Trent Ruble's Blog: The Other Way It Is - Posts Tagged "christianity"

I've never been one to confront people about spiritual issues. I never liked it very well when someone did that to me and disagreed with many of them anyway. Even so, I have felt compelled to find a way to convey to people what I believe to be the absolute Truth. One reason is because it will profoundly affect their lives. Another is because Jesus gave us a directive to do just that (Matthew 28:19,20).

I like to think I've accomplished this in a non-confrontational manner by writing books containing the message of Truth in fictional stories . In this way there can be no arguing. A person can either read the books or not and they can either believe the message I've tried to relay or not. Maybe this is a cop-out.

Some people are much more bold than I am. I believe those who dedicate their lives to spreading the real Truth in this evil world are doing exactly what God wants them to do. Some brave folks take that one step further and attempt to spread the Gospel in very hostile territory and it has cost many of them their lives. These people are my heroes.

These great men and women number in the thousands, dating from the first century when all of Jesus' disciples were martyred except Judas and John. The fact that these men; first-hand witnesses of Jesus' life, were willing to die for what they believed is evidence of the Bible's Truth.

A great example of more recent heroic martyrdom is Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Mr. Bonhoeffer was executed by the Nazis in 1945 only days before the end of World War II. His crime was his very vocal opposition to the Nazi oppression of the Church and of the Jews. He took that a step further and endorsed the Church's active resistance to the Nazis. He once publicly announced that the church must not only "bandage the victims under the wheel, but jam the spoke in the wheel itself." (David Ford, The Modern Theologians)

Another example is Wang Zhiming, killed by Chinese authorities in 1973 because of his pastoral work and his refusal to salute Chairman Mao Tse-tung's portrait (John C. England Asian Christian Theologies: Northeast Asia). A 21st century martyr is Ri Hyon Ok, a 33 year-old mother of three publicly executed in 2009 for distributing Bibles in North Korea (as reported by CBS News, July 26, 2009). There are many others, of course.

I pray that God grants me and my Christian contemporaries the courage of these great heroes. I fear we're going to need it. And, to the evil dictators of the world (I mean you President Omar Al-Bashir, Senior General Than Shwe, King Adbullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, Paramount Leader Hu Jintao, Supreme Leader Sayyid Ali Khamenei, President Isaias Afewerki, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, and others.)... leave our people alone. What are you afraid of anyway? Is it that you know the Truth and the power behind it? If so, then you know you can't win.

What qualifies as truth is seemingly different for everyone depending upon what serves them best. Paul addressed this issue when he said, "...what may be known about God is plain to them (men who suppress the truth), because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities; his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so that men are without excuse. (Romans 1:19-20 NIV 1984)" In addition to what can be clearly seen, such as what we see in nature, many of us distinguish truth based on what's written in the Bible. However, some people, even some who claim to be Christian, think that's simple minded, antiquated, or just plain silly. They don't like what the Bible says about their lifestyle or belief, so they discredit that part of it. Well, it's either true or it isn't.



The Bible teaches many miraculous wonders such as the Creation, the Great Flood, the Passover, etc... that can't be scientifically repeated or verified in any way (in the same way that the theory of evolution can't be verified). The list of wonders includes the most important miracle of all; the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah. So, why should we believe it?

I believe it because of what else is written in the Bible. For example, Isaiah's description of the Messiah (Isaiah 52:13-53:12) so matches Jesus that many critics believed it had been written after Jesus' crucifixion. But, that all changed in 1947 when one of the newly discovered Dead Sea Scrolls contained the book of Isaiah. The scroll was determined to have been written at least 150 years before the birth of Christ (allaboutarchaeology.org).

The prophet Mikayahu, who we know as Micah, predicted in the 700's BC that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), which, more than 700 years later, was the birthplace of Jesus. Predictions were made that the Messiah would come from the line of Judah through David (Psalm 132:11, Jeremiah 23:5-6,33:15-16) as Jesus did (Luke 1:32-33). The Messiah was to be crucified with criminals (Isaiah 53:12) as we know Jesus was (Matthew 27:38, Mark 15:27, Luke 23:32-33).

He was to be pierced but none of his bones would be broken (Psalm 22:16-17,34:20, Luke 23:11,35-39, Luke 23:33, 24:36-39, John 19:18,20:19-20,24-27). This was actually an unlikely prophecy as it was a common practice to break the leg bones of those being crucified. This was done in order to speed along the process. With broken legs one could not lift himself up in order to breathe. However, Jesus gave up his life quickly (and, according to John 19:30, of his own volition ) so, instead of his legs being broken, his side was pierced so that his death could be verified.

