Evidence for the Claims of the Bible

In our world of differing opinions, an abundance of false doctrine, creating our own "morals" judged by how we feel or what the crowd agrees is fine, and toddlers who cannot even get along...what truth can we stand on?

I challenge you to look into Christianity before you reject its claims.  Jesus Christ is a well known name, often used as a cuss word (we never say Buddha's name or Muhammad's name as a cuss word!  Yet we do use God's name as a cuss word.  Strange huh?)  Everyone seems to be familiar with the name of Jesus Christ.  Some say He was simply a good moral teacher, or merely a man, or propose that we do not have any factual evidence for the existence, life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Christ.  If these statements were accurate, why would we as a nation, (let alone other nations who are familiar with the name of Christ) even care to think about Him, refute Him, be expressively and outwardly opposed to Him, and even try to remove the practices and beliefs of Christianity or praying to the God of the Bible from our society at large?  If Christianity is false and holds no water, what do we make such a fuss about with trying to deny, reject, oppose, and scold the claims of Christianity?  Why do we waste our time and energy trying to disprove something we know doesn't exist and isn't true? 

There are people known as "tree-huggers" that I personally believe are a bit too into nature...yet I let them live their lives and don't care to be in a constant disagreement with them or try to get others to doubt that the views they hold are valid.  I don't seek to destroy their views or do all I can to "prove" their beliefs are false.  Why?  Because, why should I?  The same applies with people who say, "Well, religion has been the cause of much war and death."  The question I would retort back with is, "What about all of the Atheist dictators and tyrants who have ruled throughout the years and the countless numbers of death, injury, misery, and torture they themselves have brought?"  If individuals like Hitler claimed to justify his erroneous behavior in the name of "religion", I question what religion he was following?  It certainly was not the Christian faith.  And as a side note, one must seriously consider and ponder the fact that everyone loves to throw around the name of God and countless individuals claim to be Christian and know Jesus.  Yet the Bible says in Matthew 7: 15-17:

" 'Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits.  Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?  So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.' "

And Matthew 7: 21-23 which says, "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.  Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ “

And the parable of the sower in Mark 4: 3-8, 10, 13-20 and Luke 8: 4-8, 9, 11-15 which explains that three out of four who thought (or claimed) to be saved, really were not!  Isn't that shocking?  Or is it?  How many professing Christians do we all know whose walk with God doesn't match up with their Christian talk?  Many!  Have you ever thought about it that way?  I once heard of a Christian speaker who, along with the same sort of reasoning I am trying to present here, said something to the effect of, "I don't believe in unicorns, yet I don't go out of my way trying to prove they don't exist.  Why would I care to do so?"

You would not want to show up in eternity and be told you were following the wrong belief system.  We must really come to terms with the fact that creating a "god" of our own making, even if that is by choosing bits and pieces of numerous religions to meet our preference for a "savior" is actually foolishness if you examine this.  How can we create a god of our own making, especially with a bit of Christianity, a few claims of other religions, and a variety of practices from other religions, and expect to have a god worth living for?  So many walk around with this as their practice and yet we scold and shun it as silly when a child has an "imaginary friend".

Here are a few books that present valid evidence for the claims of the Bible and Christianity:

"Evidence That Demands a Verdict" by Josh McDowell

"The Case for Christ" and "The Case for Faith" by Lee Strobel

"Reasonable Faith" by William Lane Craig

"The Reason for God" by Timothy Keller

"I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist" by Norman Geisler

"Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis