We live in a society where people think that Christians are gullible and even stupid for what they believe. Such people allege: ‘Miracles don’t happen. Jesus didn’t rise from the dead. The Bible is a fairytale. Christians are either brainwashed into believing since childhood, or they are pathetic people who need a crutch to get them through life.’I don’t consider myself to be naïve or uneducated. I don’t think I’m that pathetic to need a crutch, and I certainly wasn’t brainwashed into Christianity. I am a man of science- I worked in a former life as a research scientist in the field of protein chemistry. I’ve lectured in human physiology. I don’t mention this to blow my own trumpet- but simply to say that I’m someone who likes to know how things work. I need solid evidence to back up my beliefs. I crave not only to believe, but I crave to know why I should believe.
I know you are the same- you need reasons, evidence and proof. So that’s why I want to offer some reasons that explain why I am a Christian and continue to be one. I hope it will make you seriously consider the evidence for Christianity, and if you are already a believer, I trust this will strengthen your own faith.
1. The Wonder of Us
If you were to be walking down Pitt Town Rd, and noticed the letters of your name scratched into the cement, what would you conclude? You’d think that it was put there by someone. Now consider our human bodies. I find it amazing that our entire genome is made up of only 4 different genetic codes, but that they are amazingly arranged to make up our human bodies. If we conclude that someone had pulled some letters of the alphabet to write our name in the cement, why do you conclude that we are accidents? Someone with a Mind has arranged the genetic code in our bodies. Such wonder points to a God who has wonderfully made us.
2. Making Sense of the worldAnother reason I’m a Christian is because Christianity makes sense of the world that I live in. The Bible teaches that God wants to give me joy and satisfaction through knowing Him. But in reality I have a wrecked relationship with God and others. We look for pleasure in the wrong places- in food, alcohol, and sex. The result is anorexia, addiction and adultery. These things never satisfy.
Why can’t I love people the way that I should? Why do I lock my door at night? Why is the newspaper full of bad news? These things tell me that there is something drastically wrong with my world, which the Bible calls sin. This all stems from the tendency I have to find my ultimate happiness outside of God.
3. The Proof of History
The information we have about Jesus comes mainly from ancient documents written by Christians shortly after Christ. Even non Christian scholars speak about Jesus (for example, Josephus and Tacitus). In fact, I have never come across an ancient scholar who has denied the existence of Jesus.
The books of the New Testament are reliable historical documents. Not only do we have over 24,000 early copies of portions of the New Testament today, but many of them are quite close in time to the original.
What they wrote is reliable and trustworthy. You see, the writers of the New Testament considered themselves as ‘eyewitnesses’. They claimed to be able to eyeball, to touch, to hear God in the flesh of a man- a person called Jesus. They recorded these things so that we can know with certainty that they actually happened.
The most unique event these eyewitnesses recorded for us was the resurrection of Jesus from the grave. They were completely convinced that Jesus Christ became a corpse, and literally rose from the dead. They weren’t exaggerating- they saw it! And not just them, but many others as well. The historical proof that comes from these eyewitness accounts must be taken seriously.
4. Christianity says what no other religion does.
You might read this and think ‘OK, so I believe in a God who created, I know there’s something wrong with the world, and I know Jesus existed…but why should I believe in Christianity? Why not any old religion, or just my own personal belief in a Supreme Being?
The answer is that Christianity offers something which is vastly different to all other religions. How do the religions tell us to seek salvation? The major religions have founders who claimed to show the way to salvation. This is usually by some form of moral exertion or religious observance. Major religions teach ‘DO this and you’ll live’.
Not Christianity. Jesus didn’t come to show the way to salvation. He came to BE the salvation. Christianity doesn’t teach that the way to salvation is by being good, or practicing religion. The apostles of Jesus taught that salvation has been DONE for us by Jesus. When he died on the cross, he acted as your substitute. All we need to do is accept this!
This puts Christianity into a league of its own when it comes to religion. I’m not saved by what I DO. I’m saved by what Christ has DONE.
What person could invent a religion that a Jewish man dying on a Roman cross, and coming back to life, could win eternal life? Eternal life, simply by believing! Who would think of such a thing? The answer is simple- no person could! It’s only because God offers something that is so different to everything else that is on offer.
5. The Person of Jesus
The more I get to know Jesus, the more convinced I am that no human could invent him. He is different to any other person that I have met. No one has all the power of the universe at his disposal, and yet uses it to give himself as a sacrifice. He’s magnificent, glorious and confident. Yet he’s meek, humble and lowly. No one else that I’ve met has such a perfect balance of these characteristics. This is a person who claimed to be God, yet condescended himself to be exposed to being spat upon. No one could imagine that these characteristics could be so amazingly combined in one person. This is a God who is also a man, who is worthy of my worship! He is truly unique!
I have given 5 reasons why I am a Christian and continue to be one. I hope you’ll consider them. God didn’t create us as dummies. He made us with brains, and we should use our intelligence and our God given reasoning to examine the evidence for Christian faith. St John summed it up when he said ‘These things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name’. (John chapter 20, verse 31 NIV). Are you open minded enough to thoughtfully consider the evidence?
