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<center>(The purpose of this page is to briefly present some of the evidence
that may help honest skeptics to recognize the truth of the Bible.)
<p><font size=+1><a href="CDS.html">(This information is now available
on audio CD!)</a></font>
<p><b><font color="#000000"><font size=+3>Here's Help for Skeptics</font></font></b></center>
<p><font color="#000000"><font size=+1>Several years ago I wrote a simple
brief paper for some Christian young people who were looking for a tool
that might help their more skeptical peers to be willing to take seriously
the claims of Christianity. In its essence, here is that paper.</font></font>
<h4>
<a NAME="Introduction"></a><font color="#000000"><font size=+1>Introduction</font></font></h4>
<font color="#000000"><font size=+1>Many Christians have unbelieving co-workers,
friends, classmates, etc. who are "skeptics" when it comes to the truth
of the Bible. Often the Christian thinks, "I would love to share this tremendous
life I have found in Jesus Christ with these friends, but how can I when
they don't even believe the Bible is true?" First, it is important to recognize
that there are at least two different kinds of skeptics. Some skeptics
are open-minded, others are close-minded. We must be sensitive to the "kind"
of skeptic our friend happens to be!</font></font>
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<h3>
<a NAME="openminded"></a><font color="#000000"><font size=+2>The Open-minded
Skeptic</font></font></h3></center>
<font color="#000000"><font size=+1>These are people who perhaps have been
brainwashed in school classrooms or by the media or by some supposedly
intellectual person into thinking that to believe the Bible is ridiculous.
They feel that they can not be intellectually honest and accept " myths"
and "fairy tales" like the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. <i>But
they are sincere in desiring to know truth</i>. If they knew that there
was plenty of evidence to support what we believe, they would gladly hear
it. To help this person, we must be able to show him that there is indeed
plenty of evidence to support what we believe. We must demonstrate that
being a Christian does not demand that we throw our brains away and take
a blind leap of faith in the dark. In fact, there is an abundance of evidence
to support what we believe--enough to convince any honest person of the
truth of the scriptures. Many excellent books have been written delineating
these evidences (e.g. <i>Evidence That Demands a Verdict </i>by Josh McDowell).
I will mention two or three evidences that seem especially significant
to me.</font></font>
<h4>
<a NAME="resurrection"></a><font color="#000000"><font size=+1>The Resurrection
of Jesus Christ</font></font></h4>
<font color="#000000"><font size=+1>Unquestionably the greatest miracle
recorded in the Bible as far as Christians are concerned is the Resurrection
of Jesus from the dead. It is upon this miracle that the whole Christian
church stands. And while it may be difficult for some to believe that such
an awesome miracle could ever occur, there is really no way to explain
the early history of the Christian Church apart from the resurrection.
Logically, nothing but the actual physical resurrection of Christ could
account for the incredible change that took place in the first disciples.</font></font>
<p><font color="#000000"><font size=+1>Men who were scattered and fearful
after the death by crucifixion of their Leader suddenly became so emboldened
that they were willing to die for their conviction that Jesus had risen
from the dead. Before they were martyred they were given opportunity to
recant. All they had to do was admit that they were party to a hoax. All
they had to say was that maybe Jesus was not alive after all. But they
could not. They knew the truth. Jesus really had been raised from the dead.
They had seen Him dying on the cross. They had seen His dead body as it
was taken from the cross and prepared for burial. And they had seen Him
alive again. They were totally convinced to the core of their being that
He was alive and that He was the key to their own victory over death. This
is the only explanation for their unanimous willingness to endure painful
execution by the sword, by being boiled alive in huge pots of oil, by being
flayed alive, by being crucified upside down, by being burned at the stake,
etc. Surely at least one of them would have recanted if in his mind there
was even the slightest hint of a doubt about the veracity of the resurrection.</font></font>
<p><font color="#000000"><font size=+1>Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15 (which
even secular scholars acknowledge was written less than 25 years after
the crucifixion of Jesus) that Jesus had appeared to over 500 people at
once after His resurrection. Most of these, he added, were still alive
at the time. In other words, he was inviting skeptical readers of his day
to check it out by questioning some of these living eyewitnesses. Over
250 eyewitnesses would be considered pretty substantial evidence in a court
of law today!</font></font>
<p><font color="#000000"><font size=+1>Some have foolishly speculated that
perhaps the apostles stole the body of Jesus, then claimed that he had
arisen. But how many of them would have been willing to die for such a
fabrication?</font></font>
<p><font color="#000000"><font size=+1>Others have foolishly imagined that
the unbelieving Jews took His body. But why? All they would have had to
do to nip the early church in the bud would have been to produce the dead
body of Jesus. They could not. One might speculate that perhaps the unbelieving
Jews took His body and then destroyed or lost it. Again, it is difficult
to conceive a motive for such action. And again, would men have been willing
to die such agonizing deaths for a mere rumor that He was alive (especially
in the face of all the logic of those who did not believe He was alive)?</font></font>
<p><font color="#000000"><font size=+1>This kind of evidence has convinced
many skeptics in the past. Some have even undertaken the project of writing
books to "debunk" Christianity only to change their minds in the process
and become believers. A case in point is the example of two brilliant skeptics
in 18th century London. One was Lord Lyttleton who later became Chancellor
of the Exchequer. The other was a prominent lawyer named Gilbert West.
