Why Christianity? discussion

Why even choose this Christianity? Especially over all the other options.

People should be compelled to "choose Christianity" because their eternal souls depend on making that good choice. Otherwise, it's not really a big deal and all other roads really do lead to the same destination.

Most people assume God is collecting NICE people. For a nice Kingdom.

But we AREN'T nice.

But to sustain this NICE: can't be nice. God would have to brutally inflict a limiting to our freedom to bludgeon us into this.
YES, if other roads lead to a destination: then there really isn't a road at all. The destination might not be worthy of an eternity.

Because it is true. All other worldviews are false and therefore end in absurdity.

Why Christianity? Well, show me something better and I'll take it... I'll wait.

Rod - at the risk of complete oversimplification, Christianity makes sense. All other religions require good works or showings of valor to attain some sort of Nirvana. Christianity asserts we're all sinners who can't clean up our act unless we accept the human sacrifice offered by Jesus' death and resurrection. In other words, THIS GOD goes to bat for us rather than us constantly trying to worm our way into another deities good graces and never knowing when we've done enough. In our Faith, all it takes for eternal life is the acceptance of that gift. So simple, yet apparently, so hard!

Ahhhh,
Acceptance-- but a bit more. For instance: "you did all this in my name but I never knew you".
Think: Benny Hinn (evil example). Obedience, I believe, is the additional required game piece.

Obedience to what exactly?

My interpretation: Scriptural obedience in two words... total submission. The only thing I have to "do" is "submit".
To combine my prior posts with Ned's, Robert's and Rod's... I have to believe something is true to the extent I fully yield to something better so God can stand in for me and "do" what I cannot in order to "achieve" what I cannot.
Benny Hinn, like the rest of us, seems to tap in, but isn't hitting on all cylinders. My salvation is only impacted by Benny Hinn, or you, to degree I lean on something or someone besides God for my understanding. Now enlighten me with lamps and not torches, please.
In conformance to my prior statement I will listen to what you have to say and try to employ the "Spirit in me" to discern what God says to me through you. Making sense?

Rod - Ok, obedience to what - the law? Well no, we are under grace so we don't have to be obedient, just confess our trangressions? Obviously not. Clearly the sweet spot lies somewhere in the middle. Here goes nothing: God knows our strengths as well as our weaknesses, and while some are capable of endorsing the Kingdom completely and accurately some who know him would be better off keeping their counsel to themselves. When we accept Jesus we are granted the Holy Spirit as personal consultant who lets us know our INDIVIDUAL cross to bear in order that "he (the Son) know us." This varies widely from Billy Graham to the marginal person who can barely hold down a job and keep a God-fearing family together. Obedience isn't just avoiding sin within our limits, it is also promoting the Faith within those limits. Thus, one size fits all doctrinal edicts only confound the whisperings of our own Holy Spirit.

Rod wrote: "Why Christianity? Well, show me something better and I'll take it... I'll wait."

Why Christianity? Because it is true. ALL other religions are false. Like it or not, history shows that Jesus was a real person, who claimed to be God. Lots of people throughout history have claimed to be a god. Most are labeled lunatics and forgotten... However, Jesus proved He was God by dying a horrible death and then rising from the dead.

His death on the cross is a historical fact. Not only because the Bible records it, but because other historians of the time period recorded it has history as well.

Nabeel Qureshi in his book, No God But One: Allah or Jesus?: A Former Muslim Investigates the Evidence for Islam and Christianity says:

The basis of any historical case must be the primary sources, and in this case, the sources are unanimous, diverse, early, and plentiful: Jesus died by crucifixion. Starting almost immediately after Jesus’ death, over a dozen authors and traditions recorded the death of Jesus by crucifixion, including Christian, Jewish, and Roman sources, and their testimony was unanimous. For more than one hundred years, no record even suggests that Jesus survived death on the cross or otherwise circumvented his execution. This coheres well with what we know of crucifixion practices, in that there is no person in recorded history who ever survived a full Roman crucifixion. Positing that Jesus did not die on the cross would have served the agenda of the early Christians and those opposed to their message, but such a suggestion appears inconceivable. For those who study Jesus’ life in academia, the idea that Jesus did not die by crucifixion remains, to this day, outside the realm of possibility.

But of course... we can't stop the discussion at this death. If His claim of being God is true, He had to rise from the dead. Without the resurrection, we (Christians) are truly a sorry lot of misguided, vagabonds.

Paul says as much in 1 Corinthians 15... In fact, I like the way Eugene H. Peterson puts it in The Message by saying:

If there’s no resurrection, there’s no living Christ. And face it—if there’s no resurrection for Christ, everything we’ve told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you’ve staked your life on is smoke and mirrors... And if Christ weren’t raised, then all you’re doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It’s even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they’re already in their graves. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we’re a pretty sorry lot.

Most non-christian scholars cannot explain why so many people (over 500) claimed to have seen Jesus after his death. They also cannot explain why people who were not His followers before His death followed Him after His death. It is also hard to explain why so many leaders of the faith would go to their death to preach the Good News unless they actually believed they saw Jesus after He died.

Qureshi says in the same book mentioned earlier that;

Historically speaking, the three facts are indisputable: Jesus died by crucifixion, his disciples truly believed they had seen him risen, and even men who were not his disciples truly believed they had seen him risen. Nothing accounts for these facts without strain apart from the resurrection hypothesis, and even as objective observers, the spiritually charged context allows us to conclude that a miracle has happened. Along with the early church, history testifies that Jesus rose from the dead.

Great post Chad.

Rod wrote: "Great post Chad."

Thanks Rod...

After reading back my own post though... I must say... none of that is why most people come to know Christ. Even Nabeel Qureshi admits it wasn't the facts that eventually changed his heart to accepting Christ as his Lord and Savior.

Why Christianity? Because the Holy Spirit changes lives... plain and simple.

If Christ had come, lived, died, and rose again and then NOT sent the Holy Spirit, would Christianity have survived the test of time? If lives weren't changed through the power of the Holy Spirit, would Christianity have continued to spread?

Maybe... Maybe not...

That is the challenge I'm having with apologetics. You can't just intellectually explain Christianity to people. Or even emotionally sell it. It would be no better than Buddhism.

The Holy Spirit must began change in your very nature.

Chad wrote: "Why Christianity? Because the Holy Spirit changes lives... plain and simple..."

That may be one of the best posts I've seen in a long while. Succinct, clear, and accurate. Good job guys. Thanks.

Chad - the Holy Spirit does change lives, but he's not into instant gratification. Some newbie Christians (myself included) deserve and get a time frame where they suffer consequences for their over-the-top sinfulness before Conversion. This becomes a test for just how much Belief the tyro Christian is willing to exhibit. Thank goodness I persevered in the Faith, because now my tribulations aren't quite as daunting!

Interesting dilemma: Woman caught in adultery was not chastised and berated but simply told, go and sin no more, then released.
Yet, the Lord thy God is a jealous god visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third generation and showing kindness and mercy to the seventh generation of those who behave righteously. Can you see the subtlety here? What are the "consequences of sin"?

Chad - I see an OT vs. NT dichotomy, but no obvious other pattern. I can't speak for others, but I want all my "consequences" taken care of while dwelling in this world so I can thoroughly enjoy my room with a view in His Mansion without any overhanging travails.

Robert wrote: "I can't speak for others, but I want ..."

From all I've read and heard and seen, I don't think it works like that. Better to know what the contract says than to engage and hope to get to renegotiate the deal I wanted, or even thought I signed.

Eric - that would be fine if the contract is crystal clear, but Scripture seems a bit oblique on the point.