Replies to Aristiono -- Part 5 -- Why I Believe Jesus is God?

Well, this is a tough question to answer, but at the same time easy. The simple way to put it is this -- how many people tell you what is going to happen to them and then tell you they are going to die and then three days and nights later they tell you they are going to rise from the dead? Not many. How many tell you these things and then do it? Only one person has ever done it. Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Now, unlike Mohammad whose revelation that lead to the Q'uran, the revelation of Jesus was public and witnessed. With Mohammad we are still left to trust that he just did not make it all up in the cave. Jesus on the other hand has multiple witnesses of his life, death and resurrection. These events are as historical as any other and have more historical evidence than any other event of ancient history. We have more eyewitness testimony from ancient literature that Jesus rose from the dead than Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon.



The historical fact of the resurrection means that all the other things Jesus said about himself not only true but empowered as truth. I mean are you really going to say that someone who rises from the dead does not know what he is talking about?
1. Jesus forgives sins -- Only God can do so
2. Jesus claims God as his Father making himself equal to God
3. John 1:1 claims the Word was God -- The Word is Jesus Christ.
4. The disciples and many others worship Jesus -- He does not prevent them from doing so.

I could list many more but these are enough.

More than this, is the present power of Christ as God at work in my life! How could I deny someone who removed my sins and transformed my life? It would be easier for me to deny the world is round or water is wet.

In my earlier days I studied many religions asking the question -- why do I consider my faith better than this? Simply put 1) I have a savior who is historically raised from the dead and 2) This Savior lives inside me to make me the man God wants me to be.

Islam failed for me because it does not change me. It could change my actions and thoughts, but it could not change my spirit. It is externals without meaning. It is salvation only from habit not sinfulness. In short, it cannot transform me like Christ has because it is not the truth.

Aristiono I want to thank you for the opportunity to answer these questions I hope it was informative for you as it was fun for me.

Finis -- with possibility of more is more questions come up.

Replies to Aristiono -- Part 4 -- Pagan Influences on Christianity

I know that the crescent moon is an Islamic symbol but i am going to make a point about it later.

Aristiono makes two charges:
1. That Jesus' story and many pagan myths parallel each other.
2. That Christianity has been corrupted by paganism.

Well to the first, if you look at a lot of stories long enough you will find parallel to anything. There are a couple of key differences 1) The other virgin myths do not have the significance of redemption from sins that Jesus does. 2) The virgin birth of Christ has historical evidence to support it.

As to the second: yeah, no doubt that if any religion exists for too long it will be corrupted by something. Throughout church history there has been those moments when this has been he issue. Removing the pagan elements and other bad influences to Christianity has been motivation for many reforms during church history and ultimately the Protestant Reformation.

My point is this -- name me a religion that is still true completely to its original founding?

Now, I have a question -- if Islam is so free of these influences why do they use a moon as a symbol? The reason is that it is the former symbol of Mohammed's tribe -- which is symbol of the moon God they used to worship. My question to Aristiono why is it OK for Islam to take former pagan symbols and turn them to something for their religion but it is not OK for other religion including Christianity to do so?

Next: Why I Believe in Jesus.

Replies to Aristiono -- Part 3 -- Some History Lessons

Aristiono in a comment to me made some of the following assertions:
1. Jesus was created by Constantine in 325 with the Nicene Council
2. The Roman Church changed worship from Saturday to Sunday
3. The name Jesus is derived from the Greek word "Ieasus" which means 'Son of Zeus'
4. Constantine made huge changes in Christianity that mandated it as the faith of the Empire and made changes to holidays and the Sabbath.

#1 -- I don't have any idea how a person could believe this -- Jesus is a well documented person and his name exists in literature long before Constantine. The gospels themselves are much older than Constantine and with the discovery of texts of the New Testament that are conservatively estimated at 150 AD and of the Gospel John the oldest gospel by all scholarly opinion. That thrusts all the gospels by evidence at least into early second century but more likely the first. All the Gospels talk of Jesus as a historical figure who lived and ministered in that century. To deny the historical reality of Jesus as a person from the first century is prejudicial -- we have more evidence for Him than any other ancient historical figure. Outside of Scripture we have a multitude sources that talk of Jesus. All of them long before Constantine. What confuses me more is that I was under the impression that Islam accepts Jesus both as a historical figure and a prophet.

