Christianity and Multiculturalism

How does Christianity relate to the concept of multiculturalism?  The answer to that depends in large part on one's definition of multiculturalism and there are many definitions of it as you see when you begin researching the topic.  For this article, I will define it as the idea that all cultures are of equal value, none to be judged as superior to another, that society should be oriented around groups versus a common concept of a single united "we" working as a unit, that diversity is more important than unity.  It is a desire not for assimilation and oneness but for difference.  One site I looked at used the term "the politics of difference."  Often proponents of the concept argue that in democracies it is majority rule and thus minorities are held down and discriminated against.  The desire is to withdraw from the majority culture.

What does the Bible have to say, if anything, on the topic?  1 Cor. 1:10 reads as follows:  "Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." (NKJV)  Here we have a plea not for diversity but rather unity which brings up the question of whether or not Christianity is a multicultural religion.  If it is then in what sense is it?

That the gospel should be taken into the entire world and preached to every creature is clearly taught in the Great Commission.  "And he (Jesus--DS) said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.'" (Mark 16:15-16 NKJV)  God is "the Savior of all men" (1 Tim. 4:10 NKJV), not just the Savior of one nationality, or one language, or one race of people.  In this sense then certainly the gospel is multicultural.  Where you live, what color your skin is, what language you speak, whether or not you are rich or poor, handsome or plain, educated or uneducated, young or old, the way you dress, or what you eat, or the kind of work you do, etc., has nothing at all to do with God's desire to see you be saved.  "God our Savior…desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Tim. 2:3-4 NKJV)  Neither does any of that have anything at all to do with a true Christian's love for you as a brother or sister in Christ or in his/her desire to see you have the opportunity to become a fellow Christian if you are not already one. 

However, the word multiculturalism as it is often being used today (2011) in American society conveys the idea that every culture is to be embraced as it is and that all have equal value.  Does the Bible teach this to be the truth?  Can one become a Christian and then just go back and partake freely of whatever his society (culture) offers up? 

When Paul came to Athens, in Acts 17:16, the Bible says, "Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols." (NKJV)  Was Athenian culture to be embraced?  In Ephesus their culture called for the worship of the goddess (idol) Diana (see Acts 19).  Was this a culture Christians ought to value or embrace? 

If every culture has value in its own right why did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah?  If every culture is good why did God drive out the inhabitants of Canaan before the Israelites?  If you do not know you can find out by reading Lev. 18 and Lev. 20.  God in both chapters list a long list of sins and then says in Lev. 18:24-25, "Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you.  For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants." (NKJV)  In the next verse, he says of those sins, "You…shall not commit any of these abominations." (Lev. 18:26 NKJV)  Compare this with his statement in Lev. 20:23 of similar import after reading the sins listed in the earlier part of that chapter. 

What were some of these sins?  Here is a sample--burning to death in fire one's children as a sacrifice to the idol God Molech (Lev. 18:21, Lev. 20:2-5), having sexual relations with animals (Lev. 18:23, Lev. 20:15-16), cursing one's father or mother (Lev. 20:9), homosexuality (Lev. 18:22, Lev. 20:13), and you can read the rest if you so desire to turn to those chapters and read them for yourself.  Now here is the point--did God value these cultures he destroyed?  Did he think one culture was as good as another? 

Now do not get me wrong.  Every man has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23) and there is no doubt the same can be said of all nations.  None are perfect.  But are we to say because of that all are equally good or equally bad?  Whether we are talking about nations, cultures, or congregations some are better than others, at least at a given point in time, or if you want to put it another way some are not as bad as others.  As you read about the seven churches of Asia in Rev. 2 and 3 you immediately see not all were equal in standing before God at that particular time.  Compare the church at Philadelphia, for example, with the church at Sardis or the church at Laodicea. 

Does one wish to value Nazi Germany and its culture back during the reign of the Nazis?  How about Russia under Stalin?  Does one honestly believe that sharia law is as good as democracy (say Afghanistan versus the U.S.)?  What happens to Christianity if Islamic law ever becomes the law of the land?  Are the women in democratic countries looking forward to that time with eager anticipation? 

