2/1/04
Dear Pete,
I’m glad you wrote! I’m still excited about the experience you had this summer, and I’m also thankful for these confirmations that you’re still carrying on the faith and digging deeper into the things of God. It’s right to seek the reasons why you believe what you believe. Even though we may not be able to comprehend everything fully (His thought are above our thoughts, after all), God is not calling us to a leap in the dark. He’s given us minds to understand, and plenty of evidence that supports His word. You asked some excellent questions; I had to do some research to get full answers. I hope that they help to give you “reason concerning the hope that is in you”(1Pet 3:15), but always remember that it’s the Holy Spirit who ultimately gives us understanding. Ok, here it goes.
How do you know there’s a supernatural God?
Unfortunately, today’s culture has so excluded God from all areas of life that belief in the supernatural is often viewed as ridiculous and irrational. But this is not the case. As I said, God does not call us to a blind faith. He has given us plenty of proof that He exists. Here are some of His own declarations of His identity:
Exo 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
Isa 45:5 I am Jehovah, and there is none else; besides me there is no God…
Jer 32:27 Behold, I am Jehovah, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?
Rev 22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
One of the most irrefutable evidences for the being of God is the world around us. When one really stops to consider the vastness of the creation, it is impossible to claim that it came about through any other means but that of an Intelligent Designer. Here are a few helpful verses from Scripture:
-Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse: (this is my favorite verse on this subject; God’s creation is so obviously supposed to point us to Him; it’s so sad that people are replacing that wonder for the cheapness of life by “chance”)
-Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
-Psa 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
-Joh 1:3 All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made.
-Isa 44:24 Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb: I am Jehovah, that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth (who is with me?);
-Mat 6:26 Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value then they?
(here’s one that shows that He is still concerned about His creation—He didn’t just leave it to chance after He brought it into being)
I don’t have the time or space to go into all the evidences for creation versus evolution; I encourage you to do some of your own research, as there is an abundance of resources on the subject in books and online. Creationists have found some pretty incredible things to support God’s Word about Himself. I’ll just give you a few things to consider.
First, not one transitional fossil has been found. For example, according to evolution, reptiles evolved into birds, but there are no evidences of a half-bird, half-reptile in any fossil record. How could such a creature survive? If a reptile was transitioning into a bird, but did not yet have all the faculties that allow a bird to survive, how would it function? Look at birds today: each one is uniquely designed to be able to do what it needs to do. If all of these species, plus dozens more, evolved from a reptile, how could they hunt for food to survive having only partially developed built-in tools?
The earth itself is designed perfectly to be able to sustain life. If it were lighter, we wouldn’t have enough oxygen to survive. If it were any closer to the sun, we would be scorched; if it were farther away, we would freeze. Our planet has the perfect balance of light, heat, water, and atmosphere to allow life. And this was all by chance? I don’t think so.
Another evidence for a Creator is the fact that humans have souls. We feel; we experience joy and pain; we have unique personalities, and we have intrinsic moral values which span time and culture. As much as people try to take all ethics out of everything (which I’ll get into more later), they can’t escape the fact that we are much more than just dumb animals or machines brought together by millions of years of coincidental accidents.
We can also see evidence of God through the many, many supernatural events and answers to prayer that have been recorded throughout history. I myself have seen people healed of diseases in ways that medicine and science can’t explain. One woman I know was healed from terminal cancer, and my cousin was healed from a milk allergy miraculously after prayer. There are millions of cases where doctors have been stunned by things that simply cannot be explained. There are also many evidences for divine intervention, such as when an entire British regiment came out of the front-lines in World War I without a single casualty, even though regiments on either side of them suffered tremendous losses. What explanation could they give for this? The fact that each man in the regiment either read or recited Psalm 91 every day (“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty…”). I’m also reminded of Brother Andrew, who smuggled thousands of Bibles into Communist countries behind the Iron Curtain. He had Bibles lying out in the open and guards searching him were blinded from seeing them.
Consider also the lives that have been transformed by faith in Christ. I have seen and heard of cases myself where people lost in sin or depression have been set free by the power of Christ and have gone on to live completely different lives. There are so many cases where this has occurred, from gangsters and mobsters like Nicky Cruz and Tom Papania to haters of Christianity like Saul. Coincidences? possibly. But there are far too many of these instances to not point to supernatural care and intervention.
