Why I am a Christian

In 2005, I posted a response to a question: “Why do you believe what you do? Seriously. I'm very deeply, seriously interested.”

I'm recycling that post in the form of a “second edition” if you will, updated and edited to include the progress of my journey.

Why do I believe what I believe?

The answer is contained in the following four components ordered by priority (none of which can exist separately mind you, but they are ordered in terms of most meaningful to me):

(1) Christ Lives

I have no memory of ever being without Christ. The first memory I have of any kind is of my baptism as a child, when I was one month old. I’ve always known Him, and he’s always cared for me. He has been a part of my life, literally from my beginning.

Rich Mullins, in his song Creed says it better than I can:

And I believe what I believe is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man

Without a doubt, my personal and very real Sojourn is the most important reason I believe Christ to be God. I encounter him daily, and I have done so each of my days during my 35 (and counting) rides on the Solar Coaster.

Unfortunately, there was a time in my life when I rejected him, pushed him away and tried to live without him. Thankfully, he did not quit pursuing me.

I know I'm different because of the Grace of God in my life and the personal work of Christ Himself. How do I know? Because of the evil that exists in my heart. Every day I encounter the darkness, the true empirical evidence of sin.

Many Christians write about how C.S. Lewis impacted their lives in understanding this idea of Christ providing light over the darkness. I love Lewis' writings, but for me it was G.K. Chesterton who made a more significant impact.

Chesterton's premise is that the problem of evil, especially the evil found within mankind, is a primary point of focus when trying to “answer the riddle” of humanity's condition and search for purpose and truth. For Chesterton, it is a natural, practical discussion rather than some kind of an arbitrary “ivory tower” truth received from somewhere outside the boundaries of human experience.

Chesterton continues, “Modern masters of science are much impressed with the need of beginning all inquiry with a fact. The ancient masters of religion were quite equally impressed with that necessity. They began with the fact of sin—a fact as practical as potatoes.”

He strikes with this critical point: “Whether or not man could be washed in miraculous waters, there was no doubt at any rate that he wanted washing.”

He then concludes, “The strongest saints and the strongest sceptics alike took positive evil as the starting-point of their argument. If it be true (as it certainly is) that a man can feel exquisite happiness in skinning a cat, then the religious philosopher can only draw one of two deductions. He must either deny the existence of God, as all atheists do; or he must deny the present union between God and man, as all Christians do.”

Chesterton then offers this opinion, which I find fascinating: “A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed.”

Christ provides the true answer for the dilemma of evil and He has done this for me personally.

(2) Personal Experiences

On numerous occasions, Christ has personally intervened in my life in a very observable, physical manner. These occasions have always been at or during defining moments of my life (both positive and negative). Many of these experiences are extremely personal, some have been external and public, some have been with loved ones, some with complete strangers.

On each of these occasions, Christ revealed Himself, His will, or in some cases His servants to me in exactly the way I needed at the exact time I needed it. On one very specific occasion, one of the darkest days of my life, he sent a messenger to my family to comfort us and help us deal with a tragedy. This was a supernatural event witnessed by myself and my dad and a hospital worker in December of 1991.

Indeed, personal experience can never stand alone, but at the same time, when combined with these other components of my belief, they are a powerful testimony to the reality of Christ.

(3) Simple Logic

There are four pillars of knowledge, namely, the law of non-contradiction, the law of causality, the basic reliability of sense perception, and the analogical use of language.

The Law of Causality shows us that there cannot be an effect without a cause. Nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could. Our temporal universe had a beginning and there must be an eternal thing or being which caused it. Because this thing or being is eternal, it has never not existed.

The Law of Non-Contradiction keeps us focused on truth and prevents us (or should prevent us) from deceiving ourselves.

Think of this example: “The only reliable truths are those which can be verified empirically.” Since this statement itself cannot be empirically verified it contradicts itself. The LNC helps us avoid such silliness.

The Basic Reliability of Sense Perception simply helps us know that the reality we experience is real. It is like the philosophy student who asked his professor, “How do I know I exist?” The professor rightly responded, “To whom shall I direct my answer?”

The Analogical Use of Language prevents us from declaring everything a matter of semantics. Aristotle rightly recognized that two human beings could create such an infinite loop of discussion that their conversation would eventually become useless. For knowledge to be possible, we need to have language and the ability to communicate concepts on equal ground.

Why do I bring these pillars of knowledge up? Because the Christian World View is the only one I’ve discovered which does not violate one or more of these pillars of knowledge. In other words, the Christian World View is inherently logical and lines up with the reality we live in better than any other approach I’ve studied.

Atheists will invariably reject one or more of these laws. They, instead embrace naturalism which forces one to conclude the following:

1. Nothing Produced Everything
2. Non-life Produces Life
3. Randomness Produces Fine-tuning
4. Chaos Produces Information
5. Unconsciousness Produces Consciousness
6. Non-reason Produces Reason

Each one of these, by themselves, is illogical. Combined, they are untenable.

(4) The Historical Fact Of The Resurrection

I’ve listed the reasons for the historicity of the Resurrection in a previous post. If you haven’t read that post, please do look at it.

For my perspective, it is critical that one’s faith be rooted in history. It is absurd to suggest faith could or should exist in contradiction to history, science or other forms of empirical evidence. On the contrary, the fact that the empirical world radically verifies my faith has been a key component of my journey. It separates me from those who seek to create their own reality. For more depth, take a look at Greg Kokul's position at STR.

Now, it is very important to note that once you arrive at the Resurrection, you arrive at Christ and once you arrive at Christ you arrive at the full breadth of Scripture. The Bible.

When I study the Bible I see incredible beauty, depth and symmetry. I see an incredible view of a portion of history. I see undeniable prophesy, much of it fulfilled already, some yet to be fulfilled. I see unspeakable treasures of theology. I see the revealed Word of God. I see Truth.

The Bible reveals the specific nature of God, indeed the logos or Word who became flesh!

Coming up over the next few posts, I'll delve into deeper detail about the Scriptures.

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Again, I must emphasize that these four aspects of why I believe what I believe are inseparable even if they are ordered in priority. Think of them as four legs on the table of reality for my life. Remove any of them and the table falls.

It should also be noted that each of these aspects of my world view cannot really be adequately described in a humble blog post. To really look at the details, let me know, we'll get together and I’ll be happy to buy the coffee.