Just a Few Thoughts On "Proving" Things...

It doesn't matter if the resurrection actually happened if it doesn't do anything for you or, more appropriately, to you. We get so caught up in proving that certain biblical events are accurately historical and my general response to this is, so what? Such an endeavor is only really profitable and helpful if it actually leads to discipleship and a transformation on account of the particular event. Yet, ironically, if such a transformation takes place then no further proof is really necessary. We, by how we live and how we love, are the proof of the truth (not the historicity) of the story of God's relationship with the world. When we lose sight of this then our work of "proving" and arguing and researching can become a golden calf, worshiped out of pure motives but also of a complete missing of the point. If our knowledge becomes greater than our faith then we risk our faith and the true power of our knowledge altogether. As the famous saying goes, "all truth is God's truth," but not all truth is science's truth, not all truth is provable or scientific. Once we've embraced the truth of the resurrection and a faith in God's vision for the world then it becomes less about proving things and worrying about historical precision and it becomes more about showing things, inviting others, and faithfully offering an historical hope.