Over the past several years, I have noticed that many 'educated' people tend to throw Christianity into another religion that is for simpletons and fools, and that Christians are people that believe in nonsense. During this time, I've looked into a lot of what I believe and why I believe it - with my eyes wide open. I've tried to look at all sides to see why others believed what they did.

My conclusion was that Christianity is not the belief of simpletons and fools. There are many reasons why we believe what we do, but when it is all said and done, none of us are brought to Christianity by mere facts. We are compelled to accept Christ when drawn by the Holy Spirit.

So, if you choose to not accept Christianity, nothing I point out will amount to a hill of beans to you. But, for those of you Christians that are taken back by the comments of people who deride Christianity, and links to what I consider garbage that attempts to trash Christianity; you may find truth in these words and encouragement for what you believe.

Why do I believe what I believe? The following has been compiled from a variety of books, websites and teachers. As stated above, I researched the opposing positions for most every topic and was not shaken in my beliefs. People may try and point out errors of the following, although they have been carefully researched - and if anything, I've chosen some of the most noncontroversial views. There is much more information that can back up the following. Also, I believe these to be the bedrock essentials of Christianity. In some areas of interpretation, we may agree to disagree, but in these, we must agree.

The Bible - Why do I believe the Bible to be true?

• Prophecy of the Bible - There are over 2000 prophecies included in the Old Testament alone. Other holy books do not contain prophecy. The mathematical probability of these prophecies being fulfilled is staggering, yet they were fulfilled.
• Progression of the Bible - 66 books, 40 authors over 1500 years - without en editor or corroboration. It flows with a pattern of redemption throughout the text. Could you possibly pick 40 artists that could create a combined masterpiece in isolation from the other artists?
• Protection - Many people have attacked the Bible. It remains.
• Proof - There is much more than what is mentioned here - this just a small sampling that can be backed up easily.
• Manuscript - the modern translations match and confirm the oldest scripts known. The New Testament is the most reliable document we have from 135-450AD. Thousands of copies are in existence.
• Scientific Accuracy - the Bible was written in age of ancient ignorance - it is not a science book. However, when astronomy and physics are mentioned, they are correct (the circle of the earth, number of stars (innumerable), gravity, etc.) At many points in history, science has seemingly disproved the Bible. Science, however, has changed - the Bible remains the same.
• Historical - No archaeological discovery has disproved historical statements of the Bible.
• Power of the Bible - no other book can change your life - many lives are changed by the words contained therein.

You may find, as I did, many people pointing to contradictions found in the Bible. However, when I've looked at what they consider to be contradictions, I find them quite a stretch. There are many resources on the web that can help you see that there are answers to supposed contradictions.

Existence of God

• The Bible says so - see above.
• Experience of those before us (Biblical and not) - Solomon concluded that the whole of life was to seek God. Pascal noted that life without God is meaningless. If there is no God, life is like being chained to another, watching one another die.
• Higher system of morals - laws of human nature that don't need to be taught - they are not instinct, they are not learned. All civilizations have only slightly different moralities, as a rule. If something is not fair, why? Isn't that because there is A right way?
• Creation - How can you look at a clear, starry sky and not see God? It is clear that there had to be a designer. The energy found in an ounce of water or a single drop of gasoline is astounding. There is an incredible amount of design from the tiny particles that make up life to the large expanse of our universe. Can you just say it happened by accident?

If God doesn't exist, there is no hope for mankind. There is no meaning to life. There is no right and no wrong. It makes no difference whether you live like Hitler or Mother Theresa.

If God doesn't exist and you follow Him, you lose, but you lose nothing. There is an incredible joy and peace in serving and knowing your Creator.

If God exists and you don't acknowledge Him, you've lost everything. If God exists and you seek Him, you win in every respect.

Who is Jesus?

