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It is not a question of proof, but faith, and it will always be so.
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>• First, the reliability of the Scriptures. Did you know that we have more than 5,000 manuscripts of the Greek New Testament? That is a huge amount. Some manuscripts date to within 100 years of the autographs (the original writings) and all agree with each other. (Yes, there are minor differences, but there are so many copies available we can look at them and get a very accurate picture of what the New Testament writers said.) What this means is that the Bible is extremely reliable as an historical document.<
There are lots of ancient stories written about from all over with the stories varying only slightly. The Illiad is one example.
>• Second, we have writings of historians outside the Bible that corroborate the stories within it. These historians, like Pliny the Younger, Ptolemy, Tacitus and Josephus, not only mention kings, governors, dates and places found in the Bible, they also mention the disciples and Jesus himself.<
These historians mentioned the Cult of Christianity and some of it’s beliefs, that’s true. But these people also mention things like dragons, magical lands and curses/hexes.
>• Third, the empty tomb. The Gospel writers all mention that the tomb was empty Easter Sunday morning. If there had been a body there, the Romans or Jewish leaders could have shown it and that would have ended Christianity right then and there. Remember, the tomb was well guarded. Also, in the Bible, women saw the empty tomb first — that would never happen in Jewish fiction of that day, so it must have been true!<
*If* you assume the Bible is true. In the modern age we have records, witnesses, pictures and all kinds of things that prove people are dead - but there are still many people who believe Elvis is alive.
>• Fourth, Paul wrote in First Corinthians that 500 different people saw Jesus after his resurrection. Paul wrote this about 20 years after the resurrection and points out that most of them were still alive and could verify what they saw. No one disputes the validity and historicity of Paul or First Corinthians, and 500 people do not have the same hallucination.<
There are thousands of people who have seen Bigfoot, UFOs and the Loch Ness Monster as well - that doesn’t necessarily mean any of those things exist either...even when they produce pictures, hair samples, burn marks, etc.
>• Fifth, why would the early Christians have celebrated Communion and Baptism if Jesus had remained dead? History teaches that the Christians began celebrating The Lord’s Supper within 20 years of Jesus’ resurrection. Communion commemorates the sacrificial death of Jesus by celebrating the blood he shed and how his body was broken. Why would they do this if Jesus’ death had been meaningless? This would be like a John F. Kennedy fan club celebrating his death instead of his life and legacy. Further, the early Christians changed the meaning of baptism from a Jewish cleansing ritual to mean “buried with Christ and raised to life with him.” (Romans 6:4).<
Baptism isn’t a new idea. The Egyptians who worshipped Isis did a ritual “cleansing” in the Nile to free themselves from the dirt of sin. There are similar ancient practices in India. The idea of having a sacred meal as a part of a ritual isn’t a new idea either. Gods connected with the harvest were often symbolically “eaten” at rituals honoring them.
>• Sixth, why would the disciples die for a lie? We see in the Gospels that they were basically cowards. Why did these timid lambs suddenly change into the lions of the faith? Yes, people die for what they believe is true, but people do not die for what they know is NOT true. History says all of the disciples died for their faith except John.<
Right now there are suicide bombers training to die in the name of Allah: a god that the Christians reject.
>• Seventh, the emergence and growth of the church. The church started with a small rag tag group of mostly poor people who were murdered and persecuted for their belief. Within 200 years, it conquered Rome. We name our dogs Nero and Caesar and our children John and Paul. Thousands of churches and changed lives stand as a testament to the resurrection.<
The Apostles originally preached in the Synangogues until the Jews (who believed these people to be heretics) kicked them out. They then began preaching to the people in the streets walking by the Synangogue. But even then Christianity didn’t rise. A lot of the Gentiles didn’t want to follow the Jewish law (which was obeyed by the early Christians.) Remember Jesus was a Jew and followed the laws of the Hebrews. It was only after the Council of Jerusalem when Paul argued that Jesus had heralded a “New covenent” with God (meaning that Jewish law no longer had to be followed especially circumcision) that the Church really exploded. It was then bolstered by city dwellers who considered the new religion fashionable. Early Christians also tended to blend their religion with older pagan beliefs - pagan temples were converted to Christian Churches, many pagan dieties became “Saints” and pagan practices like the Easter Bunny and Christmas trees were adopted. After the Emperor Constantine was baptised on his death bed (after saying prayers to ALL gods, lest he go to hell) that Church leaders took over declaring that Christianity was the official religion of the Empire. Thus getting rid of pagans became the order of the day. Many peasants suddenly found themselves forcefully converted by their governors and aristocratic overlords.
