Most people agree that Jesus Christ was a great prophet and religious leader, but Christians think he was more than that. What makes him different from Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius or other leaders?

H. G. Wells, the noted historian, was asked which person had left the most permanent impression on history. He replied that if one judged a person's greatness by historical standards, "By this test, Jesus stands first."

Arguments for Christianity:

• The bible enjoys wider respect than other texts, and includes not only moral laws and wisdom but also many prophecies that have been fulfilled.
• Christ is unique in several ways, not only from the number of miracles he performed, but he is the only prophet to claim to be the Son of God and to be raised from the dead. He is also the fulfillment of many biblical prophecies.

Although there are inconsistencies in some details in the bible (Many Christians refute this saying it is just our lack of understanding), it is generally very consistent considering more than 40 authors wrote it over more than a thousand years.
In fact, inconsistencies are common in first hand accounts of events because different people perceive events differently. When there are no differences, stories are suspect of being derived from a common script or myth.
See: The Bible

Prophecies fulfilled:
There are many prophecies in the bible, some 800 in the Old Testament and about 200 in the New Testament. A large portion of them have been fulfilled.
Don French says in "The Open Bible" (www.quiknet.com/~dfrench/)

"One of the strongest objective evidences of Biblical inspiration is the phenomenon of fulfilled prophecy. The bible is essentially unique among the religious books of mankind in this respect. Some of them contain a few vague forecasts, but nothing comparable to the vast number of specific prophecies found in the Bible. The same is true of modern "prophets", so-called. Such seers as Nostradamus, Jean Dixon, and others have made many predictions, but often they are nebulous and capable of various meanings. A few of their prophecies seem to have been fulfilled in a general way, but most of them have completely failed."

Fulfilled prophecies include:

Ancient Prophecies: E.g. Destruction of Nineveh [Nahum 3:19], Babylonian rise to [Jeremiah 25:11-12] and fall from [Isaiah 13:19] power, The events of Alexander the Great's siege against the island fortress of Tyre [Ezekiel 26:3] and Edom [Jeremiah 49:16], the coming of Alexander the Great and a detail description of the interactions between the Ptolemies and the Selucids from the death of Alexander the Great to the rise of the Roman Empire [Daniel 11:2-4].

Messianic prophecies: Prophecies (60 major prophecies and 270+ ramifications) from birth to betrayal and rejection about a Messiah are fulfilled by Jesus.
(See: Jesus fulfills Prophecies below.)

Prophecies about the Nation of Israel: Jacob's vision of Israel's future [Genesis 28:10-15], Exile, Babylon would rule Judah for 70 years [Jeremiah 25:11-12], Rome's destruction of Israel [Deuteronomy 28:49-52], destruction of the Temple [Daniel 9:26] and Jerusalem [Luke 21:24] in 70 AD, Jews would be scattered worldwide [Deuteronomy 28:64], Persecution [Zechariah 8:13], Rebirth [Isaiah 66:7-8], Re-establishment as a united nation [Ezekiel 37:21-22].
See Also: "Christian Internet Forum" at www.konig.org and What is Bible Prophecy at www.aboutbibleprophecy.com
Every Prophecy of the Bible by John F., Dr Walvoord ,
Ten More Prophecies Fulfilled by Yeshua
Bible Prophecy: Failure or Fulfillment by Tim Callahan,
and "Prediction & Fulfillment in the Bible", by Gurdon Oxtoby,

Note: Most books on biblical prophecies deal with the second coming and others in the Book of Revelation.

Science and the Bible:
Much of the criticism of Christianity and Religion in general has to do with what may seem to be conflicts with science. From the churches 1616 battle with Galileo for defending the Copernican view that the sun was the center of the solar system to the 1925 "Scopes Monkey Trial" where William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow faced off over the teaching of Darwin's theory of evolution in a Dayton, Tennessee highschool, there have been differences.

In the case regarding the heliocentric solar system, the church had based it's positions on Greek and Roman philosophy and science and not the bible. The only thing in the Bible about it is in [Joshua 10:12-13]: "So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,"
See more on evolution below.

Albert Einstein said,

"God doesn't play dice"

Also, "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."

