"There Is No Evidence of God"

4/15/2016

I was recently reading the comments under a news article on the Fox News website. Wow, what an experience. What frustration, anger, fear and disrespect for others flowed out of the discussion. And that was mostly from folks who claimed to be "Christians," or at least referenced Christian values. Then there were the atheists who claimed that there was no evidence that God was real... Christians believed in a myth. I decided to take the last statements at face value and look at things from that perspective. AND to be objective about it as well. Not an easy task, but here's how it went.

First, I considered the Biblical account, but noted that atheists don't believe in the Bible, so I would have to look for evidence of God somewhere else. I remembered some of the scientific research and teachings of the creation scientists that look at the universe from a Christian perspective and attempt to prove the existence of God and the creation with real science. Hmmm... some good stuff, but would that be enough by itself to persuade the atheists that God exists. (See Psalm 19 and do a search on "creation science."

Next, I considered (trying to be logical here) that even in the worldly legal system, eyewitness accounts of a crime or event is highly valued and can determine the results of a trial. Physical evidence along WITH witness testimony is VERY powerful. Sooo, take some of the physical evidence (creation science,) add in eyewitness accounts, and let's see what this looks like.

EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS
There is a wealth of info online about the creation science aspect, so I'm going to focus on the eyewitness part.
My Personal Experience
I looked (objectively) through my life experiences for "evidence" that God is real. From my first encounter with God 35 years ago on a snowy highway, where HE miraculously delivered me from an impossible situation when I prayed something like "God, if you're real, get me out of here." He then spoke to me directly, and told me three things. First, He told me that He knew my name, next that He loved my without any conditions, and third that I would have to give up everything if I wanted to follow Him. After examining "the evidence" for a couple of weeks, I decided to follow Him, regardless of the cost. He taught me that the blood of Jesus cleansed my sin and that believing on Jesus established my eternal relationship in God's family... that I was considered a son of God. Wow... this wasn't just some philosophy or doctrine... it was real!

From that point in time, there were many miracles and much revelation, as the Bible came alive and as I witnessed God's works and power. I personally witnessed many physical and emotional healings, demons being cast out, people being set free from addictions and terrible life situations. These were real! I saw them with my own eyes! And have seen these changes being confirmed through the years in folks that I know personally. God was (is) alive and active in the affairs of men in THIS world, presenting Jesus to the world by HIS Holy Spirit!

The Experiences of Others
If my experiences were the only ones around, I'd need to consider (if I remained objective) that perhaps I was having some kind of mental breakdown or psychotic episode. Maybe too much pizza or some mind altering drug. But similar eyewitness accounts exist from millions of others around the world. People are being added to God's family, healed, delivered from addictions and demonic activity, experiencing the love of a perfect Father, learning to love one another and walk together as God's family. There are many accounts of people all over the world seeing visions of Jesus inviting them into His kingdom. The Holy Spirit is pursuing the hearts of people and speaking to them just as he spoke to me on that snowy highway years ago. In the court of law, the testimony of witnesses along with physical evidence determines the outcome of the trial. Therefore, take these "stories" to heart. God may be speaking to you through the testimony of His people.

How Do We Judge These Things
Romans 14 says that the kingdom of God is Righteousness, Peace, and Joy in the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 5:22ff states that the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control... the works of the flesh are immorality, impurity, indecency, idolatry, sorcery,enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, divisions, envy, murder, drunkenness, etc.
John 10:10 the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. I (Jesus) came that they may have life, and might have it abundantly.

I know that personal testimonies are very important in God's kingdom, but we should look at them carefully. Do they lead us to life and Godliness, or do they promote death, domination and despair?
Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to witness this day against you that I have set before you life and death, the blessings and the curses: therefore, choose life, that you and your descendants may live and love the Lord your God.
Blessings, please choose life!
Grover

3 Comments

Jim Savage

3/16/2021 07:10:53 pm

We know there are two types of evidence, direct or eye-witness, and circumstantial evidence. Circumstantial evidence is largely based on inference and uses inductive reasoning that indirectly proves a fact or supports a theory. Each of these types of evidence should be considered equal to determine guilt or innocence in a criminal case and to determine if, in this case, the fact that the historical Jesus was who He claimed to be, truly man and truly God - the Son of God - by means of circumstantial evidence.