Is one culture, one belief system, one ideology just as good as another?  What if the other guy's culture (say Iran's for example) says you ought to be destroyed (in Iran's case destroy Israel)?  If one guy's culture says it is a glorious thing to strap on an explosive device on your son or daughter and have them go off and kill themselves what difference does it make if you are a multiculturalist who believes all cultures are to be equally valued for who are you to judge?  

When the children of Israel entered the Promised Land the idea was not incorporating two cultures into one but destroying one--the one that for that moment was most evil.  God was not a multiculturalist.  It is utter folly to value equally every culture and to say no culture has any claim to be superior to another.  Some cultures need destroying, not embraced and built up--Nazi Germany, the Japanese culture of WWII days, the Khmer Rouge, and you can probably add to the list without any additional help from me.   

By its very nature multiculturalism is antagonistic to Christianity for it puts sin and righteousness on an equal plain; it basically says there is no sin for there can be no value judgment.  One can say the Bible supports not being judgmental.  Generally, Matt. 7:1 is quoted as a proof passage where Jesus said, "Judge not, that you be not judged." (NKJV)  This is one of the most abused and misrepresented passages in the Bible.  Read in context one very quickly comes to verse 6 which says, "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces." (Matt. 7:6 NKJV--Jesus speaking)  Who is to judge who the dog is or who the swine is?  You are the one who is to do it.  You have to make that judgment.  The Bible does not, contrary to popular opinion, prohibit judging but only unjust judgment.  "Judge with righteous judgment," Jesus said (John 7:24 NKJV). 

To make no judgments at all, and yes I am speaking of value judgments, opposes everything taught in the New Testament and in life.  The New Testament praises those who because of full age are able to absorb solid food, "that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." (Heb. 5:14 NKJV)  To discern is to judge.  "Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? … We shall judge angels?  How much more, things that pertain to this life?" (1 Cor. 6:2-3 NKJV)  Paul was being critical of the church at Corinth because they refused to judge?  "I say this to your shame.  Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren?" (1 Cor. 6:5 NKJV) 

In life in general do we desire that our children go out into the world unwilling or unable to make value judgments?  Do we send them out without guidance or direction?  Is it our desire that they place the same value on the culture of a gang in an urban area as they do on the culture of a Christian brotherhood of believers?  We sometimes hear talk of the drug culture.  Are all cultures of equal value?  Should no judgments be made? 

Christianity is multicultural in the sense that was earlier stated in this article in that it is a gospel made for all without restrictions based on race, sex, nationality, economic or social status, etc.  However, once one becomes a Christian we are to become "one" people.  "He himself is our peace, who has made both one (a reference to Jew and Gentile of which all mankind is one or the other--DS), and has broken down the middle wall of division between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that he might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross." (Eph. 2:14-16 NKJV)  The end is not humanity divided as it once was between Jew and Gentile but now united as "one new man."  "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Gal. 3:28 NKJV) 

Jesus’ long prayer in John 17 includes this, "I do not pray for these alone but also for those who will believe in me through their word; that they all may be one." (John 17:20-21 NKJV)  I would also recall to the reader's memory the verse that began this article, 1 Cor. 1:10, where the plea was (should we say command?) "that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." (NKJV) 

Christianity does not do away with culture, not mine, not yours, not anyone's.  We all do not have to start eating the same foods, observe the same holidays, learn to speak the same language, wear the same style of clothes, etc.  However, our allowance for diversity must end where the pages of the New Testament speak giving us law to abide by, the law of Christ. 

Some might argue for multiculturalism in view of the fact that Christendom is divided into hundreds, if not even thousands, of denominations.  It is a poor argument to make.  Why?  Because God condemned anything but unity and it is an utter failure in men and their character, or an acknowledgment of their ignorance of scripture, when they rejoice that every man has a church of his choice different from all others in items of faith and practice when Christ prayed for just the opposite.  When men prefer division to unity the failure is in the men. 

Some multiculturalists fear that to not accept multiculturalism will only lead to trouble, division, and possibly even to violence or war.  The truth is just the opposite.  People have not gone to war because they were united as one but because they were divided.  Two people that agree and see eye to eye are not in danger of conflict with one another.  The American Civil War did not start because of unity of belief and practice but because of disunity.  

