{"id":187,"date":"2016-04-30T00:58:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-30T00:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scottpeterson.misite.co\/why-do-we-believe\/"},"modified":"2022-05-19T16:09:03","modified_gmt":"2022-05-19T16:09:03","slug":"why-do-we-believe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottpeterson.misite.co\/why-do-we-believe\/","title":{"rendered":"WHY DO WE BELIEVE?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nI Peter 3:15 tells us to “always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you”. I believe it is important for the believer in Christ to be able to defend their faith, at least in some basic form. This defense is called ” Christian apologetics”, and my article below describes <\/span>seven reasons why I believe.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n1.   <\/span>PLANET
\nDEGRADATION \u2013 The Law of Thermodynamics and Entropy disprove an evolving earth.
\nRather, it attests to the fact that our planet is deteriorating, moving from a
\nperfect state (as God created) to an imperfect one. This is not a theory, it is
\nindisputable scientific fact. Subsequently, environmental lobbyists cry out for
\ngovernment and its citizens to \u201csave the planet\u201d, and mother earth is
\nworshiped by millions today. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n2.<\/span>    <\/span>LACK OF FOSSIL
\nRECORD \u2013 If Darwin\u2019s evolutionary theory is correct, and mankind evolved from
\nlower species of animals over millions of years, there should be literally
\nmillions of transitional fossils (half breed creatures). This would stand to
\nreason, seeing as there are millions of fish and mammal fossils in the
\ngeological column today. Instead, scientists today continue a desperate search
\nto simply find one<\/i> legitimate
\nexample, in order to help support their hypothesis. The search continues, to no
\navail.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n3.           <\/span><\/span>ORDER REQUIRES
\nDESIGN \u2013 It is impossible for accidents to bring order from chaos. DNA
\nmolecules, cells, and all living creatures require energy and information in
\norder to form a functioning living thing. As an example: a powerful tornado
\nwith lightening and hail would not assemble a house or an office building, even
\nif the storm continued to rage over thousands of years. Rather, it destroys these
\nstructures. A living creature is significantly more complex than an inanimate
\nobject such as a building, even if that building was the Empire State Building
\nor the Taj Mahal.  An intelligent creator
\nis necessary in order to design the blueprint for life.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n4.        <\/span><\/span>HISTORICAL
\nEVIDENCE \u2013 Both Biblical and secular historical records attest to the fact that
\nJesus Christ lived upon this earth. 1st century scholar and historian Titus
\nFlavius Josephus documented in his book \u201cAntiquities of the Jews\u201d that Jesus
\nwas a teacher, a worker of miracles, and known to be the Messiah. Our very
\ntimeline of civilization is categorized as B.C. or A.D.  B.C. traditionally refers to \u201cbefore Christ\u201d
\n(some use B.C.E., meaning \u201cbefore common era\u201d). A.D. is from the Latin phrase Anno Domino<\/i>, which is translated \u201cyear
\nof our Lord\u201d. Jesus Christ remains the pivotal person of world history.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n5.         <\/span><\/span>PROPHETIC
\nEVIDENCE \u2013 In order for statements to prove credible, they must be proven true.
\nThe Bible contains approximately 2,500 prophecies. At least 2000 of them have
\nalready come to fruition, against incredible mathematical odds (which have been
\ncalculated). A portion of prophecies have yet to be realized, as they deal with
\nthe end of days. Examples of prophecy given and fulfilled hundreds of years
\nlater: David described the manner in which the Messiah would be crucified in
\nPsalm 22 and 34:20 \u2013 400 years before the Roman crucifixion was invented;
\nIsaiah prophesied that the Persian king Cyrus would conquer Babylon and subdue Egypt,
\n180 years before it occurred; Jesus Christ told his disciples in Matthew 24 and
\nLuke 21 that not one stone of the Hebrew temple would be left on another. This
\nwas fulfilled by the Roman army under Titus in 70 A.D., when they conquered
\nJerusalem and completely destroyed the temple, pulling down the stones in order
\nto extract the gold inlay.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n6.        <\/span><\/span>SOCIOLOGICAL
\nEVIDENCE \u2013 Atheist declare that there is no God, and agnostics believe that
\nthere may <\/i>be a God. There is a
\nproblem with both of these positions, for if we deny the existence of God, then
\nthe Bible based Judaeo Christian values on which North American and European countries have established their constitutional civil
\nlaws become subjective, at best. Morality would then be relative,
\ndepending on the person and circumstance. We see this movement <\/span>taking place <\/span>within our governments today. Since many believe there is no God and no moral absolutes, then determining
\nright from wrong is relegated to the politicians and ever changing viewpoints of mankind, which as we know is flawed, and limited in understanding.
\nHistorical statistical research reveals that as North America strengthened its
\nposition of separating church and state \u2013 relegating Christianity to remain
\noutside of public classrooms and courtrooms – violent crimes, unplanned
\npregnancies, and marital divorce has escalated at an alarming rate. History
\nproves that relativism and secularism leads to chaos and confusion, eroding the
\nfabric of society. Here’s a couple of statistics which help prove my point: the teenage suicide rate in America rose at least <\/span>400%<\/u> from where it was in 1950, and according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control, as of 2011 one out of every four teenage girls are infected with common sexually transmitted diseases (in 1960 there were only <\/span>two<\/u> types which were known – now there are more than <\/span>twenty-five<\/u>). <\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n7.         <\/span><\/span>PERSONAL EVIDENCE
\n\u2013 As a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ, I can personally give witness to
\nthe fact that God\u2019s plan is the best plan. God has transformed my life
\nfrom the inside out, giving me peace, purpose, provision, and promised blessing! Jesus Christ has saved me, and has revealed to me my “R.F.B.” – reason for being – which is quite simply to bring glory to God in all that I do (I Peter 2). My “M.I.L.” – mission in life –  is to love God, love people, and make Christian disciples (Mark 12:30-31,
\nMatthew 28:19-20). I can honestly tell you that my family has experienced God\u2019s miraculous power and
\nprovidential hand of favour time and again, and I have seen the <\/span>positive results of following God’s Word on a daily basis. Nobody can take away my
\npersonal testimony! Jesus Christ is still the only way to be saved and set free, and I am
\nforever grateful that He loves us all. Everyone has sinned (Romans 3:23) and needs a deliverer. If you don’t know Him as your Saviour and best <\/span>friend, I encourage you to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord today! Romans 10:9 declares, “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” <\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I Peter 3:15 tells us to “always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you”. I believe it is important for the believer in Christ to be able to defend their faith, at least in some basic form. This defense is called ” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":188,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottpeterson.misite.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottpeterson.misite.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottpeterson.misite.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottpeterson.misite.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottpeterson.misite.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/scottpeterson.misite.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottpeterson.misite.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottpeterson.misite.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottpeterson.misite.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottpeterson.misite.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}