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Brown10985
Guest
What do you all feel is the strongest argument for the claims of Christ? The martyerdom of the apostles? The liar, lunatic, or Lord argument? The emergence of the Church? Please, I’m interested.
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mkw
Guest
One or two dieing for their belief in Christ?..NO!
Generation upon generation of those willing to suffer and die for Christ, hard to ignore that.
Could HIS church survive 2000 years if Christ did not exist?..Hardly.!!
Generation upon generation of those willing to suffer and die for Christ, hard to ignore that.
Could HIS church survive 2000 years if Christ did not exist?..Hardly.!!
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RobedWithLight
Guest
That the Church survived and even grow and spread to the four corners of the world, despite great persecution from pagans, is in itself the strongest argument for the divine origin of the Church, and by extension, of Jesus’ claims about who He is.
Gerry
Gerry
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jmm08
Guest
The strongest argument for Christ is that he was pre-announced.
Prophecies in the Old Testament. Jesus had to fit so many prophecies.
Buddha wasn’t pre-announced. What founder of any other religion was pre-announced?
And Jesus was pre-announced to other peoples besides Jews.
See bishop-sheen.org/Talks.html talk #5 of 50.
“Line up the Claimants” – a talk by Fulton Sheen.
Prophecies in the Old Testament. Jesus had to fit so many prophecies.
Buddha wasn’t pre-announced. What founder of any other religion was pre-announced?
And Jesus was pre-announced to other peoples besides Jews.
See bishop-sheen.org/Talks.html talk #5 of 50.
“Line up the Claimants” – a talk by Fulton Sheen.
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Uranage
Guest
First and foremost I would say His resurrection from the dead. He is the only man who claimed to be God and proved it. Numerous eyewitnesses who claimed to have not only seen Him alive after He was demonstratably dead, but also touched Him and ate with Him. (Let’s not forget He predicted He would rise)
The reaction of the Jewish religious leaders was not that Jesus was still in the tomb. Obviously, if He was, the Sanhedran and the Romans could have just shown everyone the body and ended Christianity right then and there. And if they could have, they would have. But they couldn’t.
There was absolutely no motive for any of the three parties involved to have stolen the body either. The Romans wanted to keep the peace. The Sanhedran were the last goup that would have stolen the body. The asked to have a Roman guard present at the tomb to prevent any tampering with the body. And of course, the discliples had no motive either. They knew they would lose what little they had and would live possibly as fugitives for the remainder of their lives. Remember they were whipped in the synagogue and endured incredible hardships after this. All of the Apostles except John was executed for their faith. (Including Paul being beheaded and Peter being crucified upside down!) And on top of all this, they would know deep down in their hearts, that it was all a lie. That Jesus was just like any other guy who was now dead. It wouldn’t make any sense. You can find people willing to die for something that they THINK is true but isn’t. But it is a pretty rare thing for people to die for something that they KNOW is untrue and yet still get executed for it. Also, being monotheistic Jews they would know that they would probably lose their souls for such a scam.
Also predictive prophecy. Numerous Old Testament examples of messianiac prophecies of who and what would happen to the Messiah that were literally fulfilled in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Micah 5:2 for example predicts the very birthplace of the Messiah some 700 years before it happened (Bethlehem). Now that is truely amazing.
Finally, the millions and millions of lives that Jesus of Nazareth has touched over the years is incredible. This in and of itself does not show Jesus was divine, but it is a a piece in the puzzle. I hope that helps.
The reaction of the Jewish religious leaders was not that Jesus was still in the tomb. Obviously, if He was, the Sanhedran and the Romans could have just shown everyone the body and ended Christianity right then and there. And if they could have, they would have. But they couldn’t.
There was absolutely no motive for any of the three parties involved to have stolen the body either. The Romans wanted to keep the peace. The Sanhedran were the last goup that would have stolen the body. The asked to have a Roman guard present at the tomb to prevent any tampering with the body. And of course, the discliples had no motive either. They knew they would lose what little they had and would live possibly as fugitives for the remainder of their lives. Remember they were whipped in the synagogue and endured incredible hardships after this. All of the Apostles except John was executed for their faith. (Including Paul being beheaded and Peter being crucified upside down!) And on top of all this, they would know deep down in their hearts, that it was all a lie. That Jesus was just like any other guy who was now dead. It wouldn’t make any sense. You can find people willing to die for something that they THINK is true but isn’t. But it is a pretty rare thing for people to die for something that they KNOW is untrue and yet still get executed for it. Also, being monotheistic Jews they would know that they would probably lose their souls for such a scam.
Also predictive prophecy. Numerous Old Testament examples of messianiac prophecies of who and what would happen to the Messiah that were literally fulfilled in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Micah 5:2 for example predicts the very birthplace of the Messiah some 700 years before it happened (Bethlehem). Now that is truely amazing.
Finally, the millions and millions of lives that Jesus of Nazareth has touched over the years is incredible. This in and of itself does not show Jesus was divine, but it is a a piece in the puzzle. I hope that helps.
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UnknownCloud
Guest
The strongest argument for Christ is…
Unlike other mythologies of gods manifesting and dwelling among humans, Jesus Chirst is actually historically certain - The C.S. Lewis notion of ‘myth finally entering history…’ kind of thing. Notice too, that the very mythological idea of a god dwelling among us was in a sense, a preparation for Christ.
Unlike other mythologies of gods manifesting and dwelling among humans, Jesus Chirst is actually historically certain - The C.S. Lewis notion of ‘myth finally entering history…’ kind of thing. Notice too, that the very mythological idea of a god dwelling among us was in a sense, a preparation for Christ.
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RobedWithLight
Guest
Jesus claimed to be God, not once but many times as recorded in scripture, and proved it by rising again from the dead, an event which inspired the apostles and the saints to willingly shed their blood in His name.
If the Resurrection wasn’t true, no sane man would even consider dying for such a fraudulent claim.
Gerry
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