1 Peter 1:13 (ESV) — 13 Therefore, preparing
your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace
that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
NOTE: I think one of
the major emphasis of the enemy has been to redefine Christianity as a belief
not based on any intellectual acumen. I would strongly disagree for a number of
reasons. One, the battle for our soul is fought in our minds. A renewal of the
mind is the first step on a path to change. Second, the greatest intellectual
argument for Christianity is the resurrection. The historicity of the event, of
the life of Christ, of the disciples resulting change, the eye-witnesses, and
the willingness of those who knew Jesus and the stories intimately to die for
that knowledge. I am unimpressed by second-generation martyrs (as an apologetic
argument for Christianity), but I am deeply impressed by first-generation
eye-witnesses who gained so very little materially and went to early deaths
because of their belief in the literal resurrection from the dead of Jesus. Men
and women, who saw the miracles and witnessed first-hand the life and character
of Jesus Christ. Men who wrote all 27 books of the New Testament during the
lives of the first generation of eyewitnesses. Most of the books were completed
within 30 years of Jesus' death and resurrection. John's books were written
while he was in exile on Patmos, 50-60 years after Jesus' death and resurrection.
Certainly, proving things true or false is a difficult proposition for both
believer and denier. But intellectually, the evidence is heavily weighted
toward the historicity of the gospels and the events described during those
three years of Jesus' public ministry.
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