When I was first searching for the truth about our existence, and the identity of the Being who'd made His existence so obvious through His creation, I spent months exploring the full spectrum of major worldviews.
One of my most valuable resources during this phase of my investigation was James Sire's The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog. Sire goes into great detail about everything from Naturalism, Deism and the New Age to Hinduism, Islam and the Baha'i Faith. But he also demonstrates that there are really only two fundamental worldviews: those that say the ticket to paradise is being a good person, and the one that says the ticket is Jesus Christ. In short, there’s Christianity, and there’s everything else.
I wanted to believe something in the “everything else” department. My rationale was this: All these other religions said that it’s being a good person that gets you into heaven. My mom had been a great person, and I was planning on becoming one ASAP. So one or more of the "everything else" worldviews would bring us together again, this time forevermore -- without subjecting me, in the meantime, to what I perceived as the priggishness of Christianity.
To find the perfect match, I set up a series of mental buckets and labeled each one with the name of a major “everything else” worldview. I then set out to gather the evidence for each one. My plan was to drop each proof into the appropriate bucket and then, at some as-yet-unspecified date in the future, to sift through all these proofs and proclaim one the winner in the truth department.
Except that, hard as I searched, I found not one shred of evidence for any of them.
“Because we have a holy book” sure doesn’t cut it. Who doesn’t?
“Because it works” is equally unremarkable. They all say that.
“Because there are so many of us” is almost laughable, given how often the majority of people are dead wrong.
Finally, I had to admit that all my "everything else" buckets were empty. Which left only the opposite worldview standing: Christianity.
Almost reluctantly, I turned to the Bible – and was blown away by the evidence I found for its truth, particularly in the realm of science and prophecy.
It’s been 16 years since I set out on my quest, 15 since I arrived at the only possible conclusion. If you haven’t already reached this conclusion yourself, please let me know what’s standing in your way; your eternity may well be at stake, and perhaps I can help point you in the right direction.
One of my most valuable resources during this phase of my investigation was James Sire's The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog. Sire goes into great detail about everything from Naturalism, Deism and the New Age to Hinduism, Islam and the Baha'i Faith. But he also demonstrates that there are really only two fundamental worldviews: those that say the ticket to paradise is being a good person, and the one that says the ticket is Jesus Christ. In short, there’s Christianity, and there’s everything else.
I wanted to believe something in the “everything else” department. My rationale was this: All these other religions said that it’s being a good person that gets you into heaven. My mom had been a great person, and I was planning on becoming one ASAP. So one or more of the "everything else" worldviews would bring us together again, this time forevermore -- without subjecting me, in the meantime, to what I perceived as the priggishness of Christianity.
To find the perfect match, I set up a series of mental buckets and labeled each one with the name of a major “everything else” worldview. I then set out to gather the evidence for each one. My plan was to drop each proof into the appropriate bucket and then, at some as-yet-unspecified date in the future, to sift through all these proofs and proclaim one the winner in the truth department.
Except that, hard as I searched, I found not one shred of evidence for any of them.
“Because we have a holy book” sure doesn’t cut it. Who doesn’t?
“Because it works” is equally unremarkable. They all say that.
“Because there are so many of us” is almost laughable, given how often the majority of people are dead wrong.
Finally, I had to admit that all my "everything else" buckets were empty. Which left only the opposite worldview standing: Christianity.
Almost reluctantly, I turned to the Bible – and was blown away by the evidence I found for its truth, particularly in the realm of science and prophecy.
It’s been 16 years since I set out on my quest, 15 since I arrived at the only possible conclusion. If you haven’t already reached this conclusion yourself, please let me know what’s standing in your way; your eternity may well be at stake, and perhaps I can help point you in the right direction.
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