Josh McDowell points out in his book "The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict," that Jesus had three main credentials. They are: 1) The impact of His life through miracles and teachings, 2)Fullfilled prophecy in His life and 3) His resurrection.
First, let's talk about the prophecies of the Old Testament fullfilled in Jesus' life.
The Old Testament, the first 75% of the Bible, was written over a period of a thousand years. It gives the history of God's creation of mankind and his promise to the nation of Israel. Throughout the Old Testament, there are nearly 300 references to the the Messiah- or the Anointed One-who would lead Israel. Every one of these prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
In this short video clip, Lee Strobel, a journalist who was converted from atheism to Christianity and has written many books on the subject, including "The Case for Christ" shows us the probability of Christ fulfilling not all, but only 48 of these prophecies.
In case you didn't couldn't watch the video, the probability of Jesus fulfilling 8 major prophecies as determined by Professor Stoner in his book Science Speaks is 1 in 10^17. The probability of him fulfilling 48 of the approximately 300 prophecies is even higher. Astronomically so. It's more than improbable. It is basically a statistical impossibility.
Unless there is something bigger at play here. Unless He is more than just a man.
Of course, I am working off of my belief that the Bible is true and 100% infallible. Not everyone holds that belief. If you are skeptical, please stay tuned for the next few blogs. I hope to change your mind.
The final thing I would like to talk about in this installment is the Resurrection of Jesus.
The Resurrection sets Christianity apart from every other religion in the world. No other religion claims resurrection from the dead for its originator.
The resurrection is the major belief on which Christianity is hinged. If there is no resurrection, there is no Christianity.
I'm going to insert here a couple of links that will provide more extensive research on the subject and then summarize them.
The first is a series of videos on Josh McDowell's website. I've mentioned him earlier as well as his book The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict. Here he gives a more detailed account of the way Jesus died, how we know that he was really dead, how he was buried and evidence that his resurrection is a historical fact.
Secondly we have an interview conducted by Lee Strobel, who I have also mentioned earlier. He is the author of the book The Case for Christ as well as many others. In this interview, the timeline of the Resurrection accounts in the Bible is being discussed. Dr. Gary Habermas of Liberty University is making the case that Paul has the earliest written account of the resurrection and what that means for historians looking for evidence of the resurrection.
Stay tuned for the next installment. I'll be discussing the Bible as a whole and what sets it apart from every other holy book in the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment