One of Hugh’s recent posts got me to thinking about an experience I had at an apologetics conference in 2003. The speaker asked for a show of hands on the following question.

If I could prove to you conclusively–beyond a shadow of a doubt–that Christianity is false, would you walk away from it?

I was in decided minority when I timidly, tentatively raised my hand. It wasn’t a question that I hadn’t considered, and it was sort of scary to answer affirmatively. But I think the analysis that I ran through in the brief seconds between the question being asked and raising my hand still stands. There are two key truths in play.

The first is what Hugh touched on–we must trust what we believe. If the truth claims of Christianity are true, then, by definition, they cannot be legitimately disproved. If they can be disproved, then the truth claims of Christianity are, of necessity, not true. If this is the case, then we should not believe them. This leads to the second key truth in play.

Christianity, based on actual events in history, is inherently falsifiable. This simply means that it is the kind of claim that could be shown to be false if it was. This is part of what makes the gospel message so powerful. Simply show that Jesus was not raised from the dead, and Christianity falls. Now look at over 2000 years of history of people attempting just that–to no avail. One archaeological discovery after another only affirms the Biblical record.

Now, compare this to competing worldviews. Naturalism is a philosophy that defines the supernatural out of existence. It cannot be falsified because any contrary claim is defined to be false. Or compare to the new age preaching of Deepak Chopra. He simply makes assertions (like all religions lead to God). He denies the law of non-contradiction, insulating his system from any form of criticism.

Paul was free to admit that it was possible that Jesus had not been raised (see 1 Corinthians 15:14-19). Paul was willing to entertain the possibility that Christ had not been raised. This didn’t bother him, not because he would be a Christian whether or not it was true, but because he knew it to be true. He trusted what he believed. In verse 6 he appealed to witnesses of the resurrection. Paul of all people could have said “just believe it whether it actually happened or not,” but he didn’t. He said to believe it only because it actually happened. The implication is that if it didn’t happen, then don’t believe it.

My point in all of this is that we need to go out in confidence that our message is actually true. With the confidence that says that we would walk away from it if it weren’t true–that we could be wrong, but we have good reason to believe that we are not. I think that is a compelling message that will disarm many objectors who cannot be as intellectually honest. Being on the side of truth has serious advantages. We should use them!