| | The question was posed to me recently as to why I believe in Christianity. Why Christianity in the first place, and why also it over anything else. It's a good question to ask, and one that we all should consider.
When I was first thinking of this question, the challenge wasn't to come up with reasons, but to figure out which reasons would be best to respond with. A lot of them came into my mind, though a lot of them were probably not good reasons to believe in themselves. I've spent some time thinking about it, and here I'm going to explain a few of the reasons.
The first reason is the doctrine of justification by grace through faith. This is distinctive to Christianity. All other religions depend on a person's good works or own efforts. However, having thought incorrectly that salvation was largely works-based in the past, I wouldn't want to live by any such system. In such a system, I'd constantly be worried if I were reaching the minimum at every moment. I can always pray more, give more to charity, or fast for another second longer than I do in my own efforts. And just knowing that was an enormous burden. I was being good, but not perfect, and it seemed like there was no way in hell that I could get to that ideal. Christianity is the only religion which says it's ok, and that our own strength just isn't enough.
The second is more subjective. Through Christianity, my life has changed more than what I could have expected to have done myself. Things have changed for the better, and I can't say that it was just me trying. Since college and really becoming a Christian, the strongholds of sin in my life have been increasingly under fire. I'd wished to be free of some of these before, and tried really hard, but I'd always fall down. Somehow, with Christ, those fortresses don't stand so tall anymore. I've also gained positive character attributes over the years, and I look back and wonder how it is that came to be. I remember being up until 2 AM once helping someone for a class I wasn't even in, and wondering why I was able to do that joyfully. A couple of years prior, I'd probably have buried the guy under a barrage of profanity and signed off of AIM long before.
Now we bring in the apologetics that I've been reading the past however long. The accuracy and trustworthiness of the Bible, especially the New Testament, and the weight of evidence pointing towards the Resurrection has convinced me that Christianity is a logical conclusion, more so than others. If you want to read about this ad nauseam, check out Evidence that Demands a Verdict, by Josh McDowell. And don't just read that, but start checking out the footnotes he has and the sources he cites. You'll be drowning in no time. This point probably deserves a longer post about philosophical naturalism, axioms and faith to address the first points that atheists reading this might direct my way. Hopefully, that will be forthcoming.
Finally (for the purposes of this post), the message of the Gospel is one that I can rejoice in. Again, another very subjective point, but I think it's one worth looking at. I find myself agreeing wholeheartedly with my need for a Savior and my lack of ability to save myself. I find myself desiring God, heaven, sanctification, and the spread of the gospel. Now, to be sure, there are days when other things crowd that out or the fire doesn't burn as brightly, but I can't see myself saying the same thing about other world views or religions. If, for example, I were convinced that Islam was the only correct religion, I don't think I'd be able to rejoice in the same way. Under Islam, all of the works-based pressure I described above applies. Even the most devout Muslims are not promised admission to heaven (only martyrs are). On the contrary, admission to heaven (for a non-martyr) is completely based on whether Allah judges you worthy or not, which is completely dependent on whatever arbitrary standard and cutoff point he decides to set. Conveniently enough, that cutoff point isn't really specified either. I'd be tearing my hair out stressing over whether I was in or not, even worse than my stressing over whether I had an A in a class or not in college. And for those who saw me in my college years, you know how bad it could get.
So here's four reasons in summary: I like the way it isn't dependent on my power, it's changed my life, it's a logical conclusion, and I can be happy in it. There's more than this, and of course a lot more to be said on these points. Maybe all of these should really be full length posts at some point.
We'll see when I get around to that.
-Durandal
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| | Posted 5/8/2009 1:25 AM - 29 Views - 2 eProps - 2 comments
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