Why do I believe in Jesus?
Simply put, it is because I see no other explanation for the facts around His death and resurrection. The best summary of it was done by Lee Strobel and is titled "The Case For Christ". He did a student edition which is condensed but not watered down, although kinda cheesy in its presentation (if you don't mind little web-style boxes of pertinent info, I do recommend it)
The fundamentals are
1. Jesus' life and death are corroborated by non-christian historical sources
2. Jesus' death on the cross is a certainty due to the brutality of the beating, the spear thrust, the "blood and water" from it, and the coldness of the tomb which would have put Him into shock rather than revived Him (I'm open to someone in the medical community refuting this part, though)
3. Jesus' resurrection is supported by the inability of the Pharisees being able to show His body (to be able to would have stopped Christianity in its tracks) as well as the change in the disciples whose own account is that they were scared and depressed before encountering the risen Christ. In addition there is the fact that the disciples became martyrs for their testimony of Jesus' resurrection and divinity.
4. While I cannot expect anyone to be convinced purely by this, I have seen firsthand His change in my life, His divine hand in coincidences too numerous to be coincidence, and a divine strength in myself and believing friends to deal with extremely difficult situations. I recognize all the arguments toward this being wishful thinking and self fulfilling prophecy, but I have looked at too many of them critically to be able to believe that explanation.
5. Finally, I myself have noticed that the doctrines of Christianity aren't something I can see a human mind coming up with. What I mean is that while the human imagination makes leaps to bigger things, but usually not stranger things. A human may invent a god that can control aspects of nature like lightning, be able to live much longer than a human, and even forever. An exceptional human mind can even come up with something without a beginning such as the unmoved mover, but I cannot see someone coming up with an idea such as the Trinity without it being revealed to them. I see a top-down revelation here as opposed to a bottom-up imagination, but I cannot codify the differences between the two (any Christians who can give it a shot, please make a comment).
I welcome any feedback for or against as long as it is reasonably respectful
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)