A friend recently wrote a speech in which she referred to the 200 billion trillion stars in the observable universe and asked the question: “Is there life out there?”
My initial response was, “How do you know that number is ‘true’?” Once you get to a trillion of anything, the human brain can scarcely begin to process its magnitude.
What if it is 300 billion trillion?
If a person started spending $1 million per day at the birth of Christ 2025 years ago, they would have spent only three-quarters of one trillion as of today. Multiple that by 200 billion and the number of stars estimated in our universe makes the wiring of a person’s brain short-circuit.
What is really interesting is scientists tell us ― with absolute certainty ― life exists somewhere out there based solely on their belief in the math of probability and statistics. Even an infinitesimal probability of a decimal point followed by a thousand zeros and then a one would indicate that tens of thousands of inhabitable planets exist out there ― somewhere.
However, contrary to the very spirit of the scientific method to which many humanists clutch onto with religious fervor, they do not have one scintilla of verifiable “proof” in the strictest sense of the word. They don’t even have the first predicate of scientific observation which is first-person observation of a phenomenon that can be tested through repetition and verification.
There is more “proof” in the resurrection of Jesus by comparison. Thousands of people witnessed the miracles of Jesus during His short three-year ministry which became part of the oral and later written histories of the Gospels.
Not only did thousands of people see and hear Jesus during his lifetime, but more than 40 close followers of Christ believed what they saw and heard about Christ and His Resurrection to the point of suffering torture and death rather than recant anything they believed about Him.
People don’t suffer torture and death unless they really, really, really believe in something and it is really, really, really important to them.
All of which makes the upcoming celebration of Easter for Christians a singularity of enormous importance to all of us.
“Singularity” has multiple definitions in science and math but can be generally reduced to a place where all physics known to mankind breaks down and becomes incomprehensible based on commonly accepted temporal formulas and equations.
And then it becomes an exercise of faith and reason ― or reason and faith, take your pick.
The bones of the Prophet Muhammad are buried in the Sacred Chamber of the Prophet’s Mosque (Al-Masjid an-Nabawi) in Medina, Saudi Arabia. Anyone with permission can go see his tomb whenever they want. The cremated ashes and bone relics of Gautama Buddha are spread all over India and the Middle East ― there must be some sort of Buddhist pilgrimage tour which a local travel agency can put together to visit them all.
Most people believe both religious figures existed. Is it because of their teachings or the fact their human remains can be found somewhere in a sacred place to believers?
The singularity of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is far more “proven” than the existence of life anywhere else in the universe for this reason: The tomb of Christ is empty. His bones or ashes are nowhere to be found. We have multiple accounts of His disciples seeing him after the crucifixion in bodily form and sitting down and eating cooked fish with them or walking beside them.
We have no account of anyone seeing life on any other planet. We may truly be the only ones in the universe for whom God has named each star for us to see and behold, all 200 or 300 billion trillion of them.
If biblical and historical accounts are not enough for the hardened scientific mind, the most convincing “proof” of the existence of Christ is the life of any person who has been transformed by the Holy Spirit. We Christians are walking billboards for the truth of the resurrection for all the world to see every single day in all walks of life.
You may be the only Christian a nonbeliever or skeptic sees in their lifetime. Your gifts of love and friendship to them are far more persuasive than any theological argument you may use to try to convince them to become a follower of Christ.
Easter Sunday morning is a good time to start.
