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Coming to know Christ in a College or University if you are not already a Christian is a rarity. However, I found out in my own life, that all things are possible with God. I, and probably most of you reading this, found myself overwhelmed and inundated with the post-modern ideology from my professors and fellow students. I had never truly committed my life to Christ completely and I had never really understood what it meant to have a "world view." It was during my first two years of College that I was introduced to the concept of Truth and the power of the Holy Spirit. My experiences in a small church set me on a journey that has completely changed my life. My journey still goes on, however my life has been so radically influenced by this search for truth that I am currently involved in a local ministry have changed courses and am finishing a degree in ministry. The purpose of this article is to basically present the following point to the College student who like myself was told that Truth is completely relative: Faith in Christ is not a blind leap, but it is FAITH IN EVIDENCE! If you have a hunger for truth and an open mind please read on…
Every individual, regardless if they are cognisant of the fact or not, holds a particular world view. This world view dictates how they perceive their surroundings and issues they must deal with in this life. In the world of ideas there are several competing world views. I have come to the conclusion in my life that it is only the Christian world view that actually addresses and reflects reality. Therefore it is the only world view that can truly bring peace and understanding.
Every world view must attempt to answer three basic questions: Where did I come from? What went wrong? And how do we fix it? These three basic questions cannot be avoided. It is obvious we have some source of existence, whether it is a Creator or random evolutionary processes. It is obvious that there are major problems in the world that need resolution such as war, poverty, crime, disease, and terrorism. Depending on the answers to the first two questions, each world view will give solutions to the world's problems.
In answering the first question, a Christian world view states that we have been created or designed by an intelligent and sovereign God, rather than the product of random chance. To believe in Christ we must first acknowledge this. Hebrews 11:6 demonstrates this point beautifully, stating, "But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (KJV) . I came to this conclusion for several reasons. First of all, I had been taught about the Creator by my parents and grandparents at a young age. There was initially the element of trusting my upbringing. I also have further believed in the Creator because of my religious and emotional experiences in his presence that have transformed my life and are, at least to me, undeniable.
However, there are also intellectual reasons why I believe in a creator. The most prevalent view of the origin of life other than intelligent design is the Theory of Evolution. While some forms of microevolution are evident, the theories that have been proposed concerning macroevolution and the beginnings of life are not only improbable, they are impossible.
The anthropic principle has given much weight to the theory of intelligent design. This principle demonstrates that our conditions are so specific as to support life, such as the principles of water that make it life-nurturing, the distance and orbit of the Earth, the make-up of our atmosphere which gives us the only breathable and survivable planet in our solar system, and many more. There are also elements in human nature that are known as irreducible complexities such as the human eye. The human eye has such a complex design that it is absolutely impossible that it could ever be developed over a series of random mutations. Finally, another point that seems to scream of a creator is the discovery of DNA. Any written information is, in itself, proof of an intelligent designer. DNA is a combination of written chemical instructions that detail the functions of cells. The written code and information could not have evolved. There are several other great proofs of intelligent design as well as fatal flaws in evolution that I will not be able to point out for the sake of time, however I believe that any objective true thinker would have to have more blind faith to believe in evolution than to accept the obvious fact that we have been designed by an intelligent creator.
I do not believe in some impersonal creator that is distant and unknowable. I believe that this creator is none other than the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the God of the Bible. I believe this partly because of my upbringing and my own personal experiences. However, I will state once again that this faith is also grounded in solid evidence. I believe for several reasons that I will list that the Bible is in fact the Word of God, and it is absolutely divine rather than human in origin.
One would assume that if the Bible were inaccurate historically, then at some point the science of archaeology would have disproved the facts and stories in the scriptures. However, time and time again, archaeology has confirmed and supported the historicity of the scriptures, even with the most recent discovery of an ossuary box in Israel, which could have belonged to James, the brother of Jesus, and also an ancient writing of the Old Testament book of Kings. When the Bible, especially the New Testament, is faced with the same scholarly scrutiny and critical analysis as any other historical work of antiquity, it passes all tests with flying colours concerning its authenticity, reliability, and trustworthiness. The problem exists when others with bias against any divine and supernatural occurrences discard and write the scriptures off from the beginning and then begin their studies from the vantage point that no matter what evidence and support is uncovered, the Bible can never be divine because there is no God.