• Did He exist? Many non Biblical accounts point to the existence of Jesus Christ.
• Who did He say He was? Veiled references or not - He died because He claimed to be the Son of God.
• Worship - others in the Bible wouldn't accept it - Jesus did
• Others saw Him as God's Son - and staked their lives on it
• Forgave sins - only God could forgive sins
• Moral character - 3 short years of active life have benefited mankind more than all philosophers and moralists combined.
• Authority - His word was seen as having authority - never retracted, revised, changed, guessed, etc.
• Power over nature - storms, waves, water, feeding, raising of dead
• Power over sickness and disease - lame, dumb, blind - enemies didn't deny miracles
• Rose from dead - predicted it - both the method and timing (3 days)

Who is He?

• Legend? - If so, eyewitnesses at the time would have disputed the existence. There were too many eyewitnesses and no nay sayers.
• Liar? - Great moral teacher, but not God? He couldn't be a great moral teacher, if He lied about who He was.
• Lunatic? - Many have claimed to be God. But Jesus had calm authority, a practical spirit, simple language, no abnormality - when we would have caved, He showed remarkable stability. He was accompanied by signs and miracles that indicated He was legit.
• Lord - only other option - You can accept or reject

Did Christ rise from the dead?

• Historical event - we know more about the hours preceding His death than any other person in the ancient world. Can't be a myth - too many people would have squelched it from the start.
• Biblical accounts are somewhat different - So? If they were all exactly the same, people would indicate they were copied. The accounts point to what actually happened, instead of giving details of resurrection or praising Jesus right away. If three people see an accident and report what they saw, they each report their perspective, probably quite differently (at least in the side issues).
• Never in the tomb - Jesus' death and location of tomb was never questioned - only how it became empty.
• Many, many witnesses - many alive at the time of the writing of 1 Corinthians 15.
• No argument from enemies - they couldn't produce the body or the story - they were silent or they mocked - which is what many arguments against Christianity boil down to today.
• Traditions of the disciples dropped - They abandoned all the Jewish social structure traditions that they were raised with, effectively cutting themselves off from families and what they knew - animal sacrifices, Mosaic laws, Sabbath, views on Messiah, etc. - Celebrated the death of Christ (communion, baptism)

Other inadequate theories -

• Swoon - still alive - cool, moist air revived him - Would the disciples change be due to this - a deathly looking body? Jesus experienced a huge loss of blood. The soldiers were experts in killing - they knew He was dead. Did he revive Himself after this to get out of grave clothes, fold them, roll away the stone, take long walks (Emmaus). If He didn't die then, when did He die?
• Theft - disciples lost all hope, ran from the cross. Would they be courageous enough to steal the body? They had basically given up. If Jews or Romans stole the body, why? It would be in the best interest for the Jews to present it as evidence (to squelch Christianity right away) and the Romans would have wanted to restore peace.
• Hallucinations of eyewitnesses - all of them? Only certain kinds of people hallucinate, generally due to a spirit of expectation. They all believed against their initial will - they didn't recognize Christ at first. If hallucinations, they would have continued - but instead they all stopped when Christ was gone.
• Wrong tomb - Surely somebody would have resolved this right away.

The Bible, God's Existence and the Deity of Christ all point to the resurrection of Christ. The only evidence against it is that we can't understand it.

A key point made to be made is that the disciples were willing to die for what they knew to be true. Many people will die for causes they think to be true, but nobody will die for something they know to be wrong. Think of the kamikaze pilots used by Japan in World War II. They believed their emperor was god and were willing to give their lives for god. However, what do you think was their response when their emperor surrendered? How willing were these pilots to give their lives for what they found out to be wrong? Likewise, the disciples could not have made a pact to go to their deaths for a lie. The change noted in their lives was something like we've never seen before nor since.

You may not want to believe what the above points to - that is your prerogative. However, this was only written to show that Christianity is not a feeble minded religion. Do I understand everything about Christianity? Can I explain everything in the Bible? Can I explain why certain things happen to people? Surely not.

However, I do know that my redeemer lives and that He died for me. My sins are forgiven and, although I still falter, God has declared me righteous through His Son. I have an incredible peace in this knowledge that you cannot understand unless you have a relationship with Christ. We cannot pridefully understand or accept God. This is also stated in the Scripture - Romans 1:22-23 : Professing to be wise, they became fools, for they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for images in the form of corruptible man and birds and four footed animals and crawling creatures.

If you want more information on any of these issues, or if you take issue with these, please let me know.