"God of the Gaps" arguments, associate things not explained by science as one of Gods miracles. Most theologians find these arguments demeaning to science and religion. As gaps are filled by science, God becomes smaller.

In a March 4, 2007 NY Times Magazine article "Darwins God", Robin Mertantz Hening says "Research about the evolution of religion Suggests otherwise. No matter how much science can explain, it seems, the real gap that God fills is an emptiness that our big-brained mental architecture interprets as a yearning for the supernatural. The drive to satisfy that yearning, according to both adaptationists and byproduct theorists, might be an inevitable and eternal part of what Atran calls the tragedy of human cognition."

A lot of conservative Christian literature makes out Scientists to be against religion, but a survey of scientists shows believers outnumber atheists by 4 to 1.

See: Scientists of Faith.

Recent archeological (archaeology) discoveries have confirmed some biblical events. However, there is still disagrement about history before the 9th century. See Archaeology in Inerrancy.

The bible refers to a spherical earth when common understanding still thought it was flat. A literal translation of Job 26:10 is "He described a circle upon the face of the waters, until the day and night come to an end." A spherical earth is also described in Isaiah 40:21-22 - "the circle of the earth."

Creation:

Discoveries like "the big bang" are consistent with creation. In Isaiah 42:5 it says: "This is what the Lord says - He who created the heavens and stretched them out."
Some scientists had predicted that the mass of the universe would eventually cause it to collapse back in on itself. In fact current evidence indicates the rate of expansion and/or some unknown force (anti-matter ?) will preclude this. Is this just random luck?

Although many conservative Christians "Creationists" believe in the literal 7 x 24 hour day scenario, most Christians believe God took a long time to create life ("For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday ..." [Psalms 90:4], [2 Peter 3:8]), so the bible is consistent with an evolutionary process.

See Also:
Creation - Evolution - Intelligent Design
Scientists of Faith.

See: Web pages - Reasons To Believe - scientific support for your faith or answers to questions about God and science at www.reasons.org, Science in the Bible at www.quiknet.com/~dfrench/evidence/, NASA answers

Uniqueness of Jesus:
Some regard Jesus as just a good moral man or a prophet who said a lot of profound things. However, based on what he claimed about himself, one can't conclude he was just a good moral man.

Scholar and author C. S. Lewis states:

"A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic ... or else he would be the Devil from Hell."

What we know of him is based on testimonies of the apostles; eleven of whom died martyrs' deaths on the basis of the resurrection of Christ and their belief in him as the Son of God. Why would they die for a lie?

Some claim that much of the story is myth, but the first 3 Gospels which chronicle Christ's life were written within 40 years of his death from first and second hand accounts. It usually takes myths much longer to develop.

Jesus fulfills prophecies (60 major prophecies and 270+ ramifications) made at least 400 years before his birth (Some say 456 prophecies). I don't think the number is important (many of them are stretches and can be argued), it's the very specific ones which are hard to dispute; They include his birthplace, Bethlehem, [Micah 5:2]; His family line (house of David [2 Sam. 7:12], tribe of Judah [Genesis 49:10], Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Shem); Rejection by his own people [Isaiah 40:3], Day Christ would enter Jerusalem [Daniel 9:24-26]; Betrayal by a friend [Psalms 41:9]; Details of the crucifixion [Psalms 22:16-18].
See: Christian Internet Forum (at www.konig.org/) and Stoner's probability for more.

In Luke 21:33, Jesus said that regardless of what happens to the world, His words would never be forgotten.

See:
Biblical Prophecy Resource Center
Tenakh/Hebrew Scriptures

Miracles:
Although Elisha [ 2 Kings:4] and the Apostles [Acts 3] also performed miracles, none compared to the number performed by Christ. E.g.

• Turned water to wine [John 2:7]
• Walked on water [matt 14:25]
• Fed 5,000 by multiplying five loaves of bread and two fishes [Mark 6:41]
• Opened the eyes of the blind [Matt. 9:7]
• Made the lame to walk [Mark 2:3]
• Cast out Demons [Mark 3:11]
• Healed the multitudes of all kinds of sickness [Matt. 9:35, Mark 1:40-42]
• Raised the dead [John 11:43-44, Luke 7:11-15, Mark 5:35]

The Wrong Tomb:
The Jewish authorities would have produced the proper tomb to stop the rumor of a resurrection.

