you KNOW it's a myth

Reading over at the Belief Blog on CNN.com this morning prompted this post. The usual arguments are lobbed, but this is an interesting billboard that was put up by atheists.org:

CNN-Atheist Billboard

I then went to atheists.org and read up about their cause and watched a video about this billboard and others. You can find the video here: you KNOW it's a myth

You will immediately notice the arrogance displayed by the two men speaking in the video. What's funny is this modern atheist movement, championed by guys like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, really only reacts against American Evangelical Fundamentalism. To be honest, I agree with a couple of the things they have to say about these folks, especially in the above linked video. Christians should not be vandalizing billboards. Instead, we should be engaging the public debate and dismantling the juvenile arguments atheists put forth. Such arguments, like the ones which attack the historicity of Jesus, the Old Testament, the Gospels, and the rest of the New Testament are where we can actively and faithfully engage. What we have to be careful of however is that we never get too far from the Gospel Message, namely proclaiming Christ's life, death, and resurrection for you, including the arrogant atheist.

Also important to do is to pray the psalter. This is nothing new that folks will mock, scoff, and attack God and his people. But leave vengeance to Yahweh. Defacing billboards is childish and gets nowhere. This also is usually headed by those who want to make the Christian God the American god as well. The same folks who claim America is a Christian nation. I really want no part of that debate. It is useless, and historically inaccurate. What I do want is to protect the flock, and defend Christians who are left defenseless because we aren't preparing them the proper way. The fight is not rationalism vs. rationalism. But the hope we have over and against rationalism.

We ought to teach our people the beauty and usefulness of praying the Psalms in times like these, while also giving them reasonable explanations to the historicity of Jesus, the OT, and the NT. Also, notice I place Jesus in front. That is where he belongs. Jesus is before all this as God. And as God-Man he restores us to how we're supposed to be. Dismissive and arrogant arguments presented by atheists.org does not dismantle this truth at all.

I feel it is important to go blow by blow on that website to show specific arguments, but being in school I don't know if I can find the time. In the meantime, one common argument heard is how there is no evidence for Jesus outside the NT, and that the four Gospels are not the only ones, etc., etc.

Below I have provided a quote from Ignatius of Antioch of the 1st and early 2nd century. Ignatius is as apostolic as you can get. And the letter I quote is among those which are widely attributed to have actually been written by him. In this section he talks about the history of Christ defending his life, death, and resurrection. Including his birth by the Virgin, his suffering under Pontius Pilate, his death, and his being raised by the Father. Beyond that it also affirms the resurrection to eternal life for believers because of Christ's own resurrection.

In this section Ignatius quotes Matthew and John, while specifically referring to Matthew as scripture. Dates for Ignatius are ca.30-107 AD. He writes this well within a reasonable timeframe to judge the historicity of Matthew as legitimate and as a Gospel for the Church. Also notice, John having been written probably within a few years of Ignatius writing this is cited as legitimate scripture as well. The implications for this are huge in the face of arguments put forth by folks like the ones over at atheists.org. Aside from the defense that is legitimate and helpful which Ignatius provides, read this little bit devotionally as a powerful witness to the Gospel, which also needs to be primary in everything we do. As Advent is upon us, enjoy this appropriate piece by Ignatius of Antioch. The following chapter, The Reality of Christ's Passion, also isn't half bad.

Stop your ears, therefore, when any one speaks to you at variance with⁷⁸⁷⁷⁸⁷ Literally, “apart from.”70Jesus Christ, who was descended from David, and was also of Mary; who was truly born, and did eat and drink. He was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate; He was truly crucified, and [truly] died, in the sight of beings in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth. He was also truly raised from the dead, His Father quickening Him, even as after the same manner His Father will so raise up us who believe in Him by Christ Jesus, apart from whom we do not possess the true life.

Stop your ears, therefore, when any one speaks to you at variance with⁷⁸⁸⁷⁸⁸ Literally, “apart from.”Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was descended from David, and was also of Mary; who was truly begotten of God and of the Virgin, but not after the same manner. For indeed God and man are not the same. He truly assumed a body; for “the Word was made flesh,”⁷⁸⁹⁷⁸⁹ John i. 14. and lived upon earth without sin. For says He, “Which of you convicteth me of sin?”⁷⁹⁰⁷⁹⁰ John viii. 46. He did in reality both eat and drink. He was crucified and died under Pontius Pilate. He really, and not merely in appearance, was crucified, and died, in the sight of beings in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth. By those in heaven I mean such as are possessed of incorporeal natures; by those on earth, the Jews and Romans, and such persons as were present at that time when the Lord was crucified; and by those under the earth, the multitude that arose along with the Lord. For says the Scripture, “Many bodies of the saints that slept arose,”⁷⁹¹⁷⁹¹ Matt. xxvii. 52. their graves being opened. He descended, indeed, into Hades alone, but He arose accompanied by a multitude; and rent asunder that means⁷⁹²⁷⁹² Literally, “hedge,” or “fence.” of separation which had existed from the beginning of the world, and cast down its partition-wall. He also rose again in three days, the Father raising Him up; and after spending forty days with the apostles, He was received up to the Father, and “sat down at His right hand, expecting till His enemies are placed under His feet.”⁷⁹³⁷⁹³ Heb. x. 12, 13. On the day of the preparation, then, at the third hour, He received the sentence from Pilate, the Father permitting that to happen; at the sixth hour He was crucified; at the ninth hour He gave up the ghost; and before sunset He was buried.⁷⁹⁴⁷⁹⁴ Some read, “He was taken down from the cross, and laid in a new tomb.” During the Sabbath He continued under the earth in the tomb in which Joseph of Arimathæa had laid Him. At the dawning of the Lord’s day He arose from the dead, according to what was spoken by Himself, “As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the Son of man also be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”⁷⁹⁵⁷⁹⁵ Matt. xii. 40. The day of the preparation, then, comprises the passion; the Sabbath embraces the burial; the Lord’s Day contains the resurrection.