#2 -- When is the Sabbath? I think a more important question is does it matter? We need to understand that all calenders have been modified and moved around so is Saturday really Saturday. One of Jesus' great teaching was that the Sabbath was about devotion to God not external religious control. To me the issue is to make sure one day a week is devoted to God and his work.

#3 -- Wow! Sorry this is just plain wrong. "Jesus" is a Greek transliterated form of "Yeshua" -- the Hebrew word for -- "The Lord is Salvation"

#4 -- No Doubt Constantine made some huge changes to Christianity, but some of those changes were simply because Christianity went from being a persecuted religion to one of acceptance. Hey, even I argue against some of the changes because I disagree with them. That is why I am a Protestant and not a Roman Catholic, although I have many Roman Catholic friends. As for the holidays, Constantine was attempting to remove the paganism from the Empire by changing the significance of many pagan holidays and then injecting Christian significance instead. In a sense he was trying to convert the holidays from pagan to Christian. It simply may be a case of good intentions but poor results.

Next: Pagan Influences on Christianity.

Replies to Aristiono -- Part 2-- Some Simple Answers

Aristiono points out that the word 'Trinity' does not appear in the Scriptures. True, but that does not make the point he hopes it makes.
There are many theological concepts in all religions that do not appear in their Scriptures. Just because the word 'trinity' doesn't appear in the Scriptures does to mean the concept of the Trinity does not exist in the Scripture. The word 'Monotheistic' does not appear in the Scriptures (Jewish, Christian or Islamic) but all have the theological concept of a 'monotheistic' faith -- one God. We use many words outside the Scriptures to describe concepts that we see in them -- it does not make them false concepts simply because the word does not appear.

The Doctrine of the Trinity is such concept. The word may not appear in Scripture but the concept is there. It was created as a process in trying to understand how certain passages of Scripture could be true. Passages that indicated Jesus as both God and separate from the Father God. Passages that indicated another Comforter called the Holy Spirit -- also equal to God but separate in person hood. Three separate persons but all God (One God Together). The doctrine of the Trinity did not arrive as a result of pagan influence but a wrestling with an understanding of God and the Scriptures.

I wrestled with this myself on my own and had to conclude that the conclusion those who settled this long ago were right. The Trinity is just a way of explaining the concept.

Do I Believe in one God -- Yes. Do I believe in the Trinity -- yes. One God manifested in three persons all equally God, but all equally separate persons but united and one.

Next: Some History Lessons

Replies to Aristiono -- Part 1-- Introduction

On my last post, this gentleman sent me a reply that while it did not deal with the subject matter, did ask a lot of great and pointed questions. If no one minds a practical jaunt in theology I will answer them a couple at a time over the next week or so. For right now, I want to inform Aristiono of one thing -- I have read the Holy Qur'an. It was a while ago but I have read it. I don't mind reading it again to get back up to speed.

Right now though I have to get some sleep.

Apologetics: How do you talk to Jews? --Part 2 -- Religious Considerations.

It is all well and good to talk about how the Bible is a great tool for witnessing to Jews, but what about the modern Jew? What makes them different?

First off the more I study the modern Jew the more I find them to be very much like any other major religion -- common themes, diversity of thought. I suppose you could put them in three major camps --Orthodox, Conservative and Reform -- but that is hardly adequate at all. The fact is there is a commonality of the Torah and Community Worship but to pigeonhole all Jews into a box is just plain intellectually impossible. So don't try. When talking to a Jew you going to have to ask a lot of questions to find out where they are coming from and avoid hot button topics like Israel, the Palestinians and the Sabbath. Remember your fishing not slapping the water.

