MY STRONG TOWER
A few weeks ago I was talking with a person who didn’t believe in my moral values or my view of God. He pointed out that if a person cares enough to do a little research he can find just about any theology to support his moral position, and his belief about who or what God is. This is a very strong point. There is a vast amount of theological beliefs prevalent in our world today. The question is, which belief is correct?
My question to the young man was “Which theological belief is centered on truth?” This is a difficult question to answer because many people believe truth is relevant only to one’s belief. That of course is curricular reasoning and does not create a strong position. If I create my belief in the truth that I create, is it really the truth? Perhaps it is to me, but it is not an accurate truth. The next question we need to ask is where can accurate truth be found? My belief is that it is found in the Bible. Why use the Bible? I could go through all the aspects of the Bible; its authors, genres, and fulfilled prophecies, etc., but that only becomes an argument that moves us from the main discussion into other areas of debate. So I will stick to one point. I believe the bible is true because no one has ever found the body. At this point, you may be asking “What body?”
The claim of Christianity is that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day after he was buried. If Christ did not raise from the dead, then Christianity is a sham. It is false and I need to have nothing to do with it. However, if Christ did rise from the grave on the third day after he was buried, then Christianity is not a sham and its writings have to be taken as being what Christ said they were…the truth. How can I be sure about Christ’s resurrection? How do I know that the disciples didn’t steal the body from the grave? When we do a little research, we find solid evidence regarding Christ’s resurrection. The Romans had a vested interest in making sure Christ’s body stayed in the gave and even placed the equivalent of Seal Team Six to guard it, yet on the third day, Christ’s body was gone. The Jewish leaders had a vested interest in making sure no one took the body, yet the gave was empty on the third day. Both Romans and Jews had a vested interest in finding the body, but no one ever did. I have to ask why. Finally, we find that Christ appeared to over 500 followers at one time, most of whom were alive when Paul recorded the event in writing (1 Corinthians 15:6). None of those 500 people ever came forward to state that Christ’s appearances were really just made up stories. The Resurrection is a fact that is not disputed in any church or extra-biblical writings of the time. So I have to ask, where is the body?
Since no one has located Christ’s body, I must accept the fact that the Bible contains truth. For me, if one part of the Bible is wrong, it is all wrong. I believe the Bible to be accurate and true in its original language. People love to point out what they believe are disagreements and inconsistencies in the text, but they do so without researching the discrepancies. If they do their research, they will find several cultural influences involved in each author’s writings. This means the Bible is not incorrect but reflects the culture at the time of each author’s writing.
Accepting the Bible is true, brings us to the point of looking at scripture for guidance in this world of vast theological opinions. When I do that I first look to Proverbs 18:10 which reads “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.” (ESV) When I am assaulted by the abundance of theological positions, I study them to see if they align in any way with the biblical truth I know the Bible contains. There are often many points that are the same, yet each also contains points that directly oppose what the Bible states is true. So what do we do? We run to the strong tower which is the LORD, read His Word, put aside our presuppositions, and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us. Accepting what the Holy Spirit shows us is oftentimes difficult because we don’t want to move from the beliefs we have, yet if we are to grow, we need to run into the strong tower, find the truth and make the necessary changes in our lives to follow where God leads. When we do this we find that He is indeed our strong tower.