1) How can we prove that Jesus lived, and if He really did perform all of those miracles?
There are those who try to deny that Jesus lived, but I find the claim that Jesus never existed to be one of the most ridiculous claims I've ever heard. Just look at the impact he left. No one denies Pythagoras existed. Yet his story is much the same: He was the leader of a philosophical movement that is often considered to have been a small religion, he never wrote anything down (at least nothing that has been preserved), we only know of his existence through his followers and the impact he made on the world... And he made a much smaller impact than Jesus.
I think Jesus' death on the cross is just as obvious. All early Christians agreed Jesus died on a cross. We have the writings of some of his closest friends who knew him while he was alive, such as Peter, John, Matthew, and James. All of them confirm Jesus' crucifixion. Furthermore, we have the writings of Paul, who while he didn't know Jesus before his death, did write letters to people who probably would have known Jesus before the crucifixion. Although there is disagreement over whether the writings of people like John and Matthew are authentic, almost no one denies Paul's writings are authentic and come from the early to middle first century. It is clear in Paul's writings that the early Christians all believed Jesus was crucified, and many of these people would have been witnesses.
So Jesus' life and death are plainly obvious. But his miracles and resurrection are what separate him from anyone who has ever lived, so that's the part that matters most. And again, I think Paul's writings are the most convincing historical sources we have for proving Jesus' resurrection. And I think there is more than sufficient proof from Paul's writings and the writings of those who knew him that Jesus did die and was resurrected.
Do you remember the account of Paul's conversion in the book of Acts? Acts was written by Luke, who was a traveling companion of Paul. So in Acts we have an account given from someone who traveled with Paul, knew him well, and knew the difference Christ had made in his life.
When we first meet Paul in Acts, his name is Saul, he's a Pharisee, and he is taking part in the murder of one of the first Christian martyrs.
Then they cast Stephen out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." (Acts 7:58-60).
In the next chapter we see that Paul is throwing Christians in jail. And he was on his way to Damascus to find more Christians to throw in jail when something remarkable happened. Jesus appeared to Paul in a bright light and turned him completely around.
People may try to dispute whether Jesus actually appeared to Paul, but there are some things here that cannot be disputed which make Paul's testimony very persuasive. Firstly, we know Paul was a Pharisee. Not only did Luke write about it, but Paul confirmed it himself in his own writings. Secondly, we know Paul was an active persecutor of the early church, again Paul confirmed it in his own writings. Thirdly, we know something happened that made Paul go from being a persecutor of the early church and hater of Christians, to becoming a Christian himself. It is clear Paul was accepted by the early church from the fact that Peter accepted Paul (we know this from both Acts and Peter's own writings) and we also know the church as a whole accepted Paul because he wrote letters to the early church and they were accepted as the words of an apostle and preserved.
It is beyond comprehension to me that Paul would make up his conversion experience and then convert to Christianity after having actively persecuted the church and be accepted by the other apostles and the church as a whole. Not only that, Paul endured great suffering and was crucified for his belief. Something very dramatic happened to turn Paul around.
To give you an idea of just how much Paul suffered for the sake of Christ, take a look at what he wrote in one of his letters to the church in Corinth,
Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches (2 Corinthians 11:24-28).
And this is not at all an exhaustive list. There are few who have suffered as much as Paul for the sake of Christ, as Jesus himself said would be the case, "I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name" (Acts 9:16). And Paul stayed loyal to Jesus through it all. Not only that, Paul can often be found rejoicing in his sufferings for the sake of Christ.
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church (Colossians 1:24).
It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Philipians 1:20-21).
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts (Romans 5:3-5).
Paul's story is remarkable. To go from being someone who hated Christians and persecuted them to someone as devoted as he was, gladly enduring suffering for Christ's name and even eager to be martyred so he could join Jesus and be in his company.
And not only him, we see this kind of dedication in every one of the apostles. It makes no sense that Jesus would be killed, the apostles would scatter, and then the apostles would come back suddenly willing to suffer and die for someone who they had seen die... unless Jesus was resurrected. All of their testimonies speak wonders, and I find the testimony of Paul to be the silver bullet. His hatred of the early church cannot be denied, and his later radical dedication to Christ is confirmed by his own letters as well as the writings of others. Something incredible happened to Paul on his way to Damascus.
2) An explanation of Adam and Eve vs. evolution (specificaly carbon dating and how they date rocks or fossils to be over 1 million years old, when it is said that we are only about 7,000 years old).
This debate, I think, is often, sadly, overemphasized by the Christian side. I believe the debate over Jesus' death and resurrection is ten thousand times more important, and I believe there is more than sufficient evidence for his death and resurrection. Jesus' resurrection is the key event in all of Christendom. If it happened, then Jesus is Lord and his testimony is true. If it did not happen, then we can pack it up and go home. The focus should be on the resurrection, so keep your eyes on that. You can worry about evolution later.
Personally, I see no contradiction between evolution and the Bible, so long as you understand that evolution is simply the theory that species evolve. The big bang and evolution are completely separate theories (as any well studied atheist will admit), and the theory of abiogenesis (the spontaneous origin of life) and evolution are also completely different theories. Evolution is simply the theory of how species change over time. With that in mind, there is nothing in the Bible which says species do not evolve over time, therefore there is no contradiction between evolution and the Bible.
However, that is not to say Adam and Eve evolved from apes. I think God created Adam and Eve separately from other animals, and I also think God created many species separately from each other. However, I also think new species have been evolving since that time. I think of evolution as a part of God's creation. God created species so that they could evolve.
That means I also believe creation happened roughly 6 to 10,000 years ago, which means I need to account for things like carbon dating and the apparent age of stars. If you ask any biblical preacher why the universe is so big, he will without hesitation tell you the enormous size of the universe is meant to be a pointer to the magnificence and glory of God. By creating such a huge universe, God is telling a sort of parable: Man is small and insignificant; God is huge and glorious. I think the apparent age of the universe is supposed to remind us of the same thing. When we look at stars that are millions of light years away, we aren't only supposed to think of how enormously glorious God is, we are also supposed to think of God's eternality. I think God created stars millions of light years away to declare his gloriously supreme worth in both his grandeur and his timelessness.
3) How can we believe in a VERY old book that we cant prove true?
Again, the central focus should be Jesus' death and resurrection. If Jesus rose from the dead, the book is true because it is his word that he gave to his apostles and prophets. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, the book is not true. Keep your eyes on Jesus.
I would be thrilled to talk about this some more and to try to answer any other questions you have. Feel free to message me any time.
God bless,
Nathan
. I used to, but I see all this evidence from the athiest point of view and they have SO much evidence to show and prove. Please, if there are any Christians out there, can you please help me try to believe again, if you have good enough arguments. I find myself torn apart from different point of views and paths I should go down.
God bless!
