The summer after I graduated high school, I questioned my Christian faith more than ever before. I wondered about the point of reading the Bible, going to church, and professing a religion at all. I had more questions than I had answers, and doubts were running high.
I struggled with many of the questions that people have when it comes to belief in God, such as why a God would allow suffering, create a heaven and a hell, and if there’s truly evidence for religion. After months of searching, I came to my own conclusions of looking for answers, seeking the Word of God for answers, and testing my doubts. I could share many reasons, but here are just three that helped convince me that I’m not investing in a farce:
1. Believing in God is the intersection of faith and logic
Committing to Christianity is not a blind allegiance. Jesus Christ lived, died, and was seen by over 500 witnesses after his resurrection. There is fulfilled prophecy from the Old Testament to the New Testament, with events perfectly predicted hundreds of years before they occurred. And there are more firsthand documents to affirm the events of Christianity than any other major religion. The study of apologetics, or the defense of the faith, provides answers to many of the questions regarding the logic of the Christian faith.
2. If something is created we assume there was a creator.
I heard a great story about this once. If you were walking on a hike in the woods and you came across a Rolex watch lying on the ground, you wouldn’t wonder how it got there. You would assume that it came from someone and that it was created by someone. The same applies to ourselves, because it doesn’t make a lot of sense that we just happened to exist. We were created by someone. You can see this in the complexity of the DNA strand and the majesty of Earth’s mountains and seas. The creation of the world points to the creator.
3. Christianity is a life worth living.
There is hope in God because we have the promise of eternal life. We know that life is temporary, and that all we endure here is served to a higher purpose when our earthly bodies pass away and we find ourselves at the throne of heaven. It may be a lot to sacrifice here, but we are working toward something greater, and we are using our time here to make the world a better place.
To end, I want to share the story of a Cistercian Abbot, who was a part of an order that takes a vow of silence in their monastery, only using words when they sing or confess sins to each other. An Italian television newscaster interviewed the abbot and asked him this question. “What if you were to realize at the end of your life that atheism is true, that there is no God? Tell me. What if that were true?” And here’s what the abbot said, “Holiness, silence, and sacrifice are beautiful in themselves. Even without the promise of reward, I still will have used my life well.”
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