Theology Thursday #1

“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance, the only thing it cannot be is moderately important.” - C.S. Lewis

Welcome to the first Theology Thursday from Transformed Apologetics! What is Theology Thursday? Theology Thursday is a weekly post that involves information related to the subject of Christian theology and how it relates to Christian apologetics. So, what is this week's Theology Thursday?

For this week's Theology Thursday, we begin with a quote from C.S. Lewis that is semantically and philosophically immense in the dilemma it proposes. Lewis says that “Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance, the only thing it cannot be is moderately important.” This presents us with a remarkably important consideration that demands an in-depth survey of the available evidence in order to determine whether Christianity is true or false. As Lewis explicitly states in the aforementioned quote, the legitimacy and authenticity of Christianity is not a trivial matter but one of immense consequence in terms of our understanding of reality. Either Christianity is false and is no more than product of human manufacturing meant to teach morality, or Christianity is true and therefore constitutes the entirety of our reality and existence. So, how do we determine whether Christianity is true or not and how does this relate to the subject of Christian theology?

When approaching these questions, the former actually answers the latter. But before we go any further, I want to make an important disclaimer that relates to the subject at hand and all other subjects related to Christian apologetics. It important to keep in mind when approaching any subject of Christian apologetics that we are speaking about it "in terms of the strength of probability and not absolute, one hundred percent certainty [1]. You may be wondering, how can I believe in Christianity if cannot know for certain that it is absolutely, one hundred percent true? To that I answer back, how we know anything with absolute, one hundred percent certainty? The truth is there is practically nothing we can prove with one hundred percent certainty [1]. As notable Christian scholar Dr. Gary Habermas says in his book Th Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, "all worldviews (not just Christianity) share the same challenge. Neither atheism nor any of the world's religions can be demonstrated with absolute certainty" [1]. So where does this leave us?

As I mentioned earlier, any matter related Christian apologetics and any other worldview should be spoken about "in terms of the strength of probability" [1]. In order to determine whether we can believe something is true or not we must survey the available evidence so that the strength of probability related to something legitimacy and authenticity can be decided. If something has significant evidence pointing in the direction of its legitimacy and authenticity, we can be very certain that it is true [1]. If something does not have significant evidence pointing evidence pointing in the direction of its legitimacy and authenticity or has a significant amount of evidence pointing against its legitimacy and authenticity, we can be very doubtful that it is true [1]. So, how do we determine the strength of probability related to the legitimacy and authenticity of Christianity?

Thankfully for us, the apostle Paul has given us a litmus test for determining whether or not we can believe that Christianity is true. According to the apostle Paul, the entire legitimacy and authenticity of Christianity hinges on resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthian church that "if Christ has not raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins" (1 Corinthians 15:17). In this declaration to the church in Corinth, Paul relates Christian theology with the legitimacy and authenticity of Christian faith as a whole. Paul is saying that if Jesus has not been resurrected from the dead then the concepts of Christian theology such as sanctification, redemption, atonement, complete forgiveness of sins, and eternal life through Christ are void of all legitimacy and authenticity. If Jesus has not been resurrected from the dead, then the entire Christian faith is as C.S. Lewis says, "false, and is of no importance."

On the other side of things, if Jesus was resurrected from the dead, then the concepts of Christian theology such as sanctification, redemption, atonement, complete forgiveness of sins, and eternal life through Christ are true and determine the entirety of our reality and existence. If Jesus has been resurrected from the dead, the Christian faith and the theology of it become the more important than any other belief related to our reality and the theology of Christianity governs our very existence. Reflecting upon the litmus test for Christianity that the apostle Paul provides for us, we can see the true immensity of the dichotomy of the dilemma that Lewis proposes to us.

With the immensity of this dilemma upon us and a clear path for determining the legitimacy and authenticity of Christianity provided, both Christians and non-Christians must survey the evidence regarding Jesus resurrection and make a conclusion based on which direction that evidence points. Since the subject of the evidence of Jesus' resurrection is incredibly extensive, we will be discussing this topic over many Theology Thursdays to come. In the meanwhile, I have provided below a list of resources providing information regarding the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus below so you can begin to research to subject for yourself. Please feel free to comment your thoughts on this article or on my Instagram @transformedapologetics as well as email me at transformedapologetics@gmail.com. See you next week for our next Theology Thursday.

Books on the resurrection of Jesus:

1. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus by Dr. Gary R. Habermas and Dr. Michael R. Licona, https://www.amazon.com/Case-Resurrection-Jesus-Gary-Habermas/dp/0825427886/ref=sr_1_1?crid=XNI1ETYOX4XT&dchild=1&keywords=the+case+for+the+resurrection+of+jesus&qid=1613066109&s=books&sprefix=the+case+for+the+%2Caps%2C169&sr=1-1

2. The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, https://www.amazon.com/Case-Christ-Journalists-Personal-Investigation/dp/0310345863/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3JCUY5ARIZ6VY&dchild=1&keywords=the+case+for+christ&qid=1613066151&s=books&sprefix=the+case+for+%2Cstripbooks%2C176&sr=1-1

3. Man, Myth, Messiah by Rice Broocks, https://www.amazon.com/Man-Myth-Messiah-Answering-Historys/dp/0849948568/ref=sr_1_1?crid=23WD4KOL3Z1U5&dchild=1&keywords=man+myth+messiah+book&qid=1613066208&s=books&sprefix=man+myth+messia%2Cstripbooks%2C156&sr=1-1

4. In Defense of Jesus by Lee Strobel, https://www.amazon.com/Defense-Jesus-Investigating-Attacks-Identity/dp/0310344689/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=in+defense+of+jesus&qid=1613066270&s=books&sr=1-1

5. Cold Case Christianity by J. Warner Wallace, https://www.amazon.com/s?k=cold+case+christianity+by+j.+warner+wallace&i=stripbooks&crid=3RLWE71GNIOYQ&sprefix=cold+case+%2Cstripbooks%2C167&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_2_10

6. More Than A Carpenter by Josh McDowell & Sean McDowell, https://www.amazon.com/More-Than-Carpenter-Josh-McDowell/dp/1414326270/ref=sr_1_2?crid=387PP0AKTRI4X&dchild=1&keywords=more+than+a+carpenter+by+josh+mcdowell&qid=1613066451&sprefix=more+than+a+%2Caps%2C178&sr=8-2

7. On Guard by William Lane Craig, https://www.amazon.com/Guard-Defending-Faith-Reason-Precision/dp/1434764885/ref=sr_1_1?crid=190MOEK8ZP3K5&dchild=1&keywords=on+guard+william+lane+craig&qid=1613066527&sprefix=on+guard%2Caps%2C175&sr=8-1

8. The Case for Christianity Answer Book by Lee Strobel, https://www.amazon.com/Case-Christianity-Answer-Book/dp/0310339553/ref=sr_1_1?crid=ET2O6M1GK741&dchild=1&keywords=the+case+for+christianity+answer+book&qid=1613066573&sprefix=the+case+for+Chrstian%2Caps%2C171&sr=8-1

9. Reinventing Jesus by J. Ed Komoszewski, Daniel B. Wallace, and M. James Sawyer, https://www.amazon.com/Reinventing-Jesus-J-Ed-Komoszewski/dp/082542982X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=reinventing+jesus&qid=1613066688&sr=8-1

10. Jesus Answer Book by John MacArthur, https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Answer-Book/dp/1400322707/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=jesus+answer+book&qid=1613066753&sr=8-3

*check Christianbook.com for deals on these books they tend to have good prices as well

[1] The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus by Dr. Gary R. Habermas and Dr. Michael R. Licona.