Sheep and Goats / Wheat and Weeds

In our Bible class we are beginning a study on the relevance of Christianity in today’s world.  Not too many years, ago this topic would not have been discussed.   Living the American dream in a Democratic society included faith in a Divine Creator. Millions believed that Jesus was God’s chosen Messiah, bringing redemption from sin and a belief that our faith would be honored by spending an eternity in God’s presence.  Sunday was a day that most American families attended church services.  In fact, there were “blue laws.”  Certain items could not be bought or sold on Sunday.  So where are we now in the 21^st century?

According to the book we are reading called “Good Faith”, the authors have come up with figures that express the thoughts of so many people in today’s world.  Christianity is simply not relevant and perhaps even hostile to a society that wants to be free from the shackles and restraints of the Biblical commands.  There is no heaven/hell, no rewards or punishments and that the “Faith of our Fathers” is simply not applicable in our society.  Surely man can come up with solutions in solving the world’s problems.  Death can be delayed; sickness cured, and the after- life can take care of itself!

Unbelief in God as well as “Me First” mindset seems to fit.   If it pleases Me then it is right for Me! Besides, if there is a God and He is Love then He isn’t going to send anyone to hell…..if there is a hell!

Jesus then had it all wrong. Not only Jesus, but many of the prophets from Scriptures.  We simply can’t vision a God that has a giant scoreboard up in Heaven, keeping track of everyone down here. That idea may seem strange and perhaps even primitive to our minds but when reading passages in the Bible we can’t refute the idea that God is indeed keeping His eyes on us.

Jesus uses metaphors in much of His teaching about Heaven vs. Hell and those who will be rewarded in the coming Kingdom.  Here is what Matthew tells us. (25:31-33)…… “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a Shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.”

Here, Jesus is telling his audience that there will be a time at the end of the age when man will be judged. The Shepherd will be God himself.  The sheep represents believers, and the goats represent nations of people who have not come to faith. This same imagery can be found in Ezekiel 34.  The Prophet talks about the lost sheep of Israel and the shepherd of the tribe of David will feed them.  Jesus will feed the flocks of Israel but there will be a judgment among the sheep.

Then the Lord told the parable about the wheat and the tares. (Matt 13:30)  ”Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”

Wheat and tares carries the same type of judgment.  The good vs the evil or those who will not be permitted to enter into the glories of the New Kingdom.

As believers, we are not to shy away from the difficult times in which we live.  We are “here and now” and must speak up where others are silent.  Speaking up for our faith might not change minds but you will be honored of the Father.  Good faith involves living up to a commitment; doing good works because you are a Christian; and being prepared to answer those who question your beliefs.

Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and more faith will be given to you.

Time to engage the culture!

Winning by Singing.

Nothing arouses us more than music.  Perhaps it is a familiar song from our childhood; a military march which stirs our patriotic pride; a meaningful hymn from our worship.  Music is part of our soul.

In Isaiah 49:13 ”Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing!”  The prophet is telling us that all of creation will burst into song.  I believe this speaks of the new creation…the Messianic Age….when all things will be made new. But even before that day arrives, the scriptures are replete with music: singing coupled with joy, thanksgiving and worship.

In my other blog I wrote about the sounding of the Shofar signaling the return of the Lord….  the blast of the trumpet. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the Shofar was used to call the people to arms, for an assembly, or even to provoke the troops going into battle.  But singing?

In the face of fierce enemy armies, King Jehoshaphat chose a seemingly suicidal response.  In reading 2 Chronicles 20:22, we read where he did an amazing thing,.  He ordered the Levite singers into battle ahead of his warriors.  Did you catch that?  He sent the Singers!!! The amazing thing is that this tactic worked above and beyond any normal military response.
“As they began to sing and praise, the Lord sent an ambush against the Ammonites, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed.”

So here is an amazing double meaning.  “Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger” (Psalm 8:2) This verse later quoted by Jeshua  (Jesus ) contains a play on words. Hebrew has layers of meaning in one word. We have a few in English.  You can think of many I’m sure however, perhaps not the richness of biblical Hebrew which is usually associated with God.

The word “bulwark” also has the primary meaning of strength and valor, with a secondary meaning of praise. This one Hebrew word captures the essence of the entire story of the army that won by singing.  They sang with strength and valor giving praises to the Lord!

