PROOF, PLEASE.

BY ANDREW PALAU

As a Christian, your intellect and your faith work together, not in separate silos. That's because Jesus Christ was a real person who walked the earth (a provable fact). Not only that, but the remains of His body are nowhere to be found (also provable). How's this possible? Because He rose and conquered death.

Today His body is resurrected; He is alive, reigning with God in heaven (Acts 2:32-33).
And He lives right now in you and in me (Romans 8:11)!

Dr. Clifford Herbert Moore, former professor at Harvard University writes: "Christianity knew its Savior and Redeemer, not as some god whose history was contained in a mythical faith, with rude, primitive and even offensive elements. The Christian's faith is founded on positive, historical and acceptable facts."

Every individual must make a decision for themselves: was Jesus Christ merely a man, is He simply a myth, or is He truly the almighty God? You, as a believer, have chosen the latter. You made this decision with your heart, soul, strength and mind (Mark 12:30).

Perhaps you have wondered, "Is Christianity really established upon historical facts?" Any reputable argument for the validity of Christianity stands or falls on the proof of the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.

Consider these passages concerning Jesus of Nazareth, taken from the Word of God:

• Colossians 1:15-20

• Hebrews 1:1-2

• Ephesians 1:9-10

. . . Many great scholars have believed, and do believe, in His resurrection.

After examining the evidence for the resurrection given by the gospel writers, the late Simon Greenleaf, an authority in jurisprudence at Harvard Law School, concluded, "It was therefore impossible that they [the early Christians] could have persisted in affirming the truths they have narrated, had not Jesus actually risen from the dead, and had they not known this fact as certainly as they knew any other fact."

One of today's best-known skeptics was C.S. Lewis, professor at Oxford University. For years, he was an agnostic who denied the deity of Christ. After an intense process of searching for answers, he received Christ as his Savior and Lord.

In Mere Christianity, Lewis states: "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things that Jesus said wouldn't be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the level with a man who says he's a poached egg – or else he would be the devil of hell; you must take your choice."

He also says of how we respond to Jesus Christ: "You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and call Him a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about Him being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”