Evidence Is Magnificent
Evidence is indeed wonderful. The Christian faith has an abundance of evidence to support its claims. In truth, there is nothing but evidence for the God of the Bible. Every star and every atom declares the majesty of God (Psalm 19:1). We see the evidence of God’s fingerprints in every corner of the universe. Mankind discovers the proof and affirms the facts that the Bible records and announces. The greatest miracle is the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus Christ is alive! He is the only religious leader in history to rise from the dead. He is the only one who promised a resurrection, and He kept His promise. You can visit the tombs of all the deceased religious leaders and find their remains still in the grave.
The great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, in the late 1990’s, took Gandhi’s ashes to the Ganges River as thousands of onlookers sang and chanted. He opened the copper urn and dropped Gandhi’s ashes in the river, proving that Gandhi was still dead. In recent times within Israel, the Muslims and the Jewish people have fought for control of the tomb of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You can visit their occupied graves just as you can those of heterodox leaders like Mary Baker Eddy, Joseph Smith, and Muhammad (Richard F. Burton devotes a whole chapter in Pilgrimage describing his 19th century visit to Muhammad’s occupied tomb). They and all the others died and stayed dead; their occupied tombs attest to it. Jesus, however, is alive. His grave is empty.
Jesus said, “All power on earth and heaven has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). No force could have kept Him down. The Romans killed Him, put Him in a cave tomb, and placed huge boulder at a downward angle in front of the cave, pasted Caesar’s seal on the crypt, and posted Roman guards to protect the tomb. They were only trying to prevent the inevitable. Jesus had the power to rise, and nobody could stop Him. God used Christ’s resurrection and appearance before His disciples, and He used the subsequent preaching of the Apostles, to win many of Christ’s enemies to salvation. The Bible tells us that “the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem; and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith” (Acts 6:7). Scripture also records that some Pharisees converted to Christianity (Acts 15:5). Men do not die willingly if they know they have been deceived. Many of the followers of self-proclaimed prophet Jim Jones—the people who knew that he was a fraud—tried to escape Jonestown. Once they knew that Jones was an impostor and had whipped up a batch of poisoned Kool-Aid, they ran and hid in the jungle. Many others tried to escape and were shot. They knew Jones was a charlatan and did not want to die for him. However, the Apostles and hundreds of others in the first century did die for Jesus, because they knew He had risen.
“Jesus is the Truth. We believe in Him, — not merely in His words. He Himself is Doctor and Doctrine, Revealer and Revelation, the Illuminator and the Light of Men. He is exalted in every word of truth, because He is its sum and substance. He sits above the gospel, like a prince on His own throne” (C.H. Spurgeon).
The first-century followers of Christ died knowing that He was sinless. Many followers spent day and night with Him for over three years; they knew He was sinless. Many others affirmed that Jesus was sinless and innocent as did the Roman Government authority: Pilate said of Jesus, “I find no fault in Him at all.
Herod held that Jesus was innocent (Luke 23:15). A criminal affirmed that Jesus was innocent (Luke 23:41) and a soldier claimed Christ was without fault (Luke 23:47) as did Pilate (Luke 23:14). If you spent sixty minutes with any other human, you would soon find out that he/she was not perfect. You would not lay down your life declaring that he was sinless. You would not die for what you knew was a lie. David Koresh understood this problem; knowing that his followers would observe him sinning every day, he devised a crafty way to avoid the problem of a sinner claiming to be the Messiah. Koresh called himself the “sinful Messiah.”
The antithesis to Koresh is Jesus; Christ’s friends and enemies all confessed that He had never sinned. The disciples, including His betrayer, Judas; His religious enemies; and His Roman enemies were all in agreement on one subject: Jesus never sinned. No one could accuse Jesus of sin. Jesus is alive as the sinless Messiah; that is a fact. It is not a brute fact that stands by itself and awaits the judgment of man, but it is true, and it is impossible for it not to be true.
Detailed evidence for the Resurrection of Christ is here.
New Apologetic Book that not only supplies the evidence for Christ’s Resurrection it demonstrates that Christian theism provides the necessary rational tools to evaluate any evidence: HERE
Also see the New Apologetic E-book HERE The Existence of God: Many Infallible Proofs
Jesus DID sin. He picked corn on the Sabbath (a sin) He told the crowd not to stone the woman for adultery, when stoning was the law (he told the crowd to break one of Yahweh’s laws–which is a sin)
If the Romans did not think him a sinner, they would not have hung him on the cross. Please give a reference to your claim that the Romans were in agreement with Jesus not being a sinner. You won’t have one, because there isn’t one, as the Romans kept no records of him. The claims you make are ad hoc nonsense.
Incorrect: The Roman Government authority stated: Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all.
Herod held that Jesus was innocent (Luke 23:15). A criminal affirmed that Jesus was innocent (Luke 23:41) and a soldier claimed Christ was without fault (Luke 23:47) as did Pilate (Luke 23:14).
Additionally your exegesis is flawed forasmuch as Christ did not sin in the two actions you note; See Stern, Morris, Brown, Carson, Bruce, Good, Blizzard, Bivin, etc. Many of the above are Hebraic experts and/or exegetical scholars.
Can you supply answers to the following questions that will demonstrate whether or not you have a foundation to analyse anything (or a consistent worldview):
• Do you affirm moral absolutes?
• Do you affirm certain truth?
• Do you affirm unchanging truth?
• Do you affirm that the laws of thought are universal?
• Do you affirm that any immaterial things exist?
• Do you affirm that you have sinned and that you have displeased God?
