Why Christ?

Why Believe in Christ?

A Broad Investigation and Explanation into My Personal Reasons for Faith in Christ

Note: This article was originally written several years ago prior to a fuller understanding of the salvation provided by Christ.  It has been and will continue to be revised to be a clearer portrayal of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In my time trying to share the gospel, I have inevitably come across people who challenge my belief in Christ as the resurrected messiah. Some of the people I come across challenge me with simple skepticism, but no real understanding of the evidence for Jesus – which all things considered, is the true representation of blind faith that they purport to see in so many Christians. Some others again rely on that skepticism, but at least take it to another level, making use of some attempt to investigate the facts; though with a definitive bent towards finding evidence that dismisses Christianity. It is the rare few who will look at the evidence – all of it, both positive and negative – and make the decision with an open-mind. I suppose I might suggest that this is because those who honestly look at the facts are forced inexorably to acknowledge the truth of Christ.

This article then is dedicated to those who are willing to consider the possibilities, to investigate Christ honestly, and to come to a reasonable conclusion about the truth-claims of Christianity. Keep in mind that this article is simply my testimony, my own observations, and a synopsis of my investigation into the evidence – consequently, my support of the evidence. This article is not an extended defense of the evidence, as that has been done elsewhere (see the references at the end of this article and visit the Apologetics Resources Link above). Instead, it is my own personal view of what the only real explanation that one should accept of a group of events that occurred around 2000 years ago.

In writing this article, I know that it will ultimately be insufficient for many, as the real stumbling block is that first step in faith. Until God draws the skeptic to Him, this information is foolishness. However, if you feel that tug inside you saying, “Listen up, hear the truth,” then there is still hope that you can be saved. If you come as an honest inquirer, the truth of Jesus of Nazareth I will tell you about, along with the resources mentioned above, will ultimately force you to consider the full force of the argument.

The two primary parts to this article are:

• Arguments for God

• Arguments for Christianity

Arguments for God

Does God Exist?

The first part of this discussion starts not with any particular religion, but with the idea of religion itself.  Or rather, the object with which religion is primarily concerned; I am of course referring to God.  This section will be rather short, not for lack of evidence, but because it is rather silly for us to be discussing God in this manner.  Evrywhere we look, there is evidence of God.  However, it is important to come to some understanding of our inclination towards god.  If you simply rule god out a priori, it is of little use going forward in this discussion.  If, however, you are willing to consider the possibilities, then let us simply gaze the horizon and see if there are any good reasons to believe in God.

One particular argument that I find compelling is in relation to the nature of the universe.

• Where did it come from?

• How did it come into existence?

• Is it eternal?

• Why is it so fine-tuned for intelligent life?

An honest inquiry into these questions results in at the very least an acknowledgment that there is a reasonably compelling case for the existence of God — at least as compelling as the contra view. For instance, the standard big bang cosmology asserts “that the universe has expanded into its current state from a primordial condition of enormous density and temperature.”  If we accept this scientific theory, then there are huge implications on the discussion of God.  The aspect of this concept most intriguing is what caused the big bang.

The big bang is a concept that has not garnered much support from Christian circles, but is ironically, quite supportive of the theistic view of the world if understood within the Biblical account of creation.  A good source for investigating this aspect of the argument is Dr. William Lane Craig (see his site here).  Dr. Craig eloquently argues for the existence of God based on this method. Effectively, Dr. Craig argues that the big bang must have been caused by God, which seems quite rational compared to the irrational idea that this big bang came into existence out of nothingness and caused by nothingness.  I will note, however, that Dr. Craig and I part ways from there.  He correctly attributes the big bang to God, but then loses the trail as it relates to a correct interpretation of the Biblical account.  I respect him tremendously, but believe as it relates to an accurate reading of the creation account, there are better resources on our Apologetics page.

Regardless though of the exact entry of our world into existence, there are other arguments accepted broadly across Christian circles that testify to a creator: a universe fine-tuned for life, objective morals, the grand and magnificent appearance of design in our world (earth is a grand machine that just doesn’t seem to fit well with the evolutionary story), and more.  All of these support the idea of some type of supernatural realm outside of our current world.  There simply is no way of accounting for the design that we find around us other than the Creator God that has revealed Himself in scripture.

While I will not pretend that I am an expert in the many defenses of these arguments, I don’t believe I need to be.  In truth, we all know these things.  These many defenses are merely ways of confirming what we know in our bones.  God is so easily found in our existence that He can be seen everywhere.  The Psalmist said that the heavens declare the glory of God.  So simply observe the world around you and you will begin to see a created world that has order, rules, laws (both natural and man made) that all testify to the existence of God.  That is not say that we see a perfect world — we don’t!  The Bible makes it clear that we live in a once perfect creation that is now in a fallen state.

