Where's your proof? Did you witness this happen? Oh wait, you're talking about that book a bunch of cavemen wrote aren't you? Ah I see.
There is proof. His life has been accounted for by thousands of people. It is a fact that Jesus Christ walked the earth; no historian will debate that. Its just WHO HE WAS and what he did is what gets to topics like these. You'll read about all kinds of other stuff that happened long ago and believe that, just because people were there and put it in a history book, right? Or else I guess you could just sit in class and argue about everything the whole time - but most of us just accept it. There are lots of historic documents that can only be accounted for by several people, and yet we still regard them as truth.
So to answer your question, no, I obviously did not witness Jesus rising from the dead. But did you witness it? See what I'm getting at....Its about faith and believing. Here's what I believe (aka the "gospel"):
God created man. Man turned from God in sin. God sent Christ, his son. Christ lived and died. He died for me, you, everyone, to reconcile us to God. God is holy, perfect. We are sinful, imperfect. God desires a relationship with us but we are so filthy in sin and disobedience that a relationship is not possible with such a holy God. Christ dying for us, in our place, takes our sins, and restores that right relationship with God. All we are called to do is accept that this happened, and surrender control of our lives, and that's all (Rom 10:9; Heb 12:9). "It is finished.†(John 19:30) Until a change happens in our lives, we are dead. We are dead in our sins. No one is born into a right relationship with God. Until we realize how sinful we actually are and submit to God in his sovereignty, we are enemies of God (Rom 5:10; Col 1:21). In submission, we are called to accept that God is God and relinquish control of our lives. God is the only thing that can satisfy us. We were created for his pleasure, for us to have a relationship with him.
C.S. Lewis had a firm grasp on this concept. In his book Mere Christianity, he writes, "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." God wants us to understand this and chase after him. There is no way that we are going to be able to earn our way into a relationship with God. If we could, there was no reason for Him to send His son to die on the cross for our sins (John 3:16). Another good book is "More Than A Carpenter" by Josh McDowell.
I'm not saying to go start reading the Bible and these other books, but it would help you to be more knowledgable on the subject. I haven't read the entire Bible myself. But thats not the point. The point is I and some others believe this is the truth and some of you don't. We're not here trying to "save" you. Thats not how it works. We tell you the truth and pray for you and the rest is up to God to change your heart and up to you to make the decision.
If you are seriously wanting to learn more or even argue more, I'd be glad to. You can email me at
beetlejuice@mafiaowns.com, send me a PM, talk to me on Ventrilo, or send me an instant message on AIM (tjcrowley913). And if you're lucky I'll give you my phone number and we can talk/argue about it.
Now I know all of you are going to reply and say all the usual stuff. I've heard it all before, I use to say the same things. I guess its just a matter of having the last word, which I could care less about. This is just going to go back and forth forever with everyone repeating themselves and should eventually get moved to spam. I've seen what you have to say and I know how to go back and re-read. So go ahead and reply back and bash me and/or my religion, I'm done posting on this thread.
