The Case for Faith

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been reading through a book called “The Case for Faith” by Lee Strobel. It was lent to me by a mentor of mine when I talked to her about some doubts about God that I was struggling with. Ever since I first opened this book, it has been an amazing resource for answers and reassurance about my beliefs, and I wanted to share this gift with my blog readers.

Before I go into that, though, I want to touch on a few other things. First of all, it’s okay to have doubts about God. Even as a lifelong Christian, I sometimes question whether I’m really right about my views on faith. The key is in what you do with those doubts; whether you let them take over, or whether you take them to God and ask for answers. God is amazing because despite the fact that He is so vast and powerful, He is eager to help us through our doubts. In fact, He promises that we will find Him when we seek Him with all of our hearts.

Second of all, I firmly believe that those who do not know Jesus will see that He is the truth if they come searching with open and honest minds. Whether you are coming from another faith system, have no faith, or have not yet decided; I know that Jesus wants to meet you. My biggest prayer for the world is that people would let go of their biases and search for the truth with honest hearts and minds, because if they did, they would find the savior of the world. That is what I did a few weeks ago, when I was honest about my doubts and decided to see if God could convince me. It is with great joy and humility that I tell you this— He answered me loud and clear.

The book “The Case for Faith” is actually sort of a follow-up to another book that Strobel wrote called “The Case for Christ.” I decided to read “The Case for Faith” first, however, because I felt that I needed to be sure of my belief in God before I could be sure of my belief in Jesus. After reading through about half of the book so far, however, I am already reassured of both.

The book is about a journalist who investigates some of the toughest objections that people have to Christianity. He interviews scholars from several fields to ask them difficult questions about their faith in Jesus, ranging from why God permits suffering to how miracles can be true if they contradict science. Through the eight interviews he conducts and records in this book, Strobel emerges with a very strong case for faith in God.

One of the points that struck me the most was regarding the question of how Christianity can honestly claim to be the only true religion. I used to question the likelihood that I chose the “right” faith system out of all of the other options out there. I feared for the possibility that I was wrong, and that by the time I died and figured it out, it would be too late. This book helped me out a lot by addressing these concerns.

A key point used to address this concern was that the truth is not always pleasant. The ideal values in today’s world are all about peace, tolerance, and acceptance. I think all of those are important values, but I have to disagree when they are used to maintain that there are no universal truths. Torturing a baby is always wrong, no matter the when, where, or why. That is a universal truth. Even if a person’s religion condoned it or it was an important part of a person’s culture, it would still be wrong. The fact is that there are some things that are universally wrong or right, whether that is a politically correct thing to say or not. Asserting that Jesus is the only way to heaven is not arrogant, especially if it turns out to be the truth; it is, however, unpleasant to hear if you do not believe it. But just because you don’t believe in a universal truth doesn’t mean that it’s untrue—that’s what makes it a universal truth; not believing in it just makes you wrong.

So perhaps it isn’t all that unreasonable to claim that one’s belief system is the only true faith, but what gives Christianity that right? A claim of that magnitude certainly requires some proof. Fortunately, “The Case for Faith” does not neglect to provide it. However… I’m not going to tell you any more about it. No, I want you to find out what evidence there is for yourself. This is partly because I am afraid I would not do it justice, but mostly because I think that reading through this book is a journey that will not lead you wrong.

That all being said, I feel that I must throw in a disclaimer here: this book is not the Bible, and it is written by a person, so is therefore imperfect. I do not want you to think that this book is the answer to everything you are searching for. It’s a book, not God. Which brings me to my final point… Jesus is the key to all of this. You can read books, do research, talk to people, and think all you want, but if you don’t give Jesus a chance to speak for Himself, than everything would have been a waste. Jesus is a real person, historically documented and all. His claims to be God, His miracles provided as proof, and His resurrection are all well-documented too, and if you give the evidence the benefit of the doubt and try to talk to Him, then I think you’d like what you find.

So, do you have the courage to seek Him? Are you willing to check out this side of the story, to examine the evidence? Will you call out to Him, expecting an answer?

 

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13

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