Answers to Atheists (Part Four)
I spent this past week on Twitter verbally sparring with atheists who posed numerous questions related to their disbelief. The list has grown throughout the week. Because it’s difficult to answer their questions in 140 characters or less, I’ve taken the debate to the Pearls of Promise website to respond and to provide you with information when you have to defend your faith. Today is the final part of a four part devotional series.
The atheist said, “Part Three is laughable like the others. A single piece of evidence please and not Scripture.”
I’m playing to a tough crowd, but in this fourth and final segment of this devotional series, I am giving reasons why I believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I will draw evidence from outside Scripture as well as biblical accounts to make my case.
Let’s begin with the first reason why I am a believer in Christ.
The Proof of His Existence
There is no denying Jesus walked the earth, performed miracles, and was crucified. Countless eyewitnesses record their journeys in the New Testament. The Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, born only a few years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, acknowledged the existence of Jesus saying, “Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles.”
Why would a Jewish historian have any reason to make up information about Jesus?
Because I believe in the Bible, I accept what the writers of the various biblical books say about the Messiah. I don’t think there was an elaborate collaboration to make up a fairy tale about what the Son of God would be like if he existed. If the information presented were false, it would not have endured through the ages, and there would have been plenty of conflicting information refuting the claims.
Often times in the Gospel, the disciples call attention to their weaknesses or the counter cultural teachings of Jesus, i.e. Peter denying Christ, the disciples not being able to heal a boy because they hadn’t prayed and fasted or Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan woman, taboo in the Jewish culture.
If this were fiction, the writers wouldn’t have pointed out their shortcomings. They would have included scenarios that went against Jewish law.
The Bible is a history book that contains real information about a real event in history, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The Fulfillment of Prophecy
I remember my Old Testament professor asking our class, “How do you know when a prophet is real?” The answer: “When his or her prophecies come true.”
There is some variation on the amount of prophecies Jesus fulfilled. From my research, it ranges anywhere from twenty-eight to over three hundred. Regardless, the odds of Jesus fulfilling even twenty eight prophecies is amazing.
Peter Stoner in Science Speaks takes the number down even further to demonstrate the improbability of Jesus fulfilling less than ten prophecies. Stoner says that by using the modern science of probability, in reference to just eight prophecies “We find that the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 10 to the 17th power. That would be 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000.”
You can locate prophecies about the coming of Christ in the Old Testament, dating back to the writing of Genesis. Psalm 22 discusses the suffering of Jesus and Isaiah 7:14 is clear, Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” The book of Isaiah was written over seven hundred years before the birth of Christ. There are also other prophecies in the Psalms, the book of Numbers, Jeremiah, Zechariah, Amos and Micah.
The Resurrection
Of all religions, Christianity is the only religion to claim its leader rose from the dead. According to the apostle Paul, Jesus rose on the third day after his death and appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve disciples. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Jesus then appeared to his brother James and Paul himself.
Jesus’ brothers were not believers while Jesus walked the earth. In Mark 3:20-21, Jesus’ siblings thought he was a crazy man. Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”
Yet all of Jesus’ brothers were followers of Christ post-resurrection. In Acts 1:14, Jesus siblings were joined together with the disciples as they prayed and awaited the promised Holy Spirit.
Paul was a Pharisee and a persecutor of Christians but dramatically changed directions when he encountered the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. After his dramatic encounter, Paul became a missionary for the faith and penned over half of the books in the New Testament.
In Matthew 28, three women were the first to encounter the empty tomb after Jesus’ resurrection. In a patriarchal society, if the resurrection account were fictitious, men, not Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome would have been used as characters making the first discovery.
What many believe is the actual burial garment of Christ, the Shroud of Turin, has been studied since it was first discovered in the 1400s. In an April 4, 2012 article from The Christian Post, “Is There Scientific Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, ” Dr. Alan Whanger says, “It is our conviction that the Shroud is, indeed, the burial cloth of Jesus of Nazareth. And we feel that we can date it to the spring of 30 AD in the Middle East, and that what we see on the Shroud with the various wounds that this is entirely consistent with the scriptural account of the crucifixion of Jesus.”
First hand accounts, transformed lives and the burial garment of Christ provide proof of the Messiah.
Martyrdom
When studying first- through third- century Christianity, the accounts of the martyrs were impactful and for me, the strongest proof that Jesus is who he said he was. Their stories strengthened my faith because many allowed themselves to be tortured and eaten alive by animals due to their allegiance to Jesus. The martyrs were not that far removed from the time Christ walked the earth.
The most dramatic martyrdom story I can recall centered around a third century believer named Perpetua. Perpetua had a small child who she nursed in prison. Her father feverishly tried to talk her out of going to her death for her faith but she refused. In the end, after being ravaged by wild animals, the executor tasked with finishing off the martyrs with a sword, missed, and Perpetua guided the sword to her neck. Additional information about martyrs can be located here. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06029a.htm
All but one of the disciples died for their faith as did Paul. Acts 12:2 claims King Herod had James, the brother of John put to death by the sword. Roman historian Eusebius (260-341 A.D.) records a story told by the bishop Clement of Alexandria, who died in 215A.D., that “the person who led James to the judgment-seat was moved when he saw him bear witness, and confessed that he himself was also a Christian.”
Peter was crucified upside down. The earliest reference to the martyrdom of Peter comes from the letter of Clement of Rome (about AD 90). He said, in his Letter to the Corinthians, “Let us take the noble examples of our own generation. Through jealousy and envy, the greatest and most just pillars of the Church were persecuted, and came even unto death… Peter, through unjust envy, endured not one or two but many labours, and at last, having delivered his testimony, departed unto the place of glory due to him.” – See more at: http://www.evidenceforchristianity.org/what-is-the-evidence-that-peter-was-crucified-upside-down-in-rome/#sthash.j3DlJVdI.dpuf
Why did so many go to their death for their faith? Why are Christians still risking their lives for Christ today?
There are many people who die for their beliefs but how many die when they know and have seen the truth? Well known apologist, Lee Strobel, says that is the difference between the earliest Christian martyrs and any others. The disciples walked with Jesus. They touched Jesus. They witnessed his death and ultimately his resurrection. They died for the truth and could not have fabricated anything from fantasy.
Transformation
John Newton’s ageless song rings out, I once was lost but now I am found.. The amazing grace of Christ still exists today.
I have seen alcoholics who’ve been transformed from raging drunks to teetotalers through the power of Christ. Drug addicts discarded their stash. I have witnessed marriages turned around, finances restored and careers diverted after people have given over the control of their lives to Christ.
I myself was able to overcome a dysfunctional childhood without a father and a mentally ill mother, thanks to the direction Christ gave me after salvation. I was headed down the wrong road, already drinking at age thirteen. My subpar grades transformed overnight. For the first time in a long while, I had hope. There is no explanation for my own transformation, except that Christ did the work in me and continues to sanctify me.
I am praising Jesus for his death and resurrection. I thank him that he is still alive and at work today.
Countless people have experienced their own road to Damascus, simply by following Christ. What is your story? What can you share on this website as a testimony of your faith to encourage those who have not encountered the risen Christ in their lives yet?
Please reply to this post with a one or two paragraph description of how Christ changed you. Your story might be the difference between belief and disbelief.