{"id":1436,"date":"2015-01-16T04:30:22","date_gmt":"2015-01-16T04:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/journeyonleadership.brentwoodbaptistonline.com\/?p=1436"},"modified":"2015-01-16T04:30:22","modified_gmt":"2015-01-16T04:30:22","slug":"truth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leadership.brentwoodbaptist.com\/adult-discipleship\/truth\/","title":{"rendered":"The Truth: Who, Not What"},"content":{"rendered":"
by Roger Severino<\/address>\n

In John 14:1-7, Jesus tells His disciples that they will know the way to where He is going.<\/p>\n

One of them says: \u201cLord, we don\u2019t know where You are going. How can we know the way?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesus told him, \u201cI am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohhh. So we are not talking about a path, but a person. We are not talking about a system, but a Savior. We are not talking about a \u201cwhat\u201d or a \u201cwhere\u201d, but a \u201cwho\u201d.
\nWhen we talk to our unbelieving friends and neighbors about Christianity, we are not primarily talking about a religion or philosophical system. We are primarily talking about a person.
\nMost skeptics will acknowledge that a person named Jesus (Yeshua) lived in first century Palestine, developed a following, was executed by Roman crucifixion, and that his followers came to believe (for whatever reason) that he had risen from the dead.
\nI once listened to a series of lectures by New Testament professor, Bart Erhman, who teaches at UNC Chapel Hill. Dr. Ehrman is an agnostic and, therefore, doesn\u2019t believe in the resurrection of Jesus. But in discussing the early spread of Christianity and the development of the church, Dr. Ehrman kept using a phrase like: \u201cThe followers of Jesus came to believe<\/em> that he had been raised from the dead.\u201d Dr. Ehrman never tried to explain how that belief came about, or even suggest various hypotheses. Part of this, I imagine, is because this was not the focus of the course. But part of it, perhaps, is also that there is no really good alternative explanation for what Christians and those early eyewitnesses affirm to be true. \u201cJesus is risen from the dead!\u201d
\nChristianity is not primarily about a philosophy \u2013 though there is a place for Christian philosophy and systematic theology. Our belief is founded on a real person who lived in real space and time approximately 2,000 years ago in a known geographical location on the globe.
\nOne good way of talking to our skeptical friends is to ask:<\/p>\n