They were friends and were agreed in rejecting the truth of the Bible.
They also agreed that the two strongest pillars of the Christian church
were the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the conversion of the apostle
Paul. They expected that if these could be disproved, Christianity would
collapse. So they each decided to write a book. Lyttleton was going to
demonstrate that the conversion of Paul as recorded in Acts was a fabricated
story. West was going to show that the resurrection was a mere myth. After
some time of study and research, Lyttleton asked West how his work was
going. West replied, "To be honest, the more I examine the evidence, the
more convinced I am that the Gospel story is true. I intend now to write
a book to demonstrate the truth of the resurrection." Lyttleton replied,
"I have come to the same conclusion regarding the conversion of Paul."
Other prominent skeptics who became believers after carefully studying
the evidence include Sir William Ramsay, Frank Morison (English lawyer
and journalist and author of <i>Who Moved the Stone?</i>), C.S. Lewis,
Lew Wallace (author of <i>Ben-Hur</i>), and Giovanni Papini (prominant
Italian atheist and author of <i>Life of Christ</i>). It seems to me that
the evidence, for those who will look, is overwhelming.</font></font>
<h4>
<a NAME="prophecy"></a><font color="#000000"><font size=+1>Fulfilled Prophecy</font></font></h4>
<font color="#000000"><font size=+1>There are over 300 prophetic references
to the Messiah found in the Old Testament which are fulfilled in Jesus.
His virgin birth, His birth in Bethlehem, His being a descendent of David,
the slaughter of the innocents by Herod, the coming of John the Baptist
as His forerunner, His miracles, His use of parables, His entry into Jerusalem
on a donkey, His betrayal by a friend, His being sold for 30 pieces of
silver, His hands and feet being pierced, His being crucified with thieves,
the casting of lots for His garment, His pierced side, none of His bones
being broken, His burial in a wealthy man's tomb, His resurrection, His
ascension, etc. were predicted hundreds of years before His birth in Bethlehem.</font></font>
<p><font color="#000000"><font size=+1>Scores of other prophecies about
the futures of key cities and empires and people were written and later
fulfilled in detail. These include people and places like Alexander the
Great, Nebuchadnezzar, Nineveh, Tyre, Samaria, Petra, Babylon, Jerusalem,
etc. These are well documented and easily confirmed.</font></font>
<p><font color="#000000"><font size=+1>The laws of mathematical probability
make it statistically inconceivable that even a small fraction of these
prophecies could have been fulfilled by sheer chance. Of course, some have
speculated that the fulfullment was deliberate (i.e. that Jesus simply
read the prophecies and tried to make them fit His life). But many of the
prophecies are entirely out of human control (e.g. the place, time, and
manner of His birth, His betrayal, the manner of His death and burial,
etc.) Fulfilled prophecy is a powerful evidence for those who sincerely
seek truth.</font></font>
<h4>
<a NAME="manuscripts"></a><font color="#000000"><font size=+1>Manuscript
Reliability</font></font></h4>
<font color="#000000"><font size=+1>Another concern of some honest skeptics
is the reliability of the ancient manuscripts. Could it not be that the
Bible we have today was, at some distant time in the past, radically distorted
by religious zealots? Perhaps whole sections were completely fabricated.
But this too can be (and has been) thoroughly investigated.</font></font>
<p><font color="#000000"><font size=+1>We have over 13,000 ancient manuscripts
of the New Testament alone. Some of these go back to the third and fourth
centuries. And some (e.g. the John Ryland portion of the Gospel of John)
have been dated as early as 130 A.D. It is interesting to compare the manuscript
evidence for the New Testament to that of other famous writings that are
considered beyond question. For example, we have no more than five copies
of manuscripts of any given work by Aristotle, and the earliest goes back
to only 1100 A.D. We have seven ancient manuscripts of Plato's works. The
earliest is from 900 A.D. We have 20 ancient manuscripts of Tacitus' works;
the earliest is dated 1100 A.D.</font></font>
<p><font color="#000000"><font size=+1>From the beginning, the reliability
and accuracy of the New Testament was a matter of great concern. Therefore
the evidence is strong that the New Testament is trustworthy, especially
when compared with other ancient writings. (The painstaking care with which
ancient Jewish scribes copied the Old Testament scriptures is also well
known and documented.)</font></font>
<h4>
<a NAME="archaeology"></a><font color="#000000"><font size=+1>Archaeology</font></font></h4>
<font color="#000000"><font size=+1>A brief word concerning the work of
archaeologists is also in order. After many years of careful excavation
of ancient ruins and sites of ancient cities, archaeologists have uncovered
hundreds of verifications of the facts and details of Scriptures (many
of which earlier skeptics had considered false). The outward collapse of
the walls of Jericho and the burning of the city, the existence of writing
in Moses' day (which earlier skeptics had denied), and the verification
of a large number of details in the writings of Luke are prominent examples.
