I.
Introduction
Thank you for the privilege of speaking to you tonight. We live in a great day of opportunity. Never before have people been able to seek out the truth on the issues that really matter as we can today. With privilege comes responsibility. The issues that Islam and Christianity raise about Jesus deserve the most careful, fair, and objective study that we can apply. None of us has the luxury of blindly following what we want to believe is true. No one likes to have their holy books or beliefs criticized. But, we must examine our books and these issues critically, and seriously listen to the questions and criticisms others raise about them. We must, because first of all, our books tell us our eternal destinies are at stake. And second, Truth is too important and too precious to use as a pawn in partisan religious arguments.
The standards of criticism I use will be as fairly applied to both books as I can. I am a committed Christian and I believe with all my heart the truth of the Christian faith and the teaching of the Bible. But I also recognize that if anyone’s faith is to be based on truth it must be able to stand up to hard questions and criticism.
Basic to all of our thinking tonight, both mine and I think Mr. Saeed’s, is that revelation from God should at the very least be historically accurate. We believe that God does not leave Himself and His acts in time without adequate witness or testimony. And that is what we are here to examine tonight--the historical evidence God has left concerning Jesus Christ.
I will approach the topic under three headings. First I will present how we can be confident that the Bible presents the most accurate account of Jesus Christ’s’ teaching and actions that is available to us. Second, I will then go on to summarize what the Bible says about Jesus. Third, I will explain why I find Islam’s view (and many others) to be less reliable and inadequate. I will then conclude with some remarks as to why the teaching of Jesus is of the utmost relevance to us today.