We are told in Scripture that only one of Jesus' disciples witnessed His crucifixion, John. The other ten disciples (the 12th disciple to be chosen to replace Judas, Matthias, had yet to be appointed) were cowering behind locked doors believing that they too might experience death of a cross because of their close association with Jesus. So, let us examine the circumstantial evidence as to the validity of Jesus being the Son of God as He claimed on many occasions.

1. The Change in Jesus' Disciples Following His Resurrection. As stated, with the exception of John, "...they all forsook Him and fled." (Mark 14: 50) They were behind locked doors, not only afraid for a knock on the door (John 20: 19), but also disappointed and disillusioned because they did not think that God would have the Messiah put to death, although Jesus had told them of this fact. (Luke 13: 33; Matthew 16: 21, 17: 22: and, Mark 8: 31) They knew from Old Testament Scripture there was a divine curse on anyone who hung from a tree. (Deuteronomy 21: 22-23) They had not comprehended what Jesus had told them, that the Son of Man must be put to death and then rise. (Luke 9: 22; and, Matthew 26: 24- 26) At that point in time for Jesus' disciples. His ministry had come to an end.

And then, only a short time later, the cowering disciples came out from behind the locked doors and abandoning their occupations, regathering and committed to sharing a very specific message - that Jesus is the promised Messiah of God who died on a cross, returned to life and was seen by them. Jesus' disciples dedicated the rest of their lives to proclaiming this message to a pagan world without any earthly reward.

The life ahead for Jesus' disciples was one of extreme hardship. They often went with just the clothes on their backs without food, slept exposed to the elements, were ridiculed, often beaten and imprisoned. They were willing to give their lives for proclaiming the Good News, that the Father through His grace had provided a way back into fellowship with Him through His only begotten Son. And all but one, John, died at the hands of men, martyred execution style. These men would not be willing to lay down their lives for a false belief.

The change in Jesus' disciples was a result of the reality and conviction of seeing the risen Jesus following His crucifixion! They were eye-witnesses to the scars on His side, arms and feet! What cannot be explained is how this group of men came up with this particular belief without having the experience of seeing, talking with, eating with, traveling with, and touching the resurrected Jesus themselves. Jesus' message from this small group that once were fearful for their lives would soon charge the culture of pagan Rome to Christianity!

2. The Conversion of Skeptics. Before the crucifixion of Jesus, there were many hardened skeptics dead-set against Jesus and His message. But many of these skeptics became avid believers and followers of Jesus soon after His death. There is no reason for this other than they experienced seeing the resurrected Christ in the flesh.

One of the many skeptics was James, the brother of Jesus, and John tells us that His brothers were non-believers during His earthly ministry. The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians attests to Jesus' and James' brotherhood. The Jewish, non-Christian historian Jocephus, attests to this fact on several occasions, that Jesus' family were embarrassed at what Jesus claimed to be. Jesus knew the thoughts of men (Matthew 9: 4, 12: 25; and, Luke 11: 17), which including the thoughts of his unbelieving and ridiculing brothers.

But soon after His crucifixion, Jocephus whites that James is the leader of the church in Jerusalem. Historians tell us that James was later stoned to death for his belief in his Brother's message. James's martyrdom is attested to by historians Jocephus, Hegecippus and Clement of Alexander. What was the reason for James' transformation?The Apostle Paul tells us that Jesus appeared to His brother, James, after His resurrection. (1 Corinthians 15: 7)

It is not a simple fact that the skeptic Saul had a conversion of the Damascus Road and became the Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul. He saw the risen Christ in an event that was witnessed by others. Paul did not understand what this transformation was all about at first, but went on to back up his claim as an apostle and spread the message that Jesus was, in fact, the Messiah, sent by the Father. Paul i

Jim Savage

3/17/2021 10:21:10 am

Completing the message on the Apostle Paul. He is one of the well known authors ever. He penned 13 New Testament Books, eight of those while l in prison. Paul's hated the followers of Christ changed dramatically when he wrote in Philippians 1: 21, "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

3. The Changes To Key Social Structures. When Jesus began His ministry, the Jews had been persecuted for 700 years by the Babylonians, Assyrians, Persians and then by the Greeks and Romans. They were scattered around in the Middle East in captivity to these nations.

Today, we see the Jewish people still standing as a nation, and we do not see the Hittites, Ammorites, Persians and Babylonians. These nations intermarried with their captors, and lost their national identities. The Jewish people retained their national identities because their social structures were very important to them. These social structures were passed down to them from generation to generation for centuries, and they would celebrate them in the synagogue every Sabbath, Saturday. If they didn't, they would assimilated into the nations that held them captive. And they believed their social structures had been passed down to them by God.