In the end, the many evidences of God all fly in the face of the prevailing winds of evolutionary science, which tells us about the randomness of nature and the chance-filled existence of the cosmos.  It is sad the lengths man strives for to avoid the existence of God.  If you doubt the existence of God, consider then further the existence of Christ.

Arguments for Christianity

Jesus of Nazareth: Beyond Just Any God

The Christian religion is a narrative founded first in the Old Testament (the basis for the Jewish religion) and then the completion of the narrative in the New Testament (documenting the coming of the messiah and ultimately the coming Kingdom of God). The connection of the Jewish religion with Christianity is important to understand first. Some religions materialize out of nothing. They start with one person’s view of the world and then follow with the later deification of that person (i.e. Muhammad, Buddha, etc). While these many religions have recognized the obvious existence of God, they have not taken into account God’s interaction with His creation properly.  Christianity is in no such position. The story of Jesus is a continuation of the Jewish belief in a messiah, which was prophesied by Jewish prophets that Jesus would come hundreds of years beforehand.  These prophesies, which were in writing and accepted by faith by the Jewish people, are perhaps the most compelling reason to believe in Jesus.  But they aren’t the only reason.

The Old Testament then is the rightful beginning of the investigation into Jesus. It is not enough for the skeptic to simply read a few passages from the New Testament, spout a few quotes from contemporary historians, and then walk off into the sunset as if their job is done. Any investigation into Jesus ultimately has its’ roots in the Old Testament. The debate then, as it were, does not even begin until the skeptic has an understanding of the Jewish religion, culture, and history. A common mistake of skeptics is to utilize a modern mindset to criticize ancient thoughts – it doesn’t work that way!

As a Christian, I realize and accept that I myself do not possess the full spectrum of knowledge that it takes to be a theologian, an apologist, or even (out of respect for the role itself) a pastor. I admit this honestly because it is an important starting block. As much as I know – which without arrogance is more than most skeptics – I realize that it does not make me an expert. Whenever I read something in the Bible that might not make sense to me, that might confound me, or may seem like a contradiction, I research it further to find out before making a rather silly and arrogant assumption. Unfortunately, there are too many skeptics out there who have clearly not done the same.  Attacking the Bible has become sport for some despite not having the credentials to enter the arena.

What I am doing then by acknowledging this is setting the stage for the difficult challenge it is to be a skeptic of the Bible. If you wish to challenge the Bible, you must be willing to go against common sense and reason. For instance, it is common these days to run into people who believe that Jesus did not exist. Can you imagine the amount of faith and bald-faced unsupported assumptions it takes to believe such a thing? Beyond just the issues of evidence, can you see how difficult it is to believe that the most radical movement in the history of the world was materialized out of nothing? It sounds rather like the notion that life itself materialized out of nothing perpetuated by evolutionists.  Every time they have no evidence, they just say it popped out of nothing!  As a Christian, I do not believe that the religion of Islam is the truth, but neither am I irrational enough to believe that Muhammad did not exist.  Of course he did exist.  The question is how did Islam spread and is there reason to doubt its’ authenticity?  Comparatively, is there reason to believe that the rise of Christianity was different?  I believe so.

It is with the reality then that there are countless experts in Biblical exegesis, apologetics, and theology – who have studied the Bible to a level well beyond even the most ardent skeptics – that I set the framework for this article. I have in my review of the apologetic, theological, and common sense arguments for the faith, concluded without doubt that the Bible represents the truth of the origins of our existence, the source for our hope, and the explanation of everything that is important. The remaining aspects of this article represent why I have come to this conclusion.

The Jewish Religion

There are a number of aspects of the Jewish beliefs communicated in the Old Testament that are in deed important to our understanding of Jesus Christ, of which I can only scratch the surface of in this article. Again, I remind you that this is not a defense of these positions, but merely a presentation of key principles that I have concluded to be true based on my review of the evidence.  The key aspects for my purposes are highlighted as follows:

Belief in a Messiah: The Jewish scriptures teach of a coming messiah who will establish God’s kingdom – the coming King of the Jews. This is absolutely vital to understanding how obvious it is – based on the evidence – that Jesus is our savior.  The Old Testament, while also a record of the Jewish people and their interaction with God, is ultimately the testament of Christ himself.