Swoon Theory:
This theory, popularized by D H Lawrence's short story "The Man who Died", suggests that Jesus didn't really die, but merely fainted.
Doctors have analyzed the descriptions of the condition of Jesus after his flogging and on the cross (See Strobel's "The Case for Christ" and The Crucifiction for a good description) and concluded it was impossible to have survived.

The body stolen:
The condition of the disciples (afraid and confused) at the time would not be consistent with them taking the body. How would they get past the Roman Guards?
If Jewish or Roman authorities had taken it, they would have explained that when the disciples were preaching the resurrection.

Appearances:
Jesus appeared 11 times in the 40 days after his crucifixion; most of these to more than one person. [1 Cor 15:5-8] The theory that these were illusions or hallucinations does not coincide with the historical situation or with the mental state of the apostles.

Skeptics who became believers:
There are countless examples of skeptics who in their attempts to disprove Christianity became some of the strongest supporters of it.
C.S. Lewis and Lee Strobel (see books below) were both skeptics/atheists who became strong supporters of Christianity.

One of the most influential testimonies to Christianity was when Saul of Tarsus, perhaps Christianity's most rabid antagonist [Acts 8:3, 26:9], became the Apostle Paul. Saul was a Hebrew zealot, Pharisee, roman citizen and well educated in Hebrew as well as Greek history and philosophy. His encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus [Acts 22:6] transformed him from an intolerant, bitter, persecuting religious bigot to a patient, kind, enduring and self-sacrificing servant who authored 7 (possibly more) books of the bible.

Disciples Commitment:
Further evidence to the authenticity of Christ is the dedication of the disciples. They all continued to spread the word and all but John died martyrs.

Evidence of Christ's power today:
Countless numbers of people have had their lives turned around when they became active, professing Christians or put their trust in Christ. The most common testimonies include:
  i. Elimination of demons such as substance abuse, infidelity, ...
 ii. An inner peace that allows one to control anger and reduce stress.
iii. Resolution of problems in times of trouble (financial, emotional, ...).

Stories of divine influence in our lives abound. E.g. Three businessmen in a World Trade Center bible study group said they were "ready to go to Heaven" shortly before 9/11/01. Three men in the group died on 9/11; the same three.

On April 5th, 2003 39-year-old reporter, David Bloom, sent an e-mail to his wife from Iraq where he was reporting on the war. It said,

"When the moment comes in my life when you are talking about my last days, I am determined that you and others will say 'he was devoted to his wife and children, he was admired, he gave every ounce of his being for those whom he cared most about... not himself, but God and his family.'"

Of course, making your life "better" is not the reason you should seek a stronger relationship with Christ. God does not always answer our prayers in the time or way we hoped. He will give you what you need not necessarily what you want.

See Why does a loving God allow suffering.

• More Than a Carpenter, Josh McDowell (Many of the statements above were taken from this.) (83,4)
  
• The Case for Christ: A Journalists Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus, Lee Strobel (338, 4)
• Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis (184, 4.5)
• Basic Christianity, John R. W. Stott (12, 4.5)
• Reasons to Believe, R. C. Sproul (3, 4.5)
• Know What You Believe, Paul Little (7, 5)
• Know Why You Believe, Paul Little (13, 4)
• When Skeptics Ask: A Handbook of Christian Evidence, Norman Geisler & Ron Brooks (12, 4.5)
• Letters from a Skeptic, Gregory A. Boyd, Edward K. Boyd (74, 4)
• Scientists Who Believe: 21 Told Their Own Stories by David Fisher, Eric Charles Barrett.
• God's Outrageous Claims by Lee Strobel
• "Prediction & Fulfillment in the Bible", by Gurdon Oxtoby
• "Jesus: The Evidence", by Ian Wilson (10, 4.5)
• The Signature of God by Grant Jeffrey
• RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
  Is The Bible True?, by Jeffery Sheler, the religion correspondent for the U.S. News and World Report, offers an excellent overview of recent archeological findings that point to the veracity of the Bible.
• "So you'd like to... find out if you can take the Bible seriously" a reading list.

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