Proving Christianity is what makes it science
The English word “science” comes from the Latin, scientia, which means knowledge. The Greek word episteme can be translated “knowledge," and this word shows up regularly in the New Testament. In Aristotle, episteme is often translated as science. We gain knowledge by experience, as well as by demonstrable and reproducible data. The German philosopher Immanuel Kant said, “Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.”
Do you recognize the ways religion and science sometimes overlap? For example, the assertion that a religious prophet rose from the dead can be presented simply as a religious claim, or as a scientific claim as well, depending upon the person making the assertion.
Prior to Christ’s death and resurrection, his disciples made the religious claim that Jesus is the Messiah. The defining event of Christianity, however, only became science (knowledge plus experience) to those disciples after they spent time with their resurrected Lord.
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Likewise, Christianity only becomes science to believers today after their faith in Christ produces within them the certainty of salvation. As evangelist D.L. Moody said: “Faith is the root; assurance is the flower.” It is the flower which provides the richest experience and the clearest and most vibrant episteme (knowledge).
Assurance is a scientific reality in the hearts of millions of Christians. It is a phenomenal blessing that flows from faith in Christ, and no other religion has it. If you don’t believe me, ask people from five different religions if they have complete confidence that they will spend eternity in Heaven. When your hope is built upon your morality and religious efforts, it is impossible to have the certainty of salvation. Our good works are always imperfect, no matter how hard we try to do the right thing.
Compare that uncertainty to the confidence that millions of Christians experience. “Heaven is my home.” This bold assurance provides peace that nothing in the world can begin to match. It is based upon the promises of God, but it goes deeper than mere intellect into the realm of the spirit. A believer’s entire being finds itself resting in the Gospel, which results in a higher level of knowledge, or what I like to call “sanctified reason.”
The apostle John explained it this way: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). Notice the progression. When you first believe in Jesus as your Savior, you are instantly forgiven of your sins and granted the free gift of eternal life in Heaven. And your belief is able to develop into a firm certainty as you stand in faith upon the Gospel promises found in the Bible.
Now of course this scientific conviction is not available to anyone who attempts to turn the Gospel into a license to freely sin. Earlier in his epistle John wrote: “If anyone says ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar” (1 John 4:20). No one who lives in hate experiences the assurance of salvation because no one who lives in hate is truly saved, redeemed, justified, born again and forgiven.
Knowing (scientia) that you have eternal life through faith in Jesus provides proof of Christianity, just as the resurrected Christ provided proof to the apostles that Jesus is indeed the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Today, believers around the world enjoy sanctified reason when they stand on the promises of God. It is rock-solid confidence that my “inheritance in Heaven” (1 Peter 1:4) is backed up by the death and resurrection of my Savior.
You will not find another religion whose prophet rose from the dead and was then seen by hundreds of witnesses; or whose followers experience the certainty of salvation; or where prophecies written down hundreds of years earlier have been fulfilled. I addressed the monumental significance of the prophecies in my CP op-ed, “The Mathematical Proof for Christianity Is Irrefutable.”
The Apostle Paul highlighted the historical events that formed the foundation of the Christian faith. “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living” (1 Corinthians 15:3-6).
Paul used the phrase “according to the Scriptures” to show how Old Testament prophecies, such as Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, Zechariah 12:10, Hosea 6:2, and Jonah 2:10, had foretold the coming events in God’s plan of salvation. Jonah 2:10 was actually applied to the Resurrection by Christ Himself.
Believing in Christ is what makes Christianity a matter of faith, while proving Christianity is what makes it science.
If you currently lack faith in Christ, you perhaps balk at the idea that Christianity can be proven scientifically. But if you were to turn to Jesus in repentance and faith, you would start down the path of sanctified reason and a higher level of knowledge that is only attainable by submitting your soul to your Creator and embracing the Gospel for yourself. The One who created us with the ability to do science knows exactly what will happen if you surrender yourself to the overwhelming evidence for Christ's resurrection and the scientific proof for Christianity.
So, will you accept and rely upon the Gospel promises in God’s Word, rather than your own limited subset of knowledge? Without faith, you will never experience the certainty of salvation. You must first receive the free gift of salvation through faith in the Savior. As Jesus made perfectly clear, “You must be born again” (John 3:7).
Once you rely upon the historical events of the cross and the empty tomb as the basis of your forgiveness of sins, your faith instantly begins to grow into a scientific certainty within your heart. This scientia, sanctified reason, knowledge, science, episteme and assurance will entirely change the way you view life, death and the world to come. It is a proven fact!
Dan Delzell is the pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Papillion, Nebraska.
