First time I've seen this essay...and this type of essay :) It's great, this idea you got...because we as Christians know that that there is no way anyone can find Christ's body. :D

This is quite funny from an atheists point of view because im not sure if you know this but atheists only want to prove christains wrong because the majority of people are christain. With this many would like everyone to be Christian and abide by thier rules. This could mean no gay people no non cristains ect. Start world war 3 probably! Athiest dont hate christianity they hate the hateful people that are involved in it. I also tend to hate the bible; People who use the bible as an excuse to hate are pathetic.

You cannot prove god does or does not exist and the bible is not proof. No loving god would offend the very things he made.If god hated non belivers enough to send them to hell then why do they exist?

Neither Christains or Atheists can be conviced they are wrong so there is really no point in trying. I really think religous people should follow the main message of religion - love instead of worring about what the bible says or doesnt say.Human rights is more important than what the bible says.

So, atheists, and all other “counter enemies” of our faith, to obliterate us from the face of the earth, I challenge you, as many have before, find the body of Jesus Christ and you will never hear from us again!

This is a CRAP challenge. Atheists will not respect you for it. If someone *did* find the body of christ, how can they prove that it is so? will it have a sign saying 'jesus' on it? hell no! Here's a question: Can god make a stone that is too heavy for him to lift? If you can answer that correctly, you gain points against atheism.

The way this is written in confusing, and very paolini-ish. when i say 'paolini-ish, i mean arrogantly and stupidly arguing a point in such a way that it can be refuted easily and well.

Don't just concentrate on defending your own faith - comment on the 'faith' of the atheists. Why do they care so much about chrsitianity? Is it because they are scared that we might be right? Atheists will never know if they are right, but they WILL know if they're wrong. Christians on the other hand, won't ever know if they're wrong. So, who wins? :D

Okay. I'm just going to say it: this has made me cringe. I got highly confused while reading this, not least because of the awful layout - ever heard of paragraphs? These make the reading a lot easier, and the reader a hell of a lot more likely to continue reading. Right. Now that's out of my system, I have some constructive criticism for you! Yay! And I really hope you read it, 'cause it took a while to write. :D

"If Allah or multiple gods are worthy of worship, then tell me what they did that Jesus didn’t do and did they do it better?" This line really bugged me - it's quite clearly a 'my horse is bigger than yours' - and Jesus would not have you brag, I am sure, especially about him - he told his disciples on numerous occasions "Tell no-one of what you have seen", and as a follower, should you not follow his advice sometimes? It is also not a case of whether or not they did it better - anyone can say they did it better. It would be more of a case of: how does what they did make them more believable? I am sure that some of the heathen gods did many things Jesus would not do, period - why shold Jesus have to compete with them? He should be as he is, and that should be enough for those who believe. Maybe my version of the question is crap, but yours was quite cringe-worthy - not that mine isn't, but still.

"The proof: the resurrection and ascension of Christ" I would truly love this to be considered proof. Truly. But alas, saying it does not make it so.

You cannot 'prove' something to someone using fact alone. You do not need to totally and utterly convince them - all you need to do is put a shadow of doubt in their minds about what THEY believe in. So instead of detailing that Jesus rose from the dead with his awesome powers, talk (or rather write)instead about the logicality of that assumption. Why did they want Jesus dead so quick? It was actually illegal to put him on trial on the night of the week that they did, but they did it anyway - why could it not have waited? When he was dead, a spear was stuck into his side - blood and water came out, and the soldiers - who were no fans of Jesus or his teachings - verified his death. There are historical records of a man named Jesus, who lived around that time and was crucified. Jesus was put in a tomb, and a stone was rolled across the entrance - I'm not talking about a measly little rock, but a huge stone, that took several men to roll (the stone also rolled downwards to cover the entrance, so it would have had to have been pushed up to get it away from the entrance, requiring a much bigger shove :D). If Jesus had been alive, he would have been in a severely weakened state, due to the flogging he had received, the wound sustained by the soldier's spear, and the strain of being on the cross so long. Tell me, would he have been able to roll that stone back up? Furthermore, the tomb had a watch set over it - the persons responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus did not want his body stolen by his disciples and hidden so that they would then say that he had risen. So, we have a huge stone and a watch. Watches can be evaded, can they not? Well, when you look at the context, back then if you as a Roman guard fell asleep on your watch, the penalty was death - so the guards had a pretty good incentive to stay awake, no? The gospel tell us that they said they had seen nothing. All you need to do is start the fire of doubt.