Documentation is available.</font></font>
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<h3>
<a NAME="closeminded"></a><font color="#000000"><font size=+2>The Closed-Minded
Skeptic</font></font></h3></center>
<font color="#000000"><font size=+1>The Closed-Minded Skeptic is the person
who has already made up his mind about what he believes and is not particularly
interested in further seeking. This kind of skeptic may merely scoff, sneer,
and ridicule what Christians believe, or he may enjoy arguing (although
you can quickly discern that he is not really looking for truth). He is
often merely interested in maintaining a position in which he is comfortable.
Some are "presuppositionally" closed-minded. Many skeptics fear that if
they genuinely consider the evidence with an open mind they may be forced
into an unwelcome change of lifestyle.</font></font>
<h4>
<a NAME="deadmen"></a><font color="#000000"><font size=+1>Dead Men Don't
Bleed</font></font></h4>
<font color="#000000"><font size=+1>It is important to recognize that some
skeptics cannot be convinced regardless of the evidence. They are like
the man who thought he was dead. His family tried mightily to convince
him that he was not dead, but he would not be persuaded. Finally, in desperation,
they took him to a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist tried various tactics,
but nothing worked. Finally he decided, "If I can convince him of one fact
that contradicts his belief that he is dead, that should cure him." So
he decided to use the simple truth that dead men do not bleed. He gave
the man some medical texts to read, had him observe some autopsies, talk
with embalmers, etc. Finally, after several weeks, the man said "O.K.!,
O.K.!, you've convinced me! Dead men do not bleed!" Immediately the psychiatrist
stuck him in the arm with a needle, and the blood flowed. The man looked
down at his arm with a shocked look on his face and said "Good grief! Dead
men do bleed after all!" Some simply will not be convinced regardless of
the evidence.</font></font>
<p><font color="#000000"><font size=+1>Perhaps a helpful approach with
this type of skeptic is a brief statement of my personal experience with
Jesus Christ, backed up with a consistent Christian life full of joy, peace,
love, and a zest for living. In the Bible there is the story of a blind
man who was healed by Jesus. Afterward he was questioned antagonistically
by unbelievers who demanded that he give an answer. He said, in essence,
"I don't know all your answers. But I do know this: Once I was blind and
now I can see." What could they say? Who can argue with someone else's
personal experience?</font></font>
<p><font color="#000000"><font size=+1>So, to our more argumentative friends
we can say, "I may not be able to answer all your questions, but I do know
this: Life makes sense to me. I have an inner peace that most people only
dream about. I have joy and a purpose for living that I would not trade
for anything. I do not have to live with guilt anymore. I do not have to
fear death anymore. Life for me is an incredibly exciting adventure that
will someday culminate in my "graduation to glory." And all of this is
because of Jesus."</font></font>
<p><font color="#000000"><font size=+1>Words of that sort, backed up with
a consistent life, can whet even the most hardened skeptic's curiosity.</font></font>
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<h3>
<a NAME="conclusion"></a><font color="#000000"><font size=+2>An Exercise
that Might Change Your Life</font></font></h3></center>
<font color="#000000"><font size=+1>Perhaps one of the most effective suggestions
for any skeptic (closed- or open-minded) is a method recommended by Dr.
R.A. Torrey many years ago.Take a copy of the Gospel of John and read it
slowly and thoughtfully, a chapter or so a day. Say something like this
in your heart as you begin to read each day, "God, I don't know if you
are out there or not. And if You are real, I don't know if this is Your
Word. But if You are real, and if this is Your Word, I am willing for You
to convince me." The closed-minded skeptic may simply scoff, laugh, or
say, "I don't have time for this," but the Holy Spirit can use such an
approach powerfully in the life of a skeptic who is open to the truth.</font></font>
<p><font color="#000000"><font size=+1>Steve Hall</font></font>
<br><font color="#000000">1991</font>
<br><a href="mailto:steve@aboundingjoy.com">steve@aboundingjoy.com</a>
<p><font size=-2>© 2000 Steve Hall. Permission is hereby granted to
quote from these web pages, in part or in full, as long as the following
statement is included: "© 2000 Steve Hall (steve@aboundingjoy.com).
Quoted by Permission."</font>
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