What is an apologetics? In a simple layman level, it is a method by which
a Christian can affectively answers a non-Christian criticism against
Christianity, whether the Christian is a martial artist or not. It is a scientific as well as artistic method that a
Christian can utilize to not only defend and define the Christian Faith, but
also can affectively substantiate his or her claim and conviction for his or her
stand and witness for Christ.
I coined the following phrase in the early 1990's at our first academy in
Milpitas and it is still hangs at our academy wall even to this day:
Following are the Essential Doctrines of Christian Faith. They are in a
sense, Salvatory Doctrines:
Following are the (Preripheral) Non-Essential Donctrines of Christian Faith.
Following are some of the well known Cults, Occults, Non-Christian Religions,
Heretical and Abberational Groups of our time ...
There are many many great Christian resources such as Books, Pamphelets, Audios,
Videos and documents pertaining to Apologetics. However, I recommend
further reading by the following Christian Scholars & Theologians:
Dr. Walter Martin
Professor Criag Hawkins
Dr. John Ankerberg
Francis Beckwith
Robert Bowman Jr.
David K. Clark
Norman Geisler
Simon Greenleaf
Douglas Groothuis
Walter Kaiser
Gordon Lewis
Paul Little
Stuart McAllister
Josh McDowell
John
Warwick Montgomery
Hugh Ross
Kenneth Samples
Francis Schaeffer
James
Sire
R.C. Sproul
Don Stewart
Lee Strobel
Ravi Zacharias
CHAPTER THREE
Why Christianity?
It has often been
mentioned during the previous sections that the standard we ought to use to test
everything with, is the Bible. And
many times it has been expressed that
Christianity is the avenue through which the Creator of the universe has
designated for mankind to come to Him.
Why not by Zen, Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, Baha'ism, Hinduism,
Existentialism, Relativism, Secular Humanism, New Age movement and other
non-Christian philosophies?
Why not
through Scientology, Mormonism, Jehovah Witness, Christian Science, Unity,
Unitarianism, Mind Sciences, Children of God or the Family of Love, Unification
Church, and other non Christian religions? Why not by the methods of Witchcraft,
Astrology, black and so‑called white magic, psychic healing, basic occultic
meditations, metaphysics, chanting, Yoga, and other occultic practices and
philosophies?
Why only
through one narrow path? Why can't
there be many paths and many ways to God? Why can't we choose our own methods,
paths or ways to God? Do human beings have a freedom and prerogative to choose
any path they wish?
Surely,
every one of us at one time or another have come across these inquiries; have
even given them some serious consideration, or perhaps brushed them off our
mind, perhaps because of the nonavailability of solutions.
To give an
ample reply to all these questions is not an easy task; it would take many books
and documentations, which are beyond the scope of our study; however, Christians
should not take any of these challenges lightly, because they are all legitimate
and reasonable propositions. Our aim
is not to brush them off with a sweep of a pen and to give a casual answer;
instead we will try to uncover a common denominator in order to draw a
categorical solution.
POINT
NO. 1
Can we prove the existence of God?
In order to
argue from the theistic point of view, first we need to prove the existence of
God. There are two ways to approach
this. One is to prove the existence
of the Creator. Second is to
disprove His non-existence. If we
can logically disprove the non-existence of God, we have then succeeded to prove
His existence.
We can also evaluate
this subject by examining the origin or the source of our universe. There are
basically four logical, scientific and rational explanations for the existence
of our universe.
1) The universe is an illusion and therefore
does not exist.
Deductively speaking,
this type of proposition is an absurdity at best and insanity at worst.
It is irrational simply because of the predictability of the events in
the universe. We can predict through
scientific devices the sun eclipse, moon eclipse, comets, storms, etc. We can
hear, touch, smell, taste, feel and see objects via our five senses.
We comprehend, that if we stand in the middle of a highway where vehicles
are passing through, we will get killed. We understand that we can cut our skin
with a sharp knife by simply stirring the sharp blade over and on our skin.
Since we can predict, foreknow and experience and verify the existence of
certain events pragmatically and empirically, we can then be assured that those
events take place. We can safely
conclude, that we are not living in an illusory or transitory world, but rather
in a real and existing plain of reality.
2)
The universe exists, but it emerged out of nothingness.
From the basic
scientific laws, specifically the first law of thermodynamics, we logically can
affirm, "from nothing, nothing arrives."
Nothing can ever be formed, created or even thought of, if the source of
that nothing is nothingness itself.
