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Testimony by Mark Smith
Josh McDowell, in his book titled Evidence That Demands A Verdict, makes a big deal of the value of testimony within the New Testament in establishing the truth of the message. Other writers have cited courtroom examples of how testimony is used. Testimony, in the absence of hard evidence, is sometimes all a jury has to go on. But how did the people in the New Testament look upon testimony? Did they think it a valid foundation upon which to base their eternal destinies? Or did they tend to throw out unfounded assertions and await hard evidence? The people of Athens rejected the testimony of Paul concerning the resurrection from the dead of Jesus (Acts 17:32). Paul had given them no hard, tangible evidence - just words. Paul, as Saul, rejected the testimony and visions of the martyr Stephen (Acts 7:56-60, 8:13). Stephen had only his words to offer Paul, and Paul found that kind of evidence to be unacceptable. The apostle Thomas, who had been with his fellow apostles for several years, who knew them on a daily basis, knew enough not to trust them any further than he could throw them! When the other ten apostles told Thomas that Jesus had been raised from the dead, he counted their personal eye-witness testimony to be insufficient evidence. In other words, he thought they were lying. He demanded hard evidence, and refused to trust mere testimony (John 20:24,25). And all eleven apostles flatly rejected as absurd the testimony of the women who claimed to have spoken to angels at the tomb concerning the resurrection of Jesus. The eyewitness accounts of the several women "appeared as nonsense," and the apostles refused to believe without hard, tangible evidence (Luke 24:9-11). Who are we to break with Bible tradition and example? We should not be so gullible as to believe outlandish, incredible tales, 2000 years removed and filtered through countless unknown editors. Tales that were rejected by the very people who knew the honesty and trustworthiness of the witnesses. Thomas rejected mere words, and demanded hard evidence. The eleven apostles rejected the mere words of women, and demanded hard evidence. Jesus, according to the Bible, even offered hard evidence, as found in Luke 24:39:
And again, Jesus is reported to have said to Thomas, in John 20:27,
There is no reason we should settle for anything less. They refused to believe without hard evidence and even Jesus, if the account is true, was sympathetic to their demands for real evidence. Jerusalem refused to trust Jesus, the apostles didn't trust each other or their female friends, and Saul refused to trust what any Christian said. Maybe that should tell us something of the quality of the witnesses! It seems to me as if modern Christians are asking us to swallow a stew without thinking. A left-over stew that's 2000 years stale, that has gone by dozens of unknown cooks, each throwing in his own concoction. We are being asked to swallow, whole, stale evidence; evidence that when fresh, was rejected by Saul/Paul, spit out by Thomas, and vomited up by the rest of the apostles! Thomas rejected the fresh testimony of his best friends! And we are to believe the same testimony, now 2000 years stale, from people that to us are total strangers? NO! We're not talking about how history is determined. "Well, all we have are books that say George Washington existed. It's the same with Jesus." Oh no it's not! Washington's best friends never denied he was president or whatever. Jesus' friends did. And Washington never claimed to be a god! Jesus did. And Washington never asked that you spend your whole life worshipping him, or even become a martyr and die for your belief in his godhood. Jesus did. And Washington never claimed to walk on water - he used a boat crossing the Delaware! And mostly, Washington doesn't have millions of deluded fanatics out trying to convince you that he rose from the dead, can live in your heart, or forgive you for your "sins." Failure to believe in Washington just means you're stupid. But failure to believe in Jesus, according to the Christians, means you are doomed to eternal hell fire! Nobody asked you to die for Washington - but they'll ask you to die for Jesus. A big difference. I stand upon the same principles as those Freethinkers in the New Testament, rejecting mere testimony of such UNbelievable fairy tales. Fantastic claims require extraordinary evidences. Be like the apostles - don't be swayed by clever sermons or someone's testimony. Demand a personal, in-the-flesh visit by this all- powerful god of the universe. Christians say that he is everywhere - even peeping over your shoulder as you read this. Ask! Demand a visit. Don't settle for anything less. Know Evidence, Know Belief. NO EVIDENCE, NO BELIEF!!! Set Free P.O. Box 3065-192 Garden Grove, CA 92642 Phone 714-530-FREE Write for FREE catalog.
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