Now, about the bible itself. Made by god? Bullsh*t. It was written by men - and THAT has been proved. These men may have been told what to write by god, or they recorded prophesies, or they were just recounting what they had experienced - it wasn't god's hand that wrote the words. That idea (that the bible is written by god) would be better placed in Islamic beliefs - the Koran was shown to Mohammad by the 'angel' and he memorised what ti said, because he could not read. THAT is more like god writing it.

And now, evolution. What is wrong in believing in evolution? Sure, the entire idea of it was to make it so God was no longer needed (my great great uncle Russell was a friend of Darwin, and a priest, so naturally, they didn't get along so well after his theory came out :D) but can we not say that it was a mechanism? How does evolution disprove god in any way? That would be a better road to go down than trying to disprove evolution itself, which has plenty of scientific evidence to support it, even if a lot of it is fake (e.g. the progression of the horse). Who's to say that God didn't invent evolution? Because using evolution as a way to disprove God has one fundamental flaw: it HAS to have started somewhere. So who, or what, started it?

Right. About the sex thing - when did god ever say that it wasn't meant to be fun? He meant it to be wonderful, but only to be between man and wife, so it means that much more. Thinking that sex is just for producing children is an archaic idea, but one that features in the middle east, where, in places, they castrate women so that sex is not pleasurable for them. But that's allah for you - hate women. No wait, that's the interpreters of allah - the koran never details that women are inferior. But that's off subject.

Finally, about the whole challenge thing: don't. Just don't. It's not a very intellectual thing to say, and readers will just scoff at the rest of the essay - I know my eyebrows raised when I read it. Find the body. Right. Ever heard of the shroud of turin? Research is a wise man's friend: reasearch it and see what you think. Maybe even include it in the next installment of this...essay.

And may I just finish with telling you that I am 15, and a Roman Catholic. It would be nice to have a response sometime. :D

This chapter struck me as a load of pointless waffling.

"Though merely an introduction, it is so critical to grasp that the Bible is not just a book created by men –though it was written by men—but a book who’s origin is God Himself."

And we are to believe this simply because it says so in the Bible. It's circular reasoning.

"In this chapter, however, I want to spend time addressing a person’s internal knowledge system; that is, their conscience."

No, a person's 'internal knowledge system', what they store their knowledge in, is called a MEMORY. A conscience is something different.

"However, the most powerful thing that a person has is a conscience; everyone has one."

Actually, some mentally ill people don't. Look it up.

"It is the very evidence that they live with everyday that proves that God exists and has put the knowledge of God and evil in their being. "

No, it isn't. Even if you assume (as you appear to have done) that a conscience couldn't arise in a creature naturally, but had to be put there by a god, its presence isn't evidence that it was put there by *your* God. Also, people's consciences tell them different things. People have different ideas of what constitutes good and evil actions. This has to do with the enormous influence of the culture in which a person is raised.

"The idea that the knowledge of good and evil came through means other than the Garden of Eden doesn't exist when looking at occultic religions because the idea of man being responsible for sin also doesn't exist. "

What do you mean by 'occultic religions' in this context? Many religions such as Satanism (if that's what you mean) most certainly do feature the idea of personal responsibilty for one's actions, although they may disagree on what is sinful, or whether there is even any such thing as a sin. As to the idea of where the knowledge of good and evil comes from in such religions, it varies. You generalise a great deal about other religions without any evidence of research on the subject.

"this puts the entire world guilty before God because all of us were born in this world into sin."

Many great thinkers have had issue with the obvious contradiction between a supposedly all loving God and the fundamental unfairness of a baby being 'born into sin' (how can someone who has never had a chance to do anything be a sinner?), hence the birth of Protestantism.

"Only Christianity defines truth as being directly from God and found in His written Word"

Oh really? What of the Koran and the holy books of other religions? You don't know what you are talking about.

"If anything contradicts scripture, then it is unacceptable and passed down as a lie. "

Right. So I should feed my pet snake dirt because it says in the Bible that that's what snakes eat? And when he starves to death I can comfort myself with knowing that at least I didn't listen to the lies of the pet shop owner and the vet who must have been lying because they contradicted the scripture. Great advice. *shakes head* By your definition, so many advances in science and philosophy must be dismissed as 'lies'. We must now all go back to living in dung huts with no sanitation, treating women as property and beating children to death when they disobey their parents.

