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How Christianity is Shown to be True

2/1/2020

5 Comments

 
We can't prove Christianity is true the same way that we prove gravity exists.  Why not? Because we prove gravity by the scientific method, by having a controlled environment where an experiment is repeated again and again and observations recorded. The experiment must be repeatable. The central claims of Christianity, which are the death, burial, and Resurrection of Jesus, are historical claims and cannot be repeated. You can’t take Jesus, kill and bury him, and see if he resurrects again and again and again. Specific historical events are unrepeatable. You can’t prove historical events using the scientific method. You must evaluate historical claims using the legal-historical method of proof. How would you determine whether something occurred in history? Look at the written testimony, the oral testimony, and the physical testimony. How would a jury determine whether someone was guilty of a crime? Look at the written testimony against him, the oral testimony of those who watched it and were willing to testify, and look at the physical evidence, such as fingerprints. In the same way, Christianity, being historical, can be shown to be true using the legal-historical method.

The fact that Christianity’s central claims (the death, burial, and Resurrection of Jesus) can be analyzed by the legal-historical method of proof makes it different from other religions. Unlike Christianity, many other religions cannot be proven true or false using the historical method. But if Christianity is true, because of its unique historical claims, it can be demonstrated to be true, not by the scientific method, but by the legal-historical method.

This does not mean that science or the “sciences” such as archaeology or textual criticism1 cannot be used to help confirm Christianity. In fact, scientific facts do a lot to support the validity of Christianity. I am simply saying you can’t use what is called “the scientific method” to prove Christianity. You must use the legal-historical method of proof.

5 Comments
Aaron Gillespie
2/3/2020 12:17:00 pm

I completely agree that you cannot prove Christianity true with the scientific method and I also agree that it is possible to prove Christianity with the historical-legal method. I would also content that strong evidence from the historical-legal method can be supported by some relevant scientific data which makes for an overall stronger case.

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mark stieby link
4/24/2020 07:10:32 pm

The historical legal method is a hand down proof that Jesus lived, perfprmed miracles, died, and then was resurrected. All this things can be verified by eye witnesses of the time. We have solid proof Jesus died and came back to life. Thats why I know we are the one true religion. Using Bible prophecy and having a leader come back to life. No other religion has claimed that there God came back to life. Christianity is the onliy one.

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Nick Adams
5/1/2020 07:48:56 pm

The historical method provides the proof that validates the message of Christ. The beauty of this is that as you see the validity that is brought by the historical record it brings validity to the scientific claims of Christianity as well.

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Tyler Edwards
5/7/2020 05:54:30 pm

This is a very important distinction to make when debating creation vs. evolution. Neither Creation or Evolution can be proven using the scientific method because these events are impossible to repeat, but only Creation can be proven using the Historical method.

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Joshua Stamper
12/10/2020 07:13:10 pm

I agree with Dr. Bird on this. Many people would quickly admit that the ancient accounts of world empires and some historical leaders are true, simply because of the ancient manuscripts found concerning them, but many skeptics would discredit the Bible, simply because they cannot see it. People believe Alexander the Great, Caesar Augustus, Kublai Khan, and many others truly existed, but they don't want to believe even the accounts of Jesus or his disciples. This just shows their bias.

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    Mark Bird teaches Systematic Theology and Apologetics, among other subjects, at God's Bible School and College, a regionally accredited Bible College in Cincinnati, OH.

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