Is Christianity true (the Bible)?
This blog is part of my series titled “Is Christianity true?” The series addresses four common objections to the truthfulness of the Christian worldview, namely concerns about: (1) the trustworthiness of the Bible; (2) the historicity of Jesus’ resurrection; (3) the compatibility of faith in God with modern science; and (4) the incompatibility of Christian truth claims with those of other worldviews.
IS THE BIBLE TRUSTWORTHY? EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY
In law, the importance of eyewitness testimony is central to uncovering whether allegations are true. If the person providing evidence is one or more steps removed from the eyewitness being cited, the testimony is hearsay and is much less credible.
Most of us have played the “broken telephone” game where the message mutates rapidly as it gets passed along from one mouth to another. The final message is often quite different from the original. The reason relates to human fallibility. People often don’t listen carefully, or they paraphrase according to their own communication style. Sometimes they deliberately alter the message for their own reasons.
In any event, in the realm of evidence, eyewitness accounts by credible witnesses are the best way of determining the truth. Applying this concept to the Gospel accounts and the epistles, one could say they are the evidential gold standard. With the exception of Luke, all are eyewitness accounts by individuals who encountered the risen Jesus and, in many cases, spent years with Him during His earthly ministry.
To cite just one example, the apostle John makes the following statement: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:1–3 NIV) Notice all the references to firsthand physical contact with Jesus, including seeing, hearing, and touching Him.
MOST EYEWITNESSES REFUSED TO RECANT THEIR TESTIMONY, AND THEY DIED AS A RESULT
Over the course of history, many people have subscribed to philosophies and have died believing they were true; therefore, their sacrifice had merit. For example, based upon the Qur’an and other original sources, many Islamists believe that a martyr’s death earns them paradise. In the religious component of the Islamic ideology, the certainty of this reward is very significant. Unlike the God of the Bible, Allah of the Qur’an does not necessarily keep promises. He is described as the best of deceivers (see Qur’an 3:54). As a result, a Muslim cannot know with certainty that he or she is destined for paradise. The exception is death through martyrdom (see Qur’an 22:58–59).
Who would die for a cause they knew to be false?
By contrast, I have never heard of someone dying willingly for a cause they knew to be false. That brings us to the apostles. A major reason for the persecution they endured, even martyrdom, was their insistence that they had seen the risen Christ. If they had just conjured up the resurrection as a part of their religious narrative, surely they would have recanted when faced with death for their false belief. After all, who would die for a cause they knew to be a lie?
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