A wonderful story to remind us that singing helps win victories in your own life as well.

The Secret Things

How God is working in this world?  I sometimes rationalize and say “God is doing this because…..”.  If I really knew His workings then I would have the mind of God…..knowing all things.  None of us can speak for God although I have heard people try.  When reading the prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures I believe that they were relating truths that God wanted His people to know.  However, God only told them what needed to be told.  He never told them why.

There are a great many things we do not know which the Scriptures have only hinted.  We are left guessing at what lies beyond the edge of our perception.

Here’s a few for you.  What is the reward of the righteous and the punishment of the wicked after the grave? Is it always hell fire and damnation?  What is the nature of Messiah? How do we reconcile His divinity with His humanity?  What is the nature of God?  How can He be fathomed and explained? What about the problem of evil? What is the role of the Adversary, and how do we reconcile his presence with the sovereignty of God? How is it that God both chooses His people and assigns them choice? How will the age culminate and when will the Master return?

These and similar matters, are always of great interest to Bible students. Our minds and souls are naturally curious to probe these mysteries and the Scriptures offer insight into all of them but we peer them as a man peers into a dim mirror.  Paul said in 1st Cor. 13…. “ For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”  Therefore we know in part and understand in part, because there are secret things that belong to the Lord.

When reading Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this Torah.” Moses said these words to the people when they didn’t understand how God was working.  However, God didn’t leave them clueless.  He gave them the ordinances that they were to follow to be a people set apart for Him.  They were to be His chosen ones, a kingdom of priests that would pass on the words of His commandments to generations that followed.  And then, of course, the Gentiles were to receive the grace shown to Israel through the Messiah which was embodiment of God’s goodness and love.

Ironically, things which are essentially unknowable and intangible are the things which divide us, one from another.  Differences of opinion and interpretation on theological issues typically define the borders between one belief system and another.

Things that are inferred from the Scripture but left unanswered often cause the most problems between us.  When we attempt to take possession of the secret things of the Lord, we find that they slip through our hands and leave us fractured and divided.  We cannot create unity when unity depends on us defining the indefinable!!

We should learn to let the secret things remain the Lord’s and expend our energy in accomplishing clearly what is revealed.

“He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.” Col 1:28

Blowing the Horns

I enjoy reading about the Biblical Feasts that are listed in Leviticus and Deuteronomy.  We, as Gentile believers don’t pay much attention to these feasts because they were given to the Jewish people but because our Lord celebrated these feasts it should be interesting to us also.

Rosh Hashanah is called the New Year and it is a great a festive celebration.  Rosh Hashanah this year will be celebrated on the 10^th of Sept.  For observant Jews there will be the blast of the shofar (trumpet) with much feasting and celebrating.  However, despite the fact that it is celebrated in September, it is not actually a name given by God,  or for that matter even the date is wrong.

In Leviticus 23:23-25, God tells Moses that on the first day of the seventh month there shall be a holy assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. So the words Rosh Hashanah are nowhere to be found.  Actually the name is Yom Terah.—–The day of the Blasting Shofars or Feast of Trumpets!  Why is this at all important to us?  What’s going on?

Since  New Testament theology is rooted in the Hebrew Scriptures, we can better understand what the  blowing of the Trumpets means to us.  Matthew speaks clearly about trumpet blasts.

“And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” (Mt. 24:31)

And again in 1 Cor.15:52. “In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed. ”

In the light of these readings it is clear to see that Yom Terah is not about remembering the past but it will be a future event.

The Feast of Trumpets points to the coming of Yeshua, (Jesus) and our being transformed from this body into an incorruptible body.  This will be the beginning of the Messianic Age. It will be the Kingdom of which our Lord spoke.  His time on earth brought the beginning of the Kingdom, of which the church is a part.

No one knows when the Lord will return. However the blowing of the shofar will certainly be a heavenly one signaling the Lord’s arrival and the beginning of His long awaited return. We are told there will be a new heaven and new earth.  Old things will pass away.

“We who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the Trumpet call of God, and the dead in Messiah will rise first.  After that we, who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. “
(1 Thessalonians 4:15-17)

Wow……..what excitement for believers.  Are you ready?

