CONVERSION OF TWO SKEPTICS

What would cause a bitter enemy of Christianity to become a committed believer in Christ? It simply is not possible to say in every case. There is no doubt some people obey the gospel because they have witnessed the changes the gospel has wrought in the lives of others. When a person has seen radical changes in other people's lives, he may wonder why such changes have occurred. When he learns that the gospel has made that difference, he may be inspired to turn from his life of rebellion and wickedness to glorify our Father who is in heaven. Is that not the reason Jesus told his disciples: "You are the salt of the earth .... You are the light of the world" (Mt. 5:13-16)? I remember a man's asking me about a mutual friend. He told me that our friend had once been unstable and wild in his behavior. He had seen enormous changes in the man's life. He then asked me: "Do you suppose he made those changes because of his church?"

Millions of people have read their Bibles and have become convinced of the truth of the gospel. A friend of our family married a man who was not a Christian. The man was illiterate. He asked his wife if she would teach him to read and to write. She agreed to do so. Her textbook for teaching her husband was the New Testament. When he had learned to read, he became a Christian. He devoted his life to studying the scriptures and became a Bible teacher in my home congregation. The author of Hebrews gives us some insight into the power of the gospel. "For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Heb. 4:12).

There are other people who study the physical universe and conclude that it could not have happened accidentally. They search for the God who made this universe. There has to be a power behind the creation. Countless thousands have obeyed the gospel when they understood what the Psalmist David wrote: "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night shows knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard" (Psa. 19: 1-3). According to Paul, if a man does not see the hand of God in the material creation, he is without excuse (Rom. 1:20).

One of the world's most influential atheists, Dr. Antony Flew, an English philosopher, is now a believer in God. One of the reasons he left atheism and became a believer in God was his study of DNA. Dr. Flew's book has the title, There Is No God (New York: Harper, 2007). The word "no" has been crossed out and the indefinite article "a" has been substituted. The title now reads, There Is a God. The subtitle reads: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind. The book has the explicit endorsement of some of the leading scientists and philosophers in the world, including Dr. Francis Collins, Dr. Michael Behe, Dr. John Polkinghorne,. Dr. Richard Swinburne and others.

I have a special interest in the book because one of my graduate professors, Dr. Thomas B. Warren, debated Dr. Flew. In one of my courses under Dr. Warren, we spent a great amount of time reviewing the debate. Dr. Flew affirmed the proposition: "I know God does not exist." Dr. Warren did not appeal to DNA because it was not fully understood when the debate took place. Incidentally Dr. Flew mentioned his debate with Dr. Warren. I shall take time to read a few brief excerpts from Dr. Flew's book. He quoted these words from Plato: "We must follow the argument wherever it leads" (p. 22). Dr. Flew was honest enough to do that. One of the reasons Dr. Flew had rejected Christianity was his objection the Calvinist doctrine of predestination (p. 73). Dr. Flew affirms: "I now believe that the universe was brought into existence by an infinite intelligence" (p. 88). There is more in Dr. Flew's book, but I shall have to save it for another time.

Do you remember from your study of the book of John that our Lord's brothers, including James, did not believe in him (John 7:5)? Luke records that James became a leader in the church at Jerusalem (Acts 15:13-21). What occurred to cause James to change his mind and become a follower of Christ? When he learned of Christ's resurrection, that apparently was sufficient to convert him from skepticism to faith in Christ. We know Christ appeared to James (1 Cor. 15:7). In their outstanding book, The case/or the Resurrection (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2004), Dr. Gary R. Habermas and Michael R. Licona, quote these words from Reginald Fuller, a critical scholar: If we did not have a record of Christ's appearance to James, "we would have to invent such an appearance in order to account for two things: James' conversion from skepticism and his elevation to the pastorate of the church at Jerusalem, the center of ancient Christianity" (p. 15). There is nothing in the book of Acts that either states or implies that James was the "pastor" of the church at Jerusalem.

