Why Christianity?
Why should we believe the Truth claims of Christianity, compared to the other 'religions'? This is perhaps the most important of all questions regarding Christianity. The answer is quite logical and provable. Follow along with the argument presented below:
1. Jesus of Nazareth claimed to be God. Not just any God, but the God of the 'Old Testament' (the sacred writings of His time). He claimed that faith and devotion to Him provide the means to reconciliation with the Creator (in other words, He claimed to be the 'Messiah' that the 'Old Testament' was pointing toward). But how do we know this is true?
2. Because He foretold His death and resurrection, and they occurred as He predicted. How do we know that this is true?
3. It is the best explanation that fits all the accepted facts, even the accepted facts of the plurality of non-believing scholars! How do we know this?
4. Because of the Gospel accounts, which describe His death and resurrection in detail. Why can we trust these documents?
5. Because they are accepted by universally accepted principles of textual and historical analysis. In short, the evidence qualifies them to be more trustworthy than any document of antiquity. The books were written within the lifetimes of the eyewitnesses, and therefore are PRIMARY documents concerning His life and activities. Adapted from a lecture by Dr. Craig Hazen, Talbot School of Theology
These are strong claims. They are provable. If you do not believe them, you should pursue the answers for yourself. They are claims that are quite unlike any other 'religion' - they set Christianity miles apart! This website and many other referenced resources can assist you in your journey to validate these claims. Instead of setting out to disprove them (which you of course can do if you choose to), I challenge you instead to set out to PROVE them! This will put you in a different frame of reference, and perhaps even give you a tougher criteria to pass, instead of simply claiming 'aha' at the first apparent conflict or difficulty.
In any event, these claims are strong AND provable, which certainly makes them reasonable. But let's not stop there. Lets see how Christianity answers the questions we've generated so far in our discussion.
WhyIBelieve.Org Ministries Copyright Pending 2002 M. Sutherland |
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