Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In this fast-paced segment from The Think Institute, host Joel Settecase tackles one of the most widespread internet objections against Christianity: the claim that the story of Jesus Christ is merely a rip-off of ancient, dying-and-rising pagan gods like Horus, Osiris, and Mithras. Prompted by a viewer asking him to take channels like MythVision and the old Zeitgeist documentaries to task, Joel delivers a devastating critique of the copycat theory. He explains that these popular atheist arguments rely heavily on entirely fabricated parallels and overblown similarities that simply do not exist in the actual ancient texts.
To illustrate how correlation does not equal inspiration, Joel shares the mind-blowing historical anomaly of the Titan—a fictional luxury ship featured in a book written more than a decade before the real Titanic sank. Despite the unbelievable parallels between the fictional story and the real-world tragedy, the Titanic actually happened. Joel maps this reality onto the gospels, proving that even if ancient cultures dreamed of a rising god, it does not change the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus, which is rooted in eyewitness testimony. Alongside his co-host, who exposes the genetic fallacy used by critics, Joel demonstrates why you must presuppose the biblical worldview to make sense of history and ancient literary research at all.
Watch my whole Apologetics Answers playlist here: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfSpUNYR5qo6sv8Pk8x0tmaq8lLQHHlTm&si=FlnSB-pBhZ6SSaJE
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⏰ Timestamps ⏰
TBD
♱ SUBSTACK: Read weekly articles to help you learn and grow: thethinkinstitute.substack.com
♱ CHURCH TRAINING: Bring an IMPACTFUL weekend training event to your church or ministry ➡️ https://thethink.institute/forchurches
♱ SOCIETY: Christian men get equipped for their Christian life, in community. Try out the Hammer & Anvil Society now. Go to https://thethink.institute/society.
The easiest method for teaching your kids the faith we can help you learn (catechism): https://thethink.institute/catakids
Men: Want to become the worldview leader your family and church need? We provide in-depth education and community for Christian men: https://thethink.institute/society
My name is Joel Settecase. I'm the president of The Think Institute, NFP. How I got here:
2009: Left the business world.
2010: Became a Bible teacher at a Christian school in Chicago. Realized I needed more education.
2011: Enrolled at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS).
2013: I joined a suburban church as pastor-in-training.
2013–2016: Served as a youth pastor, discipling middle and high school students.
2014: Wife diagnosed with cancer while pregnant. God taught us faith.
2014–2015: Discovered Calvinism, New Covenant Theology, and Presuppositional Apologetics.
2015: Our thirdborn diagnosed with leukemia. God tested and trained us in real time.
2016: Joined Chicago multi-site church as Associate Pastor overseeing men's, students, and family ministry and evangelism—later becoming interim lead campus pastor.
2016 Wrote Catakids! catechism to teach my young kiddos the faith.
2017: Graduated cum laude from TEDS. Capstone papers on apologetics of Jonathan Edwards and John Frame.
2018: Joined Cru Church Movements as missionaries.
2019: Thirdborn got heart failure. God built our ministry from Lurie Children's Hospital.
2020: Started homeschooling. Son received heart transplant.
2020: Launched the Hammer & Anvil Society during Covid.
2021: Started teaching at homeschool co-ops.
2022: Launched The Think Institute as a nonprofit.
2023: Wrote The Bible Based Worldview.
2023: Re-launched the Hammer & Anvil Society as a nationwide men's fellowship.
2024: Joined Village Bible Church, teaching apologetics and worldview classes, family camps, men's retreats, student electives, and Sunday sermons.
2025: Launched on Substack. YouTube channel hit 1M views. We now reach 75K+ people monthly and distribute hundreds of educational resources each year.
To every Christian man trying to live a Christian life: God will give you what you need for your journey (Eph. 2:10). I am living proof of that. And now my job is to help you build a worldview legacy, where you, your kids, and your wife will be able to confidently answer the world's questions with confidence, and see Jesus change lives as you share your faith.
===========================================================
The Think Institute relies on the generous support of our Ministry Partners to pursue our mission.
Thank you for your help in preparing thousands of regular believers to explain, share and defend the Christian message all over the world.
The Think Institute, NFP is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (EIN: 88-3225438). Donations to The Think Institute are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.
