How would we Christians respond to this?

Question

What would you do if you were a theologian or a professional apologist, and you were invited to browse through the Vatican Archives with unlimited access, so you could research early Christian records - and you came across documents that showed detailed plans of how Christianity was completely made up, and that Jesus had just been an ordinary man who the early Church writers simply used in their story? Suppose you had the documents verified by every reliable source and that there was no question as to their authenticity and that the more you researched, the more evidence came up to support it! Suppose the Vatican was horrified that you made the discovery and you found out that it was a gigantic cover up and that the whole idea behind Christianity was political!

And that secular accounts of Jesus in history were also faked!?

How would you respond to this?

This is for my Christian school ethics class. I have to imagine it's all true.

Answer 1

if there was no doubts at all, I would have to agree...

but the very fact that it is at the 'vatican' itself would send up red flags though... as i do not consider them the 'authorities' on Christianity, only on manmade religious rhetoric

Answer 2

Firstly I would find that question extremely difficult to answer, I suppose if I had to imagine it were true, I would certainly be shocked to say the least, don't really know how I would feel.

But again I would say that it is extremely difficult to imagine something like this, bit like saying imagine your life was fake, your history was fake, your whole person is made up, only worse.

What I have answered relates to personal feelings, maybe not the type of academical answer you are looking for.

If I were a theologian and/or professional apologist then I would have to state publicly how I was wrong and why.

Of course it's not true thank God...

JB

**Brilliant** If you would like some evidence of religious evolution I can provide a list of additions and dates that the Roman Catholic Church has introduced over the centuries thus transforming the church in such a way that it is barely recognisable to what we see in the Bible...

The reformation was simply what it says - a re-forming of Christianity going back to it's Biblical/Scriptural roots, leaving behind all the man made additions that serve to complicate the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Answer 3

First of all, it is really hard to answer "what if this never happened....." questions such as this for one main reason. Nothing has ever happened or will ever happen without God and His son Jesus Christ. The main thing to remember is that for everything God has, the devil has an opposite. I do not want to sound like one those that blame things on Satan. However, you have to keep in mind that the devil's mastery is that he can deceive and misguide nations, sometimes with supernatural "powers".

With that being said, for me, I would not believe anything that was in the archives of the Vatican. They also have openly admitted to having documents in their archives where Constantine changed the day of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Why? Constantine hated the Jews. When he converted to Christianity, he changed the day of worship because the Jews holy day of worship is on Saturdays, the 7th day of the week.

I believe the Vatican is the wicked "church" (and by church I am refering to a body of people) destined to fall during the Tribulation period mentioned in the book of revelations..... I would not believe anything that came from the Vatican. If God himself tells me that what they say is true only then would I believe it.....

Theresa

Answer 4

I personally believe Jesus was a wonderfully enlightened man, but not a deity, who did great good for a suffering world of his time. I'm sorry, but the deity thing just doesn't fly. I also look at the crimes committed in his name, e.g. the crusades, the inquisitions, witch trials, the supression of progress for a thousand years after Constantine realized he could join with the Christians and use them, and in the process corrupted them. Civilization didn't begin to recover until guttenburg invented the printing press, and the church lost control of the disemination of information. This helped cause the partial reformation of the church.
The basic problem is the so called infallibility of the church, their unwillingness to change, because it would mean admitting that they had been wrong, and then the whole house of cards falls done.

Today we can see the church attempting to impose its views on our politics. This includes banning stem cell research, trying to keep our gay citizens third class, less then human in our secular society, etc. We need only look at extremist Islam to see how religion gets perverted, and realize that the (Catholic) church was just as bad, it has had periods when it stood up for e.g. working people in America vs. the ultra-rich, but today it is back to trying to impose its agenda, its view of morality on our nation. Its not just Catholocism, but also includes the real conservative protestants, e.g. Southern Baptists - the people who believed the bible allowed slavery, kept virtual slavery for 100 yearss after the civil war, and today have a new group to hate, the gays. They too are absolutists, they too run a religion of fear, and its cousin hate. For example the idea that if you don't really believe, you are all going to hell, along with the other 80% of the world that isn't christian. This is their loving God?

