Christens: I need some enlightenment on this question about Jesus?

Question

I'm seriously wanting to convert to christanity. the church is the only place my heart felt at home in peace but I have problem on one issue that I find difficult to believe that jesus was the son of god and rose from the dead it just sounds fictional plz explain.

Answer 1

Christians know nothing about enlightenment. The bible is the exact opposite of enlightenment. Please, please, reconsider getting involved in any religion that claims to be the only way to God. It is a lie!

Answer 2

I'll give two thoughts of advice on this:

1) If this is the only thing that is holding you back, then you are 99% of the way there. If you want some simple ideas for books, I will give you two that will explain the historical and factoral evidence that Jesus was the Son of God and rose from the dead after dying on a cross.

a) More Than A Carpenter, by Josh McDowell. Probably the best spelt out short book on the proof of Christ saying who he was.

b) Case For Christ, by Lee Strobel. Very detailed, more so then the first option.

Both these men professed to be atheists and conducted their own research on Christ, in an effort to total debunk and debase Christians. (Kind of like what goes on on this website.) Their opinions are unbiased and have sought research and expert study.

2) As for the final 1%, there are going to be answers to questions that we won't have on this side of the universe. That 1% requires faith.

My biggest obstacle before accepting Christ was evolution and thinking that God wasn't big enough to make everything at once and the story in Genesis was fictional. Several months after giving my life to Christ, I was able to come to grips that I won't necessarily understand everything, but that there is enough evidence to provide no definitive answer for either side.

The basis on Christianity is believing that Christ was God's Son, died on the cross for our salvation and rose from the dead. That is the absolute bear minimum of becoming a Christian. And not to dismiss church, but if you become a Christian to go to church, then you may be missing the point.

(I go to a church of over 26,000 members - it's been suggested that there are thousands who sit in the congregation who go there because it "feels good" - and while they profess to be Christians, have never given their lives to Christ.) Accept Christ for who he is and what he has done; believe and have faith. Only then can you be considered a follower of Christ.

Answer 3

First of all you do not need to be involved in organized religion to have peace, I find great comfort in what I know , what I believe and what I can't explain. But to answere your question the best that I can, I would put it to you like this, we are all the children of God, jesus just knew this more completely than anyone else, that is why he was able to perform miracles, FAITH. As far as did Jesus rise from the dead? Yes, death is marked by the bodies inability to carry on, but it is certainly not the end of life.Seek and you will find the answeres that are meaningful to you, they may or may not come from organized religion, all that matters is that they make sence to you. God does not love you becouse you are catholic, mormon, or anything else, he just does.

Answer 4

If Jesus was not the Son of God and did not rise from the dead, then Christianity is no better than Buddhism - just a bunch of people who like the teachings of a particular man and follow them. The identity of Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection IS Christianity. You can attend a Christian church without believing these central truths, but you can never be a Christian without believing them. If your heart and mind are open, just ask God to reveal these truths to you, and He will answer your prayer.

Answer 5

There's a very small phrase in the book of Acts that contributed to my belief. "as you yourselves know". Peter addressed a crowd of people...Actually the very people that had Jesus killed a week earlier... and he was referring to the miracles that Jesus performed. Well I'll just give it to you...

Acts2:22"Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men,[d] put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

Of this crowd, 3000 people believed Peter.

What did the opponents to Christianity say about it?

There actually were Roman guards at the tomb when Jesus rose from the dead.

Matthew 28:11While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13telling them, "You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' 14If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." 15So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

Sounds good. I just never really figured out how a rag-tag team that the disciples were, overpowered trained guards and stole the body. One more point... This event started an undercurrent inside the Roman Empire. To stop it they only needed to produce a body. So, where's the body?

Ultimately, with historical events, one can never prove an event beyond a shadow of a doubt. One can only gauge probabilities. I weighed the evidence and it pointed in favor of the resurrection. If you want to do a little bit of reading you might check out this site.

http://www.carm.org

Answer 6

The resurrection of Jesus is important for several reasons. First, it witnesses to the immense power of God Himself. To believe in the resurrection is to believe in God. If God exists, and if He created the universe and has power over it, He has power to raise the dead. If He does not have such power, He is not a God worthy of our faith and worship. Only He who created life can resurrect it after death, only He can reverse the hideousness that is death itself, and only He can remove the sting that is death and the victory that is the grave’s. In resurrecting Jesus from the grave, God reminds us of His absolute sovereignty over life and death.

