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Hi Arthur,
Lately I had been thinking about Christianity. I wondered,
if there was so much proof in the old testament and in the
Bible that Jesus is the Messiah, then why do the Jews not
believe Jesus is the one?
So I tried to research stuff. I went to Wikipedia and it talked
about the Jewish Messiah. It talked about Jesus -
"As for Jesus of Nazareth, who claimed to be the Anointed
One and was killed by the court, Daniel had already prophecied
about him, thus: "And the children of your people's rebels
shall raise themselves to set up prophecy and will stumble."
(Ibid. 14) Can there be a bigger stumbling block than this?
All the Prophets said that the Anointed One saves Israel and
rescues them, gathers their strayed ones and strengthens their
mitzvot whereas this one caused the loss of Israel by sword,
and to scatter their remnant and humiliate them, and to change
the Torah and to cause most of the world to erroneously worship
a god besides the Lord. But the human mind has no power to
reach the thoughts of the Creator, for His thoughts and ways
are unlike ours. All these matters of Yeshua of Nazareth and
of the Ishmaelite who stood up after him (Muhammad) are only
intended to pave the way for the Anointed King, and to mend
the entire world to worship God together, thus: "For then
I shall turn a clear tongue to the nations to call all in
the Name of the Lord and to worship him with one shoulder."
"How is this? The entire world had become filled with the
issues of the Anointed One and of the Torah and the Laws,
and these issues had spread out unto faraway islands and among
many nations uncircumcised in the heart, and they discuss
these issues and the Torah's laws. These say: These Laws were
true but are already defunct in these days, and do not rule
for the following generations; whereas the other ones say:
There are secret layers in them and they are not to be treated
literally, and the Messiah had come and revealed their secret
meanings. But when the Anointed King will truly rise and succeed
and will be raised and uplifted, they all immediately turn
about and know that their fathers inherited falsehood, and
their prophets and ancestors led them astray." They keep on
repeating this one verse - "And the children of your people's
rebels shall raise themselves to set up prophecy and will
stumble." (Ibid. 14). Is this talking about Christians and
Jesus?
And I remember I asked people this before, but I don't remember
getting a straight answer. How do we know that Christianity
is the correct religion? If all the religions don't agree
with Jesus, is it possible that we might have been brainwashed
to believe? I am a Christian, but I just want to get questions
cleared up.
I hope I don't sound offensive.
Please help me
Hey:
Always great to hear from you! I'm glad you are doing what
God commanded us to do, to "work out your salvation with fear
and trembling." Phil. 2:12
I'm actually on the verge of heading out of town for 8 days,
so I will not be able to respond to your question until my
return. However, I'd like to point you to a few resources
and thoughts that can help you in the meanwhile:
1. Please get a hold of the book, The Case for Christ, by
Lee Strobel. The author is the former legal editor of the
Chigago Tribune newspaper and a graduate of Yale Law School.
He wanted to use his legal skills to debunk Christianity,
and so he set out to do so, only to commit himself to Christ
in the process. The evidence was too compelling. He had to
yield to the truth.
BTW, this was also the experience of Simon Greenleaf, who
was a prominent law professor at Harvard Law School (in fact,
one of its founders, I believe). His work on the rules for
evidence was considered some of the finest legal work ever
written - still being used as a standard in our courts today.
After trying to debunk Christianity in class, some of his
students challenged him to apply his rules of evidence to
Christianity. He did, with the intention of proving it false
- you know what happened, right? Yes, he gave his life to
Christ. The evidence was too overwhelming. He wrote a book
entitled something like, "The Testimony of the Evangelists,
An Examination Using the Rules of Evidence (that's not the
exact title, but close)
Josh McDowell, magna cum laude at his university, had the
same experience when he set out to debunk the Christian faith.
The result was two classic books that he wrote entitled, Evidence
That Demands a Verdict I and II.
2. I'd also like to send you to the TD web site, and under
Links, check out the Apologetics section. In particular, I'd
like you to go to the "Jesus: Fact or Fiction" link. This
site is dedicated to answering the exact questions you're
asking. There are video answers by many of the leading scholars
in the world today. So, please check it out with an open and
zealous heart and mind for truth.
