Why Christianity?

I don't normally play the game of an apologist, but just this once I will give a source of grounds for why I believe in the Christian Faith.I will admit that I believed in Christianity as a young child, and none of the things I'm writing now were in my contemplation at that age, as such I come to this discussion as one who believes the truth of Christianity is self-evident, it is a basic belief for me that I do not think needs any proving, but for your sake I will post this, in the hope that you will be strengthened in your faith, or come to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.


My "Proof" begins with a video by Alvin Plantinga, perhaps the most important and influential Religious philosopher of the 20th century. He is a Christian, but his work has had drastic affects on modern philosophy and moved the field of study which was primarily atheistic towards a more theistic understanding in academia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yNg4MJgTFw, This link shows Plantinga's Evolutionary argument against Naturalism. Naturalism is the belief that all things are material and that everything has came about by natural processes. This is the philosophical foundation for naturalistic evolution. His point is that if Naturalism and Evolution is true then we have no grounds to believe we can know truth. So this is not an argument for or against evolution, but that for us to know any truth some non-naturalistic force must be involved in the process which would make naturalism false.


Starting with this idea I move onto my argument for Christianity, because Plantinga's argument alone does not lead to Christianity, it does not even lead to the existence of a God, so I start where he has left off. (I will be using some philosophical terms, if you are confused as to their meaning you can message me to clarify or use a dictionary.)

1. There is Objective truth
2. I can know Objective truth (if 1. and 2. are true then the idea we cannot know truth is false.)
3. I can know I can know objective truth.
4. If 3. is true then Naturalistic Evolution is false.
(this is another short summary of the implication of Plantinga's argument
5. if 4. then immaterial things & forces exist (those things that are not material, or not natural.)
6. the Universe includes all physical things & forces
7. the Universe had a beginning (The Big bang theory, which still has not been dis-proven)
8. if 6&7 then all physical things and forces have a beginning
9. if 7. then all physical things and forces were caused.
10. if 9. then 6. was caused by immaterial things and/or forces
11. at least some immaterial things & forces exist by the necessity of their nature. (the principle of sufficient reason, a.k.a. the principle of causality: Basically something either exists because it was caused, or because it must exist- numbers are an example of this: they are uncaused but they do exist).
12. at least some immaterial things & forces caused the universe.
13. if 12.then the immaterial things or forces(ITF's) that caused the universe must be powerful enough to do so.
14. if 13 then ITF's must be personal (as in not just a force but  able to make choices) to explain the when of the universes beginning, other wise why was the universe created 15.6 bil. years ago or whenever rather than at a different time?
15. if 12. and 14. then the ITF's mustbe intelligent enough to do 12.
16. 10-15 can be explained by one immaterial, personal, powerful and intelligent thing. (this removes the need for a polytheistic understanding of reality. So good bye to Mormonism, Hinduism, Shintoism, etc.
17. if 14 & 16 are true this things is a person or being; a conscious entity.
18. This person created the universe as it is, and is powerful enough to, and does sustain the universe.
19. if2,3,12, 18 are true then this being or god created me in such a way that 2,3 are true.
20. if 10 then god cares about me knowing truth (other wise why would he make me able to?)
21. if 20 then this god cares about me knowing about it.
22. if 18. then this god created a world where i could live and thrive.
23. the only religions that account for this are monotheistic, and are specifically met by Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.
24. if Judaism follows its scriptures rather than its traditions then Judaism leads to Christianity.
25. Islam is internally inconsistent
26. only Christianity accounts for all the parts of our reality that have been earlier states
27. thus I am convinced of Christianity over any other world view.


The explanation and the process can probably be greatly extended, and debated, but I wanted to show the most basic way I knew to lead to the conclusion of the truth of Christianity. There are many questions that I know aren't answered in this argument about Christianity, but I believe that within these grounds many of the answer's can be derived, such as if 19-21 are true then the authenticity of the bible need not be questions for me, because God does care enough to preserve his word and grant it to his people so they can know him, and the fact the bible is the only book that accounts for everything above stated it gives self evident grounds to be the word of God. I know that many will not be convinced by this, but I hope and pray nonetheless that you come to saving faith in my Lord Jesus Christ, and I hope this has been an aid in bringing about that end. Thank you for your time.

