Addressing Skepticism

ADDRESSING SKEPTICISM
By: Henry Kelly

Perhaps you have heard it said that the Bible is filled with misinformation, mistranslations, contradictions, and even lies. Those are serious charges. But serious charges deserve more than assertions—they deserve examination.
Consider a few common objections:
“There was never a Great Flood.”
That is a historical and scientific claim that requires evidence. The question is not simply whether someone accepts the biblical account, but whether the evidence actually demonstrates that the biblical account is impossible or false.
“Jericho was already in ruins long before Joshua.”
Archaeology is valuable, but archaeological conclusions involve questions of dating, interpretation, destruction layers, and even which evidence is relevant to the biblical account. Saying “archaeology disproves the Bible” is considerably easier than actually demonstrating it.
“There was never a Roman census requiring people to return to their ancestral homes.”
An absence of surviving evidence is not necessarily evidence that an event never occurred. The historical question deserves careful examination rather than a conclusion based simply on what has or has not survived in the historical record.
“The Gospel accounts of the resurrection contradict one another.”
Different accounts emphasizing different details do not automatically constitute contradictions. The question is whether the accounts are logically incompatible. Four witnesses need not provide four identical accounts to provide reliable testimony.
“The Bible says π is 3.”
It doesn't. The passages describe a circular basin with a diameter of ten units and a circumference of thirty units. Those are ordinary rounded measurements, not a mathematical declaration that the exact value of π is 3.
But there is a greater point here…
It is reasonable to ask difficult questions about Christianity. Christians should not be afraid of honest examination. Christianity makes historical claims that can—and should—be investigated.
But there is a difference between raising an objection and demonstrating that the objection proves your conclusion.
And even if every difficult question could be answered, the most important question would remain:
Who is Jesus Christ? This is the critical issue for the unbeliever...
The Christian faith is not merely a proposition to be debated. It is a message about what God has done in history to save sinners.
God is holy and righteous, and we are not. Every one of us has sinned against our Creator. Our problem is therefore much deeper than intellectual doubt or disagreement with Christianity. Our fundamental problem is sin.
We cannot make ourselves right with God by being good enough, becoming religious enough, or winning enough arguments. We stand guilty before a holy God and deserve His just judgment.
But God, in His mercy, sent His Son.
Jesus Christ—the eternal Son of God—came into the world, lived the perfectly righteous life that we have failed to live, and willingly went to the cross. There He bore the judgment that sinners deserve, offering Himself as the sacrifice for sin.
He was crucified, died, and was buried.
And on the third day, He rose bodily from the grave.
The resurrection is not merely a comforting story or a religious symbol. It is the central claim of Christianity: Jesus Christ conquered death and demonstrated that He is exactly who He claimed to be.
And because Christ lives, there is forgiveness for sinners.
The Bible calls us to repent and believe.
Repentance means turning from our sin and rebellion and turning to God. Faith means trusting—not in our own goodness, morality, religion, or ability to answer every question—but in Jesus Christ alone and in His finished work on the cross.
You don't have to pretend you have no questions.
Bring your questions. Examine the evidence. Search the Scriptures. Investigate the resurrection. Wrestle honestly with the difficult passages.
But don't allow the existence of difficult questions to keep you from considering the most important truth of all:
Jesus Christ is Lord and loved you enough to die for you sins!
And the Gospel is not merely that Christianity has good answers.
The Gospel is that sinners can be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.
“Repent and believe in the gospel.” — Mark 1:15

-Henry Kelly