This is from a conversation Bender and I had on his blog: marmonax.blogspot.com where basically I keep going back to who Jesus was/is and the Crucifixion/Resurrection because without Christ being God and resurrecting, there is no Christianity.
Bender asks:
You say, '[Jesus] can't be truthful about some things and totally lying about the others. Either He's true or He's false.' Simple follow-up: Why?
Jesus made some bold claims. He claimed to have been before Abraham, to be the Messiah (John 4), to be the only way to God (John 14:6) etc. The argument is that Jesus was simply a good prophet, but anyone who read His claims would see that He totally went against the establishment. They killed Him for it too. He was either telling the Truth (which makes Him Lord, and we should follow Him), or He was lying (which makes Him the Devil, and we should avoid Him), or He was a lunatic, who C.S. Lewis says 'equates himself with a deviled egg' (in which case why are we still talking about Jesus 2000 years later?). In the book of Acts, a Pharisee in the Sanhedrin named Gemaliel tells the religious leaders who were seeking out and eradicating Christians to hold off. Gemaliel's point was that if Jesus wasn't the Messiah then Christianity would just die out on its own. Gemaliel, and Nicodemus, both argued that if Jesus were true then it would be wise to follow Him, and if He were false then it wouldn't matter.
Well, it does matter. I believe He is Truth. Two thousand years later, we're still talking about Him and what He did on the Cross.
The Truth is that there is a God, we rebelled against Him, He took the punishment for our rebellion on Himself so that we could be reconciled to Him. Jesus came, lived a perfect life to be the blameless sacrifice for our sins. He was crucified, just as He predicted He would be (at least 3 times), and rose again 3 days later, defeating death and sin. That one act fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies and reconciled us to God. A new covenant was established and we have the chance to accept a spirit of adoption by which we cry out "Abba! Father!". Because of Jesus, we can become heirs of God and co-heirs with Jesus. You cannot believe the Bible and not believe Jesus because the whole of Scripture points to Him. The Old Testament details the need for a Messiah. The four Gospels tell about Jesus. The rest of the New Testament tells us what to do about it.
Jesus did preach "good news" in the sense that we should love our enemies, etc. but He also went to the "good" people of the day and told them they were missing the point completely. He gave all honor and glory to the Father in Heaven. I can explain the concept of the Trinity later, but it's basically three levels of understanding God. The Father in Heaven is God in all His glory. The Son is Jesus, who is God in human form (think of it like becoming a dog w/ all the wisdom of a human), and the Holy Spirit is God's power still at work in the hearts of believers. Jesus was basically a human with the full power of the Spirit. He was completely God, but in a human body. He didn't come for a crown, to bring glory to Himself. He came for a cross, so that God would get all the glory. God demanded payment for Sin, and He paid it because we couldn't.
Once again, I believe this is Truth, and I center myself on it. Call me crazy, and maybe I am. I'm intelligent, but I'm not a genius. I have experienced God in a real way in my life, and I cannot turn back.
For the Kingdom,
Stuart
I guess part of this is never going to be resolved because we (I presume) have differing opinions on what the Bible is. You seem to be assuming that everything in there is 100% accurate and current, when it seems that scholarly consensus is that this is not the case, at least for some of the books. In that case, it is entirely possible for a later author/editor to spice up the story.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you seem to be implying that the very fact that Christianity exists is evidence of it's truth, but surely you would not say the same about Islam, which is about as big for its age.
I don't put my faith in scholars. God uses the foolish things of this world to shame the wise. (1 Corinthians 1:27) I don't live for scholars. I live for the Man who died for me...and came back to life to free me.
ReplyDeleteIslam is an Abrahamic faith, but the schism was between Isaac and Ishmael. Isaac was the son God promised to Abraham and Sarah, but Sarah doubted God and let Abraham sleep with her servant Hagar. Romans 9:6-13 kind of explains what happened in Genesis. As I said, it all ties together. Scholars can debate, but they're really not looking hard enough.
There are patriots on both sides :P I've only ever promised on this blog that I would speak to my beliefs and why I believe them. Maybe one day I will be completely disproven, but I doubt it. The more I live it, the more I experience Truth. And, it's not because I say all the right words or do all the right things. I'm not righteous, but He is.
For the Kingdom,
Stuart
(just stumbled across this now, looking for something else..)
ReplyDeleteAll a scholar is, is someone who looks at stuff a lot. There's not any inherent bias of a true scholar.