Donate now: https://thethink.institute/partner
In this fast-paced segment from The Think Institute, host Joel Settecase tackles one of the most widespread internet objections against Christianity: the claim that the story of Jesus Christ is merely a rip-off of ancient, dying-and-rising pagan gods like Horus, Osiris, and Mithras. Prompted by a viewer asking him to take channels like MythVision and the old Zeitgeist documentaries to task, Joel delivers a devastating critique of the copycat theory. He explains that these popular atheist arguments rely heavily on entirely fabricated parallels and overblown similarities that simply do not exist in the actual ancient texts.
To illustrate how correlation does not equal inspiration, Joel shares the mind-blowing historical anomaly of the Titan—a fictional luxury ship featured in a book written more than a decade before the real Titanic sank. Despite the unbelievable parallels between the fictional story and the real-world tragedy, the Titanic actually happened. Joel maps this reality onto the gospels, proving that even if ancient cultures dreamed of a rising god, it does not change the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus, which is rooted in eyewitness testimony. Alongside his co-host, who exposes the genetic fallacy used by critics, Joel demonstrates why you must presuppose the biblical worldview to make sense of history and ancient literary research at all.
Watch my whole Apologetics Answers playlist here: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfSpUNYR5qo6sv8Pk8x0tmaq8lLQHHlTm&si=FlnSB-pBhZ6SSaJE
==============================
⏰ Timestamps ⏰
TBD
♱ SUBSTACK: Read weekly articles to help you learn and grow: thethinkinstitute.substack.com
♱ CHURCH TRAINING: Bring an IMPACTFUL weekend training event to your church or ministry ➡️ https://thethink.institute/forchurches
♱ SOCIETY: Christian men get equipped for their Christian life, in community. Try out the Hammer & Anvil Society now. Go to https://thethink.institute/society.
The easiest method for teaching your kids the faith we can help you learn (catechism): https://thethink.institute/catakids
Men: Want to become the worldview leader your family and church need? We provide in-depth education and community for Christian men: https://thethink.institute/society
My name is Joel Settecase. I'm the president of The Think Institute, NFP. How I got here:
2009: Left the business world.
2010: Became a Bible teacher at a Christian school in Chicago. Realized I needed more education.
2011: Enrolled at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS).
2013: I joined a suburban church as pastor-in-training.
2013–2016: Served as a youth pastor, discipling middle and high school students.
2014: Wife diagnosed with cancer while pregnant. God taught us faith.
2014–2015: Discovered Calvinism, New Covenant Theology, and Presuppositional Apologetics.
2015: Our thirdborn diagnosed with leukemia. God tested and trained us in real time.
2016: Joined Chicago multi-site church as Associate Pastor overseeing men's, students, and family ministry and evangelism—later becoming interim lead campus pastor.
2016 Wrote Catakids! catechism to teach my young kiddos the faith.
2017: Graduated cum laude from TEDS. Capstone papers on apologetics of Jonathan Edwards and John Frame.
2018: Joined Cru Church Movements as missionaries.
2019: Thirdborn got heart failure. God built our ministry from Lurie Children's Hospital.
2020: Started homeschooling. Son received heart transplant.
2020: Launched the Hammer & Anvil Society during Covid.
2021: Started teaching at homeschool co-ops.
2022: Launched The Think Institute as a nonprofit.
2023: Wrote The Bible Based Worldview.
2023: Re-launched the Hammer & Anvil Society as a nationwide men's fellowship.
2024: Joined Village Bible Church, teaching apologetics and worldview classes, family camps, men's retreats, student electives, and Sunday sermons.
2025: Launched on Substack. YouTube channel hit 1M views. We now reach 75K+ people monthly and distribute hundreds of educational resources each year.
To every Christian man trying to live a Christian life: God will give you what you need for your journey (Eph. 2:10). I am living proof of that. And now my job is to help you build a worldview legacy, where you, your kids, and your wife will be able to confidently answer the world's questions with confidence, and see Jesus change lives as you share your faith.
===========================================================
The Think Institute relies on the generous support of our Ministry Partners to pursue our mission.
Thank you for your help in preparing thousands of regular believers to explain, share and defend the Christian message all over the world.
The Think Institute, NFP is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (EIN: 88-3225438). Donations to The Think Institute are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.
Donate now: https://thethink.institute/partner