Baking Cakes

I recently came across an article concerning a baker in CO.  who refused to bake a cake for the wedding of a gay couple.  This couple felt it was against the law for him to refuse to provide a cake.  Of course they could have gone to another baker who would have made the cake but they felt their civil rights were being violated and it became a matter of principle.  Their case is known as Masterpiece Cakeshop vs Colorado Civil Rights Commission.  The baker in question could have easily given in to their requests to bake them a cake, but his Christian values prevented him from doing that.  Instead the case is now coming before the Supreme Court and will evidentially be decided by them.

Just a cake???  No, this is a question of values and personal commitment.  The baker might easily lose, in which case he might also be fined and put out of business.  He is willing to take that risk.  The article which I read was written by an attorney who knew the “ins and outs” of civil law and what is entailed in this squabble.   I will not bore you with the details of the laws………not only in Colorado but laws of the nation as well.

We know that most laws provide justice for those who need it.  They both prevent injustices in our society and act as a safety net to provide for the well being of the citizenry.  God is the giver of laws and did so to provide for His people what they needed in order to be of service to their fellows as well as teaching obedience to Him.  His laws are predicated upon human nature.  Mankind seeks what is best for himself…..(our sin nature) ……..and not for the good of others. God provides for repentance and forgiveness.  Going to jail isn’t in the equation and neither is imposing big fines.  Now back to the baker.

After reading this article thoroughly I am still confused about the laws in question.  Why bother?  It becomes a matter of conviction. To me it concerns the civil rights of one group being imposed on another.

If the guy really doesn’t want to bake a cake why should the state of Colorado become involved or the Supreme Court for that matter?  The guy owns the bakery.  He should be able to decide for whom and when he will bake his cake.  This doesn’t involve life or death, or committing a bodily crime against the person(s) in question.  The baker should have the right to decide. It is his decision. This is a privately owned company.   If civil rights are involved here then his rights should be considered before the guys who want the cake. They aren’t suffering from abuse or a crime committed against their persons.

My advice:   Go to another baker and buy your cake………then you can have their cake and eat it too!!

When the Answer is No!

Perhaps more articles, books and blogs have been written on prayer and any other topic.  I have also commented on prayer so this will not be a new revelation.  Just a few more thoughts on the subject.  I’m sure most of you have heard these comments or perhaps might have ideas of your own.  Good.  Keep those thoughts in your life.  God is always there and whether our prayers go exactly the way we expect or want He is listening.

That being said…….we know that we don’t always get what we ask for.  Moses wanted to enter the Promised Land.  More than anything, he wanted to finish the journey, cross the Jordan and stand on the soil of the holy land that God had promised Abraham many years before. God said “No.”  End of discussion.

Moses pleaded with the Lord, “Let me I pray, cross over and see the fair land that is beyond the Jordan” (Deut. 3:25). Ordinarily Moses got what he asked for. Whether he asked for miraculous provisions, amazing signs and wonders, direct answers from heaven, or divine assistance and rescue, God heard the prayers of Moses and answered them immediately.  But not even Moses got everything he wanted.  Despite his earnest entreaties, God refused to allow Moses to enter Canaan.  The Lord replied to his prayers, saying.”Enough speak to me no more of this matter!”  (Deut 3:26)

The Lord is gracious and compassionate.  He delights to answer the prayers of his children.  He opens His and hand and satisfies the desire of every living things.  If an earthly father gives good gifts to his children when they ask him, how much more so does your heavenly father delight to answer our prayers.  Yeshua teaches us.” Whatever you ask of the Father in my name He may give to you. (John 15:16)  Nevertheless, the answer to prayer is sometimes “No.”

If God gave me everything I asked for in prayer, it would be same as giving me the power of being God. I might arbitrarily change the color of the sky or the chemical composition of water, turn back the clock in time, or wish upon a star!! Obviously God has to reserve the right to say no to our prayers.  James the brother of the Master says, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:3)

Well, my prayers are seldom about the money in the bank, or the oil well that isn’t producing, or winning the lottery.  Even when we ask with the right motives, God still might have to say no.  When we pray, we need to trust in God’s wisdom and kindness, knowing that He has our best interests in mind. Though we don’t always get an affirmative answer, we can be confident that our prayers are heard.

Just as Moses longed to enter the land, so too, Yeshua awaits His return to this earth.  He awaits the day of redemption when He can return at last and reclaim His own people and His disciples and thereby bring His great redemptive work to its conclusion. We do not know when He will return.