How do you know that there is truth that applies to everyone?
It seems that everywhere you go, people are refusing to declare anything as absolute truth. The politically correct postmodern philosophy is quickly infiltrating our society, declaring that anything anyone believes is ok. God has clearly given us some standards; there are things that are positively true and nonnegotiable. The 10 Commandments are a good example, as well as other laws (especially revealing are those that condemn murder, homosexuality, and fornication), not to mention the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament. First, some verses that show that what God says is true, and He means what He says
Num 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, Neither the son of man, that he should repent: Hath he said, and will he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and will he not make it good?
Psa 33:4 For the word of Jehovah is right; And all his work is done in faithfulness.
Pro 23:23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; Yea, wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
(this verse shows that the truth is something that can be known, and it is worth seeking, contrary to the opinion of some that truth is entirely subjective and nothing can be known for sure)
Now here are some verses that indicate that God foresaw the abandonment of truth and warned against those who are guilty of it:
Isa 59:14 And justice is turned away backward, and righteousness standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and uprightness cannot enter.
Isa 59:15 Yea, truth is lacking; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey. And Jehovah saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice.
Hos 4:1 Hear the word of Jehovah, ye children of Israel; for Jehovah hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land.
2Ti 4:4 and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables.
Our moral absolutes are based on God’s absolute morality. We base our ethics as Christians on His will, and whether or not people follow them, His precepts are still the ultimate “right”, and His character is that which we must follow.
Lev 11:45 For I am Jehovah that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
Mat 5:48 Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
And lastly, here are a couple of verses that show us that God and His truth are not subject to the whims of man or the cultural changes or lowered standards that we are facing today:
Mal 3:6 For I, Jehovah, change not…
Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to-day, yea and for ever.
Jam 1:17 …the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning.
As far as how you would respond to a non-Christian wondering about absolute truth, it’s really a question of logic. When one takes a step back and honestly looks at the consequences of abandoning God’s truth for some sort of arbitrary if not nonexistent set of “ethics”, we see that chaos is the result. Look at the pain and sorrow and economic disasters that have come from regimes such as the U.S.S.R., whose premise for law was that God does not exist and therefore humans are not constrained by His set of ethics. People wonder why America’s schools are producing such terrible test scores as well as students who are committing such heinous crimes as those seen in Columbine. Is it so much of a stretch to attribute the decline to the modern teaching philosophies that give children no moral boundaries, instead insisting that whatever each child adopts as his own set of ethics is “right”?
The very assertion that there are no absolutes is illogical. That statement in itself is presented as an absolute truth. There must be rules that apply to all of humanity in order for life to have any order. Even the laws of physics, mathematics and logic point to the fact that this world is governed by a higher law than moral relativism. People of all cultures and beliefs have natural inclinations toward morality, “in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness therewith, and their thoughts one with another accusing or else excusing them” (Rom. 2:15). Murder, theft and kidnapping are examples of crimes that are virtually indiscriminately viewed as wrong. We have set up laws to deal with people who commit such crimes in order to keep them from repeating them. In a sense, the secular law is an absolute moral standard. Where did these moral laws come from? They are written on our hearts-- not by any standard man has set up, but by the absolute standard that God has established.
How do you know the Bible is reliable?
The Scripture itself has plenty to say about the inerrancy and permanency of the Word of God.
2 Sam 22:31 As for God, his way is perfect: The word of Jehovah is tried…
Isa 40:8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand forever.
Luke 1:37 For no word from God shall be void of power.
Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Matt 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Psalm 19:8-9 The precepts of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart: The commandment of Jehovah is pure, enlightening the eyes… The ordinances of Jehovah are true, and righteous altogether.
John 17:17… thy word is truth.
One of the biggest mistakes secular critics make is to place the Bible in a different category than other ancient literature simply because it is religious. This isn’t a fair method of analysis. When the Bible is tested for reliability in the same way that other manuscripts are tested, we see that there is plenty of evidence to support its veracity (note: I got a lot of this information, as well as much of the other information in this letter, from Josh McDowell’s book, A Ready Defense, which you can refer to for more details).
