As pertains to scripture or the Christian faith, I do not pretend to know all the answers. Okay, so maybe sometimes I do pretend but not purposely. I do, however, wish I knew all the answers and could prove them with tangible proofs. From a very early age I have held a deep burden to know the answers to faith and God. For me truth is life. I can remember some dark nights early in my life when I literally cried out to God begging Him to either show me the truth or take my life. For me then and now, truth is everything.
I don’t want to live as one deceived by human tradition or religions of men. I don’t want to go through even one day following a faith that does not have truth as its foundation. After all faith is not simply what you believe but it defines and makes you who you are. On those dark nights I was truly ready to give up my life if I couldn’t know the truth. Today that has not changed. What is life if one cannot know for sure what truth is? It is bondage! It is meaninglessness!
If you haven’t figured it out by now I hold fast that what I believe is the truth. I did not convince myself nor did anyone convince me. My faith is not the invention of any man or men. My faith has as its foundation, truth, which is the very Word of God. This truth can be and is known. This truth is also absolute.
I could sit down and make a defense of my faith like so many before me. One of the best of which I am told is C.S. Lewis’ “Mere Christianity.” I don’t necessarily want to do that right here because it would take too much space. I will offer some thoughts that may prove to be enlightening. Or at least I hope it will serve to that capacity.
The Christian faith stands on the foundation of the Bible. First the Old Testament inspired by God was written over many thousands of years by a vast variety of individuals from Kings to Shepherds. Its claim is that it is the Word of God. The New Testament confirms this in a variety of passages and ways. Jesus Christ testified to the Old Testaments validity and authority as the Word of God while laying forth the New Testament as also inspired of by God. To deny the Bible its authority as the Word of God is to deny the very truth of God. If one rejects the Bible as the Word of God then there is little more to be said. One can make arguments for Christianity from creation, human will, design/creativity and other various sources but it will only take you so far. The Bible is needed to add understanding to life, creation and the human soul.
I realize that the Bible is not the only text that claims to be from God but I believe it is the only one with a leg to stand on when you really research the many others that stake that claim. I have not researched all the other texts that make their claim as the Word of God but I have done some homework on many of them. The Bible is unique among all the other texts in many ways. For instance no other text was put together over thousands of years and by so many different people while yet still maintaining a central and cohesive theme. No other text has faced multiple attempts to obliterate it completely off the face of the earth and yet remains the best seller of all time. Of course the Bible’s uniqueness is only one of many ways to provide proofs of it validity and authority as God’s Word.
The Bible is different than other religious texts and the main difference is found in its teachings. If you were to read each religious text you would find that they conflict. It seems obvious then to me that if several book which conflict all say they are the Word of God, then all or all but one must not live up to the claim.
This same principle applies to Jesus Christ. Scripture and Christ Himself make the claim that He is the son of God. The claim goes even further to say that He alone is the way the truth and the life. No other faith acknowledges this except the Christian faith. Now if Christ is not the only way, if He alone is not the only way to heaven then He must be a liar. And if He is a liar, Christianity crumbles.
So how do I know that Jesus Christ is the way. All the facts seem to point His direction. However, beyond facts there is experience and personal testimony. The work of God’s truth in my life is very real. His spirit’s power and glory is every so real to me.
Truth is truth. You do not need to know a lie in order to know truth. Just as you don’t need to know what a dog looks like to identify a butterfly so it is that you only need to know the truth to know it is true. Thus one does not have to know all about the claims other religions make in order to figure out the truth. I do believe also that God puts inside every person an inherent acknowledgement of truth. This means that every person is able to figure out and know basic truth by what is seen and known. Basic truth points in only one direction – toward further truth.
Rom 1:19-20
since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
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5 comments:
Excellent refute! I was very impressed with your resolution and your steadfastness in your faith. It's always hard to find people who can stand so strongly in what they believe, especially when the very basis of that belief is being questioned. You have earned my respect.
It was a pleasant surprise to me to recieve your compliment. To be honest I was actually expecting to take some abuse for what I wrote. Thus I'll take your compliment (with humility of course) any day of the week. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and respond. It always does my soul good to know someone out there is actually reading it.
I figured the compliment would be a bit of a surprise. It was warranted after what I just put yout through with the toughness of the religious conversation we've been having. :) It's hard for people to stand up for what they believe in when their very beliefs and foundations are being shaken. It's also hard for people to back up what they believe in with irrefutable evidence (in your case scriptures.) The thing that impressed me the most was that even though I was questioning religion in general, you used your own experiences to support your faith, and you didn't get angry when I questioned even that. Before I even attempt discussing religion with people I kind of "test" them, like I did with you. If they get angered or cannot refute what I say or stand firm in what they believe then I don't bother discussing religion at all. I really just enjoy the topic of religion in general. It fascinates me. And though I haven't found exactly what I want to believe in for myself, I love to hear other people's opinions and beliefs and so called "testimonies." To me it's always interesting to hear why people choose to believe what they believe.
I know I have remained anonymous throughout this whole discussion, I chose to do that for a specific reason. I didn't want you to know who I was because I thought that it might influence what you would say to me. Remaining anonymous has allowed you to not hold back in any way and that's been an awesome thing. I've had this same religious debate with many, many people, including your brother. Tim and I have discussed this topic to the extremes in much the same manner as I have done with you through your blog. I chose to remain anonymous because I was kind of comparing your beliefs to Tim's and have been just thoroughly fascinated by all of it. The differences are astounding. Where Tim is open minded towards all ideas, you are focused on just one and stand strongly in it. It's much the same with me and my family. I am the equivalent of Tim, and the rest of my family are like you, strong Christians. I avoid religion with them because we cannot, at this time, come to some sort of agreement. They laregly disowned me and have labeled me an "atheist," though I do believe in some of the things that they do. They just refuse to accept that I have not discovered "God's will for my life." Tim and I have been discussing religion on and off for the past six or seven years and we've had a great time doing so.
When I found the link to your site from his I thought it would be interesting to do the same with you. By the way, Tim's read our debate thus far and refuses to comment. :) We still discuss religion though and still find it interesting. I've enjoyed this "religious discussion" we've had and I look forward to continuing it in the future...
Amy
I have enjoyed our conversation. Any one who makes me think a little is okay in my book.
From what you have told me there is one thing I would want you to know. First, without a full knowledge of the situation I will chance to say this. Those family members that claim Christ and yet have disowned you are not acting very Christ like (that is if they have disowned you primarily because you do not believe like they do). If you read the Gosples you will find that Jesus loved people above all else, even those who disagreed with His teaching. In fact He loved those who hated him enough to die for them. Now I am no expert but I sure haven't seen love like that any where else. Jesus Christ was radically inclusive.
You have given me a lot of good things to blog about and I appreciate that. Sometimes my creative juices just don't want to flow. Our conversations have helped those juices to flow well. I too look forward to continued Conversation.
Thank You for the compliment, Tim told me that I inspired him to write too(poetry in his case though.) I've always been one to seek knowledge and to share the knowledge that I have discovered in my own life. In doing so, I've hoped that it could influence just one person's life. As for the family not acting Christ like, well..that about sums it up I'd say. That's why I have such a hard time accepting "their religion," because they don't even try to live by it. They speak it but don't walk it. DC Talk has a song called "What If I Stumble" that opens with the lines:
"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today
Is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips
Then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle.
That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."
And they are absolutely correct. It's the main reason why I have a hard time believing, even though the bible states that "none are perfect, and we are all sinners." If you cannot live what you believe then there is no sense in trying to make other people live and believe in it.
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