When that glorious day arrives then all our prayers will be “Yes.”

The Two-Edged Sword

When reading about the 12 apostles there is one that stands apart from the others.  Yet, we know so little about him.  His name is Simon the Zealot.  So how does this chosen apostle play out in his commitment to Jeshua (Jesus)?

Religion is a two-edged sword.  On one hand we are told to be faithful even if it means we must lose our lives.  We as disciples are called upon to have faith in God, trust in our Messiah and obey His commandments.  This is the narrow path that leads to life.  On the other hand, religious convictions can become a source of strife, enmity and hatred between people and nations.  We can see how this is playing out in our world.

The Master chose as one of his disciples a man named Simon, the Zealot.  Actually this is not the proper translation of the text. The old KJV had it right………The Greek text of Matthew and Mark introduce one of the Yeshua’s disciples as “Simon the Cannanean”.  Translators and scribes stumbled over the unusual word.  I personally can’t even pronounce the Greek word or hope to spell it correctly .. it is “Kavavaioc” .  My word processor doesn’t know Greek!  The King James translators chose to translate it as “Simon the Canaanite”.  Thanks for the error! Simon has the embarrassing honor of being the only Gentile disciple among the twelve…….and a Canaanite at that!  On the other hand he might have been Jewish and lived in the Galilee area. The word Canaanite might have been a political term.  Theologians have their own ideas.

Actually the mysterious Greek word attempts to transliterate the Hebrew word “kanana” which means the “Zealot.”  The anti-Roman, Jewish revolutionaries of first-century Judea called themselves Zealots.   However, all peoples living in that area hated the Romans not only the Jews.    Luke recognized the word and translated it as Simon the Zealot.  In modern vernacular, we would call him Simon the Terrorist!  However, this Simon chose to follow a Jew whom he believed was the promised Messiah.  He must have been accepted by the inner circle of apostles and we see him listed as one of the twelve.  Interesting!

Judea and Galilee were filled with political and religious zealots who resorted to violence to advance their purposes.  They felt it was a just cause to kill Roman soldiers anytime or place.  Terrorists like the Zealots prove that zeal can be misplaced.  Paul is another example of misplaced zeal.  Prior to his Damascus road encounter, Paul pursued the believers with the zeal of a zealot.  In his epistle to the Philippians, he mentioned his history as a persecutor of the believers as evidence of his “zeal” for God.

Our Lord did not back away from confrontations with Romans, Pharisees, Sadducees or Gentiles.  He treated them all with respect.  He taught patience and love…..go the extra mile; carry two cloaks instead of one; respecting one’s neighbor……even if he is a Samaritan!

So perhaps having zeal and being a zealot are two different aspects of one religious conviction.    We do far better to emulate the Master who was zealous for His Father’s house (John 2:17) and for His Father’s will. We should be “zealots” for good deeds and zealous for the Messiah and His kingdom.  This means ruthlessly rooting out from our own lives those things that lead us to sin and cause us to depart from our appointed service to others.  We can be useful Zealots for the Master.

Faulty Faith

As I was perusing the web looking for something interesting for this blog I came across one site which discussed various religions, faiths , God, heaven, hell etc.  I came across two articles which caught my eye.  The heading of one read, “Connection with the Divine to be found in everyday life.”   That is true enough.  Then I kept reading.

The first article was written by a devout Muslim.  It made sense.  He stated his opinion on how to seek God in every aspect of our daily life. He wrote on how Muslims praise and worship God.  In fact it could have been written by a Christian, that is, until the last sentence.  He wrote that we are either lucky or  unlucky in seeing the opportunities presented to us.  The unlucky ones will “throw themselves in hellfire.”  I don’t quite understand his idea of having luck or being unlucky.  As a believer, I don’t agree with the idea of luck. Either God is involved or not involved in our daily life.  We, however, are given the power of choice.  My faith doesn’t depend on the roll of the dice.

The second article was written by a Hindu.  He too, had a message of recognizing the Divine in all of nature and the Divine that resides within each of us. Through Yoga and contemplation we are able to reach the Divine and become one with Him.

These well written articles appeal to spiritual seekers. But one must read carefully to fully understand their impact.

