1. Do you believe in Jesus?
Their answer is: WE DON'T BELIEVE THAT JESUS WAS BORN OF A VIRGIN MARY, PERFORMED MIRACLES AND ROSE AGAIN!
This is blasphemous! Universalist proponents teach that Jesus was not born of the Virgin Mary! The Bible teaches that Jesus was indeed born of Mary through her obedience to the archangel Gabriel (Luke 1:38). Jesus was even declared as the "Son of Mary" in Mark 6:3
About the miracles part, Universalist proponents should have taken into consideration the writings of Flavius Josephus regarding the miracles of Jesus. In his "Jewish Antiquities", Josephus wrote:
"Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day"
Notice the first phrase of Josephus' writing. He was not a Christian, but a Jewish Pharisee and yet he knows of this Charismatic Preacher from Nazareth who does wonderful works and eventually crucified by Pontius Pilate but rose again on the third day.
About the Resurrection story, there are so many proofs that Christ is risen:
1. Jesus indeed died on the Cross on a Friday. The soldiers, in order to ensure His death, pierced His side with a lance. Crucifixion is excruciating and painful since the person not only suffers difficulty in breathing, but also, he suffers from the whips he received prior to the said execution. Such case happened in Jesus. He indeed suffered the whips from the flagrum, also known as "The Cat of Nine Tails" with bones and metals in it.
2. Jesus was buried. When He was buried, the Apostles ran away into hiding. The Pharisees requested Pilate to place guards into the tomb. They (The Apostles) could not get out of the upper room since their Leader lies dead and chances are, they could be next.
3. The empty tomb. The women went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus, but suddenly, they found the tomb empty. How was this so? They knew very well that the guards were guarding the tomb. However, they saw the angel who said to them, "Jesus is not here, but He has risen as He said!". Even Peter and John witnessed the empty tomb and John believed Jesus' words that on the third day, He will rise again.
4. The number of witnesses. The Apostle Paul wrote that after Jesus rose from the dead, He was seen by Peter, the Twelve, the 500 disciples, James and finally, to Paul himself. We know very well that that the more witnesses, the more that it is true.
5. The Apostles were changed from cowardly men to preachers, Theologians and apologists. If Jesus did not rose from the dead, then during Pentecost day, they would have produced the body to the Apostles and then they in turn, will lose their credentials. However, the Apostles didn't lose it because they produced lots of converts to Jesus on Pentecost day, 3000 men and women in all.
6. A Pharisee was saved through the power of the Resurrection of Jesus. Paul was a persecutor of Christians. He saw how Stephen was stoned to death and approved of it. He cast his vote against the Christians and went from house to house searching for them. However, when Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, his life was changed and dedicated his life only to Him.
7. Millions were willing to die for their faith. Logically speaking, no one will ever die for what they think is a lie. It began in 37 A.D., when Stephen was stoned to death by the Jewish authorities because he was willing to die for the faith that Jesus did rose from the dead. If the Resurrection, as these Universalists teach is false, how come Stephen prayed to Jesus before he died? He said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!". It only means that Stephen was praying to the Living One, not to a dead one. Also, we should try to recall 64 A.D., Nero burned the city of Rome. He accused the Christians of burning Rome to be his scapegoat. Roman Christians were burned at the stake, fed by lions, and even crucified simply because they weren't willing to renounce the Resurrection, that Jesus rose from the dead.
"If Christ is not raised, then vain is your faith and you will still be in your sins" (1 Corinthians 15:17)
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