Evidences for Christianity
Why should anyone believe in God, Jesus, and the Bible? Is it "blind
faith" that causes people to believe? There are many reasons why people
believe and why people don't believe. In fact, faith is not merely an intellectual
issue. However, there are good reasons why believing in God, Jesus, and
the Bible is the most rational conclusion, based on a simple examination
of the facts.
Some will say that there is no proof of God. However, there are facts
which are compelling evidence for the existence of God. Some will say that
you can't use the Bible to prove itself. However, even in a trial, examination
of the accused can yield clues about his truthfulness and provide evidence
for his guilt or innocence. Therefore, the entire body of evidence can
be broken down into internal evidences (from sources that might be expected
to be biased toward Christianity) and external evidences (from sources
that would be expected to be neutral or biased against Christianity).
The logical steps to faith in Christ start without a presumption
that the Bible is the word of God. Rather, the reliability of the Bible
is examined as a historical source. It testifies to a man named Jesus who
claimed to be sent from God, to be God, and to speak the words of God.
The internal evidence in the Bible and the external evidence are enough
to make us believe that it is more credible to believe Jesus' claims about
himself than to disbelieve (even with the stakes as high as they are).
From Jesus, we learn about and believe in God, the validity of the Old
Testament (Hebrew Scriptures) as the Word of God and the necessity of following
the teachings of his Apostles as speakers and writers of the Word of God
(the New Testament).
The reasoned approach to Christian faith is often called Apologetics,
meaning "to give a defense". Many documents on the web have Apologetics
in the title. They have nothing to do with apologizing for anything. Rather,
they give a reasoned defense of (and a compelling offense for) the Christian
faith.
Indexes and Outlines
The Bible as History->Jesus->God->Bible as Word of God
line of reasoning:
This logic is broken down into the following series of assertions, with
the evidences to their truth enumerated. Each one of these evidences can
be explored via the links provided.
- The Bible has been accurately preserved and transmitted since it was
written
- Over 3000 ancient copies and fragments agree on 99% of the Bible with
no central doctrinal tenets threatened by the remainder
- Ancient text families and ancient translations demonstrate the accuracy
of transmission and attest to a very early source date
- Rare uncertainties in the text are footnoted in most modern translations
- The Bible has been accurately translated
- Modern Bibles are direct translations from the original languages by
committees of scholars from many churches to remove sectarian bias
- Multiple translations exist to cross-check and confirm the accuracy
of any particular translation
- Rare uncertainties in translation are footnoted in most modern translations
- The Bible represents an accurate historical account of people, events,
and statements
- Written by eyewitnesses or their companions who gave their lives for
the facts they saw and heard
- Written by men for whom truth was a primary virtue, something they
would give their lives for
- Correllation with externally verifiable facts demonstrate the authors'
attention to accuracy and detail (accuracy of Old Testament, from grantjeffrey.com)
- Jesus is the Son of God
- His claims that there is a God and that he is the Son of God are more
credible than the alternatives (i.e. that he is a liar or that he is a
lunatic)
- He predicted he would rise from the dead and he did (from
www.crusade.org)
- He fulfilled Old Testament prophecy (from
www.crusade.org) (from
Maitland)
- He performed unprecedented and undeniable miracles
- His teaching was and is amazing
- He changed the lives of the people he was around
- His teaching continues to change people's lives today like nothing
else can
- The Old Testament is the Word of God
- Jesus said it is the Word of God and that its authors spoke by the
Holy Spirit
- Jesus treated it as completely authoritative and the standard for his
life and teaching
- Jesus described his own person and mission as the fulfillment of predictions
in the Old Testament
- Jesus quoted from over half the books in the Old Testament
- Jesus accepted the existing Old Testament canon without hesitation
- Jesus never criticized the leaders of the Jews for having the wrong
Bible, but for not understanding it, not practicing it, or substituting
human teachings or traditions in its place
- The New Testament is the Word of God
- Jesus gave authority to his Apostles and said that they would speak
by the Holy Spirit with authority. Therefore, the Apostles' teaching is
an authoritative guide for the church in life and doctrine.
- The New Testament writers were all Apostles or close companions of
the Apostles
- The New Testament writers wrote with authority, expecting their instructions
to be obeyed, and claiming their documents and the documents of the other
Apostles were Scripture (same as the Old Testament)
- The unity of the church that God commands is only possible if their
is an external standard.
The following are some links which are yet to be categorized in the
appropriate places.