I'd also like to remind you of a few things during your
journey:
1. The problem with man is not intellectual, it's moral.
Our problem isn't that we don't have enough evidence. It's
what we do with the evidence we have. Our hearts are bent
toward not wanting there to be a God, so we can be free to
self-govern and do what our hearts desire, rather than what
God wants. That's precisely what Aldous Huxley admitted to.
Famed skeptic, Bertrand Russell, when asked what he would
do if, after he died, he found out there was a God, and was
confronted by Him. His answer was, "I shall simply tell Him
that He didn't give me enough evidence."
The evidence is so overwhelming, it's not even funny - from
the evidence in creation (read Rom. 1:18 ++) right down to
the evidence written on our individual hearts (read Rom. 2).
There is more objective evidence for the existence of God,
in general, and the veracity of Jesus, in particular, than
there is for everything else combined.
Ironically, when the skeptics write, they argue that Christians
are employing blind subjective faith, when in fact the opposite
is true. Their “pursuits” are usually biased to begin with
- they begin their “pursuit” with the presupposition that
there is no God. The “evidence” on their side is so flimsy,
loose, and full of holes, and yet they ardently defend it.
Christianity's evidence is so voluminous, tight, and coherent
as a whole, and yet they'll look to scrutinize the littlest
thing in order to find what they want, rather than yielding
to the evidence.
BTW, this is why many Jews did not “recognize” Jesus as
the Messiah (though don't forget that many did, as well).
They wanted Jesus to be who they wanted Jesus to be, not who
He was. Those who were seeking the true God DID recognize
Jesus as the Messiah. In John 14:9, Jesus says, “…he who has
seen Me has seen the Father.”
Those who did not recognize Jesus didn't really know the
Father either. They wanted a Jesus that would save them from
a variety of things - like poverty, slavery, Roman rule -
but not one who would save them from the wretchedness of their
own hearts (which they did not even recognize - no non-Christian
does).
Again, the problem is not an intellectual one, it's a moral
one. Please check your heart too as you pursue.
2. EVERYONE has to give answers for the same fundamental
questions in life, not just Christianity. Everyone must give
an explanation for:
Origin - where do we come from?
Meaning - what is the meaning of life? Where do we get our
meaning from?
Morality - what is right and wrong? How do we know it? Says
who?
Destiny - what happens after we die? Is there life after death?
It's very easy to take pot shots at others, as so many do
to the Christian faith, but it's another thing to actually
answer the questions yourself.
Do other religions or even atheistic viewpoints present
a more plausible explanation for life? Go ahead and pursue
their answers with the same vigor they do yours, and I think
you'll see what I'm saying. They too must answer. You'll find
their arguments are, generally, flippant, shooting-from-the-hip
attempts that are not cohesive, substantiated, nor satisfying.
Their viewpoints take a lot more faith than does ours.
3. When evaluating all worldviews, three basic tests need
to be met:
a. The view must have logical consistency - it must be logical
and consistent within its own framework. Many aren't.
b. There must be empirical adequacy - is there adequate
objective evidence that corresponds to the view being espoused?
c. It must be experientially relevant - does it apply to
the issue at hand? Is it relevant to life, and where people
are at?
Lastly, remember that you are not going this alone. Jesus
is in our midst and ready to come right alongside you during
your journey through life. He's trying to let you know that
He IS life. So, as you seek your answers, seek Him! Ask HIM
the same questions, discuss with HIM your doubts and thoughts,
share with HIM your feelings, joys and struggles.
Don't forget that this isn't some religion - which all others
are - this is a relationship with a PERSON, God Himself. So,
treat Him like one, and let Him be your best friend, ok? He'll
guide you surely but tenderly.
So, you need to spend AT LEAST as much time in His Word,
listening to HIM, as you do in other sources, listening to
others. Does that make sense?
Jesus says, “This is eternal life, that they may know You
(the Father) and Jesus Christ …” Eternal life is a quality
of relationship, not a quantity of time. Don't forget that.
I didn't really have time to write all this, but I guess
I just did!
Hope this helps. Please let me know.
Blessings,
Arthur
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