Second, the resurrection of Jesus is a testimony to the resurrection of human beings, which is a basic tenet of the Christian faith. Unlike all other religions, Christianity alone possesses a founder who transcends death and who promises that His followers will do the same. All other (false) religions were founded by men and prophets whose end was the grave. As Christians, we take comfort in the fact that our God became man, died for our sins, was killed, and was resurrected the third day. The grave could not hold Him. He lives and He sits today at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. The living church has a living Head.

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul explains in detail the importance of the resurrection of Christ. Some in Corinth did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, and in this chapter Paul gives six disastrous consequences if there were no resurrection: 1) preaching Christ would be senseless (v. 14); 2) faith in Christ would be useless (v. 14); 3) all the witnesses and preachers of the resurrection would be liars (v. 15); 4) no one would be redeemed from sin (v. 17); 5) all former believers would have perished (v.18); and 6) Christians would be the most pitiable people on the earth (v. 19). But Christ indeed has risen from the dead and “has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen sleep” (v. 20), assuring that we will follow Him in resurrection.

The inspired Word of God guarantees the believer's resurrection at the coming of Jesus Christ for His Body (the Church) at the Rapture. Such hope and assurance issues in a great song of triumph as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:55, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory?" How do these concluding verses relate to the importance of the Resurrection? Paul answers, "...you know that your labor is not in vain" (v. 58). He reminds us that because we know we will be resurrected to new life, we can suffer persecution and danger for Christ’s sake (vv. 29-31), just as He did, and just as the thousands of martyrs through history who gladly traded their earthly lives for everlasting life via the resurrection.

The Resurrection is the triumphant and glorious victory for every believer in Jesus Christ who died, was buried, and rose the third day according to the Scripture. And, He is coming again! The dead in Christ will be raised up, and those who remain and are alive at His coming will be changed and receive new, glorified bodies (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Why is the resurrection of Jesus Christ important? It demonstrated that God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. It proves that God has the power to raise us from the dead. It guarantees that those who believe in Christ will not remain dead, but will be resurrected unto eternal life. That is our blessed hope!

Answer 7

According to the apostle Paul, 500 witnesses saw Jesus after he arose from the grave. Some of them paid for this message with their lives. Would they have done so if the resurrection were a hoax?

Consider the disciples before the Resurrection. They were eleven cowardly men who shut themselves in a room after the crucifixion because they were afraid. Yet what galvanized them into action so that within their own lifetime, much of the then known world could hear the message of Christ? They saw something that changed them.

Answer 8

If you take a skeptical view of the trinity (the whole son of god stuff) and the resurrection then you would not be happy in the more hard line Christian churches. You might see if there are any liberal Christian churches in your area. You might also see if there is are any Unitarian churches. The Unitarians look to Jesus as more of a moral guide than a divine being.

There is no reason you cannot belong to an accepting church and still doubt some of their articles of faith. As an Episcopal priest once said, the reason they use the Nicene Creed is that all the statements begin "we believe" and in reciting it you are acknowledging the church's viewpoint, not necessarily your own.

Answer 9

Dear sister, That is a tough pill to swallow, but you could not have put it more succinctly. What you have question on is the very source of salvation.

If you were to believe the accuracy of the Bible you would see that nothing is out of bounds for God. Since he is the creator of all, death is not much of a problem.

Mere Christianity is a very good book by C.S. Lewis and he gives very compelling arguments. But, the answer is in the Bible. If you check it out and see the accuracy therein you will see Messianic prophecies. Jesus meets the criteria for every one that is mentioned. Even his death is foretold in the book of Isaiah. If you read and pray on it I believe the answer will come to you. God does not mind our questions when they come from a sincere desire to get to know him better.

If you need further help or explanation please email me.

Answer 10

That's kind of the basic tenet. The rest is just decoration. "Secular Christianity" is an oxymoron.

It sounds like you like the community spirit but not the theology. There are plenty of social and do-gooder organizations around that might be a better fit.

Answer 11

Christ is the son of God(creator).He died for us.Because He is the son of God He had the power to rise again, and defeat the devil.Therefore our sin dept is paid, we have a choice to go with it or the other way.Christ was born of Mary(human)so as to be temped by all the things we're temped by but remained perfect.
How did Mary become pregnant? Holy Spirit in her sleep.The only 'devine conception' known to mankind.
I hope that helped.Its hard to grasp at first.