Sorry . 9/11 was a wake up call, in many ways

Answer 5

I smell a rat here. It seems foolish that a Christian ethics class would assign such an unscriptural task to students.The Bible is very clear on what we are to do with vain imaginings. 2 Corinthians 10:5 instructs us to cast down every imagination and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

It seems to me that the assignment itself is asking you to do what Scripture warns against. I find this disappointing and troubling. Imagination is a wonderful gift from God, but this seems a sad misuse of it. Unless the instructor is hoping you will, in some mature and courageous way, be challenged into standing up against the temptation embedded within the assignment (perhaps as a rehearsal, of sorts, of how you might handle yourself if confronted with this type of underhanded thing in the world), I am truly concerned.

Whatever the motivation for the assignment, completing it will require walking through Enemy territory, especially since the scenario you are being asked to imagine does little to unite Christians of differing backgrounds, and serves only to heighten suspicions and deepen mistrust between us all. My prayers are with you, your classmates, and the instructor who has put this burden upon you. May you all be led of the Spirit into a more creative and productive use of imagination that truly glorifies God, and enables a more joyful experience of the Truth...one that inspires you to envision all Christians united under the banner of God's grace and love.

Answer 6

They shouldn't, truly. yet each and every so often we do because of the fact all of us understand which you already understand the respond and you're purely asking that question to make us look like monkeys, particularly in case you're an atheist or evolutionists. You provide us the impact that we are nevertheless on the monkey diploma and which you have stepped forward a minimum of 70 000 years ahead human beings. And specific, i understand which you will think of that i don't understand something approximately evolution for the reason that I used the interest 'monkey'. could 'basic ancestor' be extra suitable? Does my answer teach your factor? Does the above exhibit anger, hatred or whimsical hobby?

Answer 7

If the foundation of belief is entirely based on logic and reasoning with no witness from the Holy Ghost about the truth of something than I suppose this would be a shocker to Christians. However, if your foundation of belief is based on logic and reasoning AND a witness from the Holy Ghost, then whenever some new theory or proposal comes along, it is easy to determine the truth of it. If it is right you will feel calm, peaceful, warm, if it is wrong you will feel confused, cold, unsure. Good and evil are sometimes easy to distinguish. There are winds of doctrines, philosophies and beliefs and then there are sure foundations.

Answer 8

So, you are asking someone else to do your ethics report for you?

Not very ethical is it?

But I am a theologian and, while not a professional apologist - I do quite a bit of it - so let me take a stab at this.

IF all of this happened then I wouldn't say anything. Many people look to destroy the man that IS Jesus - but why destroy the message of peace, love and understanding?

Answer 9

The vatican isnt exactly the most truthful organisation and they are very powerful so...

...if i were to find documents like that, i would rather think that they meant me to find them (and acted all surprized and stuff). Although, i have no idea y they would wanna end Christianity (i mean, its one of their larges sourches of cash )

Anyways, this is a stupid exercise, i would refuse to do it, cos it would never happen. I KNOW God and how can i have a relationship with someone that was made up?

Answer 10

Greetings,
Scince this is hypothetical then it is of no avail to even address the situation as it would be no more of an excercise of which came first the chicken or the egg.......
Now if this actually was presented to you from an unbeliever in the world then you would be bound to scripturally debunk this type of baloney and point out that Jesus stated that men would be persuaded to believe the imaginations of other men than to believe the word of God and that they are guilty of falling into that trap. Then scripturally refute all other designs against the word of God by replying that it is written............... and so forth to bring this person back to God and His plan for our redemption and life after death with Him and His Son.

Answer 11

It would be in direct contrast with the experiences in my life that God does exist. I would have to wonder if someone tried to plant enough information to throw a person off the truth. You want fact out of something that takes faith at first. When God has truly touched your life and there is no other explanation then you no longer have faith , you have Fact. A relationship with God is not just old papers someone conjured up. If it starts with faith to be a child of God then as you grow up in him in (spirituality) you grow past faith into un-questionable truth. Ask for personal testimony's that do not involve scripture and then you find the affects and benefits of living a life of faith. Good luck( NOT ) in your attempts to destroy.