Thus, we need to have something independent
(a cause) in the beginning in order to
produce other dependent or contingent things
(an effect).
3)
The universe exists, but it has always existed, therefore is eternal.
This
argument asserts that since the universe exists in a steady state mode and is
eternal and uncaused, the needlessness for a transcendent Creator is then
established. This case may sound rational at first, but observing the universe
from the second scientific law of thermodynamics, we recognize that universe is
losing energy. The result of our
tangible universe is maximum entropy, which means, since the universe is losing energy it
is therefore cooling down and thus, transient.
Transient is the condition of non-steady state.
If the universe is in a non-steady state and is cooling down, it must
have had a beginning, a climax or a peak.
Conclusion, universe did not exist eternally. Eternal universe requires
an eternal, steady state condition and not transient. As a result, based on the
second law of thermodynamics, we can assuredly conclude that the universe is not
eternal.
4)
Something (a non-personal force or energy), or someone (a personal being) has
brought this universe into its existence.
Following
the first three arguments, we safely narrow our options to this last one; that
some higher force, energy, power, or being has caused our existing universe into
existence. Consequently, the main
point that we have derived in order to answer point no. 1, is that something
greater than our finite universe exists.
And, that something is itself
uncaused. Based on the laws of
logic, every contingent thing or being needs a cause.
Since the universe is contingent, caused and finite, and everything that
is caused by definition is not eternal, therefore that uncaused something has to
be "eternal." Most of today's
non-theistic cosmological scientists, are accepting this fact. The important
point is to narrow down our options as to determine the identity of the nature
of that something. Since the word
God, by itself is too generalized and
vague and needs to be defined in a specific context, we can use it safely at
this juncture, as an identification for that uncaused
something.
POINT
NO. 2
God exist, but He does not get involve with His creation, and therefore
is devoid of miracles.
This is a
basic deistic position. It is
also a view, which naturalist and pantheists holds.
This belief tries to reduce God to an impersonal being. A person, who
holds to deism as an ultimate answer in life, would fall into most of the
non-Christian beliefs, according to Norman Geisler, one of the greatest
Christian scholars. Deism believe in
the existence of a Creator,
"...but that this creator does not interfere in the universe. Deists
reject any supernatural intervention by God into the natural world once he had
made it. God is to the world what a
master mechanic is to his machine."1
Now, the
very fact of the existence of the universe is a proof for miracles.
Since we have seen that universe came into existence by that
something which we labeled as God, then universe is a result of a
miracle. Miracle by definition is,
"a supernatural happening."2 There have been numerous individuals
trying to refute and disprove miracles such as, Sir Julian Huxley, Thomas
Hobbes, Benedict de Spinoza, John Dewey, Immanuel Kant, and the most famous of
all of them is the late Scottish philosopher and skeptic David Hume. We should
note here, that according to the late great scholar, Dr. Walter R. Martin, David
Hume never disproved miracles, but simply defined the term
miracle out of its context or
existence. And again, according to
Dr. Martin, "Defining something out of existence is no proof that something did
not exist." Many people, as well as
Mr. Hume, are against the laws of science, and since the laws and orders of the
nature cannot be broken, they affirm miracles are not possible.
As was
concluded earlier, since God exists, is eternal and caused the universe into
existence, miracles are possible.
Secondly, a German scientist by the name of Werner Heisenberg discovered an
interesting phenomena relating to the cause and effect in 1927, called the
"uncertainty or indeterminacy principle."
"UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE, or
INDETERMINACY PRINCIPLE, in quantum mechanics (q.v.), theory stating that it is
impossible to specify simultaneously the position and momentum of a particle,
such as an electron, with precision."3
In another
words, Heisenberg's principle proves, that the position of an electron can be
altered at anytime and is therefore uncertain.
And, since the position of an electron, which is the main essence of
everything in nature, is alterable, then the systematic structures of the
substance of the things in nature are alterable as well.
Consequently,
based on Heisenberg scientific discoveries of uncertainty, miracles are
possible; and, since the miracles are possible, then God
can get involve with His creation, and
the deistic and naturalistic belief can be concluded to be an absurdity.
POINT
NO. 3
What if there exist many gods, and not just one God?
This is a
position of Polytheism, which is a belief, that there exists more than one god.
Hinduism, New Age movements, Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, and others in
one way or another subscribe to polytheism
as the basis for their theology. It must be noted here that polytheists' gods
are not eternal but finite. There cannot exist simultaneously multiple eternal
Gods, because it disdains the definition for the eternal Deity.
