Were the Magi from China?

During the Christmas season the story of the visit of the Magi is frequently retold. But who were these Magi and where were they from? Most often Persia or Babylon is cited as the origin of the Magi. This is because the origin of the word Magi can be traced back to Persia and Zoroastrian. Since the Bible does not specifically say where the Magi were from, many others ideas are offered such as they were from Yemen since in Yemen there were Jewish kings at the time.
Most interestingly, there is some interesting evidence that they could have come from China. First, when Herod found out is had been tricked he ordered the killing of all males under the age of two based on the timing of when the Magi saw the star. This means that they journey to Israel most likely took well over a year. Certainly a journey from Babylon or Yemen would not take that long. But one to two years is consistent with a more distant place such as China. Secondly, there recently has been an English translation of an obscure 8th century manuscript found in Turkey. The translation was done by Brent Landau as part of his doctoral dissertation at Harvard Divinity School. Landau subsequently published a book Revelation of the Magi: The Lost Tale of the Wise Men’s Journey to Bethlehem. This book describes the Magi as from an ancient sect descended from Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve. From Seth they inherited a prophecy of "a star of indescribable brightness" someday appearing and "heralding the birth of God in human form." This same star had initially hovered over the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. Also, the Magi are described as coming from a land called Shir, "located in the extreme east of the world, at the shore of the Great Ocean." In other ancient texts, Shir is referred to "as a place where silk comes from," suggesting that the references were to China. Landau also writes that Magi in Syriac (the ancient Aramaic dialect), means "to pray in silence." Landau says it has no relationship to magicians or astrologers, sometimes cited in stories today. The text names 12 Magi, not three, while other parts of the text suggest that "a group the size of a small army" traveled to Bethlehem. The Bible never does say how many Magi there were but the fact that there were three gifts led people to believe that there were three Magi. In China at that time there was a well-known astronomer and historian Liu Xin. Some Chinese Christians do believe the Magi were from China. (ref. Back to Jerusalem, Gabriel Publishing, 2003) While all of this evidence is certainly not conclusive, it is interesting to consider that God may have given a witness to the coming of Christ to China long before the Nestorians came in the early part of the Tang Dynasty.

As a convenient reference, here is the story from the Gospel of Mathew.

When Jesus was born in the village of Bethlehem in Judea, Herod was king. During this time some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem and said, "Where is the child born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." When King Herod heard about this, he was worried, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem. Herod brought together the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses and asked them, "Where will the Messiah be born?"
They told him, "He will be born in Bethlehem, just as the prophet wrote,
Bethlehem in the land of Judea, you are very important among the towns of Judea. From your town will come a leader, who will be like a shepherd for my people Israel.' "
Herod secretly called in the wise men and asked them when they had first seen the star. He told them, "Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, let me know. I want to go and worship him too."
The wise men listened to what the king said and then left. And the star they had seen in the east went on ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. They were thrilled and excited to see the star.
When the men went into the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother, they knelt down and worshiped him. They took out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh and gave them to him. Later they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and they went back home by another road.

How could God forgive him?

One question new Christians sometimes have is related to fairness. Why does God forgive both good people and bad people? It doesn’t seem fair that both good and bad people get a reward of eternal life. Usually the person who asks the questions thinks that they are a “good” person and they have earned more reward than a “bad” person. There are several ideas that we must consider in this question.
First, the difference between the good person and bad person is not as great as one first thinks. When a person believes they are good they usually mean that they are “better”than the average person. Usually this person has just begun the Christian journey journey and haven’t matured in the faith. The common experience in the Christian walk is that over time we know more and more about our creator, God. As we know more and more about our creator, we know more and more about ourselves. This is not completely obvious at first but over time we discover more about ourselves. Remember the self is the easiest person to fool. As we know more and more about ourselves, we realize that we are not as good as we thought before. We realize that we have much room to grow in goodness.
Secondly, when we see a “bad” person behaving badly, we sometimes miss the circumstances surrounding the situation. Once we more deeply understand that person’s background, their environment, their mental capability, their environment they are living in now, then we see them more closely and our judgements are not so clear. Yes, they may have done bad things but they are not completely bad and given different circumstances, a different results was possible. This is not to excuse but merely to add perspective.
Thirdly, although a person who has done something bad can receive forgiveness from God through repentance, this does not mean that the person will escape the consequences of his actions. A person who has done a crime will still have to do time in jail.
In conclusion, while there are differences between good and bad, the difference is not as large as it first appears. If we are to receive forgiveness for our bad actions, then we should not complain when other find that same path. That path is the path of faith leading to repentance.

What is the Gospel?

