Why?

Why do I believe? Can you prove the existence of God? Those are hard questions for any Christian to answer, but let’s take a run at it anyway. I do not expect you to take my word for it but would prefer you to look into it yourself after you read through this.

A big reason I believe in God is it’s not a made-up story. A man named Jesus Christ truly did walk the Earth more than 2,000 years ago and claimed to be the Son of God. It’s not purely a biblical story either. He’s mentioned in other historical writings, many of which were written by Jewish and Roman historians who were adamantly not His followers.

I listed some of those writings in more detail here. Jesus and His followers were written about by Tacitus, long considered one of the most accurate historians of the ancient world. He wrote about the crucifixion of Jesus and the intense persecution of His followers by the Roman Emperor Nero.

That’s not all. He was also referred to in the writings of Pliny the Younger, Thallus, Talmud, and especially by the Roman historian Josephus, who wrote about Jesus and Christians in more detail than any other non-Biblical historian in his “The Antiquities of the Jews.”

My point in all this is Jesus existed. He lived, died, rose again from the dead, and was seen resurrected by more than 500 people afterward.

I can hear your next question: “Chad, how do you KNOW He rose from the dead?” People don’t rise from the dead. I get that. To our limited human understanding of things, rising from the dead is impossible. But if you were truly the Son of God, would it be that difficult?

The reason I’m convinced is because of what happened to the disciples after He was crucified. Do you remember the story? They were hiding from the Jewish leaders in an upper room and fearing for their lives. They were completely and totally demoralized after they watched the man they had followed for three years get publicly executed in the worst possible way known to men and women at that time.

While they were huddled in the upper room, Jesus came and stood in the middle of them. The appearance included showing off the scars on His physical body to the group, especially doubting Thomas in a second appearance eight days later.

What happened next was nothing short of mind-blowing. After that appearance, the disciples lost all that fear and began to build the church faster than the human mind could truly comprehend. What did they see to spur them on like that?

What did they gain out of it? All of the disciples except John died horrible and painful deaths. They didn’t get rich. They didn’t get famous. There was no material gain. Only a life of persecution, pain, hunger, and hardship. They were literally run out of many towns they entered, often in fear for their lives. What made them do this?

Was it mass hypnosis? There’s no such thing. Was it a scheme? Tell me, don’t most schemes have some kind of material gain in mind when they’re launched? There was none of that for this group of people.

The only thing it could be was they saw the risen Lord Himself. There is no other explanation that could propel the disciples and Christians to those kinds of heights.

By the way, the Jewish leaders knew exactly where the tomb of Jesus was, and there was no body to be found anywhere. Their story that the disciples broke in and stole the body doesn’t hold water either.

In Matthew 27:62-66, a Roman seal was placed over the tomb. That meant under absolutely no circumstances was that tomb to be opened. Anyone caught trying to get into that tomb would die in the most painful of ways.

There was also a guard set out in front of the tomb that the disciples would have had to fight their way through to get to the body. The guards out in front of the tomb were highly trained and would likely have no problem fighting off tax collectors and fisherman. If they failed, more than likely, the guardsmen were the ones who would die painfully.

The tomb was empty. The Resurrection is the only explanation that makes any sense.

There’s only one possible explanation. Something supernatural happened and Jesus rose and walked out of the tomb. There’s no other explanation that would make sense.

One other thing that jumps to mind is the Bible itself. As the months and years have gone by, the Bible has really opened up. It began to click when I read Romans 8:28, “All things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” The key word there is ALL. All things. Even the baddest of the bad days. He can take those days and work them for your good and His glory. He’s done it for me and wants to do it for you.

Another big reason I believe in the Bible is changed lives. I can vouch for it. When you’ve been married for 15 years in 2000, and despite everything going on with COVID and shutdowns, your wife tells you “I think this has been the best year of our marriage,” something has changed in a positive way.

Look at what it did for the Apostle Paul. He went from intending to murder Christians one day and the next day, he was a completely changed and humbled man. God changes lives. The stories of changed lives up and down the Bible and in the modern day are endless.

Hebrews 4:12 says it best: “For the word of God is living and active.” I’m here to tell you, it is. I’ve been through the New Testament multiple times in the last few years and new things jump out at me all the time.

The biggest reason for belief? The love of God. He didn’t have to do what He did in sending Jesus to take on our sins. But He did it anyway. God is love, and in Him, there is no darkness.

There are many other strong reasons for faith. All you have to do is look. One book that helped me grow was “The Case for Christ” by Lee Stroebel. He’s a journalist like me and investigated Christianity in order to disprove it. He would wind up a staunch believer in Jesus and has shared his faith with others. I highly recommend you pick it up.