We have
already established that God (singular
with a capital G) is eternal and that
He is uncaused. There can only
exists one uncaused being, because any
secondary being that is classified as "god" has to be caused by the first
uncaused
being. So, since God is
one, eternal and uncaused, there cannot exist any other
gods (plural with small
g), simultaneously. A person must
either subscribe to the existence of "one eternal infinite God," or many
"non-eternal finite gods." As we
have already demonstrated in point No. 1 that there needs to be one eternal
uncaused God to create our universe, the idea of existence of many gods can be
nullified and rejected at this juncture.
POINT
NO. 4
Even if God exists and performs miracles, humans should have their own
ways and paths of reaching to God.
After all, there are many ways and paths, which leads to God.
This is a view and
position of the Relativist and the
Universalist. Since we
have already authenticated the facts and responded to this query in the earlier
part of this book, "JEET KUNE DO BEYOND
PHYSICAL," I would like to only add the following rejoinder.
We provided
logical reasons, why relativism is absurd in the realm of spiritual philosophy,
and since demonstrated before, that relativism and universalism are endless
loops, lacking any absolute and objective truth, we can consequently conclude
the path to God can only be one. In no other philosophy, religion, or faith has
this truth been demonstrated so strongly as in the person of Jesus Christ (John
14:6, 3:36, Matthew 7:13,14). Again
to stress upon the fact that there is only one God and not millions of gods, we
can be assured that God's message would be consistent throughout the ages.
To cite a similar
illustration as of Dr. Walter Martin's, we can test the relativist's philosophy
in a practical application: Supposing you had gone to the hospital to have an
operation done on your mouth. The
surgeon put you out for surgery and finished the operation. After you regained
your consciousness, you had expected to have a fixed mouth, but instead, you
discovered that you had no biological tools to see with! You immediately called
your doctor and made an inquiry as to what happened to your eyes.
You asserted that your mouth is still disjoined but both of your eyes
have been gauged out of their sockets.
Your so-called respectable doctor very calmly replied to you that "well,
my truth is good for me and your truth is good for you, a pair of eyeballs to
you means mouth to me"!!
In the
world of philosophy, this type of relativistic epistemology denies the existence
of absolutes in life and constantly affirms that truth is relative to
its adhere. Imagine, what kind of
ramification this type of philosophy would have on your life, and how dangerous
life would be to you and to virtually every human being, who lives life with
this kind of reasoning approach and philosophy.
POINT
NO. 5
Since God is one, what then is His identity, and what is the path that
leads to Him?
As I
mentioned in the previous reply to point number 4, in no other religion, faith
or philosophy has this questioned been answered so definitively as in the
historical person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
If we examine all of the proclaimed holy books, enlightened beliefs and
philosophies of the world, we would fail to locate any one individual who has
claimed and empirically demonstrated the following, accept Jesus Christ of
Nazareth:
(a) To be the creator of the universe and everything that exists.
(b) To be the only way and path designated for humans to reach, know and
have relationship with the only true and eternal God.
(c) Bodily and physically raising Himself from the grave thus proved to
be the eternal God incarnate.
If a person ever dared
to assert such claims, one should at least be willing to examine those claims
with an open mind, without any presupposition or prejudices.
Any man can
reject a historical figure such as Napoleon Bonaparte, William Shakespeare or
even their own ancestors, but their rejection will neither alter the true
identity of those personages, nor disprove their existence.
One must try to search through the evidences and resources that are
available, for the purpose of disproving or authenticating such facts. As C.S.
Lewis, Josh McDowell, Dr. John Warwick Montgomery and other scholars and
apologists have safely concluded, there are only four possible options regarding
the identity of Jesus of Nazareth.
They are:
I. Jesus is not a
historical figure, has never existed and is only a mythical character.
II. Jesus existed, but was a
fraud, a deceiver, and involved in deception.
III. Jesus was merely a good
prophet, and only a messenger from God.
IV. Jesus was more than a prophet, and was who He claimed He was, God
Almighty incarnate, and the only savior of mankind.
Let's
analyze each option separately.
option
I.
