First I would like to state how wonderful it is to be back blogging again. I believe that the internet blog is the last place where true open communication can truly take place, and that is an imperative. So now that the pleasantries are done, let's get done to business. This entry will make much more sense if you have read a friend of mine's most recent blog which can be found at the following link.
Once you have read this then you will understand what this entry has in common.
I was sitting on my back deck drinking a beer with some of my brother's friends. I had been waxing philosophically (finally used it in a sentence) about the existence of God and my personal religious beliefs. It was during this that one of my brother's friends asked me a question that at first almost knocked me out of my chair. But as I thought more and more about it I realized that an answer was there and I am going to share that question and answer with you.
The friend asked "Why do you believe in Jesus Christ? Now don't give me religious answers unless they can be backed up by hard facts. I want to know from a logical standpoint, why you have faith in Jesus Christ."
To say that I was flummoxed (another word I have been waiting to use) would be an understatement. I was being asked to prove a logical, fact based reason for why I had a belief in Jesus Christ. Taken from me were the basic religious standards and verse answers that you are taught in Vacation Bible School or Parish School of Religion. Gone were the imperial truth arguments based on the Beatitudes or the Sermon on the Mount. Even reaching back into areas of the Old Testament where logic and physical evidence was not allowed. I was worried, and then like a ton of bricks it hit me.
I came back with the following, and I can't remember all the points to quote exactly, so I will be rephrasing the statement below.
From a purely logical statement I believe in Jesus Christ because no one else makes sense. I mean let's look at the course of world history. There have been millions of people that have been born and affected the fabric of the life we lead, but only a select few are considered timeless from a standpoint of the thought and lessons they taught, the inventions that they created and the people they affected. We can look at Di Vinci, Newton, Galileo, Socrates, Plato, Einstein, and even in modern day Stephen Hawking. Millions of people have come and gone that were influential in how we structure life, but only a few are timeless like Napoleon, Alexander the Great, Cease, Franklin Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin and Elizabeth II. Millions of people have been popular and made people walk the streets in celebration or jubilation, but only a select few are considered timeless. Michael Jordan, Neil Armstrong, Hulk Hogan, Henry Aaron and Buss Aldren. Millions have come and gone but only a few were leaders that forced a solid change in thought and drove the future based on their own beliefs. Martin Luther King, Jr., Pope John Paul II, Confucius and Mohammed.
But there is one man that did all those things, he worked the crowds in Jerusalem to the point of jubilantly lining the streets upon his arrival, he walked with friends and influenced people that were considered the leaders of their time. His thoughts and words sparked a revolution in thought and idealism that was both new and different at the time. He was both a teacher and a preacher, and had a title of leadership over people. He was as some would say an entertainer and others a man of great miracles. He was willing to sacrifice all of who he was for his ideals and beliefs all the way to the end.
Still I felt at this point that there was something missing, and then as if inspired the following came into mind. This one man is written of in all the major works of religion of his time and after. The Jewish people do not state he did not exist, and even state he was a great prophet, the Muslim people do not deny his existence either and in some cases refer to him as the greatest of the prophets before Mohammed. His birth is referred to in both the interpretations of the Koran (not spelled in the Arabic way) and the bible and in both cases it is a virgin birth. There is a calendar that is simply based upon the end of his life, and that calendar is one that is utilized by many people in the world today. There is not a single person who has been more influential in the world of religion, or has affected more people's lives.
Simply put, I do not believe that human beings are capable of making that completely up, and nor do I believe that it is all just a strange coincidence. The simple fact is that I have faith for many reasons, but if I were steeped in logic, and had to look at who the single most influential person was of our history, there is not a single human being that comes close to Jesus Christ.
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