Neither America nor any other nation has anything to fear from within when all are in general agreement.  We have been a strong country in a large part because every family that came to our borders came not to remain what they once were (you name the nationality or country) but because they wanted to be something new--an American.  My family background is British by DNA but German in more recent descent.  My family has not considered itself either British or German for many generations.  We are not Germans living in America, not German-Americans, we are Americans. 

I fear while hoping I am wrong that we are trying to promote in multiculturalism an ideology that will lead those living in our nation as immigrants to have first allegiance not to America but to the nation or culture from whence they came.  What then?  Trouble!  Disunity!  A warring among ourselves!  That is certainly a possibility. 

So it is in Christianity.  When we become a Christian we are supposed to leave the old world and its ways from whence we came behind us.  We are to become a "new creation" (2 Cor. 5:17, Gal. 6:15, Rom. 6:4).  "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Cor. 5:17 NKJV)  One cannot be a new creation without being literally a new creation meaning he has to put off the old man and put on the new man (Eph. 4:21-24).  The old life, the old way of thinking and doing as one pleased, of doing what everyone else around us was/is doing is over.  The new life is one of faith and obedience to the word of God, to Jesus.  In so far as Christians bring their lives into accordance with that standard of conduct there will be unity of faith and practice.  

The goal of Christianity as it relates to culture is to make all people one, one in Christ.  There is only one way to do that--teaching the gospel to those who are then given the option through free will of either the obedience of faith or a rejection of the faith.  It is a personal choice that must come from the heart of the individual.  There is no such thing as forced obedience to the gospel.  Maybe the God (?) of Islam can accept converts at the point of a gun but the God of Christianity will not. 

The God of Christianity desires man's love.  Love cannot be forced.  It comes through getting to know the one who will become through our learning of him the beloved.  If a man sticks a gun in your back to convert you to his God you quickly learn what kind of God he worships--one who believes in bullets, blood, and guts. 

Some (most?) misunderstand Christianity thinking it has caused wars in the past, the Middle Ages.  It is simply not true for Catholicism is a religion separate from Christianity that does not depend on the Bible for its existence.  The Bible alone will never make one a Catholic, will never give you a Pope, will never allow you to pray to or worship the Virgin Mary, etc., etc., etc.  Catholics, if informed at all, will readily admit it is the teaching of their church that has the primacy and that the New Testament alone is insufficient.  Christianity is found in the pages of the New Testament, not outside it. 

Protestantism is not Christianity.  No man can take the New Testament and show where Jesus ever established a denomination (you can fill in any denominational name you want).  Every one of them was established hundreds and hundreds of years after Christ built his church starting on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 thus they are not the church he established.  Furthermore, it takes along with faith, repentance, and confession of Christ, baptism to make a Christian which virtually every denomination denies and rejects.  Peter said baptism was for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38), that it saves us (1 Peter 3:21), but they deny it making Peter out as one who despite being inspired had no idea what he was talking about.  As for Ananias telling Paul to "arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins" (Acts 22:16) he too was deluded according to denominational doctrine. 

No, let the Catholics and Protestants war all they want back in the Middle Ages.  It had nothing to do with Christianity.  Christianity is a striving for one culture (one belief, one mind) but only through teaching and persuasion as a means of obtaining that.  When you find the passage in the New Testament that shows a disciple taking up arms to promote the cause of Christ please write me and let me know where you find it.  Jesus himself said, "My kingdom is not of this world." (John 18:36 NKJV)  "The kingdom of God is within you." (John 17:21 NKJV)  It is found in the heart of the man who has become a true disciple of Jesus, who has become a Christian. 

Christians love people of all other races, nationalities, and cultures.  I write as an American Christian but Jesus was not an American.  Does his race or nationality matter?  Does any man's race or nationality matter?  No!  Paul said, "We regard no one according to the flesh.  Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him thus no longer.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Cor. 5:16-17 NKJV)  As Paul said, "we regard no one according to the flesh." 

