Sermon Central
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Why We Believe
Contributed by Rick Pendleton on Jan 23, 2013 (message contributor)
Summary: Most Christians believe because their parents did and they have since birth. But what reason can we give to those who are not already convinced?
Why We Believe
What evidence can you present for your faith that Jesus Christ is son of God, lived on earth, died on cross, resurrected, saved us from sin, etc?
1. Eyewitnesses
2. Preaching to eyewitnesses would be silly, if they knew better.
2:41
3. Disciples willingness to die a terrible death for the truth
Not willingly die for lie
4. Not enough time for legend to replace historical truth
eyewitnesses still alive
5. Accuracy of Isiaah. 53 where born
escape to Egypt
return to Nazareth
betrayed for specific amount
how killed
bones unbroken
cast lots for clothes
6. Personal Appearances
12+ times to 515+ people
1 Cor. 15:6
7. Archeology
8. Historical evidence outside the Bible
9. Personal Experience
The following notes are helpful
It comes from the internet and is not, I believe, protected
-- CONCERNING WRITING AND ACCURACY
The Dead Sea Scrolls which have proven that the Old Testament writings are indeed ancient and have maintained nearly perfect accuracy in transmission.
The tablets at Ebla are another discovery which have proven that writing existed far prior to Moses' era, contrary to earlier criticisms.
-- CONCERNING LOST KINGS AND CIVILIZATIONS
The Hitite civilization was once considered fictitious because it was only mentioned in the Bible. That is until 1906 when the German archaeologist Winckler discovered the Hitite's capital city along with their entire history recorded on cuneiform. Not only had the Bible been validated concerning the Hitites, but the cuneiform tablets gave an early history conforming to that described by the Bible. 5 Hititology eventually became a major in several universities.
The book of Daniel was once thought to be wrong in mentioning two concurrent kings of Babylon, neither of whom had been found anywhere else in history. Then in 1854, J.G. Taylor unearthed writings of the king, Nabonidus, and his son, Belshazzar, the crown prince. 6 Upon this discovery, Daniel's labeling of Belshazzar as king was still thought to be in error. But this too was clarified by a 1979 discovery of a statue in northern Syria which, in two languages, described Belshazzar's position.
The Assyrian text described him as governor, which was his official title, while the Aramaic described him as king, the role which he had been given over them. 7 This fine distinction in titles had been lost since Daniel's writings over 2,500 years ago as had also been lost detailed descriptions of the Babylonian Court and empire. 8 If not truly authored by Daniel, or someone of his time, who else would have included the so-called obvious mistake of two concurrent kings? Who else would have known accurate details of the ancient city - both of which had long remained lost until the twentieth century? J.D. Wilson reiterates,
-- CONCERNING LIFE AND CUSTOMS
Tablets of writing from Mari on the Middle Euphrates (c.1700-1600 BC) and Nuzi on the Tigris in northeastern Iraq, discovered in 1925, give corroborating accounts as to the life and customs recorded in the Bible. Henry T. Frank elaborates,
We have already seen that Abraham's haggling with Ephron concerning the purchase of the Cave of Machpelah was in accordance with common ancient practice. Apparently Abraham wished to purchase only the cave itself in which to bury his wife Sarah. Yet governed by Hitite practice he had to buy not only the cave but the land and the arbors associated with it. This assumption of feudal obligation described in Genesis 23:1-20 is exactly in accord with the recovered Hitite documents from Boghazkoy in which such details are stressed. 10
Gleason Archer lists more events for which the Nuzi Tablets serve as proof and context of the activity of early biblical patriarchs:
The legitimacy of selling one's birthright (as Esau sold his to Jacob in Gen. 25:33) was established at Nuzi, for in one case the older brother was validly recompensed by a payment of three sheep... (c)
The binding character of a deathbed will, such as was elicited from Isaac by Jacob, is attested by a case where a man named Tarmiya established his right to a woman he had married by proving that his father on his deathbed orally bestowed her on him. 11
-- CONCERNING NEW TESTAMENT PERSONS AND PRACTICES
An Egyptian papyrus from AD 104 confirms the necessity of returning to one's homeland for this census: "Because of the approaching census it is necessary that all those residing for any cause away from their homes should at once prepare to return to their own governments in order that they may complete the family registration of the enrollment and that the tilled lands may retain those belonging to them." 14
Another critical claim was the non-existence of Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea. This claim was silenced in 1961 when an excavation of Caesarea, the Roman capital of Palestine, uncovered an inscription bearing both Pilate's name and title
