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When discussing my faith with skeptics, it is rarely useful to cite Bible verses to them as confirmation of truth claims. Although I hold scripture as God’s true word, they don’t consider it as having any merit. There are steps that must be taken with skeptics that could be useful in making them see things differently. There are rational, scientific and philosophical evidences for God that do not involve the Bible. That may be useful for them to at least accept that “a God” exists. But eventually they will ask why should they believe the God of the Bible is real. It can be pointed out that there are strong valid reasons that the Bible is trustworthy. This link provided a summary of that reasoning:
https://medium.com/nutsandboltsofbible/authenticity-and-accuracy-of-the-bible-cc3e76bff74f
But ultimately the best evidence that God of the Bible is real is the affirmation of his raising Jesus from the dead. This is the linch pin of Christian faith; if it didn’t happen then Christianity if false. My skeptical friend may be surprised to know that this was an actual historical event for which there is an enormous array of supporting evidence. Scholars, many of whom are agnostic or skeptics, even atheists, virtually all agree of the truth of these points of evidence. Dr. Gary Habernas has enunciated this line of reasoning in this link:
https://ses.edu/minimal-facts-on-the-resurrection-that-even-skeptics-accept/
Skeptics are not brought to faith by reasoning or arguing. That happens only by the working of the Holy Spirit in their heart. But by removing obstacles to belief he or she may be more receptive to that call. We are not called to blind faith, we do not have to stifle rationality and reason. It needs to be shown that ours is a reasonable and valid faith.
“And always honoring Christ as Lord, be ready to offer the reason for the hope that is within you, yet do it with gentleness and respect”
1 Peter 3:15
Often when questioned about the authenticity of the Bible, Christians struggle to explain it. In this article, I’d like to throw some light…
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