Posted on 10/31/2008 11:42:18 AM PDT by rivercat
I'm sure there are some fellow Freepers out there that have encountered a similar circumstance.
This is a very simplistic description of the circumstances... I have 60 year old friend that's been an active Christian all of her life. A few days ago, her ailing mother announced that she was now an athiest. She took my friend to several places on the web and showed her why Jesus, G-d, etc, are all just a clever scheme invented to control the people. You should see my friend, she is devastated, and her whole faith and belief system has been shaken. She suddenly looks pale and sickly, and she's become very erratic. I figure I have one chance to get this right, or she may fall to the dark side. Here's how you can help... I need to find a book, or video, or CD (other than the Bible) that contains the best case of proving that Jesus Christ existed and that Christianity is not a myth. I did a search, and there are a ton of them, but I need to find the one that will present the best case.
If she doesn’t know, she doesn’t know. No one can prove something that happened 2000 years ago to you. He is alive today. That’s the only proof anyone needs.
The relationship is the proof.
“The Case for Christ” - Lee Strobel
His existence is attested by the New Testament - one of the most ancient documents we possess. It is attested by Pliny (a pagan philosopher and statesman), by Josephus (a Jewish historian), and the Talmud (a Jewish legal textbook).
There is more documentary proof, therefore, that Jesus existed than there is documentary proof that Alexander The Great existed, or that Socrates existed, or that any number of famous historical personages existed.
If someone wants to argue that Jesus was not what He claimed to be, that's an argument.
If someone wants to argue that Jesus never existed, they are insane.
I don't think that is a good argument at all and not a good way to approach this circumstance.
My recommendation is “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis.
It’s on CD, as well. Still listen to it on long trips.
It was no small part of what converted me (a Jew) to Christianity.
Amen. And that is what the book "The Case for Christ" hits upon.
The Josh McDowell books are pretty good.
“Evidence that Demands a verdict”
Arguing that a historical Christ never existed is ignorant. There is significant documentary evidence of the personage of Christ. No serious historian disputes this. What is and should be a matter of debate are his “works.”
All they can do is present available evidence.
All people live life on the basis of millions of rational (and also often irrational) assumptions.
It sound's like rivercat's friend's mother is a vicious individual who enjoys upsetting her own daughter and intentionally hurting her feelings.
What a burden such a parent must be. I am blessed to have two encouraging and affectionate parents.
Not hardly. Mormons have an experience.
What’s funny (not in the ha ha sort of way) is that internet atheists (usually a less than educated breed) run with the “Jesus didn’t really exist line”, yet if you were to ask them if they thought Socrates really existed, they’d readily say he did. Of course, the only evidence we have for Socrates’ existence comes from Plato’s writings, so we actually have much better and more numerous documentary evidence, both Biblical and extrabiblical, for Jesus. Even atheistic historians like Robin Lane Fox think that Jesus obviously was real, even if they don’t believe the same things about Him that Christians believe.
I remember reading that one in college. Good book.
The absolute best book out there is The Case For The Real Jesus by Lee Strobel. I believe Lee was a former agnostic, or even atheist.
It’s usually in stock at Barnes & Noble or Books-A-Million; I don’t know if your friend could get her mother to read a whole book at this point, but maybe she could present her mother with one of the major points of the book each time they got together, or perhaps email her one point at at time.
But Socrates doesn’t make them feel guilty, so it’s okay for him to be real.
I’m not sure how well this argument will work with someone whose mental faculties are failing, but by definition God is omnipotent. That means that He is a being that is impossible to imagine or contemplate not existing. What ever it is your friend’s mother is imagining not existing cannot be God, it is something less than God.
A very good book indeed. Although the best book is the Bible itself.
Tell your friend that “You don’t have enough faith to be an atheist.”
Also, if your friend is active on the internet, have her visit www.leestrobel.com , for finding the right arguments (and at this point, it appears that they are at the stage of it being “arguments”)
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