Discourse – Christian Pastor to Sinaite – 4

[Continuing the discourse between two friends who parted ways late in their lifelong faith journey —Sinaite “VAN” and “CP”–Head of a super successful ministry and founder of a  Church that has grown by leaps and bounds.  Discourse is good, and healthy for relationships, particularly for those who have embraced contrasting views.  If friends can remain friends despite differences in beliefs, that is the true test of religious tolerance and mutual respect for one another’s faith choice.  It is the Torah teaching on how to treat “the other.” Meanwhile, we in the ‘peanut gallery’ listening, chewing, agreeing or disagreeing,  hopefully with open minds —might resolve to check out either side’s claims . . . or maybe not.  Exposure to two or as many sides as there are on any topic enables us to use the most precious gift our Creator blessed us with—freedom to choose.  What is there to choose from if the option we have is only one? We may remain in willful ignorance or endeavor to understand why dedicated Christians who served “Jesus their Savior” for decades would abandon him to turn to YHWH, Revelator on Sinai.

 

If you have not read the earlier posts, here they are:

Reformattted for this post.—Admin1]

 

 

——————————————–

 

 

Hi VAN and BAN,

 

It comes as a surprise to me that you basically disregarded the witness of the apostles as trustworthy and has set aside the New Testament. This is despite the fact that Peter, James, John and other writers of the NT are all familiar with the writings of the Old Testament and most of them were Jewish and contemporaries of Jesus Christ.  In the case of the Apostle Paul, he was a rabbi and a Pharisee of high caliber–being a student of the respected Gamaliel. All of them were able to explain the implications of the Old Testament teachings to the coming of Jesus as the much-awaited Messiah. Of course, many Jews of their time rejected Jesus, but I don’t presume to argue any better than they who have “heard, seen and touched” him. They have personally witnessed Jesus’ life and miracles, death and resurrection and have come to a conclusion and daring proclamation, with their lives at stake – that, indeed, he is the living Son of the Most High God.

 

The New Testament was written in the first century, during the lifetime of eyewitnesses of Jesus.   All had personal interaction and encounter with the risen Lord and Savior.   If you were to disregard the writings of these men, what will be your basis?

 

What will be the basis of how we judge historical documents or writings of men about what transpired? They all pass the test of scientific and legal basis such as:

 

(1) eyewitness account;

(2) written within the lifetime of the incident, unlike legends that develop after the incident has happened 1,000 years or so

(3) collaboration of other sources of documents (which is more clearly discussed further in this email and from other books written by men such as the respected lawyer Lee Strobel).

 

Some people today have been saying that the resurrection did not really happen and Jesus did not even exist in history. He was just a legend, they claim.  However, legends don’t and can’t develop and definitely will not survive in the first two generations.

 

If I were to tell you,

 

Vic, did you know that Ninoy Aquino was not assassinated? Instead, he was drowned in the sea. Actually, he committed suicide by jumping into the Manila Bay.”

 

You and the rest of the first generation of witnesses will say,

 

No, you are lying. I saw it in TV, I saw Aquino coming out of the airplane and then boom! I heard a gunshot and then I saw the body in tarmac.”

 

For sure, my story will not prosper and it will not be accepted. Why? Because, it is still too early to fabricate such a story. The time gap is just too short for it to be credible or even believable.

 

Not with the case of Jesus: the records about his life were written in the first generation. The resurrection, in particular, has well-documented face-to-face encounters.

  • In fact, a well-respected lawyer-reporter for the Chicago Tribune (a well-known newspaper in the US), by the name of Lee Strobel, said in his book The Case for Christ that if you allow all the witnesses who saw Jesus as recorded in the Bible and give them 15 minutes each to testify in the court and another 15 minutes for cross-examination, it will take three weeks of non-stop testimony.  Remember that in courts, the testimony of living witnesses is very powerful. In 1 Corinthians 15:4-8, Paul is essentially saying with much confidence, If you don’t believe me, check with the others.”
  • There is simply no room for it to be a mere legend. Simon Greenleaf, the author of the classic “A Treatise on the Law of Evidence” and royal professor of law at Harvard and who wasn’t a believer before his investigation of the evidence, came to the conclusion that “the resurrection is one of the best documented events in the history of man.”
  • Another famous lawyer, Sir Lionel Luckhoo, who was considered the most successful lawyer according to the Guinness Book of World Record, having 245 consecutive murder acquittals, and was also not a believer before, studied the evidence for and against Jesus. He concluded, “I say unequivocally that the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ is so overwhelming that it compels acceptance by proof which leaves absolutely no room for doubt.” 

 

I appeal that you consider the historical evidence and findings of these lawyers who both gave their lives to Jesus after studying the evidence.

 

You may have noticed that I went at length trying to build a case for the resurrection. Why? Apostle Paul himself put it,

 

And if Christ has not been raised,

then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.

And if Christ has not been raised,

your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” 

-1 Corinthians 15:14-17

 

Tim Keller put the issue very well by saying,

“If Jesus rose from the dead,

then you have to accept all that he said;

if he didn’t rise from the dead,

then why worry about any of what he said?

The issue on which everything hangs is not

whether or not you like his teaching

but whether or not he rose from the dead.”

 

 

Certainly, I could spend more time in probing why you refuse to believe the New Testament writings and the more than 300 prophecies in the Old Testament which can be appropriately ascribed to Jesus as the Messiah (cf. Psalms 22 and Isaiah 53). I don’t presume to be able to make a better and more persuasive case than what is in that the Scriptures.

 

[Apollos] vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. (Acts 18:28)

And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.” (Acts 17:2-3)

 

In this letter, I have chosen to focus on where everything rises and fall—who is Jesus, His claims, His death and resurrection.

 

In the final analysis, faith is a choice. You choose to believe the Old Testament but not the New Testament. You choose to believe the revered traditions and commentaries of the Jewish Rabbis and have chosen to disregard the writings of the New Testament despite the many evidence supporting the accuracy of the New Testament compared to other ancient literature and documents (see the chart below).

 

Why do we not question the accuracy of Homer’s Iliad, Pliny’s History, or Plato’s Republic? Why do we believe that Jose Rizal existed? George Washington? Mahatma Gandhi? Buddha? Moses? King David? Ezekiel?

 

Why do you believe in these historical figures and refuse to believe in the historical accounts about Jesus? The New Testament was written during the lifetime of the eyewitnesses. Nothing comes close to the eyewitness accounts and firsthand encounters of the New Testament.

 
(Signed,
“CP”,
 
Next:  Discourse: Sinaite to Christian Pastor – 5

Join the Conversation...