“it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.” (Luke 1:3,4, ESV)
Luke, when composing his gospel – his account through eye-witness testimony of the life of Jesus Christ – prefaces his book with his reason for writing it. Luke is providing an “orderly account” for a chap named Theophilus, that based on the facts, Theophilus might know for sure what has happened with this man named Jesus Christ, and that there is evidence to the stories that he is hearing.
Christian belief has always rested on the evidence for the life of Jesus Christ. Faith isn’t hoping that the nice things we hear could be true, but an assurance that they are true because God really entered space-time as Jesus. Faith in Christ is supplied through hearing about what actually happened and what it means for us now.
Derek’s Journey
Derek was an agnostic who began to look seriously at faith later in life after some conversations with a friend who was a Christian. Having been brought up in the UK, it wasn’t as if Christianity was totally alien to Derek, but he hadn’t taken it seriously until this point. As Derek writes,
In my late 30’s I thought it would be worthwhile revisiting some of the questions I’d left unresolved in my teens. My thoughts were that as there are plenty of capable and intelligent people who profess to have some form of belief in God (eg. Scientists like Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. Politicians like Nelson Mandela. Military men like Sir Richard Dannatt and Norman Schwartzkopf etc). In a survey published in “Nature” in 1997, four out of 10 scientists said they believed in God.
Well, Derek’s friend sent some books over, outlining the evidence for the person of Jesus Christ. This was completely new to Derek.
I was amazed by what I found. I was amazed by my own ignorance of the evidence I found. How could I be living in a country where Christianity is the dominant religion and not be aware of this stuff?
Starting from these books Derek was on a journey of building his faith upon the evidence of the person of Jesus Christ. He was so impressed by this, that he then decided to collate all the different sources and create a booklet and website: Jesus: The Evidence to share with others.
Download your free copy of Jesus: The Evidence, where Derek looks at:
- The Sources of Evidence
- Who Was Jesus?
- Resurrection: The Evidence
Would You Benefit from Jesus: The Evidence?
Derek presents the course at locations all over Scotland. If you’re interested in hearing more, take a look at the presentation schedule for the rest of the year.
Perhaps you think that your church would benefit from this talk too. Why not host your own Jesus: The Evidence presentation? Contact Derek for more on this.
