Over on his blog Stu has a very good post convincingly disproving the Christmas story. It's probably easy enough to do if you want to: there are plenty of contradictions and just weird things in the bible. And if I think about it too much - as I did shortly after becoming a Christian - I realise how ridiculous it all sounds and the impossibility of it all.
But this is where faith comes in.
I made a decision to believe. When the idea of a creator who knew all about me - including my every thought even before I'd thought them - as well as holding the whole of this universe, and every other, in his hands overcame me I focused on Jesus. A man, walking talking human being, who loved me enough to die for me. I decided I would chose to believe.
I like believing there is someone who loves me that much, who knows all my faults and still thinks I'm worth it. Is it a crutch? I don't know or care. I think there is pretty good historical evidence to support the fact that Jesus lived; and there are personal stories - the gospels - that tell us about his life. His ideas stand the test of time; his words bear repeating and living by. (I try to at least.)
It's called the Christian faith for a reason. The writer of the letter to the Hebrew church says it better than I can, 'Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.'
3 comments:
I think spirituality is a deeply rooted human need. Each of us, if we're lucky, finds what resonates most with us. I regard all spiritual stories as mythopoetic imagery reflecting that human need and our collective wisdom about the human condition too. None of these stories or myths are literally or factually true, of course, but that completely misses the whole point. The truth they contain is deeper than mere factual truth. They are the deepest truths that humans can express.
I like your post and I am a believer too. Lee Strobel wrote some wonderful books like The Case For Christ full of historical documents that back up the New Testament, in writings from Jewish and Greek and Roman historians and other non-Christian writers who lived in Bible times. So yes there is faith and belief involved and also fact.
I'm not a believer but you can't disprove against faith. If you have faith then nothing will disprove that.
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