Evidences--for what?

The question is out there, "What would count for you as evidence for Christianity?" and you have lots of time to respond--I'm going to take a blogging break for a few days starting later this week. One thing I've discovered already through this and other blogs is the need to define terms, especially, "What is Christianity?"

To talk about what is evidence for Christianity, we ought to start by agreeing on what we're investigating. What I stand for is an historic and evangelical view of the Christian faith, presented in the Bible, confirmed by Reformation thought. It is outlined in the Apostles' Creed (This is a modern English version; see creeds.net for other versions).

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. AMEN.

A few notes on this:

First, "catholic" is not the name of a denomination here, it is an adjective meaning "universal," or "worldwide."

Second, the creed begins with God as creator. The Genesis account provides unusual clarity into the human condition. Who are we? How do we fit in the universe? How is it that things are so good and yet so bad in this world? The Biblical answer is that God made the universe and us; and as it says several times, he saw what he had made was good. He also made us free, able to make moral choices with real consequences. The first man and woman enjoyed the perfection of the Garden and of fellowship with the loving God, until they made a fateful moral choice to disobey God. The consequence is the pain, suffering, and death we still experience. What went wrong? We did.

So what can be done about this? The center of the Creed is Jesus Christ, for he is the center of Christianity. He is the "incarnation" of God (God made human). In him, God shared the human condition, yet without sin. He taught; he demonstrated God's love, he healed the sick and raised the dead. Despite his reputation as simply a peacemaker, he confronted the pride and error of the establishment so strongly that they decided to get rid of him, to execute him. He died and rose again to provide forgiveness for our sins. All these are historical claim to which we will return later, with historical evidences.

God offers this forgiveness freely to all who will accept it. It's on his terms, of course: it calls for trust in him and a willingness to follow him. For my part, I've found that to be a very reasonable decision. Why not trust and seek a relationship with the Source of all life and love?

Continuing with the Creed, Christian believe in the Holy Spirit, who is the personal presence and power of God in the world today. We believe the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three in one. The Trinity is a mystery, yet it is also an explanation. How could love exist from before the foundation of the world? Did God "need" to create humans so that he could find out what it means to love? No, there was love in him without needing us. His love for us is given freely and not out of a need or deficit in God. Why is relationship so central to human life? Because in God, the three-in-one, it is fundamental to all of reality.

Christians believe that history is heading in a definite direction. Christ will return, finally, to make all things new, and those who have chosen to live in his love will be able to do so without hindrance of sin, loss, or pain. Those who have chosen not to live in his love will be allowed, still, to experience the consequence of that decision: they will spend eternity separated from God, from all that is good, a condition that is named hell.

Well, as I said, this is an outline for the purpose of setting the stage for future discussion. It's a short page of definitions; when we come back to talking about evidences, this is what we will be presenting evidence for. Questions are bound to come up in the meantime, about creation, the Trinity, hell, and so on. Be aware that Christians have been as concerned about these questions as any atheist has, if not more so, and there are answers; but this is a blog, not a book, so we'll have to take things a piece at a time. If you are interested in a book that covers these basics and answers many questions, I strongly recommend C. S. Lewis's very readable classic, Mere Christianity.

Posted: Wed - August 17, 2005 at 08:18 AM |

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson getCategoryName("<$CategoryUUID$>");

Evidences--for what?

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson