What is your "short"/1-minute answer to someone who asks: "Out of all the religions in the world, how do you know Christianity is true?" I trust we've all been in a situation like this when we've been asked this on the spot, so I'd like to hear what others might say in a situation like this (co-worker asks you when you're out with co-workers for lunch, random person you just met, etc).
1 min answer: How know Christianity is true?
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a mere housewife
Not your cup of tea
I don't know that the very weighty evidence of Scripture can be compressed into so short a space? -- but the verse Jimmy gave is a very good reason for assurance.
I think (if I could think clearly enough, which I find very difficult on the spot) I would want to ask them to read Scripture for themselves, looking for prophecies or symbols of Christ, and how He fulfills them, taking note of the claims He makes and thinking about how those claims impact them personally.
Either Jesus is who He said He is, He is a lunatic, or a liar. None of us can simply ignore His claims, because they are universal and absolute. We each have to decide what we are going to do with them. So I think you could (inoffensively, sincerely) ask them to extend the minute they gave you, and investigate more deeply?
I think (if I could think clearly enough, which I find very difficult on the spot) I would want to ask them to read Scripture for themselves, looking for prophecies or symbols of Christ, and how He fulfills them, taking note of the claims He makes and thinking about how those claims impact them personally.
Either Jesus is who He said He is, He is a lunatic, or a liar. None of us can simply ignore His claims, because they are universal and absolute. We each have to decide what we are going to do with them. So I think you could (inoffensively, sincerely) ask them to extend the minute they gave you, and investigate more deeply?
Pilgrim Standard
Puritan Board Sophomore
John 6:45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me
Romans 8:15 ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Romans 8:15 ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Jack K
Puritan Board Doctor
I don't answer that. Most people who ask that question today are really asking, "How can you say that Christianity is any different from other religions?" This is an opportunity to explain the gospel. And the gospel, not intellectual proofs, is what they really need to hear first.
Take them to John 3:16. Explain how God so loved the world that he gave his Son to save us from sin—both its guilt and its power—and to give us eternal life in him and with him. Point out that no other major religion teaches anything remotely like this. Ask if this good news, were it true, wouldn't also make Christianity clearly the best religion.
Only once they've come that far—once they understand the uniqueness of the gospel and see how surpassingly good it must be if true—are most people ready to move on to examining the evidence that supports it and understanding the witness of the Spirit in their hearts.
a mere housewife
Not your cup of tea
This is what I always come back to when I am struggling with doubts. There is no Savior, apart from Christ. No other god deals with my sin.
I realize there's a need for a "soundbite" sometimes, but if whatever you say doesn't stimulate the realization in your conversation partner that a short-answer is inadequate for most purposes, the effect of your words is negligible.
I have a modest exposure to a number of the other religious options out there, as well as to Christian diversity. Unlike my experience with Christianity, I have not found other religions able to adequately identify, much less address the fundamental problem of human experience and offer a solution that meets the human condition; and beyond that to provide a plausible and coherent account of both human origin and destiny, and encouragement of human fulfillment. True, Christianity (and my Creed) have given me an initial norm by which to compare the other options. But none of those have exposed any recognizable (by me) areas of deficiency in Christianity that they could rectify.
Even within Christianity broadly conceived. there are competing rationales for comprehending the Christian message; and so one must determine what/where is the supreme source and scope of authority, and what is it communicating. The degree of a man's willingness to discover the limits of that authority (and any subordinate authority) and his decision to adhere and conform to them, will define his place along the spectrum (or in the constellation) of Christian expression. If one agrees that there is a "center" or a "pole" to which normed fidelity can be indexed (across various categories), then presumably a self-identified Christian should rather be ever closer to the norm than further from it.
I have a modest exposure to a number of the other religious options out there, as well as to Christian diversity. Unlike my experience with Christianity, I have not found other religions able to adequately identify, much less address the fundamental problem of human experience and offer a solution that meets the human condition; and beyond that to provide a plausible and coherent account of both human origin and destiny, and encouragement of human fulfillment. True, Christianity (and my Creed) have given me an initial norm by which to compare the other options. But none of those have exposed any recognizable (by me) areas of deficiency in Christianity that they could rectify.
Even within Christianity broadly conceived. there are competing rationales for comprehending the Christian message; and so one must determine what/where is the supreme source and scope of authority, and what is it communicating. The degree of a man's willingness to discover the limits of that authority (and any subordinate authority) and his decision to adhere and conform to them, will define his place along the spectrum (or in the constellation) of Christian expression. If one agrees that there is a "center" or a "pole" to which normed fidelity can be indexed (across various categories), then presumably a self-identified Christian should rather be ever closer to the norm than further from it.