One of the great experiences of my life was going to college and becoming acquainted with people of other races and from foreign lands and cultures.  It greatly enriched my life, a country boy from rural white America.  My personal doctor today, a man I like and a wonderful doctor, is from India.  I am glad we have restaurants today specializing in food from almost every nation in the world.  Cultural diversity is a wonderful thing in its place but we have to understand it has its place.  There are limits to it.  Go too far with it and it divides us into competing and warring factions and brings strife and trouble and sometimes even violence and war. 

God's way is always best, "be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." (1 Cor. 1:10 NKJV)  In doing so we will have peace and tranquility, be happy with one another, and at peace with God.  Both as a nation and as Christians there is much truth in the adage that united we stand and divided we fall or at least fail to achieve what could have been achieved had we stood together as one united people.      

[This article was written in 2011 and posted today with only the slightest bit of editing.  The thinking is it has more relevance today than 11 years ago when it was first written.]

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Faith Comes by Hearing the Word of God--the Implications

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom. 10:17 NKJV)  On its surface, this proclamation by Paul is simple and easy to understand and yet the failure to grasp its implications has brought much division and strife among those who believe Jesus is the Son of God.  Faith and opinion are mixed and it seems no one is able to separate the two.  It appears to the casual observer that one man’s faith is another man’s opinion and that it is nearly hopeless to find objective truth.  This confusion comes not from God but from man.  God’s word is quite clear.

Faith is that which comes from hearing God’s word thus the direct and necessary implication is that if there is no word from God on a religious matter there can be no faith but only opinion.  Faith and opinion are not equal in God’s sight.  A man is saved by faith, not by opinion.  A man is to walk (live his daily life) by faith (Rom. 1:17, 2 Cor. 5:7).  The Christian religion is based on faith but it is an objective faith in that it is based on direct testimony as found in the word of God, testimony given by God himself.

Where God has spoken on a matter I can take his word to the bank, as the old saying goes.  I need not doubt.  His word is not just as good as gold, it is better, more valuable, perfect in purity and truth.  “The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.  More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold.” (Psalms 19:9-10 NKJV)  Faith based on word from God is faith put on a sure and solid foundation that cannot fail.

But, some examples are needed to show the difference between faith based on God’s word and opinion that is mistaken for faith by so many.  I start with examples of things based on biblically defined faith (that which comes from hearing) as per Rom. 10:17. 

I can have faith that a man must repent of sins because God’s word says, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.” (Acts 17:30 NKJV)  My faith is based on hearing the word of God.  It is not a matter of opinion whether a man ought to repent.   It is a matter of the revealed word of God.     

I can have faith that as a Christian I should sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.  “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” (Eph. 5:18-19 NKJV)  There is direct word from God on the subject.  My faith in singing comes from hearing God’s word.  It is objective, not subjective.  “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom. 10:17 NKJV)

I can have faith that as a Christian I should never speak evil of anyone for God’s word says “speak evil of no one.” (Titus 3:2 NKJV)  “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom. 10:17 NKJV)  I am sure you get the idea.  When you have the word of God that you can quote on a subject and you believe what the word says it can be said of your faith that it came by hearing the word of God.  It is scriptural faith defined as that which came from hearing God’s word.

But things are often said to be matters of faith which clearly are only matters of opinion.  Many years ago I knew a man that wanted to build--expand the physical building where local Christians met for worship (whether the church needed it was the big question).  To objectors he would say where is your faith?  His assumption was that God would be with this work for it would please God and thus God would see to it that the bills were paid and the work would prosper and the church would grow in numbers.

But here was the problem--God’s word does not once speak of building a house to worship in, not in the New Testament under which we live today.  One will read the pages of the New Testament until old age dims his eyes and never read one time of a church building such as you see on nearly every corner today.  There is no word from God on building a material brick and mortar building to worship God in.  It is not a matter of faith that God wants us to build or add on to a building but pure opinion, the subjective opinion of man.  If “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17), and that is what the Bible says, then where there is no word there is opinion only.

