Appendix C - A CHALLENGE
God used wisdom and knowledge to create the cosmos.
Proverbs 3:19-20 By wisdom the LORD founded the earth. by understanding, he established the heavens. By his knowledge, the depths were broken up, and the skies drop down the dew.
A being capable of creating this complex universe, is able to put a few false trails into his creation to confuse those who arrogantly say that he doesn't exist and/or those who delight in unrighteousness. We read in the Scriptures that God deliberately confuses arrogant and sinful humans.
Proverbs 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
To some, Christianity and its claims are foolish.
1 Corinthians 1:18-19 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, I will bring the discernment of the discerning to nothing."
Some people deliberately refuse to believe truth. If they did believe they might have to change. Remember from Appendix A how some scientists deliberately suppress evidence that might point to an Intelligent Designer.
Romans 1:18-22 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them. For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse. Because, knowing God, they didn't glorify him as God, neither gave thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
Jesus came to open our eyes to the truth and to blind those who choose evil.
John 9:39 Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment, that those who don't see may see; and that those who see may become blind."
Today, many intellectuals who have searched for the truth with open minds have become convinced that Christ and his claims are real. One prime example is the Christian author of "The Chronicles of Narnia", "The Screwtape Letters" and "Mere Christianity", C. S. Lewis. He started out as a avowed atheist, but after looking into the evidence, converted and became a spokesman for Christianity.
Another convert is Lee Strobel [1], who with a journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a Master of Studies in Law degree from Yale Law School, was the award-winning legal editor of the Chicago Tribune and a spiritual skeptic until 1981. He decided to prove Christianity false, but after examining the evidence, instead he decided it to be true. He wrote the "Case for Christ"[2] and several similar books and is now a strong Christian apologist.
Another prominent non-believer who set out to show that the book of Acts was false was Sir William Mitchell Ramsay, a Scottish archaeologist and New Testament scholar. When he dug into it found to his amazement that Acts is historically accurate By his death he had become the foremost authority of his day on the history of Asia Minor and a leading scholar in the study of the New Testament. He wrote:
"Further study of Acts XIΙΙ.-XXI. showed that the book could bear the most minute scrutiny as an authority for the facts of the Agean world, and that it was written with such judgment, skill, art, and perception of truth as to be a model of historical statement. It is marvellously concise and yet marvellously lucid."[3]
"When Ramsay turned his attention to Paul's letters, most of which the critics of his day dismissed as forgeries, he concluded that all thirteen New Testament letters that claimed to have been written by Paul were really his."[4]
___________________________________________
Here is Your Challenge
God exists.
Jesus is his son.
The Bible is his word.
Check it out.
___________________________________________
REFERENCES
[1] Lee Strobel's web page is: http: www.leestrobel.com
[2] The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus, by Lee Strobel, Amazon (kindle).
[3] Ramsay, Sir William (2011-05-27). The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament (Kindle Locations 1039-1041). Primedia eLaunch. Kindle Edition.
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Mitchell_Ramsay
| |
| Appendix Selector | Last Updated 11-28-2019 |