One thing i can say in defense of christianity?

Question

Now i'm atheist but i still wonder how jesus got a ton of people to believe he was the son of god unless he did something amazing or they had really gullible people. apparantly he healed a blind guy and made a cripple guy walk. so yeah. Not gonna go out and convert to christianity i just wonder about this.

just looking at an unbiased perspective. I'm completely neutral on the subject and still atheist though.

Answer 1

A question that nagged at me for years in my youth, too. One could point to sociology factors, such as those offered by Montgomery, see

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-137864059.html

But, when I considered the fact that so many contemporaries of Christ went to their deaths believing, it became difficult to me to accept the notion that they were all deluded.

Christianity's spread outpaced by several orders of magnitude what we know about the development of legends, which usually take hundreds of years to develop. To me, something else had to be underlying this phenomena.

Given the socio-political era in the time of Christ, I cannot reconcile how the local authorities, including the Pharisees, would not be able to expose the early Christians' beliefs in things like the resurrection as a fraud. For example, would it not have been in their interest to make absolutely certain that the tomb where Christ was buried be guarded well enough so that the physical body of "this teacher" be put on dsplay?

And so, here I am. 8-)

Answer 2

The bible carries some historical value. Prophets have been around for all time predicting some horrible events in the world. Not all prophets are religious. It just so happens that the bible declare all other none biblical prophets evil or the work of Satan. Convenient hey?

Let me be direct: the masses are never the most educated or well rounded in their knowledge. Religions have mass appeal because it gives the everyday man a reason to live and do well. Religion was first sold to people with no education. Since all through time most people are among the less educated and religions have been passed from one generation to the next in the form of indoctrination. Not to mention God was a simple way to explain man's existance that gave meaning to the lives of simple men and women.

Society is getting more educated through all the technology available to modern man. The fact we are on Yahoo Answers is proof enough. Because of these exchanges, all be it hostile at times, differing idea are being assimilated. The more exchanges of ideas there are the more people will think with information they did not have before.

Religion has seen their heyday. Religions are becoming obsolete in this modern world and there will be no Jesus Christ second coming to save it. The Anti-Christ is just that, the fall of religions. Man has to suffer greatly at the hand of religious fanatics before he/she can see the truth and rise above this type of human bondage.

This is fact but the religious can't see it because they don't open their eyes and see. The writing is on the wall for all to see but only the opened minded will notice. There are so many prediction about our future it is scary. But rests assure man will be free to evolve and that mean religions must parish from the face of the earth.

Answer 3

Jesus did do the works and then said --- If you don't believe what I say, believe based on what I do. In other words based on what you see with your own eyes.

The same is true for Christianity today. If the gospel is not backed up by a demonstration of the power of Christ you have no cause or reason to believe that the person speaking represents Christ.

And I do not include big meetings where the whole system is run off the faith of a few simple souls and the false hopes of the rest.

Answer 4

Not being disrespectful by any means, but why do you deny the existence of God? Simply because you can't see Him with your own eyes? It would be very easy for God to descend through the clouds in fire and brimstone and provide irrefutable evidence that He is, in fact, God. That's not what He asks of us, though. What God asks is much more difficult....He asks us to believe in something that we cannot see, smell, taste, or touch. He asks us to make a leap of faith. As with any test of faith, before you take the leap you have no proof that your faith will be justified. It's only afterward that you can look back and see if your faith was well placed.

Consider that the bible is still changing lives today, 2000 years after the new testament was written. Those are some powerful words. Will people still be reading "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" in another 2000 years? Consider that the disciples of Jesus went on preaching the gospel throughout the ancient world, founding the early Christian church, until their own deaths. They were beaten, jailed, exiled, crucified, beheaded, etc...yet they kept on preaching the gospel. All of them met less than pleasant ends for the sake of Christ. How could one believe that these men would endure so much had they not witnessed the miracles of Jesus first-hand. Certainly not for money....all of them died in poverty. These men who knew Jesus and followed him throught his ministry were thoroughly convinced that he was the son of God, and not even the threat of death could sway them. To me, the endurance of the bible and the faith of these disciples is very powerful evidence of Jesus' ministry.

Answer 5

There are more than 300 Old Testament prophesies that were fulfilled by Jesus during his lifetime. Maybe a few less if you discount the virgin birth and resurrection. That's still a lot of "coincidences."
What if a person believes on Jesus Christ as savior and when he dies he finds out that it was a farce. There is just nothing. Well, that guy has lost nothing. What if that person rejects Jesus Christ as savior and when he dies he finds out that Jesus really is Lord? That person has lost everything for eternity.

Answer 6

these are the same people that believed in Zeus an Poseidon right before Jesus. There weren't tons of them, they started as a little cult like any other religion. and his having healing powers wouldn't neccessarily mean he's the son of God. So no, don't convert.

Answer 7

He healed lepers, he raised people who were dead a number of days. That could not be done by trickery , especially in those days. He rebuked the wind, try that some time on your day off. He did a lot of awesome things. There WILL come a time when you will know god's word like it or not. Then you will have a decision to make. I pray you don't let your pride get in the way. Ciao

Answer 8

I’m not as impressed as you are.

Jesus didn't get a ton of people to make him think he was the son of god. It wasn't until about 70 yrs after his supposed death that any books were written about him. There were arguments at first that he had existed 100 yrs before we commonly believe he did today. It's possible that he never existed (though I think he probably did). The stories about him healing the sick and resurrecting the dead were most definitely made up decades after he even died.
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I consider myself neutral on the subject. I have nothing against Christians really.

Answer 9

I believe in Jesus because He manifested Himself to me and changed my life.

Sincerely Yours, A Former Atheist Who Has Been Accepted And Adopted By God

Answer 10

Tabby Cat
You sound more like an agnostic than an atheist so I'm going to reply with a question of my own.

History shows that the early Christians, (including most of the disciples) many of whom saw and heard the teachings and miracles of Christ died horrible deaths rather than renounce him.

Does it make sense that they would choose to die rather than renounce him if he were the fraud that the so called "free thinkers" claim him to be?