2019, Institute for Science and Biblical Research, Lancaster PA
• Plus various informal and formal teaching engagements at my home churches over the years.

Debates

• "Was Jesus a Historical Figure?" vs. Frank Zindler, Opposing Views website, 2008
• "Did Jesus Exist?" vs. Ken Humphreys, Premier Christian Radio, May 2009
• "Is What We Have What They Had?" vs. Richard Carrier, Amador Christian Center, April 2011
• The Nature of Hell vs. Chris Date, Deeper Waters, November 2014

References

Personal

• Kevin Bywater, Director of Curriculum, Summit Ministries
• Mike Licona, North American Mission Board
• Dr. Jimmy Knott, First Baptist Church, Orlando, FL
• Dr. Charles Roesel, pastor emeritus, First Baptist Church, Leesburg, FL
• 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.

Popular Sources

• 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.
• 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 Hanegraaff 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.
• Holding's The Impossible Faith inspired one atheist to pay another atheist over $5,000 for a rebuttal.
• Holding's article on the Pope Leo X "fable" quote is cited in Clinton Chisholm's book Reflections on Ras Tafarai.
• Holding's book Shattering the Christ Myth is used as a source in Episode 153 of the Arabic-Christian program Islam Explained.
• Holding's article on Jephthah's daughter is referred to in the atheist book Everything You Know About God is Wrong edited by Russell Kick.
• Holding's material on Bart Ehrman is quoted in Dillon Burroughs' Misquotes in Misquoting Jesus.
• Holding's material on "copycat Christs" is referenced in Joel McDurmon's Manifested in the Flesh.
• Holding is named in atheist Kenneth Daniels' Why I Believed.
• Holding's article on Daniel (with Kevin Closson) is listed as a source in Kent Stevens' Daniel: Touchstone of Prophecy.
• Holding's article on Daniel (with Kevin Closson) is listed as a source in John Evans' The Prophecies of Daniel.
• Holding's article on Richard Packham is referenced in William Broughton's The Historical Development of Legal Apologetics with Emphasis on the Resurrection.
• One of Holding's rebuttals to an atheist is noted in Wayne House's The Jesus Who Never Lived.
• Holding's article on inerrancy is quoted in Randall Price's Searching for the Original Bible.
• Holding's book The Mormon Defenders, and his website, is referenced in a note in Richard Abanes' Inside Today's Mormonism.
• Holding's site is listed as a resource in Michael Murray's 52 Paths to Heaven.
• Holding's material on the historical Jesus is referenced in Richard Linford's The Jesus Christ Papers Volume I.
• Holding's site is listed as a resource in Colin Bowers' Open Minds, Closed Minds and Christianity.
• Holding's article on the OT canon is listed as a reference in Roland Worth's Biblical Studies on the Internet: A Resource Guide.
• Holding's site is listed as a "Digging Deeper" resource in David Noebel and Chuck Edwards' Thinking Like a Christian.
• Holding's site article on logical fallaices (a guest piece) is referenced in Frank Mueller's The Lyth of Lemmings.
• Holding's site is listed as a resource in the New Dictionary of Christian Apologetics.
• Holding's article on Mithra is referenced in C. R. Bilardi's The Red Church Or the Art of Pennsylvania German Braucherei.
• Holding's site is referenced in Tom Head's Absolute Beginner's Guide to the Bible.
• Holding's site article on the kalam argument (a guest piece) is referenced in Robert Thornborough's Strugglebook: A Logical Search for the Truth of God.
• Holding's site is referenced in Jason Dollar, Bradley Pinkerton, and Steven Cowan's Contend: A Survey of Christian Apologetics on a High School Level.
• Holding's site is referenced in Hal Flemming's Examining Criticisms of the Bible.
• Holding's article on Jonathan and David as homosexual lovers is referenced in Mimsie Robinson's The Anatomy of Sexual Integrity.
• Holding's article on the Mormon internal witness is referenced in Richard Abanes' A New Earth, An Old Deception.
• Holding's article on Mithras is referenced in Mark Mittleberg and Lee Strobel's The Questions Christians Hope No One Will Ask.
• Holding is quoted by Robert Stacy McCain in an article on the Zeitgeist movie on the online version of American Spectator. See here.
• Holding's site is noted as a resource in James McConnachie and Robin Tudge's The Rough Guide To Conspiracy Theories.
• One of Holding's articles is noted as a resource in Samuel Tseng's Uncovering Hidden Treasures.
• Holding's article on Mithra is cited by Chuck Pierce's God's Unfolding Battle Plan.
• Holding's site is listed as a resource in Lee Strobel's Finding the Real Jesus.
• Holding's article on the authenticity of Daniel is referenced in Hank Hanegraaff's Has God Spoken?
• One of Holding's articles on Bible contradictions is referenced in Alex MacFarland and Elmer Towns' 10 Questions Every Christian Must Answer.
• One of Holding's articles on the historical Jesus is referenced by Handel Andrews' The Church's One Foundation.
• Holding's site is listed as a resource for further study in Alex MacFarland's 10 Answers for Skeptics.
• Holding's book on Mormonism is listed as a resource in Steven Propp's Another Jesus, a Different Spirit, a Different Gospel.
• Holding's article on Thallus is referenced in Norman Geisler and Patty Tunnicliffe's Reasons for Belief.
• The Scientists of the Christian Faith project, by W. R. Miller, is referenced in Thomas Allen Miller's Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?: A Surgeon-Scientist Examines the Evidence.
• Holding's exchanges with Richard Carrier are referenced in M. J. Trow's A Brief History of Vampires.
• Holding's book Shattering the Christ Myth and the Tekton website are referenced by Ravi Zacharias' ministry website regarding the Zeitgeist film.
• Holding's Trusting the New Testament is cited in Josh McDowell and Jim Walker's Understanding Islam and Christianity.
• Holding's critique of Dan Barker is cited by John Weldon's Edgar Cayce: The "Sleeping" Medium and Spiritual Discernment.
• Holding's Shattering the Christ Myth is referenced as a resource in Chistopher Brooks' Urban Apologetics.
• Holding's material on eschatology is referred to in Howie Gardner's The Middle East Crisis Can Be Solved.
• Holding's article on fantasy and science fiction was quoted in opening remarks by Fr. Ernesto Obregon at the 2015 Doxacon convention.(Link.)
• Holding's comment on the song I Can Only Imagine is referred to by Elmer Towns in his book The Ten Most Influential Churches of the Past Century.
• Holding's material on copycat Christs is referenced by Natasha Crain's Keeping Your Kids on God's Side.
• Holding's article on Osiris is referenced by Rice Broock's Man, Myth, Messiah.
• Holding is thanked for research assistance in W. R. Miller's The Star Wars Historical Sourcebook V. 1.
• Holding's article on preterism is linked to by Gary DeMar's article on harmonizing Matthew and Luke.
• Holding is quoted in Micharl Gryboski's article on socialism and apologetics.