• Do you affirm an eternal judgment for sinners who lack a remission of sins?
• Can you provide a deductive argument that proves God does not exist that is excepted by a few philosophers?
thanks
1. He called Gentiles “dogs”
2. He started a violent incident with a whip in the temple.
3. He called his mother ‘woman’ and disowned her ‘woman, what is there between me and you?’
4. He taught parents to ‘hate’ their children.
5. He lied and said ‘I go not up to the feast’ and then went in secret.
6. He hung out in the temple knowing his parents would be worried about him, and didn’t care.
He sinned at least 6 times. Its not ‘orthodox’ to admit it. But I guess what’s ‘wrong’ with these Christian who admit it is they are more HONEST than the ‘orthodox’.
And according to John he claimed to be God, which adds sin #7.
7. He claimed to be God.
As for Pilate’s statement “I find no fault in Him at all.” This is not a statement of sinlessness but that he is not guilty of any crime worthy of death by the secular state. In fact, doesn’t another gospel put the same phrase as “I find no cause worthy of death in him?” Pilate obviously doesn’t know everything Jesus ever did in his whole life, and is only judging whether Jesus has committed a capital crime, not whether he ever sinned.
• “Do you affirm moral absolutes?” Yes
• “Do you affirm certain truth?” Yes
• ” Do you affirm unchanging truth?” Yes
• “Do you affirm that the laws of thought are universal?” Yes
• “Do you affirm that any immaterial things exist?” Yes
• “Do you affirm that you have sinned and that you have displeased God?” Yes
• “Do you affirm an eternal judgment for sinners who lack a remission of sins?” Huh?
I guess by this last one you mean do you affirm that anyone who ever committed the teeny-tiniest of sins like telling a little white lie (Honey does this dress make my butt look fat? oh no, dear! certainly not!) will be damned to broil in hell for all eternity. No, because only a psycho would judge in a manner so out of proportion to the offense. Offenses must be punished proportionally to how bad they are. God is not insane and therefore does not judge in the over-the-top way that Christianity claims he does. Everyone will be punished for what they did wrong in proportion to how bad it was, not a single eternity-in-hell for every little thing one size fits all.
Rey:
are u an atheist, agnostic, or hold to a religion?
how will you have your sins and wickedness expunged to avoid hell?
what is your basic epistemic view?
what is your ontological ground for your epistemic view?
what truths never change? and how do u know that?
I will affirm the view of those who observed Christ for 3 years who declared that He was sinless and not your interpretation made 2000 years later from the porch of a widely dissimilar culture.
You said: “1. He called Gentiles “dogs”’
^^- this was a term that Jewish teachers utilized in naming pagans in 1st century Palestine and in the larger jewish community in Babylon area. many terms one employs in modern day english have roots that when originally used were much less hostile or more hostile then today, many which the user is unaware; same w/ the hebrew term in back of the Greek that was translated into modern English. read the Jer. &/or Bab. Talmud and see how diverse ways the term hatred was utilized in 2nd Temple period teaching.
moreover, pagans who worship false gods, kill their babies, rape young boys walking the street (research the word pedestrian) and practiced all manner of societal wickedness have the right to that term. they earned it and need to repent.
“2. He started a violent incident with a whip in the temple.”
^^ violence is many times appropriate especially when huskers are ripping people off in mass and leading people to hell and the authorities are in on it. such is the case. righteous anger is morally good.
“3. He called his mother ‘woman’ and disowned her ‘woman, what is there between me and you?’”
^^ this was a term used in the culture at the time and implied no disrespect. the idea was not to show religious partiality toward any others. he loved his mother so much that he made legal security for her while he was dying on the cross as he gave John legal authority to care for her.
furthermore, Jesus had women followers, women stayed w/ Him at the cross and He 1st appeared to women upon His Resurrection. The NT declares there is “neither male nor female in Christ.”
“4. He taught parents to ‘hate’ their children.”
^^ and “hate” one’s life – hate in Galilean culture meant to “love less” not to hate in the modern sense. i love my kids deeply but compared to Christ i love them much less.
“5. He lied and said ‘I go not up to the feast’ and then went in secret.”
^^ incorrect. he didnt leave at that moment. things changed and he was going later.
yesterday i told my wife rt before i left that i would not get her hamburger buns at the store. later i changed my mind since i had to go to the store for something else. same trip but it changed.
“6. He hung out in the temple knowing his parents would be worried about him, and didn’t care.”
^^ many things can go wrong w/ ur interpretation – my kids tell me things while im busy and i miss what they said. I miss tings they tell me a few times every month – they didnt sin in doing such.
“He sinned at least 6 times. Its not ‘orthodox’ to admit it. But I guess what’s ‘wrong’ with these Christian who admit it is they are more HONEST than the ‘orthodox’.”
^^ incorrect. see above.
“And according to John he claimed to be God, which adds sin #7. He claimed to be God.”
^^incorrect again. Jesus is and was God.
“As for Pilate’s statement “I find no fault in Him at all.” This is not a statement of sinlessness but that he is not guilty of any crime worthy of death by the secular state. In fact, doesn’t another gospel put the same phrase as “I find no cause worthy of death in him?” Pilate obviously doesn’t know everything Jesus ever did in his whole life, and is only judging whether Jesus has committed a capital crime, not whether he ever sinned.”
^^perhaps. yet w/i the interview Pilate was discussing “truth” not just civil jurisprudence.
Excellent article, Mike. I think you did a great job answering the objections. I am always amazed at what great biblical scholars some atheists claim to be.