The first test is bibliographical-- that is, how we have received the Bible as we have it today. The closer the original manuscript is to the first copy made, the more reliable it is. This timespan for the New Testament is between 80 and 250 years, compared to the average gap of 1,000 years in other books (the next smallest margin is 500 years)! Also, the more copies have survived, the more reliable the work is considered. There are over 24,000 copies of the New Testament today, versus only 643 copies of the next highly supported Iliad. Textual criticism of these manuscripts has proven that the Bible is incomparable in accuracy to other ancient works; of the discrepancies (which mostly consist of missing letters or insignificant words), no doctrine of Christianity is ever compromised.
The Old Testament is slightly different because of the way it was preserved. There aren’t as many surviving copies, but from what we know about the process of copying, we can be sure of its accuracy. The copyists had to follow a strict set of guidelines, from how they dressed to what kind of material they wrote on and the type of ink they used, to the actual copying process. They were not allowed to copy one letter from memory (as we would look at entire phrases or sentences as we copied them from the source); each consonant was to be separated by the breadth of a hair, etc. If there was one mistake (this was double-checked by such complicated precautions as counting words and letters of each book and calculating the middle words and letters of every one!), the manuscript was considered inaccurate and was not preserved. These imperfect copies, as well as deteriorating perfect ones, were either buried, burned, or used as reading-books in schools: hence the lack of manuscripts today.
The Dead Sea Scrolls act as further evidence of the reliability of the Old Testament. These manuscripts are 1,000 years older than any other previously found, but incredibly, they are exactly identical 95% of the time (the other 5% contains obvious spelling variations or simple mistakes). This reflects not only man’s meticulous care in preserving the Scriptures, but also God’s faithfulness in preserving His eternal word. The Bible’s accuracy and survival is nothing short of miraculous, especially considering how much persecution and how many attempts at destruction it has faced.
While the bibliographical test shows us that what we have today is what was originally written, the second, the internal evidence test, tells us whether it is credible. This is determined mainly by the closeness of the author to the events. The Bible is given much believability by the fact that it was written down either by eyewitnesses or those who learned from eyewitnesses (Peter, John, Luke, etc.: “…he who has seen has borne witness, and his witness is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe” John 19:35). And not only were there supportive eyewitness, but those who were opposed to the story of Christ and who would have refuted the events recorded if they knew them to be untrue. However, they had no reply to the assertions by the apostles that “even you yourselves know” (Acts 2:22 and elsewhere).
The third test is the external evidence test, or the other historical references that support what we see in the Bible. Iraneus, a student of Polycarp (Bishop of Smyrna) referred to the four gospels in his writings. Josephus, Tacitus, and Emperor Hadrian (all non-Christians) refer to Jesus and/or the early Church in their writings.
Archaeology also goes a long way in supporting the Bible. There have been many discoveries that prove the accuracy of the Bible in its mention of people and places (like the existence of the Hittites, for example). There are also many prophesies that have been fulfilled historically, such as the fall of Tyre. There were very specific references to the way that the city would be destroyed, all of which came to pass in incredible detail. In Ezekiel 26, it describes how invaders would tear down the ruins of the city (which was destroyed the first time according to earlier prophesy) and lay them in the water, and that later the place would be used for the spreading of nets. Alexander the Great (over 200 years after the prophecy) laid siege to the island fortress of Tyre by taking the ruins of the old city and using them to build a causeway out to the city, which he then destroyed. In modern times the location has been recognized as a place where fishermen spread their nets to dry. This is one of a number of fulfilled prophesies in the Old Testament concerning the destruction of cities or the activities of future kingdoms (such as the activities of Alexander the Great’s predecessors and the rise of the Roman Empire). Later on I will touch on the hundreds of prophesies made about Jesus.
God’s word is always accurate, not only historically, but in its continuity and its effect on people throughout history. It is truly amazing that a book written over thousands of years by people from all circumstances and walks of life fits together so neatly. It faithfully conveys the same message throughout, always agreeing on the most controversial of subjects. It has brought comfort and peace, conviction and knowledge to millions of people across the globe. A book this superior to any other can only be attributed to a divine Author of love and truth.
How do you know that Jesus was the Son of God and rose from the dead?
Some people claim that Jesus never specifically claimed to be the Son of God. This is false, a fact which can be supported from Scripture.
