#AliveisStillAlive!

Written by cycleguy on April 15th, 2022

Famous atheist, the late Christopher Hitchens, was once interviewed for Portland Monthly about his opposition to religion, and more specifically, Christianity. The women “minister” questioning him noted the Christianity he opposed was of the more “fundamentalist” variety, while she identified herself as a “liberal Christian.” After explaining that she didn’t take the stories of Scripture literally and rejected the atonement, she asked Hitchens if he saw a difference between fundamentalist faith and more liberal religion. His answer was surprising: “I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.”

I guess there is no other way to say it but that he put her in her place. And that I totally agree with him. If I became convinced that the resurrection of Jesus was not true, or that Jesus was just a good teacher or a wise man to imitate and not the Savior and King, I would disavow being a Christian. I would walk away from the faith.

This Sunday is the apex of our faith: the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. I’m excited about preaching on that! We are meeting at Abram Farm Event Venue in order to be together as one church family.  Our service will start at 10:00 and be live streamed as well (thanks to Pastor Ryan for making that happen).  So I’d like to invite you to join us in person at Abram Farm or via live stream.

 

4 Comments so far ↓

  1. Glynn says:

    That Hitchens quote – that’s it, right there. That’s the definition line.

  2. Thanks, Bill, for letting us know about the change of time for your Easter service.
    And you are so right – if you don’t believe in the resurrection, and the sacrifice Jesus offered for our sins, you can’t call yourself a Christian.
    May God bless you and your Easter message!

    • cycleguy says:

      You’re welcome Martha. I am so appreciative that you check in every week. It means a lot to me. And I agree with you. I am hoping my resurrection sermon will show that (I have decided to change from my original and write a new one today (Saturday)