Apart from
the Biblical New Testament Scriptures, there exist numerous other manuscripts
and documents (external & internal evidences), where the name of Jesus of
Nazareth is mentioned, sometimes in great detail. Some of these are:
Irenaeus, quotes from the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, etc. in his
letters.4
Ignatius of Antioch, born in A.D. 70 wrote seven letters to the churches
of Rome, and in his epistles he stressed a great deal on quotations from the
books of John and Matthew, and some other epistles, such as I Corinthians, I &
II Thessalonians, etc.5
Clement of Alexandria, born in A.D. 150 has about 2400 quotations from
the New Testament.6
Polycarp, born in A.D. 70 was a bishop of Smyrna. He was a disciple of
the apostle John, and mentioned Jesus in almost all the letters he composed.
There are
many other early church fathers, such as: Eusebius, Justin Martyr, Iraneus,
Tertullion and others who have mentioned Jesus in their epistles as defense
during the first and early second centuries.
There also exist many
non-Christian sources, which contain numerous references concerning Jesus' life,
death and resurrection, such as:
Cornelius
Tacitus, born in A.D. 53, a Roman historian who wrote,
"...Christus, the founder of the name, was put to death by Pontius
Pilate, Procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius; but the pernicious
superstition, repressed for a time broke out again, not only through Judea,
where the mischief originated, but through the city of Rome also." 7
Lucian of
Samosata, born in the second century wrote of Jesus as,
"...the man who was crucified in Palestine because he introduced this new
cult into the world..." 8
Flavius
Josephus, born in A.D. 37, a great Jewish historian wrote,
"Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man.... He was the Christ,
and when Pilate, condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first
did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the
divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things
concerning him. And the tribe of
Christians so named from him are not extinct at this day." 9
As a result
of the great amount of testimonies and data, we can confidently infer, that
Jesus is not a mythical figure, but a person of history.
option
II.
If Jesus
was a fraud and in pursuit of deception, He would have failed to substantiate
His words and claims with His physical miracles.
For example, where Jesus said to Martha, "Your brother shall rise again"
(John 11:23), meaning Lazarus, He literally fulfilled this prophecy by raising
Lazarus from the grave. Jesus articulated, "I am the resurrection and the life;
he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies" (John 11:25) and, "For just as
the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life
to whom He wishes." (John 5:21)
Was Jesus
playing a game of semantic with the Jews, or intending to fool any of His
followers? No, because the Jews at that time would have held him accountable for
His authoritative claims; thus, He would have lost His credibility right at the
beginning of His ministry. Jesus demonstrated and proved His claims by deeds and
actions. A deceiver, scandalor, and
a fraud will never be consistent, whether in words or actions, and would never
be able to communicate,
"Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, otherwise
believe on account of the works themselves...the works that I do in My Father's
name, these bear witness of Me." (John 14:11, 9:25b)
If Jesus
was an abnormal man, we would have been able to detect some type of
irrationality in his teachings, His ministry, His love, His message, His mission
and His fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies (more than 300 prophecies
were foretold in the Old Testament concerning Jesus' virgin birth, His teachings
and miracles, His execution on the cross and His rising from the grave after 3
days). The word
lunatic is a synonym term for
mad or
demented.
It would require a demented mind to conclude that Jesus was insane or a
deceiver. The word
deceiver means, a cheat, imposter or a
person who practices any kind of fraud. Again, if Jesus was an imposter, He
would have had to cheat and convince the people in believing that He was the
Messiah, and at the same time, escape the Messianic responsibilities, including
death as a sacrifice on the cross, which no imposter or deceiver would be
willing to do for anyone. Jesus even washed his disciples' feet (John 13:3-20),
and did not authorize His disciples to fight or kill for Him even at the time of
His arrest (John 18:10,11,36). Just realizing, that Jesus sacrificed Himself
(who was without sin) on the cross is enough to rule out the possibility of Him
being a psychopath or a perilous fabricator.
As the Jews had charged Him at that time, stating that He had a demon in
Himself, and that is how He could cast demons out of men, Jesus responded,
"Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a house divided
against itself fall ... But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then
kingdom of God has come upon you." (Luke 11:17,20)
So, if
anyone claims that Jesus' purpose was to mislead and defraud people, his
argument will collapse, based on the presented logic in the above passages. If
the above passages (Luke 11:17,20) were false, Jesus' ministry would not have
lasted any longer than when he encountered and rebuked the devil for the first
time in Luke chapter 4. Therefore, we can most assuredly rule out option-b
concerning Jesus' identity.
option
III.
