It’s such a common stereotype that many people accept it without a moment’s thought or investigation: people of faith just don’t think “critically”. For many years, I bought this sales pitch, too.
Only after becoming a follower of Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is the Son of God) did I check out the facts. And they left me astounded.
1. Between 1901 and 2000, more than 65 per cent of Nobel prize winners have identified Christianity as their religious preference. That’s according to the book 100 Years of Nobel Prizes.
The Christian Nobel list includes J.J. Thomson in physics, former Liberian president Helen Johnson Sirleaf for the peace prize, Ivan Pavlov in physiology or medicine and Gabriel Garcia Marquez in literature. A little bit of research will reveal that none of these people are brain-dead dolts.
2. In the entertainment world, how about actress Mira Sorvino (who won an Academy Award for Woody Allen’s 1995 move Mighty Aphrodite), Tyler Perry (who, besides his TV and movie acting/directing/screenwriting credits, owns a 200,000-square-foot movie studio) and two-time Oscar-winner Denzel Washington? Can anyone credibly state these people are idiots?
3. Scientists? I’ve already written an entire blog on just a few of the Jesus followers who are doing amazing work in the science world. You can read it here: http://wp.me/p2wzRb-e9
So does “religion” hijack the mind? More often than not, yes. Religion is about following rules, keeping up appearances and judging others. That’s not what serious Jesus followers are all about. We are about having a life-long relationship with Jesus.
In my case, I did all kinds of critical thinking before deciding to follow Jesus at age 41. I read books from a wide variety of perspectives. I debated the basics of Christianity with Jesus followers. I thought long and hard about I’d read, what I’d heard, and how this world has always worked.
That’s not all it took for me to become a man of faith. It took an understanding that God is not the evil ogre that some people make Him out to be. And finally, it took a leap of faith.
A mix of reason, understanding and faith is what it takes to become a Jesus follower.
Maybe that sounds like a lot of work. Maybe you’re shrugging your shoulders and thinking “Meh, I don’t need this. What’s on TV?”
Fine. But if you were satisfied by what our culture insists are the keys to success — money, power, fame, toys, sex, the newest iPad and cruise-ship vacations — would you be reading this blog?
You know there has to be more to life than that. And maybe you’ve even wondered what happens when this life ends. Do you simply become rancid worm food or do you have a soul that lives on? These are important questions. And Jesus has the answers.
Want to know more? Click the ‘links to other sites’ tab at the top of this page or email me at fdking@hotmail.com. I’ll do my best to answer your questions.
Frank's Cottage 
Well said! An understanding of the Bible, that we are eternal beings with a soul that will live forever, means that Christians don’t allow their minds to be taken captive by the things of this world. Rather, we take a bigger view of life than people who are focused on this world.
What does it profit if we gain everything that this world has to offer, but when we draw our last breath find that we are permanently banished from God’s presence?
If anything, choosing to be a Christian has made me a better thinker, a more compassionate person, and someone who lives each day in hope and faith. I know God has a plan, and I trust Him to fulfill His plan in each of our lives.
Blessings, Frank!
But some of the undeniable facts are:
Thousands of gods has come (ie created)
*and*
Thousands of gods are just as quietly vanished.
We know:
The Sumerians worshiped gods around 3400 BC
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We also know:
The oldest Egyptian Sacred texts was written around 3100 BC
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But we didn’t know *YHWH* before the 14th BC maybe 15th BC
*In c 1250 BC*, some wrote the following sentence in hieroglyphs
→ _*”the land of the Shasu or YaHWe”*_ (Shasu means nomads)
No one had heard about the creation *YaHWeH* before the *15th* or perhaps as late as in the *14th BC*
http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2010/03/08/The-Name-Yahweh-in-Egyptian-Hieroglyphic-Texts.aspx
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In the *13th BC*, *El* was the chief god of the city-state of Ugarit.
*El* was “adopted” by the Hebrews, and became the Hebrew word for God in singular, from which *Elohim*, (see: Gen 3:8), God in plural, (See: Gen 1:26) was developed.
http://www.theology.edu/ugarbib.htm
Thanks for your comment. No doubt there were many “gods” who came and went. But the creator of the universe is still here (no matter what name anyone uses) and still transforming the lives of everyone who accepts the glorious gift of His Son. In a world so horribly broken, this is the best news anyone can ever hear! 🙂
The problems as I see them, are just as follows:
You can track down the Sumerian gods to c 3400 BC
You can track down the Egyptians gods to c 3100 BC
You can’t track El /Elohim furher back than the 13th BC
You can’t track YHWH/YaHWeH further back than the 14th maybe the 15th BC
You can’t track Christ Jesus further back than before after the Jerusalem Council c AD 50 (in Thess 1:1)
No pilgrims
No secular wrote with certainty about him before Gaius Suetonius in AD 110
Yes I know about Josephus and ”Antiquities of the Jews”, from AD 93 but these articles are concidered questionable, therefore the wording, “wrote with certainty”.
No pilgrims found it worth the effort to seek His grave, before the end of the second century
Thanks for your comment. Absolutely nothing you’ve written strikes me as any sort of problem.
Please remember: very, very few people could read or write 2,000 years ago. Most of those who could, in ancient Israel, were probably connected to the Roman government or the Jewish leadership. They would certainly never want to write about a man they considered dangerous (and He was – and is!) and who they wanted to bury in obscurity.
Well, the Jewish and Roman leadership are long forgotten, but Jesus Christ is still transforming the hearts and minds of those who welcome Him into their lives. Talk about good news!! 🙂
P.S. Why would pilgrims want to find the grave of a man who was only there for three days before coming back to life? In the end, there was – and is – no grave to find. 🙂