Deposition

2 Peter 1: 16-21, Matthew 17:1-9

The transfiguration must have been an awesome experience, in the truest sense of the word.  Those who went up the mountain with Jesus were His disciples, but this experience should have casted out all doubt for them.  We are of course born years latter and depend on the written accounts and our tradition.

The young adult class has been exploring the basics of apologetics through a study by Lee Strobel, titled “The Case for Christ.”  Apologetics is the discipline of proving Christianity with reason and logic.  There is a long and important history of apologetics. For us who believe it may not seem essential, however, exploring this field of study does provide assurance as well as important information, that people who do not believe may need to be shared.

Two of the interesting points that have been highlighted I will share.  The first being how the Gospels seem to contradict each other.  The fact is if you had four witnesses on the stand and their stories were exactly the same, the other lawyer and the judge, for that matter, would think their was collaboration.   And exploring that further, it is clear the Gospels tell the same truths, and it is clear that the account of Jesus’ death and resurrection are the most similar.  The pivotal event of the witnesses.

The second point I would like to share is the number of manuscripts we have of ancient writings. You may have read or learned about the Iliad, but did you know we only have about 60 ancient texts, while the Christian Bible in Greek we have over 5,500 texts, and many closer to the original written date then that of Homer’s Iliad.  The point is that scholars consider the Iliad to be an important and influential text and that the translations we have are close to the original.  The Bible can claim that with greater numbers. 

Now those that claim to be Atheist, have actually concluded there is now God because of their reason and logic.  Lee Strobel was one himself, until he took two years to research and as you may have guessed, concluded there is no other reasonable explanation then faith.  It reminds me of a ride back from east of Durant on my motorcycle, when all of the sudden I was having a hard time keeping my speed up on Highway 70.  Nothing seemed to happen except that I needed to provide more gas.  Eventually I had the accelerator twisted fully open.  I was convinced that there was something wrong with the engine.  It did not sound different (except the higher RPM) but it simply had much less horsepower.  I thought I should get back to town to have someone look at the power plant.  At that moment the small gas station in Blue was there, and I thought there is no harm in stopping and checking even if I couldn’t get the bike started again, I wasn’t that far from Durant.  Well as soon as I hopped off the saddle I could see that my rear tire was flat.  All the sudden with that little piece of information, my whole theory that I truly believed, was turned upside down.  The puncture was large, but it leaked at a pace that I did not notice, but a couple more miles and it would have started shredding and I would have been in the ditch.

Reason and logic are important for there are many that simply need to see something that will change their whole perspective.  And thus open them to faith itself.  Peter saw the transfiguration and writes about it as a witness for our benefit, yet Peter clearly writes in verse 19:

So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

Peter compares the transfiguration, which he witnessed, as a light in a dark place.  It seems he is saying it is like a flashlight in the darkness, it leads us and lets us see things, but it is not the full light.  We need that light to dawn in our hearts.  Even one of the witnesses of this awesome event, reminds us that we need our hearts to be filled with faith.

This reminds me of Anselm of Canterbury’s famous statement:

For I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this I believe - that unless I believe, I should not understand.