I must say that I'm rather glad to find a work such as this posted. It's encouraging to see others write about Jesus and give Scriptures to back themselves up, which is sadly a rare thing. It's also encouraging to see people who are unafraid to speak the truth and not worry about the reactions. Sadly many people today are afraid to say anything for fear of what others may think or do to them. Keep up the good work and can't wait for updates. Take care and God bless.

~Jeannie-Redd

written with great conviction.
youve gotta know though, that nonbelievers usually arent dissauded by facts alone.
pray for them. the wonder of prayer is astounding.

Everyone:
Thank you for your reviews. All of them have proven helpful despite their critical context and opinions; again, all is appreciated. I wanted to assure the future reviewers, as well as those who have already reviewed, that again my defenses in both chapters are merely "Introduction" and I haven't provided the information to it's fullest in defending my postion. In the later chapters, more devised content and sources will follow which will help support my argument. The arguments listed are only in general details regarding my fundamental position in defending Christology. In the next chapter, which is currently being developed right now, I will be taking a step back to address the conscience evidence of the knowledge of God and His Moral Law, namely the ten commandments. While I"m being extremely humble in my review, I can assure you, many of you, that I am well capable of defending my position very well; and again, I thank you for great suggestions. But the main factor isn't my necessarily "proving" Christ, but rather to demonstrate the gospel of Jesus Christ. The real intention is to give thought to the gospel, while I do place some time in defending Bibliology and eschatology. I will also place a doctrinal statement in future text to let you know where I fall in theology when it comes to my beliefs in the scriptures, God, Jesus Christ, and the church. So, I do apologize for the essay not being master quality (as with most of your thoughts it was merely spontaneity and not critically preceptive. Starting with chapter four, it will be more professionally done and presented in a clearer fashion. So, just thought I'd point that out. Thanks everyone and enjoy your day.

In Christ,
Reginald Fredericks

As a history major (and a frequent write of research papers, essays, etc.) I found many flaws in your work, but I do highly commend the fact that you actually did the work. Many won't write on their opinions, so anyone who does I do have a respect for.

On the other hand, my knowledge in the subject is vast and I have to disagree with most of your essay. I myself am Christian; this does have a large influence over my opinions. But I have also found many ways to blend my religion with my education. So I am going to try and enlighten you just a little.

1. "... there is real scientific and prophetic evidence to prove that the Bible is not man-made."

I would really like to see such evidence. From my religious history classes we have learned that EVERY book in the bible was written by man. The churches all claim this themselves, and I believe that most of the books are named after the men who wrote them. So how is the bible not man-made if man wrote it? Divine muse? If your argument is that the prose the men wrote came to them through divine means, then isn't all writing the same?

2. "...sex, but outside of marriage, God views it as sin because it’s not “created” for the purpose outside of marriage."

Oh, my. Sex, or procreation, is a biological response and initiative for the purposes of reproduction. All animals, and we are animals, procreate. Marriage, though, is a man-made spiritual concept that was not around until after sex was invented. So, sex was created for babies, not marriage. Marriage was created to govern sex because people weere running around all disorganized, spreading STDs and getting way too many girls in the wrong kind of trouble. What better way to control the growing issue of illegitimate children than ban sex before marriage!

3. "... it’s enough to say that someone named Jesus did exist."

Not even remotely near the truth. We know historically that yes, there was a Jew named Jesus. We also know that there was a man named Solomon. But, and I cringe to say it because I am Christian, it is not enough to say he existed. The claim of his existence is actually backed up by facts: primary sources, although very few of them.

4. "He’s coming again to judge the living and the dead for all that they’ve done."

The idea of Revelations has always bothered me. I have a problem with the idea that the "benevolent, forgiving" God many Christians speak of will come to reign terror on us. Besides, last time I checked, historically, this book and the idea of Armageddon came to the writer after a dream. I don't place too much faith in that certain book.

5. "... evolution has been proven false."