The Hindu says that we must open our minds to the Divine Spirit to become one with the Divine Nature.  “Yoga means the union of the individual soul with the universal soul.”  Then surely all happiness will be ours!

Is this man really capable of obtaining and recognizing the Divine by simply focusing his thoughts in meditation?   Seems to more akin to self hypnosis.  By the way, neither article mentioned sin.

We ourselves cannot realize God’s perfect will for man because we live in a world corrupted by sin.  Elevating our thoughts might give us a sense of well being but it doesn’t solve the problem of man’s dilemma.  It is the guilt of sin which causes us to reach out to something beyond ourselves. A Higher Power as some have said.   We all recognize that it isn’t within us to alleviate the turmoil we encounter within each of us.

If I am reading the Bible correctly, the writers tell us that humans, through our own self will, defied God and sin entered the world.  Sin is the result of our disobedience to the perfect will of our Creator.   Simply elevating our thoughts will never take away sin.  It’s here to stay.

Our attempt to climb to heaven on a ladder of reason, morality, and experience cannot get us one step closer to the Divine Perfection.  As sinful humans we cannot ascend to God on our own……but that God descended down to us in the form of a man called Jesus. He showed us not only what is God’s perfect will for us but He also showed us the way.  It wasn’t through spiritual mediation…..but through obedience, righteous living and prayer.

Man wants to find a God that fits his world view.  We remake God in our image, instead of being remade from the inside out.  Now that’s what I call being “reborn.”

So What’s in a Name?

Often we read scriptures in the same way as we always have heard or been taught, without really knowing the true meaning of the text in the original language.  At least, for me I never have studied either Greek or Hebrew but I pick up snatches along the way.  Having read many articles concerning the original language of the Synoptic Gospels, I have now come to the conclusion that perhaps what we read as Greek (now English for us) was originally written in Hebrew. The only early sources that have survived are Greek but there are many hints that the original language was in Hebrew.  At the same time we are missing so many foundational truths because the words don’t make sense to us.  I will be exploring more of those difficult sayings of Jesus in another blog.

However, I found some interesting words that might give some clarity to a few of the verses we find in scripture.

Last Supper
So what happened at the end of the Last Supper?  The Gospels tell us “when they had sung the hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives”(Mark 14:26).  The word hymn is a translation of the Hebrew word “Hallel”, a reference to the psalms of praise (113-118), which are sung on Passover eve as part of the Seder feast.  Jesus must have been fond of these psalms whose central message is deliverance.

The  word  Hallel mean’s “praise” in Hebrew.  It is one of the most important words in the Hebrew Bible.  It is also the root of the word, Halleluiah, which means “Praise unto God” as well as the name of the Book of Psalms in Hebrew, “Tehilim.”  It is precisely that book of Tehilim (Psalms 118:25-26) that is being quoted on Palm Sunday when the crowds proclaim “Hosanna…Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord” (Mark 11:9)

Passover is the Jewish holiday of freedom.  When we as believers, take the Lord’s Supper we are also celebrating a type of Passover feast. It is reminder of that famous holiday of Jewish freedom, which goes back to Exodus and Moses and the escape from Egypt.  So when we take the communion we pray with gratitude our hymn of praise for God’s deliverance from sin through the death of Jeshua (Jesus) our Messiah.

The Moral Heart.
The Hebrew word for heart, lev, is found hundreds of times in the Bible.  In the biblical mindset it is more than merely the organ that tirelessly pumps blood through our veins.  The lev is the core human organ.  It represents the inner self.  It is what causes us to love, cry, sin and empathize.  A better English equivalent would be “psyche’.

The Bible uses the word lev to express a wide variety of human personas.

An honorable person is described “straight hearted”; a stubborn person is “hard hearted”; an arrogant person is guilty of an “elevated heart”; a dishonest person has a “heart and a heart” or a “double heart”; a courageous person is “mighty hearted”.  I like the dishonest person having a double heart…………think about that one!  A heroic figure like David is not merely courageous but had a “mighty heart.”  I like that.

Jesus as Preacher.
Before he became famous as a healer and miracle-worker, Jesus was a preacher.  The Gospel of Matthew begins telling us of Jesus’ public preaching.  Known as the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus real ministry came as a teacher and rabbi, instilling the Torah in his followers and preaching to them about the kingdom of God.

