Churchwork
06-04-2012, 05:00 PM
I was having a conversation with an agnostic, and he finally had a change of tune from our lengthy discussion. That doesn't happen often as people you know are so set in their minds already, but from my words he at least began to move in the right direction. My influencing words were these...
"The burden was already fulfilled by the testimonies in the NT as well as those first Apostles conveying the same to second generation Apostles who knew them personally as recorded by the earliest church fathers. Therefore, the burden remains on you to find a naturalistic explanation for the origin of the disciples' beliefs for their eyewitness testimony in multiple different group settings. This is what these lawyers and effectively what the courts would decide if put to the test based on the law.
"The lawyer in the Guinness Book of Records who won 245 cases in a row said the best case he has ever seen in his career from the verdicts passed down by the courts would be for the life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension and deity of Jesus. In a court of law, and some movies have been done about this, the court would rule that Jesus is God and raised Himself from the grave the third day. The most prolific lawyer of the 19th century Simon Greenleaf, who is said to have produced more jurisprudence than all the lawyers combined in western Europe during his day, said the burden is on the naysayer to show this testimony is faulty.
"People don't willingly die for what they know is a lie, group hallucinations are impossible, and all the others naturalistic attempts passed down through the ages have failed to meet the criteria of plausibility, explanatory scope, explanatory power, not ad hoc or contrived, in accordance with accepted beliefs.
"You are a sinner infinitely far away from God because of your sin and self. There is only way to bridge the gap by God Himself entering His creation to atone for sins. Who does God want to be with? Those who appreciate this fact. In other words, who do you depend upon for your life, is it yourself or is it God? The source of the problem is your independency from God, but God created you to be dependant on Him and fellowship with Him. If you don't want that, He has created Hell for you.
"May I recommend three books written by Gary R. Habermas, the leading scholar on the planet today, for the resurrection proof. His foremost work that has received many awards with Mike Licona is The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus (2004). I also like going through his other work, The Historical Jesus, as well as, Ancient Evidence for the Life of Jesus. Altogether these 3 books cite 45 sources of Jesus within 150 years of his death more than any 10 figures in antiquity combined. Wow!"
The agnostic responded by saying, "that'll take a while-thanks-i'll look in that direction."
"The burden was already fulfilled by the testimonies in the NT as well as those first Apostles conveying the same to second generation Apostles who knew them personally as recorded by the earliest church fathers. Therefore, the burden remains on you to find a naturalistic explanation for the origin of the disciples' beliefs for their eyewitness testimony in multiple different group settings. This is what these lawyers and effectively what the courts would decide if put to the test based on the law.
"The lawyer in the Guinness Book of Records who won 245 cases in a row said the best case he has ever seen in his career from the verdicts passed down by the courts would be for the life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension and deity of Jesus. In a court of law, and some movies have been done about this, the court would rule that Jesus is God and raised Himself from the grave the third day. The most prolific lawyer of the 19th century Simon Greenleaf, who is said to have produced more jurisprudence than all the lawyers combined in western Europe during his day, said the burden is on the naysayer to show this testimony is faulty.
"People don't willingly die for what they know is a lie, group hallucinations are impossible, and all the others naturalistic attempts passed down through the ages have failed to meet the criteria of plausibility, explanatory scope, explanatory power, not ad hoc or contrived, in accordance with accepted beliefs.
"You are a sinner infinitely far away from God because of your sin and self. There is only way to bridge the gap by God Himself entering His creation to atone for sins. Who does God want to be with? Those who appreciate this fact. In other words, who do you depend upon for your life, is it yourself or is it God? The source of the problem is your independency from God, but God created you to be dependant on Him and fellowship with Him. If you don't want that, He has created Hell for you.
"May I recommend three books written by Gary R. Habermas, the leading scholar on the planet today, for the resurrection proof. His foremost work that has received many awards with Mike Licona is The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus (2004). I also like going through his other work, The Historical Jesus, as well as, Ancient Evidence for the Life of Jesus. Altogether these 3 books cite 45 sources of Jesus within 150 years of his death more than any 10 figures in antiquity combined. Wow!"
The agnostic responded by saying, "that'll take a while-thanks-i'll look in that direction."