Posted on 04/16/2003 6:36:15 PM PDT by Remedy
"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). "And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ: whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not." (1 Corinthians 15:14-15). "And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins." (1 Corinthians 15:17).
Creation and the Resurrection The two greatest events in the history of the cosmos were, first of all, its supernatural creation and, secondly, the resurrection of its Creator from the dead. The evidence for each, to one whose mind and heart are open to evidence, is overwhelming. All true science points to creation, and the best-proved fact of history is the resurrection. The Bible, of course, teaches that both are vitally true, vitally important and vitally related, but even to one who does not believe the Bible, the evidence is still unanswerable. He may reject it, but he cannot refute it.
Furthermore, each is necessary to the other. The creation, invaded and permeated by decay and death, heading down toward ultimate chaos, can only be saved and renewed if death is defeated and life is restored by its Creator. The resurrection, conversely, triumphing over death and promising ultimate restoration of the perfect creation, can only be accomplished by the Creator Himself. The creation requires the resurrection and the resurrection requires the Creator.
Is Jesus the Only Way to God? The resurrection of Christ is one of the best-attested events in human history. Thomas Arnold, author of the famous three-volume History of Rome, appointed to the chair of modern history at Oxford, and certainly a man well acquainted with the value of evidence in determining historical facts, said: "I have been used for many years to study the histories of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair enquirer, than the great sign which God hath given us that Christ died and rose again from the dead." Numerous other prestigious scholars of history and law down through the centuries would concur.
Indeed, Jesus is the only way to God! In the days of Noah, there was no salvation outside of the Ark. In the days of Moses, there was no deliverance except for those who were under the blood. And in our day, there is no redemption outside of Christ.
Cynic Sage or Son of God? Boyd gives an overview of historical Jesus research and then summarizes the main arguments of his two opponents, Crossan and Mack. He then proceeds to show why the theories of Crossan and Mack are almost certainly false. Boyd argues convincingly for the canonical gospels and Paul's writings being much more reliable sources than the Gospel of Peter or Gospel of Thomas for information on Jesus.
The Case for Christ : A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus by Lee Strobel "The Case for Christ" is a well-articulated defense of the Christian faith, which is a statement I don't make lightly because I am not a Christian. I wish some of the reviewers of this book held to the same sober standards that the author employed in seeking the historical evidence for Jesus. They make all kinds of ill-supported claims --for instance, that the author tries to offer "conclusive proof" of the deity of Jesus. But the book never claims such "conclusive proof" is possible; only that the preponderance of the evidence points toward the conclusion that Jesus rose from the dead and thereby confirmed that he is the son of God.
Liberalism "A God without wrath, led men without sin, into a kingdom without judgment,through the ministrations of, a Christ without a cross."H. Richard Neibuhr
In the United States the term came to be applied to the radical edge of liberal theology (beginning c.1910) . Whereas earlier liberalism was a kind of pathetic salvage movement trying to save the essence of Christianity from the ashes of the Enlightenment, Modernism posed a direct challenge to evangelical Protestantism and fostered a full scale response in the form of Fundamentalism.
The only other option is that Jesus believed the claims, and in reality they were (and are) true. In that case, Jesus was and is Lord, God, and the sole Savior - and we had better deal with it.
The Comforting Doctrine of Hell the other certainty, Judgment, and the other possibility, Hell, have vanished from the minds of Christians.
WRT these lines, James Burnham once famously observed that "liberalism is the ideology of Western suicide."
Examine Neibuhr's warning statement, and you'll recognize it as the "justification" of the doctrine of "if it feels good, do it," "I'm entitled to feel good about myself," ends-justify-the-means, no-account "free lunch."
Which seems to be what our degenerate idea of "liberalism" has sunk to. Once upon a time, "liberalism" was preeminently about human liberty. But now, it has become a prescription for human greed, power-lust, rapine, and bondage....
Thanks for the excellent post, Remedy; and Dataman, thanks so much for the ping. May you have a blessed Easter!
How about throwing a little more light on the subtle shade of distinction that is so glaring to you between #1 & #2.
'Kingdom? Kingdom? Sorry, Neibuhr, we've just stricken references made by this unfortunate, infectious kingdom cult, and liberated the histerical-I-mean historical Jesus.'
'It was the Christian thing to do, afterall.'
Yes, some, such as the Neibuhrs may still have such revisionistic thoughts, but we've made even that obsolete too and corrected these misconceptions. It's about time we did! -- 2000 years.
/sarc...
Jews for Jesus claims that one of those messiahs was the true messiah of many convincing proofs.
"justification" of the doctrine of "if it feels good, do it," "
And "if it sounds good, believe it."
With An Apology to Arius: When and How Should We Deal with Heresies and Heretics? The Christian life is often presented as spiritual warfare; if the pagans are the enemies, the heretics are the traitors.
Your fifth is ruled out by historical evidence. There survives nothing of any Christians who denied Jesus made the claims recorded in the Gospels. If they had existed, we'd have at least polemics against them (as we have polemics against Judaizers and Gnostics), if not their own works. Instead, nothing. If Paul of his followers had invented the claims, the anti-Paulicians would have said so. So would the Jewish authorities.
There are still three options.
Astute point, Remedy!
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