I spent much of the last couple of days discussing the evidence for Christianity with an atheist on FaceBook. The point I made that he was most resistant to face, and actually never did, was the fact that Christianity began in the very city where Christ was crucified, where all the witnesses to His execution lived, where the proclaimers of His resurrection could be most easily refuted if their stories were false, and where there were both Roman and Jewish leaders who were more than willing to disprove those stories..
The example I used in our discussion was this, “Suppose we went back to Dallas in January of 1964 and proclaimed JFK had been risen from the dead? What would be the chance of building a following of 5000 within just a few short days as the disciples of Christ did?”
Just like our example, the Church of Jesus Christ was founded just a few weeks after His death by those claiming His resurrection. These were men who were so frightened of the authorities that most of them hid in the upper room while Jesus was killed, laid in the tomb, and rose from the dead. They were certainly changed men when they stood in the temple proclaiming Jesus’ resurrection just a few short weeks later.
All but one of these men died a horrible death. Peter was crucified upside down because he refused to die as his Master had. Thomas was run through with a spear as he preached the gospel in India and continued to preach until he died of his wound. Andrew was crucified on an “X” shaped cross and preached to his executioners and standers by until he died of his wounds. Bartholomew was skinned alive but, as with the others, told of Jesus during the ordeal. And, those are just a few examples. Yet, none of these men ever denied the story they told of a risen Christ. What do you suppose happened that took frightened men and changed them into bold proclaimers of a truth they were all willing to die for painfully?
Should someone ever tell you they doubt whether Christianity is true, ask them how the Church began, tell them about how hard it would be to start the church in the city of Jerusalem where Jesus was executed; about the men who were once frightened but then stood courageously proclaiming a truth they were all willing to die for.
There are a lot of reasons we know Christianity is true. These two are simple and easy to understand.
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