Know What You Believe & Why You Believe It

I got into a debate with an older gentleman the other day about Christ, the Bible, science, etc., etc. First he started out saying that I didn't know the Bible but after I verified a few points with Old Testament passages (for instance: he said that Adam had abosolutely not lived over nine hundred years) he adjusted his stance, saying that he believed in the New and not the Old Testament... which he claimed was based on the authors' speculations. But as the debate progressed and I asked him to prove his points he kept repeating that I was just 'close-minded'. I replied that no, that was not the case, I'd studdied these things out and found them to be true but that if he wished to believe that my stand on Scripture as the final authority is shaky then he must prove why. When he did not satisfactorily answer I told him that I believe that the majority of Americans are, sadly, in the same boat as he is: unsure of what they believe and unable to show that what they claim to believe is true.

Norman Geisler wrote a book--if I recall correctly--titled "Know What You Believe and Why You Believe It". How very true that is. How often I have heard people tell me that my faith is a chancy thing, but when I turn around and ask them to prove I am wrong and to show me truth... they back down without offering it. I have more respect for an Athiest who presents arguments based on his own study, than I do for an agnostic who stands half-way, unwilling to choose a side.

How sad that is! They are offered truth and challenged to test it... but they are unwilling to explore the possibility that they need to repent and turn to Christ.

We, the Christian youth in America, have the opportunity to spread the truth to this dying world, and we have the responsibility to convince people that Jesus Christ died and rose to save us and that He is the ultimate Truth and our Life. Let's be bold to make the Way, the Truth, and the Life known and understood.