Effie Darlene Barba

Jesus Christ, Our Risen Lord

Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Christianity would be a hopeless faith, leaving mankind forever lost in his sin.  It is for that reason, every Christian must prepare themselves to defend the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ to a world of skeptics with facts; and not, just because “the Bible tells me so.”  Therefore, this discussion, will present the case for Jesus Christ, as the risen Lord; based on the evidence, drawing the best logical conclusion of the data as compared to the various theories presented by the skeptics.

Death on the Cross

Before any discussion of resurrection, one must begin with death; because, for there to be a resurrection, one must have died.  “It is a well-established fact that Jesus died by crucifixion in the early 30s.”[1] (Groothius 2011) His death is written about, not only in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John;  but, is also reported by the letters of Paul, the sermons recorded in Acts, and the writing of James.

Furthermore, it is recorded by Josephus, a Jewish Priest who went on to become a historian; having joined the Romans (even in battle against the Jews) and adopting the last name of Flavius, the family name of the Roman Emperor.  He wrote about the death of Jesus in his Antiquities of the Jews 18.3.3. Tactius, another secular historian who held Christians in contempt; also, reported the death of Jesus in his Annals as fact.  Despite this, some would propose the “swoon theory” that Jesus had not died or as Islam, that Allah miraculously substituted another person on the cross and made them appear to be Jesus.

WHY THE SWOON OR SUBSTITUTION THEORIES ARE FALSE

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We must learn how to defend God against the secular ideologies of our day.  In the previous two posts How to Defend Your Faith When Attacked  and 3 Powerful Defenses Facing the Power of Evil   I have given you some of the ways to defend against what is called the problem of evil.  There are many other defenses for God’s existence, many more than I could hope to cover here.  Although I do want to present for you a few more, just to whet your appetite to further study yourself.

Ontological Argument

            The basis of this argument was formed initially by St. Anselm.  It is a deductive reasoning which begins with the idea that within our subconscious, we conceive of a being that is greater than anything else.  Indeed, our fascination with superheroes and our own drive to push toward grandeur, is such an idea.  The fact that such a being is even conceptually supplanted in our minds, can lead us to believe that either he exists only in our mind or also in reality.  It is greater to exist in reality; therefore, God exists not merely in the understanding, but also in reality.^[1]  (Groothius 2011)

Even they see grandeur

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As Christians, we will be questioned about our faith.  Sometimes, this is comes from people who really want to know the answer and sometimes, it will be from those who want to angrily attack our faith.  One of the areas where we are questioned most is in the “Problem of Evil”.  Therein we are asked, “If God is good and God is all powerful, why does evil exist in the world?”   Last Friday’s post, I presented Christianity’s defense exhibit one: the free will defense.  Today, I want to present 3 powerful defenses: we will call them defense exhibit two, three and four.

DEFENSE EXHIBIT TWO

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Never in the course of American history have Christians  directly attacked for their faith more than now.  As pointed out earlier, to a great extent our silence on these matters has led to our reaching this point in history.  So, we cannot continue in silence and hope for the best.  We must learn how to respond and defend our faith; if we are to remain the salt and light to a world in desperate need of the gospel message before our voices are silenced forever.  That requires study on our part. We must prayerfully study God’s Word that we might be ready to respond when questioned with intellectually sound arguments of defense.  Furthermore, we must teach our children to do the same. There is no question anymore whether our faith will be attacked; instead the question is when and if we will be prepared to answer.

Of all the questions levied against the Christian faith, the problem of evil is perhaps the one most used.  Because of that, I want to confront that one first.

THE PROBLEM OF EVIL

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Having evaluated Christianity for its internal consistency and existential viability, let us turn to evaluate its intellectual and cultural fecundity.  In other words, does it produce an abundance of growth and help humanity to flourish intellectually and culturally.  Indeed, it has been the Christian faith that led the way in scientific discovery; because, Christians believe that God is a God who reveals Himself to humanity through nature, rigorous study, and through personal enlightenment. Princeton, Yale and Harvard were originally founded as Christian Universities; although, their founders would be appalled from how they have changed.  “While some have pitted faith against reason, the Bible does not endorse blind leaps of faith in the dark but rather speaks of the knowledge of God gained through various rational means. Instead of a leap of faith, it commends a well-informed and volitional step of faith”[1]

A careful review of history reveals that the Christians led the way in scientific and industrial exploration. Although, there may have been a time period in which the Catholic Church tried to restrict the knowledge as a means of “power control”; it was Christians such as Galileo “who discerned no discord between the Bible and natural science.”[2]  Instead of Christians hiding under a cloak of ignorance, we are taught to study and defend the faith intellectually.  Christ, himself; through the knowledge of Old Testament Scripture stood firm against Satan when tempted.  Additionally, His discourse with the Pharisees and Sadducee of His day were carried out intellectually.  He set the example for all of us to follow.

Flourishing Cultural Growth

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