Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - FOUNDATION

 FOUNDATION

At the basis of every belief system is faith in a deity or deities by people who are devoted to that god or gods. This is the foundation of all religion; including the apparent religion of evolution which purports a belief in a theory of spontaneous development by a devoted number of followers.

The belief in the death and resurrection of Christ is the apparent foundation of Christianity; based upon what Paul stated in Corinthians. He said that Christ…

…preached that He has been raised from the dead…

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.

And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty 

and your faith is also empty. 

(1 Corinthians 15:12-14)

So, our belief in Christianity is based in the death and resurrection of Christ, and that belief is based not in blind faith alone but in evidence compiled over many years. In fact, Thomas Arnold of Oxford University has stated this:

I have been used for many years to study the histories of other times, 

and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, 

and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort… than the great sign which God hath given us 

that Christ died and rose again from the dead.*

But many people do not yet believe this. They probably will not accept this basis for our faith because they do not accept the true foundation of our belief as is stated in the book Genesis.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 

(Genesis 1:1)

If one believes the above statement, then the rest of the Bible makes sense and the death of Christ has true meaning. If one does not believe this statement, but accepts that mankind is merely the result of a multiple series of mutations and accidents, then what meaning could the death of Christ really have? The true foundation of any theistic faith is a belief in a god and, therefore, the true foundation of Christianity is the belief in God creating the heavens [universe] and the earth. In fact, Romans emphasizes this by saying:

…since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, 

being understood by the things that are made, 

even His eternal power and Godhead, 

so that they are without excuse… 

(Romans 1 20)

Evolution is a theory for which there is some evidence [more or less] in the geological data but which cannot be proven by science. Likewise creation is a theory which cannot be proven by science but the creator has been shown to have lived and died and rose again by fuller evidence then apparently any other fact in the history of mankind. 

It gives a much firmer foundation for our faith than that of other belief systems. It is something we should continue to emphasize and to always think about.

*New Evidence That Demands A Verdict by Josh McDowell, p.g. 216.