REASONS TO BELIEVE!

This page contains and will contain more articles I have posted on the Religous Discussion Forum at the Matilda web site.

I am often accused of not being able to think by those that have chosen not to think. This installment, though condensed by limitations caused by others, will show the logic of my final decision.

If a defense attorney suggests that a case be dismissed because there are only four eyewitnesses to the murder his client is accused of committing and there is nor physical evidence to support these eyewitnesses, he is using a well thought out ploy to divert attention away from the very strong accounts of the four eyewitnesses. This is indeed a very effective ploy but it is and always will be a ploy, nothing more. It is the most overworked instrument used on this board by the run of the mill atheists found here. It does not change the fact in the murder case nor in the case of the Gospel that the four witnesses saw what they saw, but if one screams long enough and loud enough, most will give up their case inspite of the directive from God not to do that very thing.

You see, the more than 4,000 thousand document claim I make is do to the fact that for the New Testament alone there are more than 4,000 complete and partial manuscripts. The gospel accounts are true. The evidence is weighted most strongly in favor of them.

One must ask then, "Why do the atheists rail and attack me personally?"

The answer is the same, they know that the manuscript evidence is available and they must draw your attention away from it in order to keep you away from God, which in and of itself lends credibility to the claims of the Gospel.

Note: This post drew a great deal of railing and I was asked, "If I were born of a Japanese family that embraced Buddhism would I still be a Christian? The classic atheist, failing to have a good argument against the truth will often attempt to lead the witness through mental gymnastics. He followed with substituting a Muslim family and a Jewish family all the while 'demanding' that I answer him.

Some here in the past have charged that there is no proof out side of the Bible for Jesus' existence. Yet, every day they themselves testify that His existence here on earth was indeed a fact.

How?

Each time they write the date, implied is the AD at the end of the year. For someone to have not existed, He did a remarkable job of splitting time.

For persons wishing to verify Jesus' historicity I suggest reading F.F. Bruce's The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable and his Jesus and Christian Origins Outside The New Testament. One should also read Gary Habermas' The Historical Jesus.

A great deal of information about Him is drawn from ancient historians, either contemporary or just after His being here. Roman historian Tacitus mentions Jesus in his records of Roman history. He even explains that it was Pontius Pilate that put Jesus to death, just as described in the gospel accounts. Suetonius records the fact that Jesus (Christus) did indeed exist and change the world in His time. There are a huge number of other references, that because of imposed brevity are not to be mentioned. A good source reference though is The Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics.

Note: The replies following this post were more insistence that I answer the three hypothetical questions about, "if I had been born a...and the posting of one title by another atheist with the statement that this was the only book anyone needed to read to reach a decision about God.

You know, for someone that the world is unable to establish the truth about, there is a remarkable amount of historical evidence proving His passage here on this earth. Flavius Josephus of 37/38AD to 97AD fame wrote in his Antiquities twice of Jesus. Once mentioning James, "the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ"(20:9). The second has been disputed though never disproved by your local atheists. He wrote, "Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man. For he was one who wrought surprising feats....He was [the] Christ...he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning Him.[Antiquities 18:3]. Then there are the historians Thallus and Africanus who verify the earthquake and the darkness spoken of in Luke 23:44-45.

The evidence just goes on and on.

Note: This latest message was posted on Sat. 4/29/00 US time.

There is a passage found only in Luke 24:13-35 where two men that had known Jesus were on their way home from the crucifixion and not yet believing in the resurrection. It seems not unreasonable to assume that they had seen the Master killed on the cross. They were most certainly disappointed at His not breaking the Roman Yoke and setting Israel free. And then on their way home, suddenly they are joined by a man whom they do not recognize but certainly knows a great deal of scripture by heart. He almost certainly shows them the Gospel as spelled out in the Old Testament. (Were you aware that the Gospel of Jesus, the Christ was written in the book of Isaiah?) He was very knowledgeable of the word for he had not one scroll with Him and yet He explained all to them. These men having just walked a very dejected 7 miles from Jerusalem chose to return that 7 miles to convey their joy to the apostles about having seen Jesus. What changed these men so completely? They had spent time with the LORD. I, Bill Taylor, heard from God on May 5, 1967 and except for not being an atheist any more, I was unchanged. What made me into the man I am today? About 23 ½ years later as I sang in a honkey tonk I began to change. Why? I went to church for only one purpose, I wanted to know who this was that was so intent upon running my life that for all those years He had never abandoned me. I changed because I began to spend time with Jesus...Bill.
Click to subscribe to The_Christian_Newsletter