No prophet
in the past has ever claimed to be anything more than a prophet, and no man has
ever claimed to be "the only way and the
truth," except Jesus (John 14:6). Jesus' claims are astonishing upon the
fact that they were not merely coming out of a good moral teacher or prophet,
but from someone who was speaking with such an authority as God Himself.
In the Old
Testament, every time a prophet spoke the words of God, He would always start
off by saying, "Thus says the LORD."
We not only see Jesus refraining from statements, "Thus says the LORD," but
instead many times He would say, "But I say to you."
(Look at Matthew chapter 5 verses, 21 through 48)
In addition, no prophet in the past ever dared to use the titles of
Jehovah, God Almighty for himself, except Jesus. Some of His titles and claims
are:
Creator (Isaiah 40:28; John 1:3),
Savior (Isaiah 43:11; John 4:42),
Judge (Psalms 98:9; John 5:27),
I AM (Exodus 3:14; John 8:58),
First and Last (Isaiah 41:4 & 44:6; Revelations 1:17 & 2:8),
Forgiver of sins (Jeremiah 31:34; Mark 2:7,10),
Worshiped by Angels (Psalm 148:2; Hebrew 1:6),
Worshiped by men (Deuteronomy 6:13,14; John 9:35-39, Matthew 14:33)
Jesus claimed to be God and
the Jews at that time had full apprehension of His claims and many times reached
for the stones to kill Him (John 10:30-33).
The principle reason why the Jews condemned Jesus to be killed was not
because Jesus merely claimed to be a prophet, but God Himself (John 8:58,59).
John 19:7
reads,
"The Jews answered Him, we have a law and by that law He ought to die
because He made Himself out to be the Son of God."
They knew
when Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, He in fact was placing Himself to be
one and equal with God (John 10:30).
Moreover,
there has never been any prophet who lived a sinless life except Jesus (2
Corinthians 5:21). Why? Because, a prophet is only a human, and all men
according to the Scriptures are declared sinners (Roman 3:23) only God who is
without sin appeared in the person of Jesus of Nazareth (John 1:1,14, 1 Peter
1:19, 1 Peter 2:22).
Jesus
Christ never claimed to be only a prophet, and He never gave anybody that option
either. Based on the above arguments, we conclude that Jesus was more than a
good moral teacher or prophet.
option
IV.
The single
greatest evidence that points to and proves Jesus Christ's Deity, is His
physical bodily resurrection from the dead.
No skeptic or unbeliever on the face of the earth has ever been able to
explain away the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And there are enormous amounts of evidence testifying to this powerful
and important historical event. The
proof of Jesus' resurrection lies within the eyewitnesses' testimonies.
Matthew 28:9,10, Luke 24:34, John 21:1-23 are just a few passages which
deal with eyewitnesses who met Jesus after He rose from the dead.
As the apostle Peter recounts his experience, he composed under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit the statement,
"For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you
the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His
majesty." (2 Peter 1:16)
And, as the
apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, he informed them that Christ,
"... appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time,
most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to
James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as it were to one untimely
born, He appeared to me also."
(1 Corinthians 15: 5-8)
What should
our attitude as Christians be, and what are we to deduce, when we see such
distinct passages as Luke 24:37-39,
"But they were startled and frightened and thought they were seeing a
spirit and He said to them, why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in
your hearts? See My hands and My
feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see for a spirit does not have flesh and
bones as you see that I have."
Are we to
believe that this was some kind of joke or a hocus-pocus game that Jesus was
playing with His disciples? Or are we to embrace insane speculations such as the
"swoon theory," which states that
though Jesus was nailed to the cross, he never died and therefore was recovered
from His injuries in the comfortable environment of His tomb; He regained His
health in just a matter of hours and was able to show Himself alive and well
after three days! Or, what about the
"hallucination theory," which professes that people who saw Jesus after his
death were not really seeing Him but were merely hallucinating!
It suffices to point out, that it would be very difficult for 500 people
to be hallucinating all at once, while they all experiencing the same event.
Incidentally,
every theory that was ever produced against the resurrection event, has been
refuted by such men as W.J. Sparrow-Simpson, Professor J.N.D. Anderson,
Professor F. Godef, John Chrysostom of Antioch, C.S. Lewis
and others.span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
It would be beyond the scope of this book to go through all of those
theories and their refutations. The
disciples who were cowards to the point of denying Jesus before His crucifixion,
turned into bold lions without the fear of facing death. Why?
BBecause, of their encounter with their risen Master, and thus, the
promise of the ONLY God in human flesh was forever sealed in their hearts which
was,
"...Because I live you shall live also."