This angers me. All around me there are signs of evolution that Christians prefer to call adaptation to soother their own doubts. The human race if one large example; not only our progress into the forms we are in now but also the different races are proof of evolution. Each race evolved to better acclimate themselves to their environment. It is the same for many animals. If we do not evolve then how do you explain the growth of intelligence in human beings? Do you think somone just switched on a light bulb in their head? True, we have built upon those things our ancestors have learned, but the fact that we have planes, computers, vehicles is proof that our brains have evolved to be able to understand mor complex facts.

6. "Prophesies are perhaps the best evidence, next to the empty tomb, to display the accuracy of scripture."

I can write a prophecy now. One day the sun will die. Now scientifically we have heard this claim, but we do not know for 100% certainty it will happen. We can't. But by saying it will happen I am making it a prophesy. I can do the same with many things and get them write by using basic common knowledge.

7. "The best way to eliminate Christianity is to show and prove, beyond the shadow of a doubt, with solid definite evidence, that Jesus Christ body is still buried somewhere, either in [the tomb] or in a tomb."

Cannot be done. Jesus was born before 0 A.C.E. so that makes his body somewhere around 2010-2040 years old. Depending upon the type of soil, vegetation, worms, wars, etc. that would have happened over such a place, his body would be so eroded it literally wouldn't exist anymore. Have you ever seen a corpse exhumed? It is not a pretty sight after 10-50 years, so I can only image 2,0.

8. NASB and KJV of the Bible

Do not, and I repeat, DO NOT base any information on these versions of the Bible. The original Bible was in Hebrew, Latin, and Aramaic. Through translation you lose at least 10% of the meaning. Then Constantine got his grubby hands on it and had a team of monks pick and choose what should be included in the 4th century. That means another 15% was lost. Finally, many books were left out from that point on. That was at least another 20%. So the version of the Bible you read now has lost almost 50% of its original text and concept. Please, if you really wish to know what the Bible says, study the correct versions. You can find them relatively easy today. Latin isn't that hard to learn. I suggest you do so if you wish to know everything you can on your faith.

The rest of my review will be used to explain to yu some truths that your pastor, preacher, reverend, etc. won't tell you. December 25 is not his birthday, it is the birthday of the pagan God Mithras. It was incorporated, just like the Easter Bunny, to bring pagans into the fold. The crucifix is actually a form of the Egyptian Ankh that Hebrews recreated. The idea of the Holy Trinity actually comes from anancient African (I believe Nubian, but I may be wrong) concept of religion that developed before the Jewish faith. The story of Adam, Eve, and the serrpent come from a Sumerian creation mythology including a snake God. These are just a few examples of ideas in the Christian religion that were stolen from earlier beliefs.

I do not want you to take my critique the wrong way. I believe in Jesus and I believe in Christianity. But I found early on that the idea of just taking in what I was told in Church left me empty. At 17 I went looking for my own truths, and I found my own way to believe in Jesus and still understand what I had been factually taught. I encourage you to continue writing, but most of all to continue to look into your religion and its background. Find out for yourself what you believe. If you look hard enough you might be like me: someone who can challege their pastor on biblical knowledge and leave him perplexed.

I have a lot of respect for you're belief in you're God but I don't think you have all of you're facts straight. I would go into more context with this comment but I think others have all ready said it for me.

I was wracking my brain to think how someone could write such terrible, continuous, unadulterated, misinformed, drivel when you provided me with the answer in the footnote: "Ray Comfort." I thought your well-meaning but illogical nonsense was familiar, and clearly "The Atheist's Nightmare" himself has inspired (or, rather, infected) your cognitive faculties in some direct or indirect form. Before I was infuriated at how utterly stupid a person could be, but now I actually feel sorry for you. All the best and I hope you overcome this unfortunate setback.

I'm a believer! I found Jesus 8 years ago. And I know where He is...He lives in Heaven but the only way to see Him is to accept Him. (NKJV) John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only beggotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

I will be looking forward to more on your Essay, Ninja. Keep up the awesome work and God Bless you!!

Atheist don't hate christainity or any other religeon, they just simply don't belive in God. That dosen't make them anti-christain!

While I was interested in reading this, I found myself reading the same line about three times before finally just giving up due to the wall-of-text aspect of it.

I'll be sure to come back and read it again, but next time, you might want a few more paragraphs and a bit less SOLIDBLOCKOFTEXT.

You have provoked the Tiefling! May god have mercy on your poor soul!