This is the fifth installment in our series:
10 Non-Biblical Proofs of Christianity in which we examine 10 solid areas of evidence that support the unique claims of Christianity.
To read part 1 CLICK HERE
To read part 2 CLICK HERE
To read part 3 CLICK HERE
To read part 4 CLICK HERE
Let's move on to reason #5:
In life, there are many lessons to learn. Early on we learn to walk, to talk, eventually, maybe even how to balance on and ride a bicycle, or to swim the backstroke. We learn the names of thousands of things and thousands of people. We have to be taught how to read, how to do geometry, and how to read a map.
But...there is one thing we know innately, a capability that we are born already knowing how to do (or, more properly, how to be). But, before I give it away (though it is doubtless already obvious to some), let me ask the parents out there:
When raising your child or children, did you have to teach them how to be selfish? How about lying--did you have to demonstrate to them how to be deceptive? What about violence, such as hitting and kicking? How many hours did you spend showing them how to be physically or verbally abusive? How much time did you spend demonstrating the finer art of stealing ("taking") other people's things?
What's that? Say again. You didn't have to teach them those things? They already knew them?
They do.
A great deal of our time in parenting is spent attempting to create and shape good behavior, such as sharing, truthfulness, patience, and respect, both for people and property. But it's an uphill battle. It goes against the grain, it seems to be the opposite of what they are "programmed" to do/be.
It is.
One of the most fundamental principles found in the Bible/Christianity is that mankind is sinful at heart. The Bible says that we are sinners by nature and sinners by choice, in fact, this truth is the entire basis for the coming of Jesus Christ to die as the sacrifice to pay the penalty for our rebellion against God. Because of our sin, we need a Savior.
There are those who will claim that a person is a-moral (not im-moral) at birth, in other words, that we are a "clean slate," and that all morality is learned, or imprest by the environment. Some even go so far as to say that people are born "good" by nature, and then become corrupted over time. Ask any parent, they will tell you that "bad," sinful behavior is intrinsic, it is not learned, it is lived out. Some children will even "lie" before they can speak. I have witnessed this in my own children many times, through simple head-shaking ("no") or finger-pointing ("not me") when there has been a broken rule or a broken dish.
Teens and adults, adolescents and the elderly, we are all guilty. Even without the Ten Commandments to remind us of our rebellion, our own internal immorality detector (our conscience) has condemned us many times, if not hundreds or even thousands of times. Often, though, we turn a deaf ear to this inner witness, and plunge headstrong into outright evil or rebellious actions and thoughts. How many times have we thought later on (though rarely would we admit it outloud) "I wish I would have listened to that still, small voice."
A conscience is a funny thing. Sometimes, in a vain attempt to not feel bad about our sin, we will take a mental list of all those "evil" people who are much, much, much worse than we are. I mean, it's easy to think about Hitler and the holocaust, or Stalin and his slaughter of millions of Soviets in his lust for power, or of serial rapists or killers. We even think about people that we personally know and declare inwardly: "Well, at least I'm not as bad as so-and-so."
But the problem is, it doesn't matter what anyone else has done---we are still responsible for what we have done. Can you imagine going before a judge (after you have been found guilty of bank robbery, or of kidnapping, or of stealing), and saying: "Well judge, yes I know I did that, but have you heard about ole Adolf Hitler? Wow. Now there's a criminal." The judge will probably lower his/her glasses, shake their head (maybe even roll their eyes), and then will declare your punishment. Someone else's crimes / sin do not affect your innocence or guilt.
If you have told a lie. You are a liar. If you have taken something that you did not have the right to, you are a thief. It does not matter if there is a bank robber who stole $250 million yesterday, if you took a candybar from a store shelf today (without paying for it), you are a thief. Quantity does not change quality.
As we are looking at non-Biblical proofs/evidences of the Bible and Christianity, the sinfulness of mankind is a fact that has been established above refutation. People are sinners--we are tempted to do that which we know inwardly is wrong. We even find disobedience to be exciting, even thrilling. We have often heard the phrase: "Rules are made to be broken." While that is patently false, we seem to find it to be experientially true. As soon as someone, such as an authority figure, states: "Don't cross this line," we find a nearly irresistable tendency to challenge, to transgress that edict. You don't believe it? Go talk to a classroom teacher. I know, I've taught for over a decade.
Those who deny God, the Bible, Christianity, are unable to provide adequate explanations for many well-established facts, such as the complexity of life, or the fine-tuning of physical laws. Likewise, secularists cannot account for the sinfulness of mankind. Various conflicting evolutionary models are presented, all at odds with one another. On the one hand, naturalists try to say that the existence of morality (virtue and good behavior) was brought on due to some benefit derived from mankind being a social species. But then, when presented with the horrors of our evil nature, they will say it is a mechanism that somehow aids in survival.
Sorry, you can't have it both ways---you can't say that morals evolved because good behavior was naturally selected, and that our sinfulness evolved because immorality imparts selectable traits. These are two diametrically opposed forces.
The Bible provides both a clearcut admission of our problem, and a clearcut explanation of our problem. It discusses the contemporary reality of our condition, and gives the historical basis for our condition.
Are you looking for evidence of the truth of Christianity, and for proof for our need of salvation through Jesus? Just turn on the news, read the paper, or better yet, look in the mirror.
Evil is not only out there, evil is in here.
Coming soon, reason number 6.
