I am a bit of a “doubting Thomas.” Thomas was one of Jesus’ followers who would not believe in the resurrected Jesus until he saw and touched Jesus’ crucifixion wounds. This is recounted in the New Testament book of John in chapter 20, verses 24-29.

My doubting Thomas outlook has led me to look for reasons why my faith makes sense from a logical perspective. I am not saying we can restrict faith to logic, but believe we do not need to “check our brains at the door” to be people of faith. So I have done lots of reading and pondering this subject over the years.

With Jesus being the central figure of the Christian faith, it is important to me to see if the accounts of his life, death and resurrection make some logical sense. So here are a few lines or reasoning which have helped my faith:

• I am very thankful we have four accounts of the life of Jesus – the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The four accounts give different perspectives on Jesus’ story. Matthew was a tax collector who became one of the 12 disciples of Jesus. John Mark was a companion of another disciple, Peter, and wrote based on Peter’s perspective. John was another disciple and close friend of Jesus. These three disciples observed Jesus’ life closely for three years so we have what could be viewed as “eye-witness accounts.” Luke was a physician and companion of Paul who shares a great level of detail attributable to gathering many sources who spent time with Jesus, even if Luke may not have personally. Being a lover of music and collector of albums, I think of these four accounts as the life of Jesus in stereo sound.
• All the disciples faced tough persecution from the Jewish and Roman authorities to stop telling the Good News about Jesus after the crucifixion. Yet they did not stop, so all but one (John) died a martyr’s death for their faith. Why? I believe Jesus’ resurrection is the key. They saw the resurrected Jesus, just as he had promised! Even Thomas believed after putting his finger in the nail holes in Jesus’ hands and side. If the disciples knew the resurrection to be a story they made up, they would not have died for a lie.
• Jesus made claims to be the Son of God and God himself. This is why the Jewish leaders wanted to kill Jesus – for the sin of blasphemy. With this in mind, we look at an argument that author C.S. Lewis put forth that fits the term “trilemma” or a difficult choice between three alternatives.

1. 1. If Jesus claimed to be God but knew he was not God, he would have been a LIAR.
   2. If Jesus claimed to be and really thought he was God, but was not, then he would have been a LUNATIC.
   3. If Jesus claimed to be God and really was God, then he was LORD.

Many religions present Jesus as simply a great teacher or a prophet of God. Jesus does not leave us that alternative since he claimed to be God. So we have a choice to make in whether we regard him as LORD, LIAR, or LUNATIC.

• When I ask people about their spiritual beliefs, a common answer goes something like “just like there are many doors to the same room, there are many ways to the same god.” I understand this is a comfortable view since it removes the need to choose or judge between the various belief systems. However, this view does not make logical sense since world religions make many claims that are mutually exclusive from the claims of other world religions, so they all cannot logically be true. A thinking person has a decision to make between these competing claims and should not just ignore the decision because it makes them feel uncomfortable.
• Regarding the question of Jesus’ identity, many of us get confused by the labels attached to Christianity and miss the real Jesus. Jesus is the one who said “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” (John 8:32) So let’s take a look at some of these sources of confusion in hopes of finding more truth:
  • We can be confused when churches display more judgment/legalism than grace/love. So why would we want to join that messed up group of people?
  • We can be confused by media stereotypes of Christians as having a particular political or world view. The Jesus I read about was much more concerned with the “kingdom of God” or the “rule of God in our lives” (Matthew 6:33) than with the politics of his time.
  • We can be confused if we have been hurt by a Christian friend or relative. These are very real hurts that must be processed and walked through in our own souls. Unfortunately, Jesus followers are not perfect people but hopefully on their way to becoming more like him. If some Christian has hurt me in the past, it is easy to reject Jesus as a part of that hurt.
  • Instead of saying “I’m outta here” in regards to spiritual issues because of these confusing labels attached to Jesus, we do ourselves a favor when we peel away layers of confusion to see the real Jesus. We can do this by thoughtfully reading for ourselves the four New Testament accounts of his life. I have found Jesus’ life example, his message and sacrificial love to best answer the big questions in life. I hope you will take the time to do the same!

If you want to do more reading on this topic, The Case for Christ is a good source and was made into a movie about the author Lee Strobel’s faith journey. More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell is a favorite of mine and a quick read. Interestingly, because my parents were financial supporters of Josh’s ministry, Shirley and I got the privilege of spending a private weekend with Josh and his wife Dottie many years ago.​