lives
ANDREW CAMPBELL
I became a Christian at sixteen during a series of special events in a church near where I lived. I was brought up in a Christian home, with Christian parents. I attended Church every Sunday morning and knew my Bible stories. I therefore always saw myself as a Christian but at sixteen I realised that knowledge was not enough and I acted upon that knowledge and followed Jesus.
What does it mean to follow Jesus? Well I first believed that Jesus had died in my place on the cross. I then attempted to know him better through what he has said in the bible. I went to Queen's University where I was attacked intellectually for my beliefs. The reason I continued to be a Christian despite what seems to be intellectually obsolete, was the resurrection of Jesus Christ (i.e. the coming to life again of a dead man), as I looked at the possible explanations for the missing body of Jesus. The first explanation offered was that Jesus had passed out on the Cross and was later revived in the tomb. However the spear in Jesus' side, the soldier's knowledge of death and the movement of the large stone makes this possibility unlikely. The second explanation is that the disciples stole the body: again we meet a logical dead end as these same disciples were to suffer and often die proclaiming the resurrection. Why do this if it was a lie? The third opinion is that the authorities stole the body. However, their failure to produce it later when Christianity was becoming a pain in their side makes this an unreasonable explanation. Therefore, we are left with one final explanation and that is that Jesus rose from the dead as the Bible tells us he did. This is what convinced me and still does.