"Mere Christianity" Made Simple

Dr. Frank Turek contends that if you can answer, "Yes," to the following questions:

1. Does Truth Exist?
2. Does God Exist?
3. Are Miracles Possible?
4. Is the New Testament Historically Reliable?

then "we have good reason to believe that the entire Bible is true."1.  For a more detailed version of this argument, go here.

This is Turek's version of "Mere Christianity," a term first coined by the great C.S. Lewis in his book that bears the same title.  Dr. William Lane Craig also argues for what he calls "mere Christianity" but his version is slightly different.  Craig argues that if we have good reason to affirm that: 1. God exists 2. God revealed Himself decisively in the person of Jesus of Nazareth and His resurrection from the dead; then, we are on good grounds for affirming the truth of Christianity.

For more on "Mere Christianity," I recommend Timothy Fox's article here.

For the purposes of this post, I thought it might be helpful (and fun!) to use Turek's four questions as an outline and provide some  resources that answer each in the affirmative.  This resource could be helpful as you strive to become a more versed Christian case maker or as an online evangelistic tool!

1. Does Truth Exist?

Video (1:35) - Frank Turek

I think Nabeel Quershi says it best on this one:

"To me, it was self-evident that truth exists. What's the alternative? If truth doesn't exist, then it would be true that truth doesn't exist, and once again we arrive at truth. There is no alternative; truth must exist."2

2. Does God Exist?

Video (4:13) - The Kalam Cosmological Argument

Video (5:14) - Leibniz' Contingency Argument

Video (6:22) - The Fine-Tuning Argument

Video (5:01)- The Moral Argument

Video (4:40)- The Ontological Argument

3. Are Miracle Possible?

Here, it seems worth quoting Lewis.  On the topic of God and miracles he famously said, "But if we admit God, must we admit a miracle? Indeed, indeed, you have no security against it. That is the bargain."3

Video (3:45)- Sean McDowell

Video (4:56)- William Lane Craig

Video (1:55)- Frank Turek

Video (4:30)- Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? by Impact 360 Institute 

4. Is the New Testament Historically Reliable?4

Video (3:42)- Frank Turek

Video (6:04)- Daniel Wallace

Video (5:32)- Michael Brown

Video (3:18)- J. Warner Wallace

So, the next time someone tells you that Christianity isn't true, you'll be ready!5

Courage and Godspeed,
Chad

Footnotes:
1. Frank Turek, Stealing from God, p. 177.
2. Nabeel Qureshi, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, p. 83.
3. C.S. Lewis., Miracles (HarperCollins, 1974), 169.
4. Some may wonder why the Old Testament (OT) is not included in Turek's case.  As he explains elsewhere, if the NT is reliable, we have good reason to believe that the OT is reliable.  Why?  Because Jesus is in the NT to verify the reliablity of the OT.
5. The answers offered in this post are brief by design.  If readers are interested in learning more about the case for Christianity, I would encourage them to explore our blog.  I would recommend you begin with our "Apologetics Arsenal" here or our "Free Apologetics E-book Library" here.  

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