FollowThere is a traditional joke in which a person who is lost asks for directions – “Well, I wouldn’t start from here …”, comes the reply. Of course, we have to start from where we are, but gaining a real understanding of that starting point is key in helping us to identify the direction of travel and understand the journey ahead.
Like anything involving real people, real data and the reconstruction of historical events, Christianity is messy. I can understand the temptation to cut through the messiness with a clean clear-cut theology that becomes the guiding principle when we don’t know how to interpret the data. However, for too many Christians and critics that theology can become the plank of wood that blinds us to really considering the evidence, because we become too quick to dismiss anything that doesn’t fit with our world view.
Before we come to consider the claims of Christianity and its implications for our lives, I would urge each of us to examine our prior assumptions, our starting point if you like, because these will colour the conclusions we can reach. Just as the Christian who begins with the claim that the bible is infallible will never acknowledge the errors and inconsistencies within its pages, so too the critic who declares that all miracles are a priori impossible is destined to reject the case for Christ’s resurrection.
Fortunately, Christian truth does not require scripture to be infallible – it is enough that the evidence is sufficient to lead people to Christ.