It is important in our upcoming discussion on the exclusivity of Christianities truth claims that we make a distinction between knowing and showing Christianity to be true. I do not want to go into much detail on these two points for I will discuss more on them latter, however I will briefly overview them here.
Knowing Christianity is true involves internal confirmation that is given by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:16; Galatians 4:6; 1 John 3:24, 4:13) (I will discuss these versus later). In short, knowing our faith is true is confirmed by the Holy Spirit bearing witness with our spirit. It is that feeling of “I know that I know that I know my faith is real, I can feel it.” That internal knowing can be confirmed by “faith experiences” we have had during our Christian walk – examples: feeling God’s presence during troubled times, feeling the Holy Spirit move upon you during praise and worship, having a request answered in a miraculous way by God. Such personal experiences let us know that our faith is real.[1]
Showing Christianity is true involves external confirmation that comes from strong arguments and evidences that authenticate Christianity. The fact is non-believers can not get inside of our heads to “sense” or “feel” that Christianity is true by the witness of the Holy Spirit – they need external confirmation that what we feel is real. We can do this in several ways: we can live Christ-like lives (walk the talk and talk the walk); we can give evidence to the reasonableness of God’s existence, that Jesus is the Messiah, that the resurrection really occurred, or by showing that Christianity is the most coherent worldview. In all of these examples, we are showing external evidence of our internal confirmation. The Bible says to give a reason to those non-Christians for the hope that is within (1 Peter 3:15).[2]
Now that we have shown the distinction between knowing Christianity is true and showing Christianity is true, we can not, finally, address the issue of “How Do We Know Christianity Is True?”
Addressing the Issue
So, How Do We Know Christianity Is True? This is a question that each of us in our Christian walk has asked at one time or another, if we are honest with ourselves. The question may have come to us because of a non-believer who demands proof that Christianity is true, or we may simply be seeking deeper understanding of why we ourselves believe what we believe. In either case, it is an important question and must be addressed. To the point, we know Christianity is true upon four major confirmations which are as follows:
I. The Bible is the Word of God II. Jesus is who He said He was: God incarnate III. The Self-Authenticating Power of the Holy Spirit IV. Strong Christian Apologetic
[1] Information in this paragraph comes from: Craig, William Lane. Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics. 3rd ed. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008) pgs 43-46 [2] Information in this paragraph comes from: Craig, William Lane. Reasonable Faith. Pgs 51-55
It is important in our upcoming discussion on the exclusivity of Christianities truth claims that we make a distinction between knowing and showing Christianity to be true. I do not want to go into much detail on these two points for I will discuss more on them latter, however I will briefly overview them here.
Knowing Christianity is true involves internal confirmation that is given by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:16; Galatians 4:6; 1 John 3:24, 4:13) (I will discuss these versus later). In short, knowing our faith is true is confirmed by the Holy Spirit bearing witness with our spirit. It is that feeling of “I know that I know that I know my faith is real, I can feel it.” That internal knowing can be confirmed by “faith experiences” we have had during our Christian walk – examples: feeling God’s presence during troubled times, feeling the Holy Spirit move upon you during praise and worship, having a request answered in a miraculous way by God. Such personal experiences let us know that our faith is real.[1]
Showing Christianity is true involves external confirmation that comes from strong arguments and evidences that authenticate Christianity. The fact is non-believers can not get inside of our heads to “sense” or “feel” that Christianity is true by the witness of the Holy Spirit – they need external confirmation that what we feel is real. We can do this in several ways: we can live Christ-like lives (walk the talk and talk the walk); we can give evidence to the reasonableness of God’s existence, that Jesus is the Messiah, that the resurrection really occurred, or by showing that Christianity is the most coherent worldview. In all of these examples, we are showing external evidence of our internal confirmation. The Bible says to give a reason to those non-Christians for the hope that is within (1 Peter 3:15).[2]
Now that we have shown the distinction between knowing Christianity is true and showing Christianity is true, we can not, finally, address the issue of “How Do We Know Christianity Is True?”
Addressing the Issue
So, How Do We Know Christianity Is True?
This is a question that each of us in our Christian walk has asked at one time or another, if we are honest with ourselves. The question may have come to us because of a non-believer who demands proof that Christianity is true, or we may simply be seeking deeper understanding of why we ourselves believe what we believe. In either case, it is an important question and must be addressed. To the point, we know Christianity is true upon four major confirmations which are as follows:
I. The Bible is the Word of God
II. Jesus is who He said He was: God incarnate
III. The Self-Authenticating Power of the Holy Spirit
IV. Strong Christian Apologetic
[1] Information in this paragraph comes from: Craig, William Lane. Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics. 3rd ed. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008) pgs 43-46
[2] Information in this paragraph comes from: Craig, William Lane. Reasonable Faith. Pgs 51-55