TR Hartley

This article is a part of a series on sharing Christianity with atheists and agnostics. For other articles please see:
1. General Guidelines for Evangelism and Apologetics
2. Three Arguments for Theism in General
3. Four Arguments for Christianity as the Correct/True Religion (this article)
4. Addressing Common Objections to Christianity
5. Suggested Further Resources

In a previous article, “Three Arguments for Theism in General” (see above), I provided some arguments that point towards theism, the belief in the existence of the Divine.

Now let’s look at a few arguments for Christianity in specific, or Christianity being the correct or true expression of theism.

3a. Historicity of the Resurrection/ Minimal Facts Argument

Before looking at the facts surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is important to identify a set of objective criteria by which the validity of historical events may be judged. In other words, what criteria may be used to establish the occurrence of an event with reasonable historical certainty? New Testament scholars Gary Habermas and Michael Licona list the following five criteria noting that “a historian who is able to apply one or more of the following principles to a text can conclude with much greater confidence whether a certain event occurred.”

H1. Historical claims are strong when supported by multiple, independent sources.

H2. Historical claims which are also attested to by enemies are more likely to be authentic since enemies are unsympathetic, and often hostile, witnesses.

H3. Historical claims which include embarrassing admissions reflect honest reporting rather than creative storytelling.

H4. Historical claims are strong when supported by eyewitness testimony.

H5. Historical claims which are supported by early testimony are more reliable and less likely to be the result of legendary development.

Therefore, when inquiring into a historical event “the historian combs through the data, considers all the possibilities, and seeks to determine which scenario best explains the data.”

With this in mind, here are facts that most scholars accept, theistic or not.

Minimal Facts
MF1) That Jesus died by crucifixion 

MF2) That very soon afterwards, his followers had real experiences that they thought were actual appearances of the risen Jesus

MF3) That their lives were transformed as a result, even to the point of being willing to die specifically for their faith in the resurrection message

MF4) That these things were taught very early, soon after the crucifixion

MF5) That James, Jesus’ unbelieving brother, became a Christian due to his own experience that he thought was the resurrected Christ

MF6) That the Christian persecutor Paul (formerly Saul of Tarsus) also became a believer after a similar experience.

These historic facts point to the resurrection taking place as being a satisfactory explanation of the facts.  And given other arguments and evidence for first theism and then Christian theism, it is reasonable to suggest that Christ’s resurrection is the best, and only, satisfactory explanation of these historic facts.
 

3b. Historicity of the New Testament

The sacred books of the other world religions were written a LONG time after the events they are supposed to record happened.  There was a lot of time for beliefs and teachings and facts to get changed, intentionally or unintentionally, in between the origin of these beliefs and teachings and when they got recorded.  In comparison, the New Testament was written within one generation (living memory) of the events and teachings that they record.  See H5 above for the significance of this to historical study and inquiry.

(See the “Additional Resources” article for additional information on this topic.)

3. Argument from Moral Inability

All other religions with a personal God/gods have a system in which a perfect god is suitably pleased by morally imperfect agents.  In other words, immoral people can please and attain a morally perfect god.  Christianity is distinct here:  Christianity alone claims that humanity CANNOT ever please a perfect God sufficiently, so God through Christ did that on our behalf.

To me, this argument is very helpful! Only Christianity gives a comprehensible answer for how the divine can be both just (demanding moral rightness and punishing moral wrongness), and merciful (compassion, leniency, or restraint [as in imposing punishment] shown especially to an offender). Only Christianity provides a sensible and workable answer to the reality of moral failure.

4. The Uniqueness of Jesus of Nazareth

This argument is simple. Jesus of Nazareth was a Jewish peasant who lived and died in a remote section of the Roman Empire. He had no significant political or military might, and He was killed (as a criminal!) before He turned 35. And yet, Jesus is the most historically significant person in all of human history.

How? Why?

One answer is: Because He was Who He said He was. The reason Jesus of Nazareth had such a tremendous impact on human history is because He truly was the Creator God in human form amid His creation.

Conclusion

The goal of these arguments isn’t to absolutely, conclusively prove Christianity to be true over other theistic traditions. But, if these arguments can show that Christianity is a logically possible explanation for what is observable about life and history, then we have good reason to see if Christianity has a better epistemological foundation than other alternatives. As seen here, I think Christianity does.