>• Eighth, the conversion of skeptics. Scores of non-believers, including Jesus’ own brothers, Paul and atheists, have put their faith in Christ after seeing him alive or examining the evidence.<
But not everyone converted after the resurrection. Many of Christ’s critics remained so - they’re not mentioned because the Church didn’t consider these non recanting non believers important.
>• Finally, the ongoing encounters with Jesus today. Millions of us throughout history have had a conversion experience. We know Jesus is alive because we have felt, known and experienced him.<
This can be said about other Gods as well. The Hindu gods are very active. People like Osama bin Ladin have claimed to have encounters with Mohammed and Allah.
I’m not saying that Christianity is wrong or that some other religion is right - I’m saying that these aren’t necessarily good sources and this is not good “evidence.”
Sorry, NONE of this is “evidence”...it’s faith.
Every bit of ‘evidence’ you present requires believe and faith, we have no evidence, none, only faith...
I’m convinced.
10. During that time period, the last person in the world to make up a story about an individual resurrection, or claim that a man was God, or worship him, would be a Jew. It is far beyond anything they would expect to experience in life, and absolutely in conflict with everything their culture had taught them since childhood. They would have no reason to expect any Jew to believe it.
10. During that time period, the last person in the world to make up a story about an individual resurrection, or claim that a man was God, or worship him, would be a Jew. It is far beyond anything they would expect to experience in life, and absolutely in conflict with everything their culture had taught them since childhood. They would have no reason to expect any Jew to believe it.
And the shroud of turin is his whole body picture.
They all look like very compelling arguments to me!
Thanks for posting.
I’m a Christian, but I have trouble with using these arguments to convince non-believers.
It’s hard enough to convince people of something when there’s solid evidence in its favor. It’s even harder when you present a document such as The Bible and say “It’s true because it’s in here, and this doesn’t lie.”
To them, it’s the ultimate in circular reasoning, and if they’re not inclined to believe in the first place, they’ll just roll their eyes and walk away.
To me, the most effective witness is the way you live your life, and they way you treat other people. Jesus did not talk out of a book: He spoke from His heart, and led by example.
If you want to prove Christ lived, died, and rose again, then live your life as if you believe it with all your heart, and be a witness in your own life, death, and rebirth.
I think the term “proves” is being used incorrectly here. I’m not sure anything can be scientifically “proved.”
If you hold out for a physical resurrection instead of a spiritual one, you inevitably have some questions from skeptics:
I wrote some questions down and some rebuttals to the proofs that were offere, but after reflection I thought the addition was unkind and unnecessary.
Physical Resurrection is a matter of faith, but IMHO shouldn’t be dispositive of the value of Jesus and his message of hope and redemption and the relationship of each of us to his/her belief in a higher power.
So I hope every Christian, fundamentalist or not, has renewed his faith in the Jesus message of redemption by celebrating Easter.
“proof”? I’m a believer myself, but that’s a bit strong. Interesting, serious positive evidence, provocative perhaps, but “proof” is a very strong term meaning to eliminate by reason all other possibilities. If this was provable there woud be absolutely no need for faith. Reason is helpful, but is not sufficient.
I am a Christian but “proof”? Not to these eyes. Good evidence, but not proof.
That's the most powerful reason to believe in Jesus' resurrection AFAIC. Why would Jesus' disciples and many of his other followers allow themselves to be killed in horrible ways when all they would have had to do in order to be released was to deny that Jesus is the resurrected Son of God?
It had to be because they had seen Jesus alive after his death on the cross, and they knew that was absolute, irrefutable proof that he is who he said he is, i.e., the second member of the Divine Trinity. IOW, God revealed in sinless human flesh.