Our Hope Is Based on Truth, Not Fairytales

During our message on Paul’s prayers for the Ephesian church, I mention that there is ample evidence for why Christians would even consider believing in the Bible and Jesus’ resurrection. Christianity’s not like most other religions. It is very much an evidence-based worldview.

That means we don’t believe in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection blindly. We think it’s true and historically verifiable. As Paul wrote in his letter to the Corinthian church, if it’s not true and Jesus didn’t raise from the dead, we’re to be pitied more than anyone else!

So Christianity differs from many other worldviews. Islam’s Quran is highly figurative. There is no major push to align with modern archeology or written history. Much of Islamic history is based on myth. In Hinduism or Buddhism, they aren’t based on historical claims, either. They’re very spiritual and internally focused.

While Christianity is internally focused at some level, it’s only because we believe it’s true at the foundational level. In other words, it only has the power to affect our inner being because it’s true.

Knowing there were good reasons to trust the authenticity and veracity of the biblical texts, as well as Jesus’ literal resurrection, were helpful to me personally as I considered whether or not to believe in Jesus, myself. I didn’t want to follow someone I couldn’t trust!

Resources

So I thought a list of resources could be helpful for you if you want to walk down this road of searching for the truth. I hope that, if you haven’t already, you’ll find the Bible trustworthy and Jesus is who he claimed to be.

If you have more resources that you’ve read or considered, please put them in the comments below! It could help someone else on their journey to find the Truth.

• More Than A Carpenter by Josh McDowell

This very small book is super accessible for most readers. It’s a summarized version of his much larger, Evidence That Demands A Verdict (which I would recommend if you’re looking for an academic treatment of the issues).

I always have More Than a Carpenter handy if I’m going to talk with someone who wants to know why I believe what I believe. I’d encourage every Christian to read it.

• Who Moved the Stone by Frank Morison

This book helped me understand the historical and literary evidence for Jesus’ resurrection event. As a skeptic (much like McDowell and Strobel) Morison set out to disprove the resurrection event. Based on the evidences he found, he not only couldn’t disprove Jesus’ resurrection, he also started to believe!

• The Case for Faith and The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel

Both books impacted me as I wrestled with whether or not Jesus was who he said he was and if a worldview based on faith was even tenable. Strobel was an atheist and celebrated journalist who set out to disprove his wife’s “blind” faith in the Bible’s claims about Jesus. But once he started his journey to the truth, he couldn’t reject the evidence.

• There is a God by Antony Flew

Flew was an atheist, but late in life became a deist. Though he never espoused faith as a Christian, his philosophical argumentation for a creator helped me personally frame a reasonable belief in God.

• The Reason for God by Tim Keller

As a pastor, Keller dealt with all of the questions one could levy against the Bible and Christian faith. He deals very pastorally and methodically with many of the questions skeptics often have when wrestling with Christianity.

• Jesus Among Other Gods by Ravi Zacharias

Ravi’s books and teaching had a significant impact on my faith, especially in the early days of my struggle with whether or not I was going to follow Jesus. That’s partly what made the news that came out about him so devastating. Yet, despite his abuse of others, and despite his double-life, his books helped me, nonetheless. So I mention Jesus Among Other Gods because it helped me work through the absolute truth claims of Christianity compared to other religions and worldviews.