Saul of Tarsus, who later became the Apostle Paul, had done all within his power to destroy the church of our Lord. When God sent Ananias to tell Saul what he had to do be saved, Ananias responded: "Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he has done to thy saints at Jerusalem: and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on thy name" (Acts 9:13-14). Paul reminded the Galatians: "For you have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God and wasted it" (Gal. 1:13). He told Timothy, his son in the gospel, that he had been "a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious" (1 Tim. 1:13).

The conversion of Saul of Tarsus and his subsequent devotion to the church of Jesus Christ is one of most thrilling and inspiring stories in the sacred scriptures. Is it possible that the resurrection of Christ was the chief reason why he became a Christian? Habermas and Licona affirm: "Paul's conversion was based on what he perceived to be a personal appearance of the risen Christ.... His appearance came from primary evidence: the risen Christ appeared directly to him. He did not believe based on the testimony of others" (p. 65). Paul provides a list of witnesses to Christ's resurrection and then says: "And last of all he appeared to me also, as of one born out of due season. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace that was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly that they all: yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me" (1 Cor. 15:8-10). The testimony of a man like Paul should carry great weight to skeptics in every generation.

Can there be any doubt in your mind that I am telling you the greatest story ever told? History reveals that people in all ages and in all nations have loved stories. That is one of the reasons millions of Bible readers have found Christ's parables so appealing. That also explains the popularity of many of the programs on television and in the movies. From the time I was a child, stories have always fascinated me. I strongly suspect that one of my motivations for becoming an English teacher was my loves of stories. I wholeheartedly agree with Fulton Oursler, a former senior editor of the Reader's Digest. He called the life of Jesus Christ "the greatest story ever told" (The Greatest Story Ever Told. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1949). The subtitle of Oursler's book is: "A Tale of the Greatest Life Ever Lived.

The story began long before the foundation of the world. John provides wonderful insight into Christ's pre-existence. The Apostle John affirms: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God" (John 1:1-2). Jesus told some of his fellow Jews: "Your Father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad." The Jews were astonished by the Lord's statement. They said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?" Our Lord explained: "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:56-58). Some liberal theologians seem to have trouble believing that Christ was affirming his deity, but the Jews experienced no such difficulties. "They took up stones to cast at him" (John 8:59) because they believed he was guilty of blasphemy. According to Paul, Jesus Christ "was before all things, and by him all things consist" (Col. 1:17).

The Apostle John continues his theme that Jesus Christ is deity. "The Word became flesh, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. The Apostle Paul adds: "And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory (1 Tim. 3:16). Jesus himself informed John: "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, says the Lord, who is, who was, and who is to come" (Rev. 1:8). The language of these verses would be inappropriate if used of anyone other than God.

Christ's love for mankind was so great he was willing to leave the riches of his heavenly home to come to this earth "to seek and to save the lost" (Lk. 19:10). "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich" (2 Cor. 8:9). Just how poor did Christ become? A man confessed to Jesus that he would follow him wherever he went. "And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests but the Son of man has not where to lay his head" (Lk. 9:57-58). One of our Christian hymns asks, "Why did my Savior come to earth?" It provides the answer: "Because he loved us so."

Although our Lord was the only person in the history of the world who was completely free from sin (Heb. 4:15), he took on him the penalty all men should suffer for their sins. "For when we were without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.... But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:6, 8). He did not die from old age or from some dreadful disease. He died on a tree and suffered the most horrible death the pagan Roman government could invent. The Jews and the Romans conspired to kill the Prince of life (Acts 3:15). They treated him as if he were the most vicious criminal who ever lived. But death could not hold him. "Up from the grave he arose, with a mighty triumph o'er his foes; he arose a Victor from the dark domain, and He lives forever with His saints to reign; He arose! He Arose! Hallelujah, Christ arose!"

The apostles constantly preached the crucifixion of Christ. Paul told the Corinthians: "For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2). The Apostle Peter told the Jewish Sanhedrin: "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged on a tree" (Acts 5:30). If Jesus were not raised from the dead, as the New Testament so strongly emphasizes, his death on that tree was cruel and in vain. He would have been a martyr to his beliefs and behavior, but his death would not have had any saving value for mankind. Of what value is a dead savior?

