Humans are amazing creatures. We are so industrious, diligent and creative. We make giant leaps forward with every year that goes past. According to many leading atheists, so creative are humans that we are even able to invent gods to worship, ways of living and bizarre rituals in religion. In the atheists mind, God is merely a human construct that relies solely on something called ‘faith’, which cannot be substantiated by evidence as it is ‘faith’. So wretched is this worldview, in the atheists opinion, that they have labelled faith ‘a virus’ (see Why God won’t go away). How do you feel about this comment? Do you agree or disagree, and why?
What is ‘faith’?
Faith, in my opinion, is a misunderstood concept. If you take the view of the atheist, then what you are referring to is ‘blind faith’. Faith, according to the Christian bible, comes from the Greek work pisteuõ, which means ‘I trust or I believe’ or ‘I am trusting or I am believing’. To say that you have faith in something means that you have examined or observed some form of evidence or evidences and come to the conclusion that it is trustworthy. Every human on this earth demonstrates faith every day. You might have faith in your spouse, your car, your house and even the chair that is holding you up while you read this article. Atheists have faith in the scientific evidence that, in their mind, proves the non-existence of God, the Muslim has faith that Muhammad accurately scribed down the words of Allah and so on. Faith is based on evidence and blind faith is based on a lack of evidence.
The Christian trust
The Christian faith, or better put, Christians trust is based on a man named Jesus. Christians believe, or trust, that Jesus was God incarnate, who died on the cross and rose three days later to reconcile us back to himself. Over this series, my goal is to examine the historical evidence that points to the reliability of the resurrection of Jesus. The content used in these articles will draw heavily from three books titled ‘The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus’, ‘The Case for the Resurrection’ and ‘The Message of the Resurrection’. Additionally, I will also draw key information and implications for the resurrection from the bible. Before we do this however, we need to address one issue.
Christianity isn’t just another religion!
The common view that all religions are the same and lead to the same path, is an absolute idiotic worldview. Sorry if you hold this view, but after a careful examination of the facts, you will have to conclude that each religion is very unique, and that only one is absolutely correct. Take Jesus words for example:
“Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6)
See, if Jesus is right, then no other religion can be correct except for Christianity. He clearly states that the only way back to God is through him. Additionally, Jesus gave us an amazing sign to prove that he is the one true way to God. This sign, or evidence, is that he will die on a cross and rise again three days later (Matthew 12:40; 26:61; Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:34; John 2:19-21).
It all comes down to this, the death and resurrection of God. The Apostle Paul states in the bible:
And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.... And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins (1 Corinthians 15:14-15, 17)
The faith, trust or belief, depending on what you want to call it, hangs solely and squarely on the proverbial shoulders of the resurrection. Did Jesus rise from the grave, or is it a huge hoax? If he did, then what does that mean for humanity, and more personally, what does that mean for you? This series is aimed at answering these questions. Please stay posted for the next article in this series as we begin to examine the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus.
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