And then a few weeks after the death of Jesus, we see several thousand Jews saying that Jesus is the originator of a new religion, Christianity. They were willing to give centuries old social structures to follow Him.

The several thousand Jews that converted to Christianity gave up much to follow Jesus. They had been taught that they needed to offer animal sacrifices annually to atone for their sins and be forgiven. But soon after the crucifixion of Jesus, these Jewish believers are no longer offering animal sacrifices.

The Jewish people were taught to obey the laws that had been passed down by Moses. Once more, after a short period of time after the crucifixion, the Jewish converts are starting to proclaim that you do not become an outstanding member of the community by merely obeying the laws passed down by Moses.

The Jews held fast to keeping Saturday, their Sabbath holy, and free from anything but religious devotion. This devotion earned them right standing with God, guaranteed salvation for their family and kept them in right standing with the nation. After the death of Jesus, this 1,500 year tradition is abruptly changed by the Jewish converts to Christianity. These Jewish Christians began worshiping on Sunday. Why? Jesus rose from the grave on that first Easter Sunday morning!

The Jews were monotheists - they believed in only one God. Christianity teaches a form of monotheism, but they say that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one God. This is a radical difference in what the Jews believed. This would amount to heresy to say that one could be both God and man.Yet, the Jewish converts began worshiping Jesus as God within one decade of the birth of Christianity.

The changes of the Jewish social structures of the Jewish converts to Christianity were not casually made. As stated, they had been part of their culture for some 1,500 years. These social structure changes were monumental.

Jim Savage

3/17/2021 12:35:18 pm

4. Communion and Baptism. Jesus taught His disciples that when they observed Communion after He broke the bread: "'Take, eat, this is My body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of Me.' After the same manner, He took the cup, when He had supped, saying, 'This cup is the new testament in My blood: as oft as ye drink of it: in remembrance of Me.'" (1 Corinthians 11: 24-25) This is a solemn sacrament celebrating the death of Jesus not to be taken lightly, "unworthily." We are told to "examine" ourselves carefully before Communion. To partake "casually" and "unworthily" and who, "eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body."

The early first century believers began gathering and celebrating the death of Jesus in Communion. They realized that Jesus' execution of the cross was a necessary step to a much greater victory. Why? Many of these Jewish believers had been eye-witnesses to the risen Christ!

The nation of Israel had been practicing a form of baptism called proselyte baptism. When Gentiles wanted wanted to take upon themselves the laws of Moses, they received this form of baptism in the authority of the God of Israel. But now we see Jewish believers practicing baptism by immersion in water in the name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus was elevated to the full status of God. The new baptismal rite was seen by these early Jewish believers as a celebration of Jesus' death and resurrection. Going under the water was a celebration of Jesus' death, and by being brought out of the water they were celebrating the fact that Jesus was raised to the newness of life!

These two celebrations, Communion and Baptism, can be traced back to the very earliest Christian community. And these two sacraments were originated much too early for the influence of other religions to creep in and take away the significance of Jesus' death and resurrection.

5. The Emergence Of The Christian Church. When major cultural change occur, historians look for the reasons for these changes. There can be no doubt that major cultural changes around Jerusalem and surrounding areas soon after Jesus' death. These changes and movement was victorious over several competing religions and reached as far as Caesar's Palace!

Who would have thought that pagan, Imperial Rome and the world would be changed so far-reaching by a carpenter from Nazareth and 12 followers... New Testament scholar C.F.D. Meade asks the question: "In coming into the existence of the Nazarenes, a phenomenon undeniably attested by the New Testament, rips a hole in history, a hole the size and shape of the Resurrection, what does the secular scholar use to stop in up with?"

There is an ongoing item for consideration for the circumstantial evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. This is the ongoing encounter with the resurrected Jesus all over the world, in every culture and to people with all kinds of backgrounds and personalities. Some are well educated while some are not. There are the rich as well as the poor, some thinkers and some feelers. And all will attest that a belief in the risen Christ has changed their lives! They will also attest that the historical Jesus is the risen Christ and who is He claimed to be, the Son of God! And they know to a man or woman what Jesus says is the truth, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh to the Father, but by me." John 14: 6

What is there left for some skeptics and those in between? Please, please examine all the evidence critically and carefully with an open mind. I believe there is enough evidence to find the claims of Jesus to be true. And please take Him up on His invitation to, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest unto your souls." Matthew 11: 28-29

"There Is No Evidence of God"

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