Matt. 26:64- Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?... I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.
John 5:17-18 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh even until now, and I work. For this cause therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only brake the sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God. (the Jews reacted so strongly because when they referred to God it was always “our Father” unless they said “my Father in heaven”. They considered Jesus’ claim to be blasphemous.)
John 10:30 I and the Father are one. (after this the Jews attempted to stone Him. Their reason? “ for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.”)
John 8:19, 12:45, 15:23, 5:23—all indications that He and the Father are one and the same Person, and that attitudes or actions toward one are the same as toward the other.
Matt. 16:16-17 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven. (Jesus did not contradict Peter’s assertion of His deity)
In Mark 2, we see the story of Jesus forgiving the sins of the paralytic, to which the scribes reacted in the same way as before—they accused Him of blasphemy, since only God could forgive sins. Jesus was claiming to be God since He could forgive sins committed against God. This was no human extension of grace. We could forgive someone for wrong acts against us, but never for sins against God. To the scribes, this was a very clear claim of Deity on the part of Christ. Later this claim to be the Son of God is what caused Jesus to be put to death.
The fact that Jesus existed isn’t really in question by any true historical scholars because of the variety of external evidence that I mentioned earlier, as well as references by Phlegon and Seutonius (historians writing in the first century) and others, not to mention various Jewish rabbis. Rather, it is the nature of His claim that leaves us with a decision to make. Because Jesus declared Himself to be the Son of God, one cannot dismiss Him with the label of “a good moral teacher”. One must decide between three options: either He was a liar, a lunatic, or He was who He said He was (this is outlined very well in C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity, as well as Josh McDowell’s book that I referred to earlier). If Jesus was a liar, He was one of the most deceptive and evil men who ever lived, as He deliberately misled hundreds of followers into thinking He was the Son of God and acted as a hypocrite. He could not have been a good teacher and a liar at the same time. This option breaks down when one remembers that it was because of His claims to be God that got Him killed. Why would a man take a lie so far as to give His own life for it?
The second option, that He was a lunatic, is similarly improbable. True, there have been people who have been sincere about what they claim to be and have been sincerely wrong. But for Jesus to claim to be the Son of God in that time and culture (which was fiercely monotheistic) was one of the most dangerous declarations He could have made; it would have taken some serious mental imbalance if it were not true. Also, we see no evidence of insanity in His words or teaching. Rather, His poise, clarity, and depth of character are irrefutable. Just look at His quick responses to the trick questions of the Pharisees, and His patient endurance of suffering at the hands of His murderers. Also look at how His words have endured to bring peace, comfort and conviction to millions today. These are not the results of a madman’s ravings. The only other option is that Jesus was telling the truth about His divine identity.
This claim is supported by the hundreds of direct and indirect prophesies made in the Old Testament regarding the Messiah which were all fulfilled by one man—Jesus of Nazareth. Claims that these prophecies were written after Jesus’ time (in order to somehow make Him look more credible) are ludicrous. The prophecies were clearly written long before the time of Christ (one proof of this is the fact that the Septuagint [the Greek translation of the Old Testament] was translated around 150- 200 B.C.). Here are just a few of the prophecies:
a descendant of King David (Is. 9:6-7)
sold for 30 pieces of silver (Zech. 11:12-13)
born of a virgin (Is. 7:14)
no reply to accusations (Is. 53:7)
born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
hands and feet pierced (Ps. 69:4)
called from Egypt (Hosea 11:1)
lots cast for his clothing (Ps. 22:18)
buried among the wealthy (Is. 53:9)
rejected by the Jews (Is. 53:3)
One could say that it was coincidental that Jesus fulfilled these prophesies, but look at the odds: the probability of one man fulfilling just 8 is 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. The probability of fulfilling only 48 of the over 300 references? 1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. As far as I’m concerned, those numbers along should “prove” Jesus as Messiah to the toughest critic.
Another point to bring out here has to do with the martyrdoms of the apostles. Out of the original 12, 11 were killed for their belief in Jesus as the Son of God, and thousands more throughout history have died considering it a privilege to suffer as He suffered. These people believed wholeheartedly that Jesus was who He said He was.