In witnessing to them there is the advantage of having the Old Testament (don't call it that when you talk to them) as a guide, this is what the early church did, but even then your going to run into different opinions of what the Torah, Prophets and Writings are and how much authority they should have. The real issue is to convince them that Jesus wasn't just a great rabbi but the Messiah. It has worked for some.

Right now one of the most interesting phenomena involving Jews and Jesus is happening -- the Messianic Jewish Movement is growing and gaining steam. Jews are coming to Jesus in record numbers that probably haven;t been seen like this since the first century. I find this interesting and encouraging -- maybe Paul's prayer in Romans is finally being answered.

Apologetics: How do you talk to Jews? --Part 1 -- Biblical Consideration.

As you look through the Bible there is probably more on this subject than any other. The original church was Jewish. That is, it was made up of Jews that had accepted the Risen Christ. Because of this, you see many books of the New Testament addressed to Jewish people or believers.

Matthew as a gospel, for example, is very much a gospel for the Jew as it tries to to persuade Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. Even Luke though has Jesus himself going through the Law and the Prophets to two on the road to show that Jesus is the Christ and need to suffer these things.

The book of acts shows Paul on many occasions debating in the synagogues and showing through the Old Testament Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

Finally both Hebrews and James are addressed to Jewish people. Hebrews in particular is trying to persuade Jews not to leave the faith and go back top their former covenant but stay with the covenant in Christ.

What this shows me is that the Jewish question has been with us from the very beginning and that the Bible already has arguments about it. The issue is there anything about modern Judaism that changes things.

Apologetics: The New Religious Reality

I have started a new 'Bible' study at church. It is a look at world religions in relation to Christianity. One of the new realities in the United States is that Christianity is not the main religion of people any more. There are now a multitude of religions in the United States and all of them have influence. As I go through this study with my church, I keep asking myself -- 'how would I witness to such a person who believes such and such?" The book of Acts is actually quit helpful because Peter and Paul clearly ministered in a multi-religious culture. Because of this it is very easy to draw comparisons.

The one thing that is interesting is that a number of people have a view of all religions being roads to the ultimate end with no one of them being truly right. I of course find this problematic because then religion is not a search for truth -- just enlightenment. How do you witness to such a multi-cultured religious people? When you talk truth, they dismiss the idea as impossible.

Like it or not Christianity claims an exclusiveness - that is it is the only road to salvation. In such an environment, how does one continue to do this and be respectful yet assured that your getting across the truth? Hopefully as we go through the study and these days looking apologetics we will find the answer.

Apologetics -- Defending the Faith

Apologetics. The art and science of defending the faith has been around almost as soon as the faith began to go public. The idea of offering up reasons for why the faith of Christianity is true became necessary as soon as someone questioned the authenticity of Christianity and its message.

In the early days apologetics centered on two defences -- against paganism on the one hand and philosophy on the other.

Today apologetics usually centers on defending the faith against atheism and agnosticism with evolution as their basis. The truth is though that our culture has changed to the point that even paganism is making a comeback -- numerous religions have now found their place in American culture including pagan cults and full blown polytheism. Magic and Wicca also are present in ever increasing numbers. If there was ever a need to give an answer of the hope that is within us -- it is today. The problem is that the number of answers needed has been greatly multiplied and we no longer have home court advantage.

My chief concern is that I have in my own lifetime watch the Christian church in America go from being the dominate force in American culture to being a subculture that is fighting to survive. Now we are typical of most people groups that this happens too we do two things that are not helpful : 1) We blame others and 2) We fail to look at our own behavior as a cause.

Over the weeks to come I want to look at apologetics, not to offer a better apologetics but to ask if the current ways of doing apologetics are effective. To me, apologetics isn't just something you argue -- you live it.

In short, I think the church has largely forgotten one quote when it comes to apologetics:

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians. People who profess Christ in the pews and then walk out the door and deny it by their lifestyle."

Hopefully as I discuss this we may find something better.