Isaiah predicted King Cyrus by name 150 years before he was born (Isaiah 44:28, 45:1, 45:13). Later, Daniel predicted Alexander the Great and Antiochus Epiphanes, also hundreds of years prior to their entrance onto the world stage (Daniel 11). In addition, Daniel predicted the date of the Messiah's appearance (Daniel 9:25-26) and, on that date, Jesus presented himself at the temple as the Messiah (Galatians 4:4, Ephesians 1:10).

Another indicator of the truth is in how Paul and most of Jesus' apostles proclaimed the Gospel in the face of death. According to historians Hippolytus and Eusebius, and in some cases according to legend, this is how these great men met their end:

Andrew - crucified
Barnabas - stoned (legend)
Bartholomew - crucified
James, Brother of Jesus - stoned
James, Son of Alphaeus - stoned
James, Son of Zebedee - beheaded
John Mark - dragged (Paschal Chronicle)
Paul - beheaded
Peter - crucified up-side-down
Philip - crucified
Thomas - impaled

It is interesting to note that the Roman magistrate Gaius Caecilius (better known as Pliny the Younger) wrote that one need only denounce Christianity in order to be spared these horrible deaths (Pliny's letter to Emperor Trajan, 111AD).

These are but a few of the prophecies, fulfillments and other circumstances upon which I base my belief. While they may not provide concrete proof, one must wonder how likely it would be that such a story could be perpetuated for thousands of years as this one has unless it were true. I invite you to investigate this well documented and debated story yourself. Even if you don't come to the same conclusion that I have, you will be better informed in order to make your own conclusion.

In June 2018, my family had the opportunity to visit the bustling city of Strasbourg, France. Just as with many of the old cities of Europe, there is an "old town" in Strasbourg with narrow streets and wonderfully preserved half-timbered buildings. And, like most European cities and towns, Strasbourg's old town is anchored by a beautifully ornate cathedral; the 1439 Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg. It is truly beautiful.

The Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg

Also while in Strasbourg, we visited the European Union's Parliament building as Strasbourg is the capital of the Union. And, just as with the cathedral, we were allowed inside free of charge. However, there is much more security at the Parliament building, which is to be expected, as we had to display our passports and then pass through metal detectors in order to be allowed access. Once inside, we were even allowed to observe parliament in session. On that particular day they were discussing the regulation of drones.

The European Parliament

The building, which was completed in 1999, somewhat resembles the 1563 depiction of the never-finished Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. I was actually aware of this prior to our visit after our wise and insightful pastor, Dennis Miller, pointed it out to our congregation last year. You may recall the Tower of Babel as described by Moses in the book of Genesis:

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. Then (the people) said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel — because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. Genesis 11-1, 4, 6-9a, (NIV)

The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1563

One could be forgiven if they didn't immediately see the resemblance or thought it only a coincidence. However, no one can miss the connection in the 1992 European Union poster that was produced during the planning phases of the Parliament building. The poster includes an unmistakable image of Bruegel's Tower of Babel with the motto, "Europe: Many Tongues, One Voice." This motto on a poster with the Tower of Babel is a blatant challenge to God's authority over the Earth. This is especially true since He ended construction of the original tower precisely because the people were attempting to do exactly what the European Union is doing; bringing together many cultures (and languages) under one government in order to be more competitive (making a name for themselves). For a government to make such a challenge can only mean that they not only don't recognize God's authority, but they don't even believe He exists. Otherwise, they would not be brave enough to make such a bold rejection of Him. But, what makes this worse than all the previous blasphemies over the eons, is that the European Union did this in the name of all 510 million people in the 28 nations it governs. And, very few have objected or even noticed.

European Union poster, 1992

We've become accustomed to people and their governments routinely proclaiming themselves while disregarding God's sovereignty, just as they did over 4,000 years ago in Babel. In fact, in this day and age, when we show any kind of respect for God, we're labeled as "extremists" while those who actively encourage or, in the case of some governments, mandate adherence to a false religion, are seen as "tolerant." I don't know how that makes since to anyone.

As for my visit, I observed a glaring difference between the old cathedral, though still a functioning church, and the relatively new Parliament building. The cathedral, which is itself a man-made tower that was the tallest building in the world from 1647 to 1874, now seems to be but a beautiful old relic; seemingly only worthy of our admiration because of its age and grandeur and not because it is the House of God. In contrast, the Parliament building appeared to be much more relevant to the people of modern, secular Europe. In other words, there is much more function in the Parliament building and much more tourism in the cathedral and that's sad.

I realize millions of euros have been spent on this modern Tower making the abandonment of it extremely unlikely. So, short of that, it seems the prudent thing to do would be to acknowledge that it was a mistake to proclaim Europe's "one voice" to God's face while building the Tower and instead commit to a recognition of, and submission to, God's authority. I know that won't happen, either.

Photo of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg by David Iliff. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0"