This brings us to the resurrection. This is the central event that made the disciples willing to die for their cause. If Jesus had died and stayed dead, what motivation would they have for climbing out of their fear, despair and crushed hopes to create a false story about His resurrection? They wouldn’t have suffered through torture and death for the sole purpose of spreading a story they knew was a lie (we see clearly that the resurrection was indeed the thrust of the message throughout Acts: “…he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” [17:31] Without the message of the resurrection, there is no basis for faith in Jesus). Also, as I pointed out before, if the disciples had made up a story that their enemies knew to be untrue, their adversaries would have refuted it. For example, the Pharisees could easily have gone to the tomb, pointed to the body, and completely disproved all claims to Jesus’ resurrection. However, the tomb was empty. His disciples as well as hundreds of other people saw Jesus after He was raised from the dead (1 Cor. 15:6). Also, Jesus appeared to Saul, an ardent adversary of Christ, and turned him completely around. Would some sort of hallucination bring such a total turnaround? Saul would not have been fazed by anything less than an actual manifestation of the risen Christ, as he of all people would be the first to deny the truth of the resurrection. Therefore we must conclude that in all logical probability the followers of Christ were preaching about and dying for an actual occurrence, being transformed by the power of God that they had seen manifested.
Not only do we have the testimony of the lives and deaths of Jesus’ disciples, but also the utter impossibility of any other explanation for the empty tomb. The theory that the disciples stole the body and then made up a story is disproved partly by the ideas I’ve outlined above, as well as other historical points. First, the “exceeding great” stone Mark refers to likely weighed up to 2 tons (this is based on a portion of a manuscript of Mark that states that the stone could not be moved by 20 men). The guard that was ordered to watch the tomb was likely a 16 man force of highly trained, fully armed Roman soldiers. According to Roman law, if a soldier fell asleep at his post, the penalty was death. The tomb was closed with a Roman seal, and the law stated that whoever broke it would be crucified upside-down. The idea that 12 or so grief-stricken, terrified men could have risked their lives to overwhelm or sneak past a Roman guard to move a massive rock (which, when the original Greek is examined, was not only moved, but rolled up a slope to a distance away from the tomb) is preposterous.
Another theory that people have come up with is that Jesus never really died; He just fainted and then escaped from the tomb. This is equally as impossible. First of all, it was almost unheard of for anyone to survive crucifixion. Jesus was on the cross for six hours, having been scourged, pierced (hands, feet, and head from the crown of thorns), and stabbed with a spear. Also, the fact that water and blood came from His wounded side medically proves that He was dead (basically it shows that the heart failed after fluid built up in the pericardium. I’m not a doctor, but doctors have studied and proven this fact [and interestingly, Luke the physician is the one who tells us about the blood and water]). Even if He had survived all this, it would be physically impossible for Him to have enough strength to escape a solid rock tomb and appear perfectly strong and well 3 days later.
It is impossible to prove scientifically that Jesus was the Son of God and rose from the dead. But that’s because it is impossible to prove any historical event scientifically. To use this method of proof, the event and circumstances must be able to be repeated exactly. Obviously we cannot repeat Jesus life and ministry in a controlled setting today. But we can use the legal evidence test, in which proof beyond a reasonable doubt is determined through the amount of testimonial evidence (this method is used in our justice system). We can see through the accuracy of the Bible and the testimonies of the disciples, as well as historical and archaeological evidence (such as descriptions of crucifixion and burial procedures), that we can accept the truth with our minds as well as our hearts.
How do you know there is a heaven and a hell?
The Bible is clear that there is one of two places where a soul end up after death—either heaven, a place of comfort and eternal communion with God; or what we refer to as hell, a place of torment, punishment and eternal separation from Him.
Matt 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven…
Mat 22:30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as angels in heaven.
Act 7:55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God
Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
1Pet 1:4 unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more.
John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled: believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Rev 12:8-9 And they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven.
And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him.
Matt. 25:21-46—Jesus described the final judgment when He will separate the “sheep” on His right hand from the “goats” on His left, according to how they treated His brethren. “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world… Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels…And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.”
Rev 20:15 And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.
