Why do we believe?

Dear miss Jacy, this one's for you:

A promise is a promise. Sorry that it's long, but it should be what you were looking for. :)


You asked me how we can know that our religion is right and that we're not one of the wrong religions like we claim others are. I think that's an incredible question. Don't stop thinking like that, God never expected us to take everything for granted. Though once He's earned your trust, He does expect you to go without hesitation and do what you feel lead to do.

I became a Christian a little over 6 years ago. And let me tell you, there was nothing that I didn't research and look into...while trying to discover truth.

The proof will ultimately be in your own heart. We can be shown all the proof in the world to believe in something, but if we don't step out on faith...we've missed the point.

Having said that, I'm completely cool with giving you something solid to think on :)


First, if we want to believe in the Bible, we have to find facts outside of the Bible to defend it. After all, If I'm not a Christian then verses like: 2 Timothy 3:16 - "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness..." aren't going to work. That's like me saying that I'm not a liar. Well yes, I've said it, but I'm the one defending myself...not someone else.

So now we can't trust anything ONLY in the Bible until we prove we can. That creates a big problem, since the Bible is the book that tells us that Jesus is our savior. You won't find that in any "scriptures" or texts from that day and age.

So...now what? Do we even have proof that Jesus existed outside of the Bible? The answer is a definite yes.


First, there was a Roman named Tacitus, who is considered one of the more accurate historians of the ancient world. He mentioned superstitious “Christians” (from Christus, which is Latin for Christ), who suffered under Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius. Suetonius, chief secretary to Emperor Hadrian, wrote that there was a man named Chrestus (or Christ) who lived during the first century. He wrote this in a book titled "Annals". I skimmed at the time, and haven't read it since, it's quite boring :)

And perhaps more convincingly is a page long documentation recorded by Flavius Josephus, the most famous Jewish historian. In his book "Antiquities" he refers to James, “the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ. While yet another verse says something like, "At this time there was a wise man named Jesus. His conduct was good and he was known to be virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. But those who became his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion, and that he was alive; accordingly he was perhaps the Messiah, concerning whom the prophets have recounted wonders.”

What I just shared with you was not the page of documentation I mentioned. The page was spent talking about a trial for a man named John (The apostle). It's not a very long story. But in Antiquities
we find out what happened at the trial.

Picture this:

You're in Rome in 95 A.D. That's a long time ago! John is now almost 90 years old. And he's the last of the apostles left alive. I'll get there in a minute. He is brought before the Emperor Domitian, who had a reputation for cruelty with Christians. In this page, Josephus mentions that the Emperor labels John a heretic. Explaining that if he's willing to admit to his lies that he won't be killed. John refuses to denounce Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He is brought into a huge coliseum and sentenced to be boiled in oil. The crowd is excited. After all, they love watching as Christians are brought out and fed to the lions and burned at the stake or on the metal chair. It amuses them. John is cuffed at his hands and feet, and slowlylowered into oil until he is kneeling. Now at this point I imagine the crowd going deathly silent...after all they want to hear his screams and shrieks as he dies. In the heat, his manacles will soften and he'll boil to death, while they watch and cheer. Or so they think. To everyone's surprise, (including Josephus') not only does John not burn but he's saying something. At first it's just a whisper and it grows until the entire coliseum can hear. He's praising his God. There were probably thousands of people coming to believe in Christ upon witnessing John's salvation from the boiling oil. Josephus records that Domitian was furious and wanted John killed, but knew that John's sentence had already been carried out. So instead, the Emperor assigned the last of the Apostles to hard labor on the Island of Patmos. Do realize that a Jewish Historian, who worked for the Romans, who didn't believe in Jesus, recorded that John survived boiling oil in his book? Admittedly, he used "witch-craft" as the explanation...just like the Emperor did. But it's saved in History. And we know the truth.

Now I realize this is long. But it's just getting good.

Think with me. If we KNOW that the twelve apostles existed, then we know something else too. They were either telling the truth about everything, hallucinating, or liars. Right? If there are any other options...I'm not seeing them.

So if we can prove which they are...we can prove whether or not the Bible should be believed. Tracking with me?

I'm going to point out right now that 12 different people, even if they are on "drugs" aren't going to have the SAME hallucination. But odds are that they wouldn't be on "drugs" in the first place. Hallucination is no longer a choice. Two left.



We know that each of the 12 apostles left their families and jobs to follow Jesus. We also know that they were only together for 3 years before he died. So, once He died...did they lie or did they really see him?

Every single one of the 12 apostles traveled alone to distant countries, declaring that Jesus died and came back to life. For proclaiming Jesus' resurrection, they were beaten, imprisoned, and many killed in torturous ways.

Do you know how they died? The Bible only mentions one dying. But the people who killed them didn't leave it as a secret.

1. Andrew was crucified
2. Bartholomew was beaten then crucified
3. James was stoned to death
4. James, son of Zebedee was beheaded
5. John was exiled for his faith and died of old age
6. Judas (not Iscariot) was stoned to death
7. Matthew was speared to death
8. Peter was crucifed upside down
9. Philip was crucified
10. Simon was crucified
11. Thomas was speared to death
12. Matthias was stoned to death


So here is my ending. EVEN today, if you managed to get 12 people from 12 different backgrounds to follow around a teacher for 3 years. First, do you think they would ALL be willing to make up a lie about seeing him raise from the dead? ASSUMING that they would we move to step two. Second, once they started telling the lie, wouldn't one of them break under torture and death? Honestly, don't you think most people would be willing to even lie to not be tortured...so if it was truth...shouldn't a few have denied it...just to stay alive? If not, it must be REALLY IMPORTANT to them. Would you die for a lie? Would you die for the truth? All 12 were CERTAIN. That's the only explanation.

Thirdly, John didn't even have to worry about the other apostles calling him a liar. When he was about to be burned alive, he could have said he was a liar (even if he wasn't), who was going to argue with him? They were all dead by then. But he didn't. Lying is no longer a choice. One left.

There IS something bigger than death, than life, than us, than you, than me, than religion, that everything. There is something that saves us from our "boiling oils" in life. That's the God that I fell in love with over 6 years ago kiddo. You can trust Him completely. Trust me. But more importantly, trust Him :)