I was watching Day of Discovery this morning. It was about addressing some of the doubts that people have in believing Jesus. One of the things that struck me was the statement "You have to look at the historical facts about Jesus and wrestle with them - he is a living, breathing, documented human who lived and walked this earth and made some claims that you must consider" (my loose interpretation of what was said....).

Some important issues that were raised in that statement. Did Jesus really live? Is he a myth or a philosophy or simply a good man? How seriously do I have to take his claims? A man named Paul Meier went on to make the statement (my translation): Jesus is not some mythical creation of someone's mind. He is not a "philosophy" or a system of religion. You have to wrestle with the facts of Jesus; the historical documentation of what others have said about Him. By extension, you have to wrestle with his claims and his statements.

One of the cool things about this is that God in his divine plan, scripted history in such a way that His words would have external documentation to affirm its validity. I recently read that there was more known documentation of the scriptures than there was of any other historical text or book.

I don't believe God ever intended us to have blind faith. He gave us creation. He gave us a living, breathing, human who walked this planet. He gave us historical documentation in support of his work. He gave us evidence that makes our faith reasonable.