Ask a Pastor Column

Q: Is there any rational evidence for Christianity? 

A: Oh boy, where do I start? The short answer is Yes! Christianity is the most well attested belief system in the world. While many are unaware of it, I think there is more evidence in support of Christianity than any other belief system. That’s why I’m a Christian! I personally own books 2-inch thick which are filled with evidence for the Christian faith. Obviously, I can’t share all of it with you in a newspaper article so I will cut to the heart of the matter and try to present the rational core of Christianity with the space I have available.

Christianity is unique among the belief systems of the world because it rests wholly and completely upon one verifiable historical event. That event is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead; disprove that and you disprove Christianity (I Corinthians 15:14-18). I’m not worried, however, because Jesus’ resurrection is the most validated and corroborated event in history by far.

I’ve mentioned in several past articles that we have four independent eyewitness accounts in the four gospels (which is more than most ancient events whose authenticity we take for granted). In addition, we have a creed quoted by the Apostle Paul in A.D. 56 (found in I Corinthians 15:1-8). This creed attests that Christ died, was buried, and arose from the dead, and attaches a list of people who had physically encountered the risen Christ. The list includes the twelve disciples (Matthias replacing Judas), James the brother of Jesus (who was likely a skeptic until the resurrection), more than 500 people at once, and Paul himself. This creed can be traced back to within a decade of the crucifixion, and most of the witnesses were still alive when Paul was writing; the readers could have traveled to Judea to talk to them. This list of witnesses, which includes at least two die-hard skeptics, is overwhelming evidence for the resurrection of Christ.

There is more evidence in support of the resurrection, but this alone should convince us that Christ is in fact risen from the dead. That event proves that He was the Son of God. And Christ’s nature as the Son of God makes Him an authority in everything he talked about, including the reliability of Scripture as a whole (Matthew 5:18 etc.), the authenticity of the Creation narrative (Matthew 19:4-5; etc.), the coming judgment of the earth (Luke 13:27-30; etc.), and the way of salvation which is available only through Him (John 3:15-16; 14:6

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