True, we are commanded to assemble together (Heb. 10:25) but that does not necessarily require a building owned by the brethren.  The church could rent, they could meet in a shelter house at a local park, they could meet at the home or property a brother might own sufficiently large to accommodate them.  In New Testament times we do not read even one time of the brethren investing in and building a structure to worship in.

Am I saying it is wrong to build a building?  Not at all!  Why not?  Because we have a command from God to assemble together (Heb. 10:25) necessitating a location, a place to do this.  Thus a place is required.  We could build or we could rent or maybe come up with some other option to fulfill the command to assemble but my point is that one cannot say a specific way of meeting this obligation is a matter of faith.  There is no word from God.  When we exercise our best judgment, as we must in this case, it still remains a matter of opinion as to whether it would be best to rent or build.  We ought not to go around laying guilt trips on people about their so-called lack of faith when in reality we are dealing with matters of opinion.

One sees this error over and over again.  Someone comes up with something that seems good or right, but lacks direct word from God on it, often even lacking generic authority (which is what we had above--generic authority to build or rent in order to keep a commandment), and then if you do not go along with it or embrace it wholeheartedly it is said “where is your faith.”  My response is “I know where your opinion is.”

But, I want to give some other examples of things that people say they have faith in but the word of God is lacking.  They cannot point to book, chapter, and verse nor can they appeal to generic authority.  What they have is an opinion being passed off as faith whether they realize it or not.

Earlier in this piece, I spoke of how one can have complete faith in singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God for we have word from God saying we should (Eph. 5:18-19).  Where is the word of God saying we should play musical instruments in worship?  We cannot find it in the pages of the New Testament, not one word.  If we go back to the Old Testament we find it there under Judaism, under the Law of Moses, but we live today under Christianity and the law of Christ.  I am sure you know there is a reason why our bibles are divided into an Old Testament and a New Testament.  Do we want to try and be justified under the Law of Moses?  Read Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews and you will change your mind if you do.

What we have is opinion that instrumental music is pleasing to God under Christianity, under the law of Christ, under the New Testament, and something we should use to worship God.  There is no word from God on using instrumental music so we do not have and cannot have the faith that comes by hearing the word of God (Rom. 10:17).   For about five to six hundred years after the church was established there were no instruments of music used in Christian worship.  When it is used today it is based on opinion, the assumption that it is okay.  It was not always so assumed.

David said, “Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins.” (Psalms 19:13 NKJV)  Albert Barnes, the well known commentator, said of the word presumptuous in this passage, “The prevailing thought is that of pride, and the reference is particularly to sins which proceed from self-confidence; from reliance on one’s own strength. The word does not mean open sins, or flagrant sins, so much as those which spring from self-reliance or pride.”  If we dare presume we may well find we have assumed wrong.

That is where we are at today with so many practices that have evolved in the Christian life and worship.  Things are just assumed, presumed, and all based on man’s opinion without a word from God.  It is said we have faith that this or that is okay but there is no word from God.  It is but man’s opinion but it is called faith by man.

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  (Rom. 10:17 NKJV)  

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Faith Based On Deception--Gen. 37:31-33

"So they took Joseph's tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, 'We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son's tunic or not?' And he recognized it and said, 'It is my son's tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.'" (Gen. 37:31-33 NKJV) 

As much as we might wish it to be otherwise faith is not always based on truth.  As human beings, we can come to believe a thing that is not true.  While this is distressing it is also a fact of life.  Jacob developed a strong faith that his son Joseph had perished based on the deception of his other sons who willfully deceived him.  His faith was not based on truth. 

Faith can be based on incorrect or misleading information, on misunderstanding, even on lies one mistakenly accepts, and yet it is so strong that one is firmly convinced that the error he believes is the absolute truth beyond doubt.  Faith can also be based on the evil of one’s own heart – bias or prejudice, for example, against a person or group.  Man can come to believe a lot of things for one reason or another that are not the truth.  There is such a thing as faith based on truth but also such a thing as faith based on that which is not true. 

Because of the evidence presented to him (misinformation), Jacob was certain his son Joseph was dead, killed as he said by "a wild beast". (Gen 37:33 NAS)  He was fed disinformation and with good reason, based on the information he was presented with, believed that which was false. 