For your consideration, let me provide you with some of the prophesies:

• The birthplace of the Christ – Micah 5:2

• The betrayal of Jesus by Judas – Psalm 41:9

• The specific amount that Judas would receive for the betrayal of Jesus, the fact that Judas later returned the money to the temple, and was used to buy the potter’s field – Zechariah 11:12-13

• The manner in which Jesus would be killed; this predicted hundreds of years before crucifixion was in practice – Psalm 22:16

• The fact that the Roman guards cast lots for his garments – Psalm 22:18

These five examples are but a small sample of the hundreds of prophesies about the coming of Jesus.  And truly, as compelling as they are, I find equally compelling the overall embodiment of the Old Testament that is found in Jesus.  In fact, the word ‘fulfill’ (pleroo in the Greek) is speaking of something beyond just the prophesies that were a prediction of Christ, but truly how Christ embodied the entire scriptures and Jewish belief system.

Recording of Scriptures: The method used to maintain a record of the Jewish scriptures was quite astonishing, and notably made painstaking efforts to ensure accuracy, which translates over to a reliability of at least the Old Testament ^[i], but also provides reasons to inquire further and accept the New Testament^[ii]. In researching the reliability of the scriptures, it has been my conclusion that all of the writings have been found dependable, even if not perfect. I realize that the arguments against scriptural reliability are in deed hollow.  If we can find first a dependable record in both the Old and New Testaments, then we can move onto investigating the claims of each.

God’s Chosen People: The Jewish people are a people who according to Jewish scripture are God’s chosen people. What is important in the context of this discussion is how this has played out in history.  Even the most stubborn skeptic, if honest, must admit the oddity that is the Jewish people.  They have been perhaps the most attacked people to have walked this land, and yet, they survive today to testify to God’s providence.  Even when all has been stacked against them they find a way to survive.

Animal Sacrifices: The Jewish people practiced animal sacrifice as a way of atoning for their sins. This concept is important to understanding the role of Christ as the sacrificial lamb.  While animal sacrifices may seem repulsive and may be misunderstood in today’s age, they actually support the overall narrative of the purpose of Christ as the sacrificial Lamb of God dying in our stead.

These many aspects of the Jewish religion must fully be explored and understood before drawing a conclusion about Christ.

The Narrative of Christ

The story of Christ begins first with the monotheistic views of the Jewish people, founded on the Book of Genesis and the entire Old Testament. Genesis 1:1 teaches us, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” From there, a narrative is told of a people who were chosen by God. You might ask, however, chosen by God to do what? Without delving too deep into the theological perspective here, the ultimate conclusion is that they were chosen to be God’s people in every way possible; to walk and talk with God in some cases; to be directly instructed by God in other cases; and to ultimately bring about the events that brought to the world the messiah spoken about in the Old Testament.

One of the other key aspects of the Jewish religion is the use of sacrifices to atone for sin. The Bible teaches us that the creation was made perfect at first, but was essentially infected after the fall of man through the first sin of Adam (Romans 5:12). Animal sacrifices were instituted so that man would fully understand what was later penned in Romans 6:23 that the “wages of sin is death.” The animal took the place of man and bore the wrath of God. In Old Testament times, the slain animals died in place of humans. It was a practice that made painfully real man’s sinful nature.

And so we start with a creation corrupted by sin, a practice of sacrificing animals to atone for sin, and find our way through a collection of scriptures that tell us of a coming messiah that will set things right. What we then find in the New Testament is an account of Jesus as the messiah. As is documented in the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophesies as the messiah. The role he took on was of the ultimate and perfect sacrifice, bearing the wrath of God as God come in the flesh. He came to make himself the sacrificial lamb, so that whoever believes in him may be saved. The New Testament authors describe their accounts as eyewitness accounts of the life, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ. The question before us all is why should we believe them? It is time for me to answer why I believe them.

An Issue of Faith

What seems important when walking into this debate is that either way we look at it, this is in fact a matter of faith. Either we are putting our faith into Jesus as the messiah, or we are putting our faith in our alternate interpretation of the facts. One way or the other, no one is going to have the complete upper hand in terms of absolute resolve – there is no magic bullet one way or the other that proves or disproves the case for Christ from a mere intellectual standpoint.  Without God drawing you to Him, you cannot fully understand even the strongest evidence for Christ.

