Misconceptions about Christianity

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Chapter 2 of Defending Your Faith discusses four misconceptions that skeptics have concerning Christianity.

Misconception 1: “Christianity must be proven scientifically; I’ll accept Christianity when you prove it with the scientific method.”
Christianity cannot be proven scientifically. When someone tries to prove something using the scientific method, they do so by having a controlled environment, where an experiment is repeated over and over again and observations are recorded. The central claims to Christianity are the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We cannot take Jesus kill and bury him and see if he resurrects again and again. Historical events are unrepeatable. Therefore, we cannot prove historical events using the scientific method. One must use the legal historical method of proof to prove an historical event. The legal historical method of proof evaluates the written testimony, the oral testimony and the physical testimony.

Misconception 2: “I can’t accept Christianity because there isn’t enough evidence for me to be 100% sure that it is true.”
Whether it be Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon or George Washington being the first president of the U.S.; you can’t prove anything historical with a 100% certainty. We make decisions every day based on the weight of the evidence. If we wanted 100% proof of something happening or not happening, we probably would not accomplish much. For example, we would never get into a car to drive someplace if we had to have absolute evidence that we would arrive safely. In the court of law, Juries do not have to have 100% proof in order to convict someone; they only need to be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt. Dr. Bird writes, “As apologists, we don’t have to make an absolute case for Christianity; we need only show that the probability of Christianity being true is very high.” He quotes Blaise Pascal, “There is enough evidence to convince anyone who is not set against it, but not enough to bring anyone into the kingdom who will not come.”

Misconception 3: “Truth is relative. If you believe something, that is true for you.”

This seems the most popular argument out of the four. Just because someone believes something does not make it true. If I walk into a science classroom, see a beaker of hydrochloric acid and drink it believing it was Sprite, I would probably be hurt very badly. Just because I believe something does not make it true. There are many examples that could be listed that apply to the physical realm, the spiritual realm is no different. The idea that truth is relative is self-contradictory. Someone who says this is actually saying that all truths are relative except for the truth that all truths are relative. You can ask someone who says there are no absolute truths, “Is that an absolute truth?” The statement “There are no absolutes” is an absolute.

Misconception 4: “It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you are sincere in your faith. It really doesn’t matter who what you put your faith in. The important thing is that you believe-period.”

This is not true. The person who says this believes that as long as someone is sincerely following the path that they are on, they will be saved. This does not work in real life though. If I live in San Diego, Ca and I want to drive to Canada but head south towards Mexico, I would not get to Canada. No matter how sincere I am in driving. The object of our faith is very important. There is only one person who can save us from sin and hell, Jesus Christ.

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