Why would he disbelieve?  Did he not get his information from people he had complete trust in?  Every Christian ought to immediately perk his ears up when he thinks back on this account and take heed and learn from it.  We can be misled by the very people we have the utmost trust in.  In Jacob's case, it was deliberate but certainly one can also be misled by those who themselves sincerely believe error and propagate it. 

Another tragic example of faith based on a lie is that of the man of God who was lied to by a prophet of God and lost his life because he believed the lie (see 1 Kings 13).  If you cannot trust a prophet of God who can you trust?  So, again, the admonition is Christians beware.  The only thing you can trust is the word of God, not man.  

In the case of the first sin ever committed the Bible teaches that Eve was indeed deceived, "But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." (Paul in 2 Cor. 11:3 NKJV)  So, a person can be honestly deceived.  One must understand that to believe error, as did Eve, is an exceedingly dangerous thing.  Eve learned the hard way.  There was no going back and doing it over again, no second chance, nor was there a second chance with the man of God in 1 Kings 13. 

This deception that leads to belief in error can be delivered by way of those who seem to be "ministers of righteousness." (2 Cor. 11:15 NKJV)  Paul says, "For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works." (2 Cor. 11:14-15 NKJV) 

Satan quoted scripture to Jesus while tempting him after his baptism.  False teachers can quote scripture.  We today are gullible.  We believe about anything that is called Christian, whether in doctrine or works, is God approved.  We just accept it and go on and assume it is fine with God and in accord with New Testament teaching.  We need to keep alert. 

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1 NKJV)

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Did Christ Rise From the Dead or is Faith Folly

Paul, in answer to the question proposed, would say faith is but folly if Christ did not rise from the dead.  “For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” (1 Cor. 15:16-17 NKJV)  

The atheist, the evolutionist, and all non-believers have staked their eternal well-being on their thesis that Christ did not rise from the dead.  Thus the faith of the non-believers and the faith of those who do believe both revolve around the matter of the resurrection (did it or did it not occur).  If it occurred there is a God in heaven and Jesus is his Son, the Son of God, and the Savior of the world. 

The Bible teaches this very thing.  Speaking of Jesus the Bible says that he was, “declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” (Rom. 1:4 NKJV)  By what means was he declared the Son of God?  By the resurrection from the dead, that sealed the deal. 

One does not need scientific proof to resolve the question of the resurrection of Jesus.  And, besides, how did we ever come to delude ourselves that science can answer every question?  Can science tell you how many grains of sand there are on all the beaches of the world or where the universe ends or how human language developed and became so diverse? 

If a person is a rational being the question of the resurrection of Jesus is one of the easier questions he or she will ever have to answer.  That there was a man named Jesus that lived on the earth in ancient Israel approximately 2,000 years ago is no longer a debated question among scholars.  None to my knowledge deny he was crucified.  All we have to resolve is this question of the resurrection.  How do we do it? 

The first issue to look at is whether or not the body of Jesus was stolen for that was the claim made by the chief priests and Pharisees.  Fearing that might happen they went to Pilate and requested a Roman guard be placed at the tomb. 

Speaking to Pilate they said, “‘Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise.'  Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, 'He has risen from the dead.'  So the last deception will be worse than the first.’  Pilate said to them, ‘You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.’  So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.’” (Matt. 27:63-66 NKJV) 

I am sure you remember the story of the cover-up after the resurrection how some of the guard went into the city and reported to the chief priests those things that had happened and then were given a sum of money to tell the lie that the body of Jesus was stolen while they slept.  A promise was made to them that the chief priests would appease the governor if worse came to worse and it came to his ears that they had been negligent in their duty while on guard. (Matt. 28:11-14) 

What is wrong with that story?  You name it, you got it.  First, it was not only a violation of duty to fall asleep on guard duty, as it also is today, but the punishment in the Roman army was death if the matter was pursued.  You do not fall asleep on guard duty.  

Secondly, it was not a matter of one man alone on the job for then we could imagine one man might fall asleep.  We cannot know how many men had guard duty that night although there has been speculation but we know there were at least a few for only “some of the guard” (Matt. 28:11) go to report the happenings to the priests.  Some means some went and some didn’t.  Did they all sleep at the same time that night without fear of death if caught?  Is there no discipline in the Roman army?  

