my paper......

This is a paper I had to write for one of my classes this week on the evidence for Christ and His resurrection.

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   The Christian religion is not a “blind un-reasoning faith,” it is supported by unbiased evidence, as well as history, science and archeology. According to the handout on the “Historical Christ,” the self-professed heathen, Johann Goethe said, “If ever the Divine appeared on earth, it was the person of Christ... The human mind, no matter how far it may advance in every other department, will never transcend the height and moral culture of Christianity as it shines and glows in the Gospels.” This man attested to this, even though he does not believe in God. There are many more quotes from other antagonistic, agnostic unbelievers. The Bible
contains much scientific significance, such as, the earth is round. In fact, Nothing in the Bible has
been proven to be incorrect, even in regard to archeological findings in the past 500 years.

    Now there are many incorrect theories about Jesus. Some say He was a legend, some say He was real but purely a human person, another says He was a real person of supernatural origin or possession. As to the first theory, He cannot be a legend because the Jewish officials testified to His power and authority, as well as His being a real person who did perform miraculous signs. The Jews hated Jesus and would not have testified about Him if He had only been a legend. If the second theory, being purely human, Jesus could not have done the miracles that he did without  supernatural power from God or Satan. However, we know that He did not possess power from Satan because He cast demons out in God’s name. Jesus mentions this in Mark
3:23b-24 saying, “How can Satan cast out Satan. And if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.”
  
    The last option is that He was, in fact, who He said He was. He was sent from God, His Father, to do His perfect will. This is the only “theory” with valid evidence. There are also many theories about His resurrection. Such as, the swoon theory, the hallucination theory, the wrong tomb theory and the theft theory. The swoon theory is very unlikely and impractical. The Roman soldiers would not have removed Him from the cross if
they were not completely satisfied that He were dead. The separation of Jesus’ blood from the water when they pierced His side on the cross, signified to them that He was dead (John 19:34-35). In fact, the soldiers were so satisfied of Jesus’ death, that they did not break His legs (which quickened death), and by not doing so, fulfilled a prophesy. Even if He had not died on the cross, I believe that most doctors and nurses would agree that a man with that much beating and pain inflicted upon him would not survive without any provisions or medical care within those three days. He would have bled to death. And how could a man who was so weak that He was pronounced dead, not only survive, but also roll away the large stone in front of the tomb that required many strong men to move and was guarded by Roman soldiers who would not sleep less
they themselves be put to death, which none were as they had been faithful in their duties. And yet, He was out of the tomb and appeared to more than 500 people.

    The Hallucination theory disproves itself. This theory states that Jesus died, but did not resurrect; the disciples and all the many people He “appeared to” were simply hallucinating. Well, it is proven that multiple people (around 500) do not ever hallucinate the same thing. 500 people is more than enough to convince a court of law. Besides, all the officials had to do to disprove the resurrection was to produce Jesus’s body. However, this theory has no evidence, because the body was gone.

    The last of these theories is one of theft. Since the tomb was empty, Jesus’ disciples must’ve stole it. You must ask yourself: What motive would they have in stealing His body so that it appeared He had risen? Perhaps they didn’t want others to think that they were wrong in believing He was the Messiah, so in order to protect their image, they stole Jesus’ body. But how would they be able to get past the Roman guards and roll away the stone? And why would they be so impassioned and willing to die for their beliefs? Because Jesus did die and did rise from the dead and then appeared to them giving them the great commission of Matthew 28:19!  They were martyred for their belief in Him - you don’t just give your life for something you don’t believe in.

    As well as all of these facts portraying to the truth that Jesus Christ was a real person with supernatural power to perform miracles, given by His Father, God, and that He did die on the cross and raise from the dead three days later, there are also Bible prophesies. Jesus fulfilled all of the many various prophesies written about Him. The chances of Him even fulfilling eight the 48 prophesies is mathematically impossible. It would be like covering the whole state of Texas with silver dollars two feet deep having marked just one of them, stirring them all together and then picking up the one silver dollar with the mark on it while being blindfolded. Sounds pretty impossible to me!

    The evidence for Jesus Christ is so overwhelming the only way you could not believe is if you chose not to educate yourself to the facts. Jesus did not have a selfish agenda while He was on earth, but came because of His Heavenly Father’s will - that all men may be saved through the atonement of Jesus blood for them. Jesus forgave these men who persecuted them and even loved them, despite their hatred for Him. Jesus Christ was the greatest man to ever walk the earth. He rose from the dead, like He said and how the prophesies predicted and became our High Priest - our intercessor. John 14:6, “No one comes to the Father, except through me.”