Christianity Is Not Blind or Ignorant, Think Critically
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 | Labels: Apologetics, Christian Living, Culture, Philosophy, Relativism, Religion, Society | |The enemy would have modern Christians believe faith in Jesus Christ is both illogical and ignorant. Satan knows faith is the most powerful defense the modern Christian has against him, and he will stop at nothing to vanquish it. Those who can be shaken by the pseudo-intellectual lies crafted by the enemy will find themselves subject to his influence.
Ultimately, the validity of the Christian faith lies on one historical period, the birth and life of Jesus Christ. There is substantial legal-historical proof for both the virgin birth and correlation of fulfilled prophecy in the life of Jesus Christ. It is far to substantial to go into depth on a simple post. Recommended readings for this are both Lee Strobel's "The Case For Christ", Josh McDowells "The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict" and "More Than a Carpenter". I would also recommend reading counter-points and critical perspectives to gain a complete understanding.
Evidences of both the miraculous birth and life of Jesus Christ are established in historical records beyond those who partook in the writing of the Bible, even the Koran confirms the virgin birth of Jesus Christ took place 500 years before the birth of Muhammad(*1).
A student of philosophy wrote a great article that concluded the following points (understanding of historical evidences and contexts is assumed, otherwise these points will appear assumed - it is recommended you dig into the historical evidences yourself to verify these points):
Four “core facts” which even the skeptics admit ...For those well versed in the history of this era, these established logical deductions make a case for rational belief in both the life and ressurrection of Jesus Christ.
a) Jesus was a real man, who lived and then died by crucifixion. Check out your history: Crucifixion was a cruel (but effective) method of death by torture. Victims died not from actual wounds but by suffocation, from the weight of their bodies hanging from outstretched arms. The Roman soldiers attending crucifixions were experienced in their work and could tell who was dead and who wasn’t.
b) The disciples saw something and they believed it was the risen Jesus. (The theory of mass hallucination doesn’t fly because, as psychology will tell us, it simply doesn’t happen.)
c) Their lives were totally transformed, even to the point of death. Now, at first glance, this may not seem much to us who have heard of things like the Jim Jones cult, Koresh, and Heaven’s Gate—but we aren’t talking about a case of mass suicide here. This is a group of (at least) eleven men, who went out to different parts of the world, devoted to the same cause, and who all separately suffered torture and met their deaths rather than renounce what they believed was the risen Jesus. Doesn’t anyone think that at least ONE of those men, if they had been privy to some sort of scam, would have spoken up rather than face martyrdom?
d) Lastly, one Saul of Tarsus, bitter enemy of the followers of Christ, is converted—HE believes he sees the risen Jesus, and it transforms his life to the point that he devotes his life to preaching, suffering, and dying for Christ.
There are those who have suppressed these evidences for the benefit of their self-indulgent philosophies of life. Jesus Christ promoted both love and compassion for one another. His philosophy is of non-violence and community. Yet, his philosophy is looked at in outrage by those who do not believe. Instead of looking at the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, they look to disprove his existence by looking at those who believe in him. This is fundamentally flawed, as Jesus himself said no good could come from the evil creatures we are.
"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone." - Luke 18:19
The beauty of Christ's teachings is that he bridges our evil lives with that of the goodness of God. We can indeed be good, but only through a relationship with God. Jesus allowed man to truly be good by giving him communion through God with his life. Goodness, in this sense, is not what the world deems good, but what God deems good. Since men are fundamentally evil, they will fail at doing the good God want's them to do. This is merely common sense. Looking to Christians without looking at Jesus Christ as the ultimate verification of Christianity is fundamentally flawed.
Craig Chamberlin