Question 1: Why are you a Christian? Part 1 (Continued)
U will denote the unbeliever’s comments and B the believers.
U. So why are you a Christian?
B. I’m a Christian because of the overwhelming evidence that Jesus lived, died, and was resurrected from the dead.
U. What overwhelming evidence are you talking about?
B. The Bible. To me, it is God’s word. How would a finite person go about finding out what an infinite God is like?
U. We could look at nature. Maybe we could find out some things.
B. A lot of people did that. They came up with Sun gods, moon gods, volcano gods, thunder gods, and a bunch of others.
U. What’s wrong with that?
B. All of those gods were finite, none covered everything. That’s why they had so many. And none of those gods told the people how to please them.
U. I’ve heard of them throwing people into the volcano to please Pele. I would never worship any god like that.
B. Me either. If we’re talking about an infinite God, how can we know what he wants if he doesn’t tell us?
U. Why do you say an infinite God?
B. If I’m going to worship a God, I want to worship one who is smarter and more powerful than me.
U. Well, I guess I would too. But why bother?
B. Because it impacts my present life. It provides purpose, excitement, contentment, security, and happiness to my life.
U. I thought Christianity was just “pie in the sky” for the next life, and only guilt and misery in this one.
B. It is for this life and the next. It’s our guidebook for getting ready for the next life but it provides us great joy in this one. A joy that you won’t find anywhere else.
U. There are a lot of things which bring me joy without worrying about God.
B. What is so wonderful about God is that he has told us just how he expects us to live in order to please him, and that life is one in which we find joy.
U. And how has he told you? In the Bible?
B. Yes. We could never know what God is like and what he wants if he didn’t tell us. We’d be just like those worshipping the sun or the volcano, we would just try to guess what he wanted. Fortunately, he gave us the Bible so we can know. The Bible contains overwhelming evidence that it is from God so we can base our faith on what it tells us. Our faith is not groundless, it is based on the rock of the Bible.
U. The Bible, that’s just a book! An old book at that. Why should I take that as evidence?
B. But it’s not just a book. It is a book unlike any other. Do you know how old it is?
U. Couple thousand years.
B. The first book was written about 3500 years ago, the last book about 2000 years ago. So it was written over a time period of about 1500 years. The Bible is also unique in that it consists of history, commandments, poetry, warnings and promises. It doesn’t make God’s people into supernatural beings and their humanity is related in a realistic manner.
U. Aren’t all religious books written like that?
B. No. The Quran was written by one man over about 23 years. The Hindu book Vedas is credited to one man, Brahma, although a few other writings are accepted. None of them have one theme like the Bible, and none of them are written by men from a variety of backgrounds.
U. What do you mean? Weren’t they all clergy or scholars?
B. Very few of the over 40 men who wrote the Bible would have been called a scholar. They were shepherds, commercial fishermen, carpenters, Israeli priests and scribes, former slaves, a tax collector, a physician, as well as kings of powerful nations. Some graduated from the best schools, and some probably never darkened the doorway of a formal educational institution. Many of the writers never met any of the other writers and in fact lived in vastly different time periods. Some wrote history, some wrote poetry, some wrote ‘how to’ books, and some wrote about events that they didn’t live to see.
U. If they wrote over a 1500 year time period, this must just be a collection of stories. So what’s the big deal?
B. That’s the point. The Bible consists of 66 books divided into the Old and the New Testament. They were written over this very long time period, yet it drops clues about a mystery 1500 years before Jesus was born. This mystery is what Jesus is to be and is not completely revealed until after Jesus died, was resurrected and ascended into heaven. The question is how did the early writers know what the mystery was going to be when they didn’t even understand it? Some have counted over 300 prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament, written long before he lived.
U. That sounds impossible and improbable to me. I’ve heard the Bible described as a good book, but still just a collection of myths. Are you going to tell me that these myths are connected into one story?
To be continued.
U will denote the unbeliever’s comments and B the believers.
U. So why are you a Christian?
B. I’m a Christian because of the overwhelming evidence that Jesus lived, died, and was resurrected from the dead.
U. What overwhelming evidence are you talking about?
B. The Bible. To me, it is God’s word. How would a finite person go about finding out what an infinite God is like?
U. We could look at nature. Maybe we could find out some things.
B. A lot of people did that. They came up with Sun gods, moon gods, volcano gods, thunder gods, and a bunch of others.
U. What’s wrong with that?
B. All of those gods were finite, none covered everything. That’s why they had so many. And none of those gods told the people how to please them.
U. I’ve heard of them throwing people into the volcano to please Pele. I would never worship any god like that.
B. Me either. If we’re talking about an infinite God, how can we know what he wants if he doesn’t tell us?
U. Why do you say an infinite God?
B. If I’m going to worship a God, I want to worship one who is smarter and more powerful than me.
U. Well, I guess I would too. But why bother?
B. Because it impacts my present life. It provides purpose, excitement, contentment, security, and happiness to my life.
U. I thought Christianity was just “pie in the sky” for the next life, and only guilt and misery in this one.
B. It is for this life and the next. It’s our guidebook for getting ready for the next life but it provides us great joy in this one. A joy that you won’t find anywhere else.
U. There are a lot of things which bring me joy without worrying about God.
B. What is so wonderful about God is that he has told us just how he expects us to live in order to please him, and that life is one in which we find joy.
U. And how has he told you? In the Bible?
B. Yes. We could never know what God is like and what he wants if he didn’t tell us. We’d be just like those worshipping the sun or the volcano, we would just try to guess what he wanted. Fortunately, he gave us the Bible so we can know. The Bible contains overwhelming evidence that it is from God so we can base our faith on what it tells us. Our faith is not groundless, it is based on the rock of the Bible.
U. The Bible, that’s just a book! An old book at that. Why should I take that as evidence?
B. But it’s not just a book. It is a book unlike any other. Do you know how old it is?
U. Couple thousand years.
B. The first book was written about 3500 years ago, the last book about 2000 years ago. So it was written over a time period of about 1500 years. The Bible is also unique in that it consists of history, commandments, poetry, warnings and promises. It doesn’t make God’s people into supernatural beings and their humanity is related in a realistic manner.
U. Aren’t all religious books written like that?
B. No. The Quran was written by one man over about 23 years. The Hindu book Vedas is credited to one man, Brahma, although a few other writings are accepted. None of them have one theme like the Bible, and none of them are written by men from a variety of backgrounds.
U. What do you mean? Weren’t they all clergy or scholars?
B. Very few of the over 40 men who wrote the Bible would have been called a scholar. They were shepherds, commercial fishermen, carpenters, Israeli priests and scribes, former slaves, a tax collector, a physician, as well as kings of powerful nations. Some graduated from the best schools, and some probably never darkened the doorway of a formal educational institution. Many of the writers never met any of the other writers and in fact lived in vastly different time periods. Some wrote history, some wrote poetry, some wrote ‘how to’ books, and some wrote about events that they didn’t live to see.
U. If they wrote over a 1500 year time period, this must just be a collection of stories. So what’s the big deal?
B. That’s the point. The Bible consists of 66 books divided into the Old and the New Testament. They were written over this very long time period, yet it drops clues about a mystery 1500 years before Jesus was born. This mystery is what Jesus is to be and is not completely revealed until after Jesus died, was resurrected and ascended into heaven. The question is how did the early writers know what the mystery was going to be when they didn’t even understand it? Some have counted over 300 prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament, written long before he lived.
U. That sounds impossible and improbable to me. I’ve heard the Bible described as a good book, but still just a collection of myths. Are you going to tell me that these myths are connected into one story?
To be continued.