Romans 8:28

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who Love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom 8:28, NASB).

What a beautiful passage of scripture, capable of filling our hearts with the greatest of joys, and grant us the hope we need to make it through the day. This fact of scripture is anchored to the very character of God. It shows His sovereignty, Wisdom, and the compassion He has for His elect. It proves that our world is not a giant mess of disconnected coincidence, but everything, literally everything, is directed by the hand of God for the good of his children.

There is no force outside of God that is directing all things, for the verse says, “God causes all things to work”. There is no devil in hell strong enough to direct the forces of the world to an opposite end, or a devil wise enough to trick God into making some sort of mistake. God, who’s work is perfect (Deut. 32:4), is the one directing the events of the universe. It is not fate, it is not luck, it is not some unknown force of unlimited power and without consciousness that directs the path of humanity.  Kings, princess, and demons move things where they wish, but they are pawns in the hand of God who will direct even their schemes to His desired end.

The verse continues adding, “together for good”. God is causing all things to work towards good. This is a big difference between this and the idea that all things are good because God is using them. That is an interpretation of the text must be avoided. God never calls sin good. God always condemns the wicked for their wickedness, and promises to exact justice on all evildoers. God does not leave us room to say the evil and vile acts of this world are something good rather the verse specifies that all things will work together for a certain end, that end being good. It does not make the mistake of the communists and say that the end justifies the means. No, our God is much too pure for something such as that. It was sin that placed our Savior unjustly upon the cross as men murdered Him, but it was God who directs even such an event as that to a desired end. It is not good that Nazi Germany killed six million Jews.  It is not good that governments torture His church. It is not good that Satan steals, kills, and destroys. It is not good that child molesters molest, and it is not good that rapists rape. God is not declared as justifying these activities, it is not said that these things are good because God is going to bring them to a good end, but only that they will work together for good.

Indeed, God will bring all things together for good. He will somehow cause all the evil and all the good things together for His desired end. I am not sure of how such a deed will be done or how a task can be accomplished, but I know that my God can. Many things are absolutely horrible and on their own of no value, and many things that are good have no power to overcome the atrocities of sin. Perhaps if everything was separate strands, disconnected from everything else, maybe they could not be used for any good, but God in his wisdom will tie all these separate strands together to produce good.  

The text says that this good is for the benefit of the Christian. There is no other being in creation that can love God, and be called according to his purposes. Because this good is directed from God towards his bride, it ought to bring us great joy. We learn from it that our current troubles, as troubling as they maybe, have a place in the plan of God for our lives. He will take all of our suffering and all of our accomplishments and use them for our good in the end. He will grab hold of the wars of the past and the future, of the storms twelve hundred miles away and direct them for our benefit.

The promise of this verse has not reached is fulfillment. Indeed, God takes hold of everything in our lives and we see him work a great deal of things out for our benefit at a later date, but nonetheless this work of God is not yet finished. Its object is not only the saints that are present, but those that are past and future. The verse applies to all those who love him and are called according to his purpose. It applies to Abraham, You, and our dear elected brothers who we are still waiting to see become a member of the visible church. As all Christians should know our God is the God of the living, and our brothers who have passed from this world to the next still love our God day and night. All the events that have succeeded them are still being brought into the hand of God and worked into the mosaic of God’s desired end that is for our good.

However, that end has not yet come. There is still all of future history which God will also bring together with everything that has preceded it, even the thousands of pieces of gum that are stuck underneath tables ever year (yes this seems ridiculous, but the text says all, and none of the surrounding text specifies that “all” to a smaller group that that which encompasses everything, so even this is included). But the time will come when all things are completed, the iniquity of the world is complete, all the elect have been called to salvation and the reprobate are shown by the hardness of their heart, then everything will be brought together “for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.”

So rejoice dear brothers and sisters in Christ! All of our hardship and suffering is not some out of control force working against the church of God that may possibly win out and destroy us! No every enemy of ours, including our own flesh is bound by the will of God to eventually be used for our good. Yes it sucks now, but continue on in the hope of that promise. Our God is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, and so he will come quickly. He will not wait a moment longer, nor move a moment sooner than when everything is fulfilled. And when he does, we shall rejoice in heaven in merriment and love before the throne of the highest King!