I know it is true because of
-the total unity of the scriptures despite their 40 differing authors coming from different cultures, vocations, languages, geographical locations, and historical settings.
-the content of the scriptures. No man or group of men has ever conceived of a savior or story line like the Bible has. No one would make it up, much less believe it, much less die for it; unless God were behind it. It is foolish to man, it is offensive to man, and yet it continues to find acceptance among men.
-the person of the scriptures. Everything Jesus said and did was so unlike any one who ever lived. He utterly stands alone in history. Who will you compare him to? He was as nothing in the world, and died alone, broke, betrayed and abandoned. He never wrote a book, he never owned a home. And yet has any man achieved more? Read even one gospel and you will know he is unique.
I timed it, all three can be said in a minute
-the total unity of the scriptures despite their 40 differing authors coming from different cultures, vocations, languages, geographical locations, and historical settings.
-the content of the scriptures. No man or group of men has ever conceived of a savior or story line like the Bible has. No one would make it up, much less believe it, much less die for it; unless God were behind it. It is foolish to man, it is offensive to man, and yet it continues to find acceptance among men.
-the person of the scriptures. Everything Jesus said and did was so unlike any one who ever lived. He utterly stands alone in history. Who will you compare him to? He was as nothing in the world, and died alone, broke, betrayed and abandoned. He never wrote a book, he never owned a home. And yet has any man achieved more? Read even one gospel and you will know he is unique.
I timed it, all three can be said in a minute
Curt
Puritan Board Graduate
We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church to an high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture. And the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is, to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it does abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God: yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.
WCF 1:5
WCF 1:5
InSlaveryToChrist
Puritan Board Junior
I think Jack is spot on. We should always remember that the root of the unbeliever's problem is his rebellion and that the root of the solution to his problem is Christ. We should be loving enough to consider the true need of the ignorant fool who questions the Bible, and not just provide him with half-truths. That will never settle the issue.
"Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit." (Proverbs 26:4-5)
First the root, then the branches.
"Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit." (Proverbs 26:4-5)
First the root, then the branches.
SolaSaint
Puritan Board Sophomore
I agree with Lynnie, I have always answered that question with "The Resurrection". Historical evidence of our risen Savior says it all, from there any Christian doctrine can be proved. in my opinion
Free Christian
Puritan Board Sophomore
To me, Gods Word. No other book have I read that is alive. The Bible lives, is God's living word. I can read a book on anything and after I have read it all the things it tells me are done, I get it. Nothing more opens up, nothing more comes to light. Its wisdom is singular, one dimensional. But God's Word! I can read over and over and yet each time have some new wisdom, to me, unfold. Some new thing for me to learn. One passage will teach me a lesson, but I read that same passage later on, a year maybe, and it opens up anew and teaches me more. Maybe even something completely different from when I first read it. The depth of wisdom the Bible contains I have never seen before. Unfathomable, infinite, alive! No book written by man is capable of this or ever has been.
The Bible is how I know Christianity is true.
The Bible is how I know Christianity is true.
Eoghan
Puritan Board Senior
Ask them what they mean by Christianity? Their question will very depending on whether they are communists, humanists, Buddhists etc... To assume that we understand their question might be a fatal flaw in our presentation of the Gospel.
Do they mean-
a. the western culture we call "the west"
b. big hurdles such as Creation, the Flood, Trinity, Resurrection
c. no reincarnation
d. the impotence of a works based religion
Do they mean-
a. the western culture we call "the west"
b. big hurdles such as Creation, the Flood, Trinity, Resurrection
c. no reincarnation
d. the impotence of a works based religion
Ask Mr. Religion
Flatly Unflappable
My answer would be that it is only the God of the Bible that uniquely accounts for...
1. the physical universe's beginning
2. the order, complexity, and design evident in the universe
3. the reality of abstract, nonphysical realites
4. the reality of objective ethical values
5. the meaning, purpose, and significance that human beings sense and yearn for
6. man's sense of the divine
7. the enigma of man
8. the claims, character, and credentials of Jesus Christ
9. the meaningful realities of life
...simply put, it within Christianity that I can genuinely know anything.
1. the physical universe's beginning
2. the order, complexity, and design evident in the universe
3. the reality of abstract, nonphysical realites
4. the reality of objective ethical values
5. the meaning, purpose, and significance that human beings sense and yearn for
6. man's sense of the divine
7. the enigma of man
8. the claims, character, and credentials of Jesus Christ
9. the meaningful realities of life
...simply put, it within Christianity that I can genuinely know anything.
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