All four gospel records take up a great amount of space to speak about the resurrection. I shall concentrate on Matthew's account of the Lord's resurrection. When the Jewish Sanhedrin had condemned Jesus Christ to death, a band of soldiers "stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, king of the Jews! And they spat upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head." They took him to a place called Golgotha. They crucified him and parted his garments. They put over his head this superscription: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS" (Mt. 27:27-37).

The Jews knew Jesus had predicted that he would rise from the dead. They made elaborate preparation for keeping him in the grave. But the Jews and the Romans did not have enough power to prevent his resurrection. After he had been buried in the new tomb belonging to Joseph Arimathea, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to his tomb. And an angel of the Lord appeared and said to the women: "Fear not: for I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and behold, he goes before you into Galilee; there you shall see him: lo, I have told you so." When Christ appeared to his disciples, "they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him"(Mt. 28:1-9).

I have time to say a few words about the witnesses of the Lord's resurrection. How do we determine the reliability of witnesses? Simon Greenleaf was one of America's great legal minds. "After serving twelve years as chief reporter for the Maine Supreme Court, during which time he set himself to mastering the principles upon which the justices acted, he resigned to accept the Royall Professorship of Law in Harvard Law School. While at Harvard he added to his many achievements the publication of three major legal works" (Back inside dust cover). He was a devout Bible student and for many years served as president of the Massachusetts Bible society.

In 1874 Greenleaf wrote a masterpiece, The Testimony of the Evangelists: Examined by the Rules of Evidence Administered in Courts of Justice. In 1965, Baker Book House of Grand Rapids, Michigan, republished Greenleaf’s book. Greenleaf outlines the principles that should help us to understand if witnesses are reliable in a court of law. Time will not allow me to examine these principles, but I need to discuss them as time allows. They have a bearing on whether the apostles and their associates were dependable as witnesses. Greenleaf says: The credit due to the testimony of witnesses depends upon, first, honesty; second, their ability; third, "their number and the consistency of their testimony; fourth, the conformity of their testimony with experience; fifth, the coincidence of their testimony and collateral circumstances" (p. 28),

Is there any basis for questioning the honesty of the apostles and other witnesses to Christ's resurrection? What did they have to gain by lying? Many of the Jewish and Roman authorities constantly threatened the apostles. When a man is threatened with death if he does not recant his testimony, he would be a fool to continue to tell a lie. Millions of people have died for what they believed was the truth. What reasonable person would die for that which he knew to be a lie? Greenleaf insists: "It was therefore impossible that they could have persisted in affirming the truths they have narrated, had not Jesus actually risen from the dead, and had they not known this fact as certainly as they knew any other fact" (p. 29).

Were the apostles and other witnesses to Christ's resurrection men and women of ability? Greenleaf quoted Stark as saying concerning the witnesses: "The ability of a witness to speak the truth depends on the opportunities which he has for observing the fact, the accuracy of his powers of discerning, and the fruitfulness of his memory in retaining the facts, once observed and known" (p. 31). Greenleaf observes: "Matthew was trained, by his calling, to habits of severe investigation and suspicious scrutiny; and Luke's profession demanded an exactness of observation equally close and searching. The two evangelists, it has been well remarked, were as much too unlearned to forge the story of the Master's life, and these were too learned and acute to be deceived by any imposture" (p. 32).

There were many witnesses to his resurrection. On one occasion, there were more than 500 witnesses who saw him at one time (1 Cor. 15:6). If one honestly reads the four gospel records, he will know that the four writers did not conspire to promote a falsehood. There are enough differences in their records to show they wrote independently and were telling the truth.

There is much more in Greenleaf's great book, but time will not allow me to examine it at this time. This we know beyond any doubt: There was no motivation for the apostles to lie. They never made any money from their testimony. They never gained any political power. Most of them paid with their lives for their preaching. You can know for sure that Jesus Christ was raised for our justification and that we have the promise of life eternal.

Winford Claiborne

The International Gospel Hour

P.O. Box 118

Fayetteville, TN 37334