Everywhere you go on the internet, and I mean EVERYWHERE, there are debates going on about Christianity. There are thousands upon thousands of "intellectuals", atheists, skeptics, philosophers and other self-appointed "experts" who constantly claim that faith and reason are mutually exclusive, and that those who are skeptical of the Christian faith are the ones who have the intellectual high ground.Now when skeptics attack most religions, they DO have the intellectual high ground. For when one closely examines such "faiths" as Islam or Hinduism one does find that logic, reason and real, hard evidence are directly contradictory to these belief systems.
However, Christianity is the one faith that is different. It is our assertion that there is no conflict between Christianity and the truth.
If you look into it, Christianity has a MOUNTAIN of evidence. Those who have really studied these things know the truth.
Dr. Simon Greenleaf (Harvard University - one of the greatest professors of Law in U.S. history) has said: "According to the laws of legal evidence used in courts of law, there is more evidence for the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ than for just about any other event in history."
So what do you think?
We have studied these matters for 20 years, and we have come to the conclusion that after you have asked all the questions, and after you have done all the research, the evidence does lead to an overwhelming conclusion:
Christianity is true.
But the sad reality is the the vast, vast majority of Christians don't know how to defend the Christian faith. Why? Because the church has done an absolutely MISERABLE job of teaching their people about the evidence for Christianity. So when Christians come up against atheists, skeptics and self-appointed, know-it-all "experts" they don't know how to respond.
I urge you to investigate these matters for yourself. Here are some great places to get started:
-God DOES exist. The following short videos are by an ex-atheist and ex-evolutionist who is a graduate of Yale Law School. These videos drive atheists and skeptics crazy, but for a fuller treatment of this topic, please read Strobel's excellent book entitled "The Case For A Creator":
http://www.leestrobel.com/Creator.htm
-Jesus Christ really did come to the earth:
http://www.grantjeffrey.com/article/historicalev.htm
-Jesus Christ really did rise from the dead:
http://shatteredparadigm.blogspot.com/2008/05/resurrection-of-jesus-is-real.html
-All of this was foretold by God in the Bible with specificity:
http://www.xenos.org/teachings/topical/objections/daniel9.htm
(Click "Watch" to view the presentation)
and
http://shatteredparadigm.blogspot.com/2008/07/do-you-know-about-all-messianic.html
-Jesus is alive and doing miracles in our day:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2575536377261580026&q=Raised+from+the+dead&hl=en
-Jesus is alive and is appearing to people all over the globe:
http://prorege-forum.com/messages/407.html
and
http://www.amightywind.com/fastfood/dreams/040723muslimdreams.htm
-Jesus is coming again and the signs that were foretold in the Bible are coming to pass right in front of our eyes:
http://shatteredparadigm.blogspot.com/2008/05/did-you-know-that-there-are-ancient.html
-Credible witnesses have seen the afterlife and have come back and reported to us that it is exactly as the Bible describes:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=648912510964850987&q=hell&hl=en
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ElnQUVkWsQ
-The afterlife is very real, so make the right choice and invite Jesus into your life today:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8149875636555097567&q=Hell+and+Back&hl=en
If you are persuaded by the evidence and you are interested in becoming a Christian, the following link is a place where you can learn more:
http://www.fourspirituallaws.org/laws/english/flash/
Hello,
ReplyDeleteLet me preface this comment by saying that I am a Christian, but don't necessarily take the Bible literally. That's not to say I'm one of those Christians that picks and chooses the pieces I'd like to apply to my life and ignores the rest. I just believe that some of the stories are meant to be taken as parables rather than actual events. It's not that I don't have faith in God's power to have done these things, I just think those responsibly for writing the Bible (especially the Old Testament!) had a flare for the dramatic.
Having said that, I think you make an excellent argument about the lack of education about Christianity even among Christians. I was raised Catholic and despite going through Catechism classes from the age of 5 until 11, it wasn't until I was in college (I went to a Jesuit university) that I truly began to really understand the tenets of the Christian faith and how they applied to me personally. Yes, I followed the basic Ten Commandments, said my nightly prayers and tried to do right by others, but there really wasn't much depth to my spirituality at that point.
So back to your point. Rational reasoning and belief in God are not at all mutually exclusive. In fact, it is impossible for them to be. You nailed the problem exactly - many Christians are not educated enough about their religion to be proper evangelists. That's why evangelists get such a bad name. With 95% of them running around aggressively asking people if they've accepted Jesus and then telling them they're going to hell if they don't, it's no wonder Christianity is seeing a decline in respect and reputation.
Though I'm not sure I can agree that there is massive proof that Jesus was literally resurrected, I certainly have faith that a God who can create such an amazingly intricate world as ours would have the power to do something like that. Perhaps one of the reasons why scientific breakthroughs often move so slowly is because we are working too hard to separate science and religion when, really, they are undeniably inseparable.
Thanks for getting my brain spinning! Great article.
Sara
Pajama Professional