Many people ask what is the gospel. Another important question is 'why should I care?'. The word gospel comes from the old English language and it means "good news". What is this good news? Before we can understand and welcome the good news we must first understand the bad news. For the unbeliever, the bad news is that there is a God who is perfectly good and just. Why is this bad news? This is bad news because we are not perfectly good and we are not perfectly just. Furthermore, this good God will some day judge all things including every hidden thing. Therefore we are guilty and are unable to pay our debt. If the story ends here, this would be bad news indeed. But the good news is that the story does not end here. God has not left us without hope. The good news is that in God's goodness he has provided a way for us to pay our debt. For God has sent his only son Jesus into this world to pay the debt that we cannot pay. Jesus lived a perfectly righteous life. Then by the evil deeds of man, Jesus was put to death on a cross. On that cross, all the sins of all men and women were paid for by the death of Jesus. Indeed, your sins were paid for by the blood of Jesus. There is only one condition. That is, if you desire to have the death of Jesus pay for your sins, then you must first believe in God and then you must ask for forgiveness of your sins. This forgiveness is available to all men and women. It is not to difficult. You do not need money; you do not need a PhD; you do not need to go to the mountain top to pray. Just believe in God and ask for forgiveness and you will be saved. Saved from what? You will be saved from God's judgment and punishment for your sins. This is very good news. You do not have to worry about not being good enough; you do not have to worry about being perfect. This is great news! Not only will you not be punished for your sins but you will have eternal life. This is very great news!! Why refuse this very loving offer of forgiveness and eternal life? How long will you resist this love of God? Humble your pride and believe in God. Ask God forgiveness. Ask God to come into your life and give you the peace that passes understanding. The Bible says "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." This is the good news. This is the Gospel and this Gospel is waiting for you.

Who is Jesus?

Who is Jesus?

The question for today's blog is 'Who is Jesus'? Some believe that he was a great religious leader. Some believe that Jesus was a good man with some good ideas but he was just like many other good teachers. In our last blog, we gave proof that the Bible is an accurate record of the life of Jesus. From this record, what did Jesus say about himself? Who did Jesus say that he is? The Bible is very clear on this matter. Jesus statements are many and their meaning in clear. Jesus said that he was equal with God. Jesus claimed to be able to forgive sins that only God can forgive. Jesus claimed that he was eternal. Jesus said that someday he would come in power and glory. For those who heard the words of Jesus there was no doubt. Why was Jesus killed? The religious leaders of that day sentenced Jesus to death because of one reason - Jesus claimed to be God. So then, if Jesus claimed to God, who do you say Jesus is? The first choice is that Jesus is really God. The second choice is that Jesus was a just a deceiver that claimed to be God. If this is so, then he is also a hypocrite and an evil man since he led many people to follow him. However choice two cannot be true because of the record of his life. The record of his life is perfectly consistent and perfectly pure with no trace of a lie. It would have have been impossible to deceive those who followed him and sacrificed their lives for the truth of Jesus. The third choice is that Jesus was a crazy man who really believed that he was God. This third choice also cannot be true. The skill and depth of his teachings show that he could not be crazy. His teaching were deep and penetrating.

So these are the only three choices a person can have about Jesus. You cannot call Jesus just a good teacher. Jesus claim that he was God will not allow that choice. Was he God or deceiver or crazy man? You decide. Who do you say Jesus is? In the next blog, we will prove that Jesus was raised from the dead and therefore proving that he was God. It is very difficult for the human mind to understand how God can enter into the world as a human. We cannot completely understand this mystery but we will have more to say about this in a future blog. Jesus is both God and man in one person. It says in the Bible that Jesus "is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." Who do you say Jesus is? Decide quickly for the time of his return is getting closer.

Is the Bible an accurate account of J...

Is the Bible an accurate account of Jesus life?
This question is a very important question. The foundation of the Christian faith is Jesus as revealed in the Bible. If the Bible cannot be trusted then the Christian faith has a big problem.  This is why many unbelievers begin with an attack on the Bible.  The following reasons should convince you that the Bible can be trusted and is a historically accurate account of Jesus life.
1. The number of early writings of the New Testament is very large. There are more than 5000 Greek documents. In addition, several thousand documents exist in ancient eastern languages such as the Syriac and Coptic languages. From these documents, we can be sure that we have the exact words of the original books with only a few words that are not certain. This vast number of documents of the Bible is greater than we have for every other ancient writer.  The number of early copies of the Bible are greater than we have for Confucius, Lao-Tze, Plato or Aristotle.  This does not prove that the Bible is true but does show that we have an accurate record of the books of the Bible.
2. There is a short time period between the actual events of Jesus life and the writing of the books of the Bible. All the books in the Bible were written in the first century and most books were written before 65 A.D.  The books of the Bible were written by those who were eyewitnesses to the events.  Therefore myths and legends could not have developed. 
3.We have numerous copies which are dated only 100 to 300 years after the actual events. This time period is very short compared to all the other books of the ancient times. Most other ancient books have time gaps of 500 years or more after the actual events occurred. The writings of Confucius, the Analects, there is a time gap of 500 years between the life of Confucius and the earliest partial copy of the Analects.  No one questions that we have a accurate copy of this book.
4. There are early non-Christian writings that mention Jesus that do not contradict the Bible.  The authors of these writings include Tacitus, a Roman historian, and Josephus, a Jewish historian.
5. The authors of the New Testament books were eye-witnesses of the events that occurred.  These writers wrote in a historical style of writing and emphasized that these are things they saw and heard with their own eyes and ears.
6. All the New Testament writers (except one) were killed because of their testimony.  These writers could have saved their life if they just admitted that their writings were false.  All the writers refused to change their testimony and went to their death insisting that they were telling the truth.

