LAUREN GREEN: Easter, Christianity and 3 big questions
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Theologians say there are three questions about Easter that Christians should be prepared to answer: Was Jesus God? Was He crucified? Did He Rise from the dead? Every other detail about Jesus's life, ministry, arrest, trial and death sentence, are secondary in comparison to those three questions.
Theologian and author Dr. Lee Strobel said he once talked to Hugh Hefner, the owner of Playboy magazine and an agnostic, about Jesus. He asked him, "What if the resurrection were true, that Jesus actually rose from the dead? Hefner said, "Well, yeah, that would change everything?" Then Strobel asked, "Have you ever investigated the Resurrection?" Hefner answered, "No."
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That parallels the culture at large's beliefs about organized religion. Researcher George Barna said the greatest spiritual threat today is "syncretism." In other words, designer religion, where people create a fusion of different religions, without bowing down to anyone of them. While a study at Cornell University found that young people today are creating their own personal faith; a 'spiritual not religious' form of self-worship.
It's the kind of spiritual individualism that doesn't ask questions about the core tenets of any faith.
Was Jesus God? Was He crucified? Did He Rise from the dead? (iStock)
But are those three questions about Easter answerable? Yes, says Strobel.
"As an atheist trained in law and journalism... I spent two years of my life investigating this stuff," says Strobel... "and coming to the conclusion that in light of the avalanche of historical data for the Resurrection of Jesus, it would have taken more faith for me to maintain my atheism than to become a Christian."
Strobel has written a series of books based on investigating the claims of Christianity. The best-seller, "The Case For Christ," was the first of many. His latest book, "Seeing the Supernatural," explores the plethora of the mysteries of the unseen spiritual realm, like angels and demons, mystical dreams, near-death experiences... and of course, the Resurrection.
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On an episode of my "Lighthouse Faith" podcast, Strobel says the Resurrection as a supernatural and divine event, hinges on Jesus being the Son of God, equal to God, the Word of God made flesh, and God incarnate. Why? Because Jesus said. "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise."
So...
1. Was Jesus God Incarnate?
In the New Testament Gospel accounts of Jesus' life, it's pretty clear Jesus claimed to be God. Theologian and author Rick Renner, in his book, "Easter: The Rest of the Story," highlights some key events of Holy Week that help answer that question. On Thursday after the Last Supper, Jesus and the Apostles go to the Garden of Gethsemane. There, hundreds of Roman soldiers descend on the Garden to arrest Jesus. The Gospel of John recounts that Jesus said to them, "Whom do you seek? ‘They answered , "Jesus of Nazareth. "In most English translations, Jesus responds, "I am he."
Easter cross (iStockphoto)
But Renner says, "The (actual) Greek says, ‘ego eimi,’ which is, I AM. It's the same words that God identified himself with to Moses in Exodus chapter three."
On a recent episode of my "Lighthouse Faith" podcast, Renner talked about some of the unknown facts about that scene in the Garden, like how many Roman soldiers did it take to arrest one man? And who was that mysterious youth wrapped in only a towel that ran away naked after being chased?
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Renner says there are other places in the Bible where it's clear that Jesus acts and says things with the kind of authority that only someone believing he was God would say and do. Jesus tells His followers, "Very truly I tell you... before Abraham was born, I am! "Again, the words God uses to identify Himself in the Old Testament and his claims to have been in existence long before the patriarch Abraham was born. And this famous verse, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
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