How much evidence will help you believe?
The gospel, the message of Christianity, is packed full of unverifiable historical claims and supernatural assertions. Consider the following: • The Bible claims that God created the world for his own purposes and praise • That man’s first parents rejected God’s rule, sending all of mankind into sin and a position of guilt before God • That God promised and then sent a Messiah, the God-man Jesus Christ who died as a substitute for sinners • That those who place their faith in and rely fully on Jesus and his work are forgiven by God and reconciled to him as his children • That God will one day judge all men, gathering his children to live joyfully with him forever and sending unrepentant sinners to endure eternal conscious punishment and separation from him. This is the essence of Christianity and yet I would submit that, while there is evidence to support these claims, airtight proof does not exist (not in this life at least). While I believe the Christian worldview is supremely reasonable, I do not believe that the evidence for it is undeniable. In fact there are thousands of people here in Auburn who serve as living proof that the arguments and evidence for the message of the Bible are in fact deniable. Perhaps you are one of those people. Maybe you see yourself as someone who needs absolute proof to believe something. As a product of this scientific age your motto is, “I have to see it to believe it.” Here is my first question for you: How much evidence would you need to believe? What kind of evidence would be convincing to you? I would propose that a lack of evidence isn’t the ultimate barrier to belief. The ultimate barrier is a refusal to accept the evidence God has clearly given, his words as found in the Bible. Jesus affirmed this idea in Luke 16:31 where, while telling a parable, he states, “if they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.” The people in Jesus’ parable did not need more evidence. They needed to give attention to the word of God. The Bible is God’s chosen evidence. It is his primary method of testifying to the truthfulness of the Christian message. This brings me to my second question: Have you ever carefully read the Bible for yourself? My challenge to you is to do just that. Start in the gospel of Mark or the Epistle to the Romans and observe what it reveals about who God is, what mankind is like, the person of Jesus and what it means to follow him (if you don’t have a Bible contact our church and we will gladly provide you with one). You might find that the Bible presents a compelling explanation for life, meaning, and history. You might find yourself convinced that there is nothing better than knowing your Creator through the free gift of grace in Jesus Christ. You might just find yourself believing.
Tim Pickard is pastor/elder at Auburn Sovereign Grace Fellowship.
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Tim,
Lack of evidence is the ultimate barrier to belief. One cannot refuse to believe evidence if evidence has not been given.
The fact is that there is evidence. I didn't mention evidence for God in nature which I believe is convincing. The point of the article was to note the primacy and clarity of the evidence for the claims of the gospel and Christianity in the Bible.
Most of the time we talk about evidence we are speaking of reasonable evidence. I believe that is what we have in both nature and Scripture.
Have you carefully read through Scripture for yourself and considered the evidence God has given there?
I have carefully read through the scripture several times. I find it lacking evidence, and in many cases contradicting evidence. The only reason you lot are not considered totally bonkers crazy is because: a. Many people believe the same thing b. It is easier to believe crazy stuff if it happened a really long time ago.
Don't get me wrong, I like Christians. I just think their beliefs are based in spite of evidence.
Joszef,
Is there a atheist/skeptic club around here that can attempt to refute Christianity? Do you know of a person who feels up to the task?
Any information you would have would be helpful - I think that this stuff needs to be talked about!
The people in Jesus (whom you can't even prove was a real person) parable were highly uneducated. The so-called "scientific age" should be referred to as the age of higher education. Yes I have read the Bible. I could drive a monster truck through the holes. For ex: don't you think the 4 books reporting on the miracle of Jesus would all mention he was born of a VIRGIN.? That's kind of big news don't you think? You use the Bible to try and prove the validity of the Bible. Where else in life do we use that as our basis for logic and reasoning? It's doesn't make sense. You argue for the Bible based on faith (albeit unlike most Christians you actually admit maybe faith is not enough). Point being I could argue 2 + 2 = 5 with 100% faith in the truth of my beliefs. Just because you believe doesn't make it true.
The other night I was watching a show on the Universe and I was explaining to my girl friend there are a 100 billion galaxies each containing on average 100 billion stars. She said "and people believe God made all that?" We are so minute and pathetic in the grand scheme, but people still try to justify us as the most important thing in the universe. God doesn't care about us. We aren't even a spec on a spec on a spec.