These six reasons should be enough to convince everyone that we have an accurate copy of the Bible and that the Bible is accurate about the first century events including Jesus life and Jesus sayings. 

Why does God allow suffering? Part 2

Why does God allow suffering? Part 2, The philosophical response

In part 1 on the topic of suffering, I discussed the Christian response from the personal, emotional perspective. This is the most beneficial response yet there are those who want an answer from the more philosophical perspective. It is interesting that those who criticize Christianity from this viewpoint are usually not suffering themselves. For those who are in the middle of suffering, many times their faith grows even stronger.
The argument against God from evil is like this: if God is good, if God is powerful then suffering would not exist. Since suffering obviously exists, there is no God. The problem with this argument is that it does not see the into the future. The Christian affirms all three statements: God is good, God is powerful and suffering exists. How can this be? The response to question is that it is possible for good to come from something bad. Of course bad is not good but from suffering there can be a greater good that comes. If some of the reasons for suffering are mysterious to us, this is because we cannot see the future. In everyday life, most people are willing to suffer if they see a greater good. It is when we cannot see benefit from suffering that we are most distressed. From the Christian worldview, we can make three statements:
1. God has a good, but not fully revealed, purpose for allowing suffering.
2. At a future time, God will display His glory and put an end to suffering.
3. At that future time, the good that is revealed will be greater than the suffering which came before.
This explanation can be hard to accept because there is so much suffering in this world. It is at this point when we have to step forward in faith. It is when we doubt that good can come from so much evil that we are called to believe the promises of God. Is there another choice? Yes, you can believe in atheism. Atheism says that life is just a cosmic accident and there is no meaning, no purpose in suffering because life has no purpose. Atheism is an unlivable worldview. There is no need for despair. Turn to God and trust in Him. Step forward in faith. Trust in God's promises and you will not be disappointed.

Why does God allow suffering?

Why does God allow suffering? Part 1
Suffering is not only a universal human experience but is also very difficult to accept.  Many times Christians are asked how could a good God allow suffering?  Because this is such a big part of human experience, Christians must give a response for this question. Before I give this response, let me add that all worldviews (atheism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, others?) must also be called to answer this question.  Many times it is only Christians who are asked. In my opinion, the Christian response to suffering is superior to others.
There are two types of answers to this question: The first is the philosophical answer, the second is the existential answer (that is, the answer at the emotional level).  Part 1 will cover the existential answer because it is the most important and most helpful to those who are suffering.  The proper response to human suffering has different aspects which are all linked together. First, we must recognize that we live it a world that that has been damaged by the continual sin of men and women. This is not the way the world began but it is the way it is now. Suffering is a part of human existence. If you have not suffered then you have not lived long enough. Secondly, the Christian view is that this life in this world is the only time we have to suffer.  Compared the eternal life to come, this life is quite short. Thirdly, some suffering serves a purpose we cannot see because we cannot see the future. Many times God is shaping us into a person with more perseverance and more character than we have today.  As hard as suffering is, it can lead to a future benefit. We may not understand what good can come from a particular type of suffering but we cannot see the future. The last answer (which also connects with the other three answers) is Jesus. In the end, Jesus is the answer to suffering. The best answer to suffering is not list of intellectual arguments because suffering is not a intellectual problem but rather a deeply personal problem. This deeply personal problem is answered by a person - the person of Jesus. So if we must suffer in this short life, Jesus has promised to be next to us with every step we take. If we must suffer, Jesus will give us the strength so that we will not be broken. If we must suffer, we will have someone next to us who knows what it is to suffer and die and then to conquer death. Are you in pain? Jesus knows that type of pain. Are you treated unjustly? Jesus lived a perfect life yet was unjustly executed. Have you felt humiliation? Jesus suffered more. For you see, as God and man, we look to a God who is not unsympathetic to our pain but a God who has suffered what we have suffered. Yes, this world has much suffering and we are called to suffer for a time much in the same way as Jesus did. And if Jesus, who is God, had to pass through the cross to conquer death then we also are called to carry our own cross. It's not easy but he has promised to never leave us. He has promised to carry us through this life into a eternal life when all tears will be wiped away and there will be a renewed earth and we will dwell in peace with Jesus and all those He has called.  This is the Christian response to suffering. Compare this with the answers (or non-answers) from atheism or Buddhism.  And after comparing, run to Jesus.  Accept the gift of eternal life.