Scholarly Sources

• 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 on issues in the book of Esther is referenced in Matthew Stroud's Plot Twists and Critical Turns: Queer Approaches to Early Modern Spanish Theater.
• Holding's article on inerrancy is referred to in a note in Daniel Block's Israel: Ancient Kingdom or Late Invention?
• Holding's article on the shape of the earth according to the Bible is noted by Chet A. Van Duzer and Georg Christoph Munz in Floating Islands: A Global Bibliography.
• Holding is given thanks in Daniel Howard-Snyder's essay in Vol. 1 of Oxford Readings in Philosophical Theology.
• Holding's article on the date of Revelation is listed as a resource in Gary Gibson's Waveform Politics; A War to End Democide, Volume 3.
• Holding's article for Creation Ministries International on Biblical cosmology was referenced by Noel Weeks in his article, "Cosmology in Historical Context," Westminster Theological Journal 68 (2006).
• Holding's article on The DaVinci Code is referenced in the periodical Arthuriana (v. 14, 2004).
• A guest commentary by Richard Swinburne is listed in Delbert Burkett's The Blackwell Companion to Jesus.
• A guest compilation by W. R. Miller is referenced in Errol Gibbs' and Philip Grey's Five Foundations of Human Development.
• Holding's harmonization series using Abraham Lincoln biographies is referenced by Craig Keener's Vol. 1, Acts: An Exegetical Commentary.
• Holding's article on the meaning of "elohim" is referenced in Melissa Mohr's A Brief History of Swearing.
• Holding's article on Wisdom theology is cited in Sara Husseini's Early Christian-Muslim Debate on the Unity of God.
• Holding's article on the end of Mark is cited and listed in the bibliography of Dean Deppe's The Theological Intentions of Mark's Literary Devices.
• Holding's Trusting the New Testament is cited in Douglas Beaumont's Evangelical Exodus.
• Holding's material on the Resurrection is cited by Jake O'Connell in Jesus' Resurrection and Apparitions: A Bayesian Analysis.
• Holding's article on the canon is quoted in Evangelical Exodus.
• Holding's article on the waters above the firmament is quoted by Michael LeFevbre's The Liturgy of Creation.
• Holding's Shattering the Christ Myth is listed as a source in Nicholas Allen's Christian Fogery in Jewish Antiqiuties.
• Holding's book Defending the Resurrection is noted in Dale Allison's The Resurrection of Jesus.