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Posted
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Wednesday, December 2, 2009
by Liza M
How
Do You Know You're Right?

If someone were to ask you to
explain Christianity and your own personal faith, would you know what to
say? Would you be able to defend your beliefs in rational, intelligent
manner?
These are questions that are
important to ask yourself because sooner or later, you will run into
opportunities to explain what you believe and you will need to know why you
believe the way you do. Several years ago on the IPF message board, someone
began a thread to ask me why I believed there was even a God or something to
that effect. I remember being
taken completely aback by the question because
frankly, I had never had to defend the existence of God to anyone. Needless to
say, I had no clue on how to answer or even where to begin looking for help in
answering.
I remember quoting the Bible
(from which verse I don’t remember) in a sincere yet weak attempt to answer that
question. I also recall my explanation being ridiculed because I had used the
Bible to prove there was a God who was the supposed author of the Book itself.
That situation as well as
several others around that time really shook me up and made me realize there was
a lot I did not know. This was the best thing that could have ever happened.
What I want you to know is that
even if you feel without assurance to share your faith because you are confused
about so much of it yourself, it is completely possible to get out of that rut
and turn your confusion into confidence knowing that you are well equipped and
“a worker that does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of
truth” as Paul tells Timothy in 2 Tim 2:15.
What is the first step in knowing?
First of all read the Bible.
Learn what it claims about creation, sin, salvation, judgment, etc. This way you
at least can dispel myths about the Christian faith to others who don’t know
much about it. As a side note it will also help you understand that the notions
that all religions are true cannot be since they contradict each other on these
important points.
Space is running out, but I
quickly want to share another helpful pointer. That is to read books written by
Christian apologists. A Christian apologist is someone who devotes him/herself
to the rational defense of Christianity through the use of facts and reason.
Some well known apologists are Ravi Zacharias, Norman Geisler, Frank Turek, and
John Ankerberg to name a few. One book that I highly recommend for the brave
enough (kind of long) is I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be an Atheist
co-authored by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek.
While you may not be able to
pick it up and read it, I will be sharing what I’ve learned from that book here
on IPF next time. Until then, God bless and have a wonderful
holiday season and a very merry Christmas!
E-mail:
liza.barros@gmail.com.
Or leave a comment on the
Message Board.
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