Now that we’ve discussed the nature of evidence, a little bit about cumulative cases, and whether or not this is a case we should even bring to trial in the first place, it’s time for us to start looking at the actual evidence. Now we can make our opening statement and give an overview of the case we are about to make.

The Preponderance Of Evidence

When bringing a case to trial, it is important to remember that prosecutors almost never make their case on a single piece of evidence. The more evidence they have when the trial starts, the better their case will be. This is because they know that if they only come with one strong piece of evidence, and the defense team can cause the jury to have just enough doubt about that piece of evidence, then their case could be sunk. But, if they have multiple pieces of evidence, and the jury takes issue with one piece, then they still have other evidence that can be used to make their case. Also, having evidence of different types makes for a stronger, more well-rounded case as well.

Making the case for Christianity is no different. We will be examining several arguments for God’s existence and for the truth claims of Christianity. Our case will not rely on one single argument. Because we have multiple arguments, one being refuted won’t hurt our case much. And, because our arguments and evidence lie in different arenas (cosmological, biological, philosophical, historical, etc) we will have a multi-disciplined, well-rounded case.

Questions That Need Answers

Whether you claim to have one or not, every person has a world view. We all think the world works in a certain way, and we use that as a lens with which to see the world around us and rules to govern our lives by. Most of us don’t put a lot of thought into the specifics of our world view and where it leads us ultimately. As Christian apologist and philosopher Ravi Zacharias puts it, every world view has to answer 4 questions; origin (how did we get here), meaning (why are we here), morality (how do we know what is right and what is wrong), and destiny (what happens to us when we die). Also, any world view that we adopt must be logically consistent (it cannot be self-contradictory), empirically adequate (it must match what we see in reality), and it must be existentially relevant (it must speak to how we actually live our lives).

In the case we are about to examine, life and reality are our “crime scene”. We have evidence at our crime scene. We have a list of suspects (our world views), and the suspect that “did it” has to answer the 4 questions above using the listed guidelines for us to consider it reasonable.

I will be making the case for the Christian world view. Based on the evidence I have reviewed in recent years, I think it is the most reasonable explanation for why things are the way they are. It answers the four questions above better than any other world view. For this case, I have a variety of evidence to present that helps make my case a robust one.

Here is an outline of the case I will be making. As articles are published, I will come back and update links to them so you can use this article as a table of contents.

1. The Beginning Of The Universe
2. The Fine-Tuning Of The Universe
3. The Problem Of Evil And Suffering
4. The Origin Of Life
5. Free Will
6. The Reliability Of The New Testament
7. The Historical Jesus

Christianity’s Strong Case For Reality

Based on the evidence we are about to review, Christianity has a strong case for understanding reality. The evidence we see in the world around us points to what Christianity teaches. And, as Christians, we are all commanded to be able to make the case/give a defense/give reasons for the hope that lies within us (1 Peter 3:15). So, when someone asks you why you believe what you believe, you need to be able to review the evidence with them and show why the Christian world view makes the most sense for why things are the way they are.