Here are some key pieces of evidence:

Evidence Piece #1: The Old Testament Prophesies

At this point, I am not going to delve back into the prophesies.  Instead, you can read the sample provided above.  These prophesies are but a small sample of the literally hundreds of prophesies, all in writing hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus.  And while a few of them could have been sought out by Jesus, most were beyond his control.  Unless of course, we acknowledge Him for who he was; God come in the flesh.  The prophesies for me are the most compelling reasons to believe in Christ outside of my own conversion to Christ.  You would do yourself a disservice to dismiss them out of hand.

Evidence Piece #2: The New Testament Witnesses

In reading the New Testament, what becomes clear is that the writers did not claim to be telling a story, but instead, claimed to be eyewitnesses of actual historical events. 2 Peter 1:16 is an example of this claim. There we read, “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” (emphasis mine) In deed, it seems that we have reason to believe that the writers of the New Testament were in fact either themselves eyewitnesses, or in direct contact with those who were. In response to this reality, some skeptics argue that we do not know what the original documents communicated – they could have been altered. On this topic, F.F. Bruce states, “…if the New Testament were a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond all doubt.” ^[ii]

The skeptic here has to be careful. To claim that the New Testament is not reliable is to accordingly disavow much of what we know about ancient times as it would require of us to disavow also the secular historical documents. The New Testament – when compared to secular writings – should then be considered quite reliable, especially when one considers the methods of preserving ancient scriptures by the Jewish people in the Old Testament and the close dating of the New Testament scriptures. In response then, the skeptic argues that even if they are reliable, that simply means that the writers forged clever tails about what really happened, even though the gospel writers claimed otherwise. There are a number of problems with this assertion, not the least of which is the fact that there is no evidence for it. It is nonetheless possible, though I would argue not the most plausible explanation.

The argument then against Christ goes something like this:

A Christian expresses the belief in Christ based on the original prophesies of the messiah that were fulfilled in Christ and testified to in the New Testament. The skeptic responds, “You don’t believe in those fairy tales, do you? How silly!”  The Christian replies with evidence that the New Testament is more reliable than secular historical documents. ^[iii] The skeptic then turns his eye to the New Testament writers, claiming they lied about what happened. The Christian asks for evidence, asks why, how, and to what end? The skeptic has no evidence, just an assertion that they must have lied and this, despite the counterintuitive nature of these claims. The Christian then offers counter-evidence that suggests that a lie was unlikely; the gospel writers at first did not believe; they had nothing to gain from lying; they wrote about events that would not have been beneficial to them if they were lying; the people that witnessed these events were there to refute them; they ultimately died for this alleged lie.

My point in laying it out in this manner is simply to show that there is a perfectly plausible answer to almost every attack on the Bible.  In fact, if considered within appropriate context, the Bible truly has the most plausible answer – even more plausible than the most well-thought out skeptic’s.  If for a moment then, you remove the supernatural implications of the account of Jesus, there would be absolutely no reason to doubt the New Testament accounts.  Instead, we would accept the events as the most reliable account of any ancient events to have ever occurred.  It is merely our dislike for those supernatural events and the implications thereof, that prods us proudly to reach further with our simple skepticism.  So I challenge you to really investigate these claims and compare them to other religions.  You will find them to be unique and quite convincing.    

Evidence Piece #3: The People of Israel

The people of Israel (the Jewish people) defy all odds. If they were the average historical civilization, they would have been dispersed, collapsed, and only known about through reading a history book. And yet, despite constant attack and upheaval, the Jewish people are still here today to testify to God’s providence. The Bible teaches that God established his covenant with the Jewish people through Abraham. Genesis 17:7 states, “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.” There should be no question that the Jewish people have shown a resiliency unmatched for all of history. The question that skeptics have to decide is what the source of that resiliency is. Is it pure stubbornness? Or, is it divine as the Bible claims?

Evidence Piece #4: The Bible

The Bible itself has been attacked, demeaned, and misconstrued more than any other written work in the history of man. And yet, it stands today to testify to the divine nature of its origins. Despite consisting of 66 individual books, written by multiple authors, in multiple languages, and over hundreds of years, it exists today as a consistent and reliable account of God’s interaction with mankind. Skeptics attack it regularly with charges of falsehoods and contradictions, but have only served to solidify the Bible as each charge has been answered by apologists. ^{[iii] [iv]}

Evidence Piece #5: The Rise of Christianity

The rise of Christianity has so utterly transformed the world that the rise itself gives testimony to the divine nature of Christ. This is true not just in how the rise of Christianity occurred (See The Impossible Faith below ^[v]), but also the way it has transformed the world in the two thousand years since. Despite attempts by some skeptics to portray Christianity in a negative light, the truth is that it has been the greatest force for positive change in the history of the world.

