Friday June 9, 2017

 

As a youngster, I often wanted to challenge the assertion of the Christian faith. I had some questions but for the most part I dared not ask them as I felt this would be like betraying my faith. I recall many Christians becoming offended when their faith was challenged. The problem for me however was that my faith required more than Biblical theories or theologies; my faith needed proof. Often times we are asked as believers to just believe something and when we ask for proof instead of getting proof we are told that we simply need to have faith. What is funny is that faith as defined in the Scriptures is the certainty of the things we hope for. The only way to certify your hope is by providing proof that what you believe is true.

 

Some 20 years ago I decided to ask and do as much research as possible in order to find the answer to some of my questions and to find out if my faith was simply a waste of time. One of the first things I remember doing was to read a book by Josh McDowell titled “Evidence That Demands a Verdict”. What attracted me to this book was the fact that the author dared to question. Perhaps this was easy for him because as a young man he did not believe in the existence of God and thought Christianity to be something worthless. He decided therefore to embark on a journey and compile all the evidence that existed to prove that Christianity was in fact worthless. What he discovered however was that there was far more evidence to support the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus than for any other event in the first century.

 

Acts 17:31 NIV

 

For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.

 

Roughly 20 years ago I set out to find answers to the questions I had concerning my faith. What is interesting is that I have not found the answer to all of my questions but what I did discover is an amazing plethora of proof of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and this is more than enough for me. Because, if Jesus is who He says He is, and all of the evidence points to that, then I believe what He says even when I do not completely understand or have questions. What I have discovered is that the Christian faith is in fact quite simple but it does require you to answer the question about who Jesus is.