Fundamentalist atheists like Richard Dawkins say not only that there is no proof for Jesus – but that there can be no proof! Jesus disagrees….he didn’t expect his disciples to believe without proof….he gave ‘many convincing proofs’. What are they?
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You can hear the whole sermon here – Act with Acts 1 – The Proof
Question of the Week 10 – How Can I Search for Jesus?
Fair enough, but the various proofs you mention all depend on the accuracy of the biblical account. Surely that needs to be established first.
Indeed – proof depends on accuracy of sources. But then it becomes a circular argument. ‘I don’t believe the Bible, because the Bible is rubbish”. The apostles did not start with their own personal credentials….they started with the fact that Jesus was alive. It is his resurrection which gives them credibility. Not the other way round…
A compromise (in terms of depth but not too long a read) is possibly:-‘Your Verdict on the Empty Tomb’-by the late Val Grieve. Just a dozen chapter and 75 pages in my paperback version. A real gem!
There’s also the lived experience or-‘testing it out’-dimension. I think that’s often all too easily forgotten. An analysis of the evidence can give a person the confidence to test out the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the joy-frustration excitement, of committing and living with the consequences, is the real experiment: draw near to God and He draws near to you. Suppose I tell you to consider using a small daily glass of fermented milk, as a daily beer substitute, because of weight loss or suppression of appetite benefits. You could spend eternity on the internet weighing up the evidence for kefir or buttermilk benefits. A fortnight of taking a half pint/daily would give a much quicker answer…….
The 75 pages and 12 chapters of-‘Your Verdict on the Empty Tomb’-by the late Val Grieve are a super analysis of the resurrection evidences.
Dawkins also thinks there is no proof for God. He is a scientist who examines a universe evidently ordered and dependent on complex software yet he cannot see a mind behind the system. It see a Creator in creation does not seem to me lazy but logical and enlightened.
Regarding Jesus, I simply don;’t believe that he could be invented. I believe the records because they point to Jesus and not vice versa. The records are ultimately authenticated in who they reveal. Jesus said ‘believe me for what I say… or believe me for my works sake’ (Jn 14). Elsewhere he seems to think that he ought to be believed just for who he is. There is about him the aura of a man from a different realm.
Why do I believe there is a God – because I have met him in Jesus.