Other Evidences

There are other pieces of evidence that could be examined, that in my view support the Biblical claim. I will mention some here that I have examined, without delving so deep into this topic as to make this article unbearably long – assuming it is not already there.

Moral laws appear to be a real thing and not simply man-made. If moral laws are in fact real, skeptics have to explain where they came from ^[vi].  If morality is nothing more than man-made, why are they so ingrained in us?  Evolution simply is not a satisfying answer.

To further add to the moral laws above, the Bible also has some other very specific rules of morality that ring quite true in real life. Take for instance, the example of the husband and wife as forming a social institution of marriage. There is evidence that alerts us to the reality that children are ultimately raised best when in the traditional family environment, which is consistent with the Biblical view.  There are many other ethical and moral principles communicated in the Bible that ring true in real life – these values translating to real life with substance is a dagger to the idea of evolutionary humanism.

Another aspect that is quite convincing to me is the personal transformation of people who prior to accepting Christ, were the picture of destructive behavior. Skeptics have ignored or disavowed these transformations as unconvincing, but they are magnificently powerful. These people are not people who simply made some improvements in their life (stopped smoking, stopped drinking, etc.), but people who were transformed in every aspect of life and found their very nature to have changed.  These are people who were made brand new and lived lives completely in contrast to their former selves.  While plenty of non-Christian people find motivations to change habits, I have yet to see one without Christ to change their very nature.

And of course, I cannot disregard my own experience with Christ and the transformation that continues this very day.  It may not count in and of itself as valid evidence, but taken with the whole argument, it is simply impossible to deny.

In Conclusion

Again, I remind you of two things. First, this article or essay is a broad view of my decision to believe in the Christian faith and a look at some of the evidence, though not a comprehensive defense of the faith. Secondly, I have to remind you as the reader that you come to this argument relying upon your own faith; faith in your own intelligence; faith in your ability to gather all of the facts; faith in your ability to put the facts together in a workable observation of events that took place 2000 years ago; and finally, faith that your skeptical nature is ultimately right about the questions you pose about the Christian world view.

What I would also remind you of in closing out this article is that the Bible is not a simple document that you can just read casually or with the sole purpose of finding errors. Rest assured if that is your goal, you will succeed. Instead, the Bible is complex, mixing languages, writing styles, and cultures to form a document that asserts itself to be the written Word of God. If the skeptic aims to be an honest commentator on the truthfulness of the Bible, then the skeptic must be willing to dive beyond the surface of an alleged error. The skeptic must be willing to accept the most reasonable explanation of an alleged error. And as an observation as a whole on Christianity, the skeptic must be willing to follow the evidence – both positive and negative – to wherever it may lead. If the skeptic is not willing to do this, then they are practicing the same blind faith that they accuse Christians of – though clearly more troublesome.

Finally, let me simply say that the reasons why I came to believe are ultimately irrelevant to why I still believe. The information expressed in this article relate to why a person should consider getting over the hump of unbelief and are in no way comparable to someone who has accepted the saving grace of Jesus. Having accepted Christ, there is nothing that anyone could say (or do) that would convince me to no longer believe. Having felt the Holy Spirit take up residence in my life and reaffirm my faith, and having seen the first-person view of the transformation that ensued, I am a believer for life!

The reason for such devotion on my part is illustrated as follows:

Imagine for a moment that Moses was transported to our time and stood before a skeptic. As part of this scenario, further assume that every event the Bible describes in its account of Moses is true, including all spiritual implications of the message. Meaning, the burning bush, the exodus, the Ten Commandments, and every other event is all true. Is there anything that Moses could say to convince the skeptic of the truth beyond providing his testimony of the truth (without of course the inner workings of God)? Is there anything the skeptic can say to convince Moses that he is wrong? The skeptic is not going to accept any explanation beyond what he can see with his own eyes unless God reveals the truth to him. And Moses is not going to be convinced that his experiences were a mere delusion. In the same manner, despite the efforts of Richard Dawkins, I cannot be convinced that my religious experience is a mere delusion. If the religious conversion is in deed a delusion, it would prove to be the most useful, unique, and positive delusion in existence.

I claim then in closing that the Old Testament account of God and the prediction of a coming messiah was fulfilled in Christ and testifies to His divine nature.  It is up to you to decide whether or not you will investigate these claims with sincerity and follow the evidence where it leads.  Again, I lastly ask you to consider honestly the below resources and the many others available here.

References and Resources:

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