The English word ‘preach’ came from the Latin words prae (before) and dicare (speak) “ to declare in front of.”  Jesus spoke neither Latin nor English. The original Hebrew word that he used to refer to his preaching was “drasha” in Hebrew.  This word carries more meaning that simply preach.  It meant “to demand”.  Jesus’ sermons were not meant to be easy listening.  He wasn’t going to “tickle the ears” of his audience.  As a Jewish preacher and teacher, Jesus looked deep into the words of Scripture, demanding  a more profound meaning than what is apparent on the surface.  How do you study?

Gethsemane
You have probably heard the name Gethsemane, but did you know that it actually means something?  Gethsemane comes from the Hebrew words “press” and “oils”. At the base of the Mount of Olives there was a garden where the farmers of Jerusalem would bring their harvested olives to be pressed into oil.

The name Gethsemane is significant because it underscores the essence of Jesus’ suffering at the time of his arrest.  Like oil in a press, Jesus is literally having the life squeezed out of him.  As Scripture says, “being in agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (Luke 22:44)  How appropriate he went there to pray!

Hope this blog will peak your interest into delving deeper into Scripture.  There is whole world of meanings that we fail to understand.  I hope to write more on the some puzzling phrases found in Scripture.  Stayed tuned!

Can We Trust the Bible?

I have always been taught along with millions of believers, that the Bible is inerrant, which means it is divinely given and written.   God doesn’t make mistakes, does He?  This was taken from an interesting article that gave me considerable thought.

There are many, including myself, who believe that each and every writer was inspired to write the words that were either given to him or else handed down from a previous source which God intended to be used as His way of telling mankind about Himself and His desires for creation.  He himself came in human form to save His very creation.

But what about all those various details of events in both the Old and the New Testaments? There are various kings, peoples, cultures, dates, etc that seem to conflict with either themselves or with archeological data.  Actually, much of scripture proves that these events really happened, despite being out of sequence….. but does that matter?  The Jewish scribes were intent upon giving us information although perhaps not always in the way we expect.

Some theologians and historians, view many of the stories as metaphors which have a deeper layer of meaning.  Does the crossing of the Red Sea and leading the people into the Promised Land, somehow give us another dimension?  Do the death of Jesus and His resurrection lead us as believers into the promise of everlasting life………a type of Promised Land?   This is only one example.

Let’s look at the details of the resurrection.  Although I think there are good reasons to believe in an inerrant Bible, inerrancy is an unnecessarily high standard by which to establish the central event in Christianity.  It would be a true event even if the Bible were never written!  This single event in history is the central belief of all believers.  How did the thousands of people in the 1^st century world come to faith in a Messiah of the Jews without the written word?  It was by telling the story.  They had very few actual written documents.  Even Paul’s letters could only reach a small minority.

We don’t need inerrant sources to establish that the resurrection actually happened. When reading a report of a football game some commentators like to focus one part of the game while another report focuses on a different aspect.  But it is still the same football game.    Then why do some people mistakenly want to confine the scripture accounts so that all the writers are saying the same thing?

Perhaps they are confusing the fact of the resurrection with the reports of the resurrection.  Conflicting reports of a historical event are evidence that the event actually occurred. Even if one were to find an error of disagreement between the multiple accounts of the resurrection story, the very fact that there are several eyewitness stories shows that something dramatic actually happened in history.

Christianity isn’t true just because the Bible says it is true.  Christianity is true because an event occurred which changed the thinking of millions of people.  We wouldn’t know much about this event now without reading about it……but the resurrection preceded the reports written about it.

Contrary to what some skeptics may think the New Testament writers didn’t create the resurrection.  The resurrection accounts are the reason the writers of the New Testament put this story in written form.   Therefore the foundational beliefs of the Messiah and His teachings, His death and resurrection are true, even if the reports have some errors.  Getting the details wrong in reporting the resurrection doesn’t change the larger point that the resurrection actually happened.  In fact, if all the accounts agreed on every detail, we’d rightly assume they colluded.  Actually eyewitnesses never describe the same historical event in the same way.  Ask those who have witnessed an accident.

The historical documents we’ve collected and put into one binding we call the New Testament are just what the name implies.  The scriptures are documents or testaments of reports of what honorable people witness and had no motive to invent.

I believe the Bible can be trusted but we don’t need to go that far to show that Christianity is true.