Why do Christians believe in God?
Because of Jesus Christ: his life, death and resurrection.
But what is the evidence for Jesus?
The witness of those who lived with him, and died for him.
It’s really that simple.
Does scepticism define truth? It does not.
Does a pre-existing understanding of the universe that cannot allow for the possibility of Christ, or God, define truth? No.
Does stereotyping define truth? Certainly not: it is self-defence, or a wilful lack of understanding of those who are different.
So, why then is there scepticism?
Well, the assertions of Christianity are a big deal.
This person Jesus Christ lived? The sceptic can usually live with that. (Though not always.)
He died? Sure: we all do that.
But he rose again? No way.
Resurrections don’t happen – so the testimony must be false.
Magic, mental illness, corruption of the church: anything and everything to dispute what is being said.
Metaphorical! The more spiritually inclined sceptic might turn to this reframing of what was written.
And, at the same time, the sceptic will call for evidence.
‘Give me evidence!’ is the cry of the sceptic, as he sets aside the Bible. ‘Give me evidence that will stand up in court!’ as she reaches for another book outlining The Theory of Evolution, on which to build her understanding of life.
But the evidence for Christianity is already here, and has been here all along, passed on faithfully, at high cost, for 2000 years.
The evidence for God is the witnessed accounts of Jesus: his life, death and resurrection.
The evidence for Christ is the New Testament of the Bible: the reason why the church of over two billion exists today.
People saw him.
They watched him preach, they watched him heal, they watched him feed the hungry.
They watched him beaten and crucified, and then they saw him alive again.
One, two, three…five hundred at one time.
Jesus had predicted his own death and resurrection: and now his followers watched it coming true before their own eyes.
Can a person allow for the possibility of God? That is the question.
Can a person let in the possibility that the Jesus Christ of the New Testament actually was real? That is the test.
Because the implications of this person are huge.
If the Jesus of the Bible is real, a doorway is opened up to God by looking at Christ:
here is a person who had power over life and death, in his stated connection with God; here is a person who went through death and came out of the other side again.
Such a person, if real, has the authority to talk about God, about humanity, about death and about life.
Such a person, if real, has the right for our attention.
Is a person who believes in Jesus Christ intellectually inferior, or mentally ill?
Certainly not: if the New Testament accounts are real, the Christian is simply keeping it real, whether or not they are stereotyped or even killed for it.
Because truth today, both scientific and historic, is based in observation,
and Jesus was observed by many, 2000 years ago.
We are not talking about a mere fairy tale here, or the explorations of science fiction: we are talking about history.
Show me the person who has courage to look at the possibility of God, and I will show you the true scientist.
Look at the evidence, with open mind and open heart, and see.
Be truly informed, and then you will be free to decide for yourselves whether Jesus Christ is what the New Testament asserts;
The Saviour of the World, the King of humanity,
The Son of God.