In the third place the stone by which the tomb entrance was closed was very large (Mark 16:4) and the women who went to the tomb that morning of the resurrection were very concerned about how they were going to move it before arriving on the scene.  This meant it would not be moved easily and would likely take the efforts of more than one man to move.  The same can be said of the body of Jesus unless the perpetrator was going to sling the body across his shoulder and walk off and if so how far was he going to go doing that?  Were the guards not only asleep but in a drunken sleep so sound that all the noise would not awaken them--not awaken even one of them? 

In the fourth place if the body was stolen about everyone knew who would have been in on it.  Why not track down the apostles and beat the truth out of them?  Why was it not done?  Were the Romans, the chief priests, the Pharisees above doing that sort of thing?  What did they do to Christ?  If they themselves believed the story they told publicly, that the body was stolen, why not go after the culprits most likely guilty of the theft?    

In the fifth place, why did the soldiers lie about it?  Was it just the money?  It could have been but it’s very doubtful.  They are in a bind, in a tight spot.  Without help from the chief priests, their lives are in danger for they have done the unthinkable and allowed the body to be stolen on their watch.  Without someone in their corner helping them out they are in danger of losing their own lives so they desperately need the support of the chief priests. 

If they tell the truth about what happened publicly where is their proof?  Who will believe that Jesus rose from the dead and if they are not believed what will become of them?  Will they lose their lives?  From their vantage point, things look pretty hopeless no matter what they do.  Taking the money and lying seems the better way out for who will believe them if they tell the truth and if the governor does not believe them what will become of them?  Will the governor have them put to death? 

So was the body stolen?  You do not believe that if you are a rational person.  The next argument is in my opinion so strong as to completely close the case on the side of the resurrection without another word being spoken about the matter. 

After Jesus was resurrected even his closest disciples did not believe it when it was reported to them.  “Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.” (Mark 16:14 NKJV)  You remember Thomas would not believe unless he could thrust his hand into Jesus’ side. (John 20:25 NKJV) 

And yet, shortly thereafter, they are ready and willing to die for him.  How does one explain that?  Do you sacrifice all for one you know to be dead?  What was there to be gained by such a thing?  Why do you give up everything for a lie unless you know for a fact that what men are calling a lie (Jesus' resurrection) is instead the truth?  

Stephen was martyred, then James.  We know Peter later was also for Jesus said to him, “'Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.'  This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God.  And when He had spoken this, He said to him, 'Follow Me.'" (John 21:18-19 NKJV)  No one doubts that Paul also lost his life because he was a Christian, and died for Christ. 

How does one explain this?  What gets men to go to the extremes they were willing to go to?  There was no money in it (in being a Christian), there was no power to be had in it, there was only hardship and sacrifice, danger and death. 

Paul said, “Are they ministers of Christ?--I speak as a fool--I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.  From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.  Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.” (2 Cor. 11:23-27 NKJV) 

Why would a man like Paul was before his conversion with all the advantages he had in the religious system he was in (Judaism) become a Christian and place upon himself all these things he endured if he had no certain proof that Jesus had risen from the dead?  What was his advantage in doing so? 

All reason, all common sense, tells us Christ arose from the grave, was resurrected, and that the only reason men do not believe it today is they are willingly blind and desire to remain so for personal reasons that most are not willing to admit.  They prefer to live their lives the way they choose rather than the way Christ would have them live. 

Are men not afraid of God?  Paul quotes the Psalmist and says, “'There is no fear of God before their eyes.'” (Rom. 3:18 NKJV)  But, the Bible also says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (2 Cor. 5:10 NKJV)  All men and women will fear God in due time but it will be too late to make a difference with most.  If you are reading this it is not too late to turn to God today but the time will come when it will be for, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor. 6:2 NKJV) 

To deny the resurrection is to deny Christ.  “Whoever denies Me Before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” (Matt. 10:33 NKJV, Jesus speaking)  “If we deny Him, He also will deny us.” (2 Tim. 2:12 NKJV)

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