The nature of predictive prophecy that exists all through out the Old Testament is another reason I believe in the divine origin of the Bible, but also that Jesus Christ was the Messiah and the Son of God. Over one hundred and fifty prophecies exist concerning the coming of a messiah and saviour. These prophecies were written hundreds of years before the birth and life of Christ. The fact that these prophetic accounts describe in detail the life and ministry of Christ as reported by eyewitness New Testament writers and also extra-Biblical historians is a great proof for the reliability and origin of scripture. For instance Isaiah chapter 53 gives a detailed biography of Christ: his life, ministry, and his death up on the cross, hundreds of years before it happened. The book of Daniel chapter 9 prophecies the exact time in history the Messiah would appear, and not only that, but that the Messiah would suffer the death penalty, not for himself, but for others.
Once again, the chance that someone could randomly, or even purposely, attempt to fulfil these prophecies is so small that it moves from the realm of improbability to impossibility. Jesus fulfilled them all because he was whom they were written for. He is the prophesied Messiah and he is the Son of the Living God.
Many times when I take a stand on the scriptures or an issue that reflects my Christian world view I am asked why I have the right to speak or say such things, or in other words, what authority I have. I try to point out the basic fact that it is not important that I am saying these things, but it is important and true because Jesus said them, and Jesus demonstrated that he was God by his resurrection from the dead.
The entire Christian religion and world view hinges completely on the event of the resurrection. One major difference in the Christian world view and that of other religions is that Christianity is divine truth grounded in human history and events. There is great evidence for the Resurrection of Christ. If it can be shown unequivocally that Christ did rise from the grave then his entire ministry and everything he said is absolutely authoritative as well as the scriptures that teach of him.
One acronym that I think is very helpful in describing the proofs for the resurrection of Christ is FEAT, which has been popularized by CRI President Hank Hanegraaff. This is because the resurrection was the greatest feat in history. The acronym stands for: Fatal torment, Empty Tomb, Appearances, and Transformation. The first begins with the fact that Christ did actually die on the cross. Secular historians affirm the fact that this happened at the same time the New Testament was being written. These historians include Josephus, Tacitus, and Pliny the Younger. It should also be pointed out that the science of textual criticism has concluded the New Testament accounts of the death and resurrection of Christ to be good historical eyewitness accounts. The next is the fact of the empty tomb. The most evident way to disprove the Christian teaching of the resurrection would have been to produce the body of Jesus. However this could not be done, and the fact of the empty tomb has never been disputed. The next letter in the acronym is "A" for appearances. You have, during the time of the early church, over 500 people who had witnessed the resurrected Christ. This cannot be explained away by mass hypnosis or hallucinations. Finally we reach the last letter in the acronym, which is "T" for transformation. The powerful emergence of the early church is one of the greatest pieces of evidence for the resurrection. A ragtag group of fisherman and tax collectors and such turned the world upside down, faced torture and death, risked their lives and the lives of their families, because they believed that they saw Jesus alive from the dead and the he was truly the Messiah. The conversions of James the brother of Jesus, and of Saul of Tarsus, also add further proof that Jesus had risen from the dead. Once again the fact that Jesus rose from the dead gives his life and ministry complete authority.
The final two questions about world view concern what went wrong, and how can it be fixed. With all the proofs listed above I have come to the conclusion that Jesus is the Christ and that the Bible is the Word of God. With this knowledge in our grasp we understand that what has gone wrong in our world is sin, and furthermore the only way to correct his problem is to have that sin remitted by the blood of the perfect sacrifice, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. This solution is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
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Last modified: 25th November 2005
![[Photo of a crucifix]](crucifix2.jpg)
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