(John 14:19)
The resurrection of
Christ stands firm by the fact of the eyewitness accounts, attesting to Jesus
Christ's Divinity (Romans 1:4); it tears down every imagination and fantasy of
the mortal human mind and cuts like a sword through the hearts of unbelief,
which no man can disprove its reality.span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
AAs G.B. Hardy so emphatically pronounced,
"Confucius' tomb -- occupied, Buddha's tomb -- occupied, Muhammad's tomb
-- occupied, Jesus' tomb -- EMPTY" 10
And, as the
apostle Paul wrote again so truthfully,
"...and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your
faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. If we have hoped in Christ in
this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied."
(1 Corinthians 15:14a, 17b, and 19)
Non-Christian
historians and others have attested to the historicity of Christ's resurrection,
such as the ones that were mentioned in the option-I analysis.
Since,
Jesus did rise from the dead, all the theories, arguments, religions,
philosophies, beliefs and doctrines that deny Jesus Christ as the God-Man are
illogical, irrational and nonsense.
It is up to the skeptic and the unbeliever to put his or her prejudices and
prides away, and to investigate the available information and data.
Christianity, which is not a religion but a relationship, is not based on
fairy tales, or good moral stories.
Christianity is based on facts and evidence, and is the
only faith in the world that is
willing to offer so much evidence as proofs for the claims it makes.
Unfortunately, it is not that human beings
cannot believe or understand the truth about Christ, but that they
choose not to believe.
Jesus
Christ not only demonstrated to be "The God" that every man is seeking to find;
He also demonstrated to be the "Only Path" to that God.
Jesus uttered,
"He who has seen Me has seen the Father.
I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father,
but through Me." (John 14:9b,6)
CONCLUSION
In
conclusion, as mentioned before, Christianity is not a religion, but a
relationship between man and his Creator and Savior.
A religion, whatever it may be attempts to reach God through a set of
do's and
don'ts and through a set of
pre-determined works and regiments. Christianity is not a set of dos and don’ts;
rather it is a relationship that is based on love and faith; faith, which is
founded on facts. Christians obey and love their Lord not because they are
compelled to, but because they have been shown love and mercy from God in the
first place. Invariably, they return the love back to Jesus Christ through an
intimate, powerful and everlasting relationship. One must understand that the
death of Jesus Christ on the cross was purely out of the love of God for the
sinful men. Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross resembles a father that
sacrifices his life for his son or daughter in order for them to continue
living. And those individuals who position their trusts in Jesus Christ to be
regenerated from within (internal)
gain eternal life in order to continue to live forever. A true and genuine love
relationship between a man and a woman who are about to be married is not based
on pressure from either side. Their love is internal, which generates from their
hearts and souls. They must accept each other for who they are and not what they
subjectively project each other to be. In the same sense, a true relationship
between man and God (the true God of the Bible) is not based on God's compulsion
or man's coercion, nor is it based on man's works
(external), for the purpose of
obtaining that relationship. Rather, it is based on accepting the objective
truth, the true triune God for who He is and not what man subjectively wishes
Him to be. And those who can accept God for who He is and what He has done, will
receive (grace) an eternal life.
The
difference between all of the philosophies, faiths and religions of the world
and Christianity is that they all hold to the concept, that man can reach his
own subjective brand of god by what man is able to perform
(man's works). In reverse, Christianity is that avenue and relationship,
through which, the only true God has designated for mankind to reach God; once
again, not by the works of man, but by what God has already done
(God's grace). Because man's finite
attempt is not sufficient to reach to the infinite God, God’s infinite
attributes, on the other hand, allows Him to reach down to the finite man. Thus,
Christian philosophy sets itself apart, as a reversal of all other philosophies.
Through the
relationship (Christianity), man can truly express himself, but as was mentioned
before, within the objective realm, the boundary or the circle of that
relationship. Christianity for man is freedom and liberation from the bandages
and grips of sins; it emancipates man from his attempts, his works and
methodologies, which can never succeed in closing an immense gap that exists
between man and his Creator. And surely, those who come to the only true God,
Jesus Christ the God-Man, must come to Him and establish that relationship based
on whom He is and what He has done.
"Do
you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the
prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Therefore I run in such a way, as not
without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I buffet my body
and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself
should be disqualified."
1
Corinthians 9:24,26 - 27
Back To Content
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Coming Up...