Luke 16:20-21—Jesus tells the story of the beggar Lazarus and the rich man. Both died, and Lazarus was “carried away by the angels into Abraham's bosom” (perhaps a place of comfort before Jesus’ sacrifice allowed us to go to heaven with Him), while the rich man went to Hades “being in torments”. Seeking help from Lazarus, he is denied, because “between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that they that would pass from hence to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from thence to us.” This story also brings out the fact that we only have the opportunity to respond to God in our lifetime, not afterwards.
There are a couple books I would recommend that talk about people’s experiences either in heaven or in hell. One is Voices from the Edge of Eternity (compiled by John Meyers)—accounts of the last words of various people which point to either peace or torment at the time of death. Another is Beyond Death’s Door by Dr. Maurice Rawlings. In it he describes the experiences of people who have come back to life after being clinically dead. There is amazing evidence to support life after death in true recorded instances. On one hand, there have been people who have reported experiences of great joy as they reunite with loved ones and sense the comfort and love of their Savior. They speak of being in a place of incomparable beauty and light. On the other hand, there are those who have had hellish experiences, characterized by darkness, fire, demons, and fear.
One could argue that these experiences were just hallucinations brought on by the intensity of the moment. This might seem probable, except for the fact that patients often have amazingly detailed memories of their surroundings while dead, such as what the doctors were wearing as they were being treated. Also, nearing death, people have had supernatural knowledge about events that they had not been informed about, such as the sudden death of a loved one.
It is important to be careful when studying these “near-death experiences”. Not all the people who had heavenly experiences were Christians, but this does not mean that everyone will go to heaven whether they have accepted Christ or not. Remember that Satan disguises himself as an “angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:4). He may use these experiences to keep people from the conviction they need to change. It seems as though God occasionally uses these experiences to either warn or comfort people, and it is not a surprise that the devil takes one of God’s ideas and twists it into something harmful. The fact that both heavenly and hellish instances have been recorded acts as evidence to prove God’s word about the existence of both places, and we can assume that they fit into His guidelines: “whosoever who believes on me shall not perish, but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16); conversely, those who do not believe shall not have eternal life, but shall perish.
How do you know that all religions aren’t ultimately the same?
This is a common idea in our culture today. We tend to accept all religions as being basically the same, standing for the same general principles of good. This is not what the Bible has to say. It is clear that there is one God, and that Jesus is the only was to find Him.
Exo 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Isa 44:6 Thus saith Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.
1Ti 2:5-6 For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all…
Rev 22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 8:24 … except ye believe that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
Many people claim that the teachings of various religions and cults really aren’t that different from Christianity. While there are some definite similarities (doing good to others, being honest, etc.) the basic premise is different. While the faith of other religions is based on the teachings of their leaders, Christianity’s faith is based solely on the identity of Jesus. No other leader claimed to be God. Jesus did. That in and of itself sets Christianity apart from all other religions. So much of the thinking today is that it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you really believe it. We don’t merely believe in belief; we believe in Jesus.
Many of the major religions and cults accept Jesus as a prophet or a good teacher. I’ve already talked about the problems with that claim. Since Jesus said He was the Son of God, one must either accept Him as such or declare Him a liar. There is no middle ground. If one chooses to believe Him, one must also believe that He is telling the truth about being the only way to God. On the other hand, if a Muslim were to reject Christ, he would be forced to question the reliability of Mohammed, who claimed that Jesus was a prophet. The same could be said for the founders of Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormonism, both who held Jesus in a place of honor but denied His role as the only Son of God.
The bottom line is that one religion must be right and the others wrong. Jehovah said that He was the only true God. His Son Jesus said He was the only way to eternal life, and then He rose again—giving authority to His words (no other supposed prophet or religious founder comes anywhere close to revealing that kind of power). Christianity must be completely true or completely false. If true, than any other religion is false. If it’s not the way to God, then why would anyone want to accept it as “just another good religion”?
Well, I hope these answers will help you. There’s so much more that could be said, but I think that this will do well to get you started. Again, I encourage you to keep getting information on your own. Ravi Zacharias and Josh McDowell both have excellent things to say, as well as other Christian apologists whose writings and lectures can be found online or through a Christian book service. I will be praying for you as you talk with professors and classmates about these issues. I admire your honesty and your desire to learn more about what it means to be a follower of Christ. You have inspired me to do the research and always be ready when someone presents me with a question about my faith. God bless!
Your friend,
Melissa Brown