Introduction to Christianity

Okay, here's the basic concept of Christianity in a nutshell. I will try to keep the confusing metaphors and analogies to a minimum for all you unfamiliar with this. Like most religions, it answers the question of origin - or where we came from - by explaining the existence of an all-powerful creator known as God, or personally, "I Am". God created the universe and everything in it, including people. Originally, we were perfect, but early in history the first humans committed a crime, or sinned, and now we are no longer perfect.

Christianity also addresses the afterlife question, "What happens after we die?" with two options: heaven and hell. Heaven is a paradise in which there is no pain, sadness, sickness, death, or anything bad at all. Hell is just the opposite - nothing good at all. In order to get into heaven, one must be perfect. If you do anything bad, even just a little thing like stealing someone's pencil, you are doomed to hell. But that means nobody can get to heaven, right? Wrong. Even though we, humans, are stained with sin and corrupted with evil, God still loves us. Imagine him as a parent whose kids were once little angels, but grew up to commit every crime imaginable and were sentenced to life in prison. He would most certainly be apalled and disgusted at the crimes his children committed, but he would still love them as he did before. God does not hate us, he just hates the sins we commit. Now go back to the prison example. Suppose God bailed us out. Considering what we are sentenced to prison for, that is no small sacrifice. Plus, we don't even deserve to be set free, especially not with someone else's money.

But that is exactly what God did - except it wasn't with money. Basically, he came to Earth in human form and was known as Jesus. He taught people what to do to get into heaven (which was not being perfect; rather, it was just believing and following in Him), they got mad, and they killed him - but only temporarily. 3 days later, he came back to life. It's a little hard to explain, but in sacrificing himself like this, he paid for all our sins so we don't have to - he bailed us out of prison. That statement there is the core of Christianity - if you remember nothing else, remember that. And because of this, all we have to do to get into heaven is accept Jesus as our savior and ask him to come into our lives and lead us. And how do you do that? Focus your thoughts on God and simply think to him, or ask him out loud. It's that easy! So what are you waiting for? What's the worst that could happen?

Well, that's the basic idea of Christianity for you. There is really a lot more to it, but this is just an introduction to get you started. If you're interested in becoming a Christian and want to learn more, the first thing you should do is get a Bible (the official book of Christianity), start reading it, and start going to church on a regular basis, like about every Sunday. Good luck!

What's in it for me?

Of course, when it comes to humans, we never want to do anything unless there's something in it for us. God knows this, so he offered a reward beyond reckoning: eternal life. And it's not just eternal life on Earth, you get to live forever in heaven, a perfect paradise where pain, sadness, anger, death, boredom, unfairness, and sickness don't exist. Plus, you get a brand-new body - one that you are completely satisfied with, and with supernatural abilities.

Now compare that to the alternative, if you don't accept Jesus. A pit of fire where you have no senses or free will, and you are in constant, unbearable pain, sadness, anger, death, boredom, unfairness, and sickness. You have no body because you are dead; eternally dead.

The choice should be obvious: accept Jesus as your savior and let him guide your life. Even if you don't really believe in an afterlife, is not doing this a chance you are willing to take? I can't force you to do it, but I strongly urge you to do this. I hope you are wise and pick life instead of death.

Why Christianity?

There are hundreds of different religions in the world. Why should you believe Christianity is the right one? Well, like most religions, it is mostly faith-based. That is, you just have to believe it is right without any proof. However, there is some evidence to support it.

According to the Bible, Jesus appeared to his group of disciples after he died and came back to life. He told them to go out into the world and convert people to Christianity. They did so, and Christianity grew from a group of 11 guys to one of the major religions of the world. Now imagine if Jesus didn't come back to life. His closest followers had just seen him brutally beaten and hung in a most unpleasant manner. Would they have gone and preached Jesus' teachings and even died for them? No, they would have been sorely disappointed that their supposed God couldn't save himself, and they most likely would have gone into hiding for fear they would be hung too (I know I would do that if he really didn't come back to life).

Now suppose Jesus never existed, and the Bible is fake. Surely these guys wouldn't have got together and said, "Let's make up a religion!" And even if they had, it wouldn't have gotten very far without an actual Jesus doing miracles to support it. Or what if Jesus really did exist, but he wasn't really God? Well then, he wouldn't be able to do miracles, so nobody would have believed him without this proof.

In addition, the Bible is historically accurate. Numerous biblical events and places, like Noah's Ark, the destruction of Jericho, and the Israelites' enslavement by Egypt have been discovered to be most likely true by archaeologists. But that's a whole different topic - this is just an introduction. In any case, if the historical events in the Bible are true, then the theology in it is more likely also true.

One of the most common arguments against Christianity is this: "How can God exist, or how can he love us, when he lets so much bad stuff happen? Why does he let bad things happen to good people?" To answer this, I'm going to borrow an analogy from Sarah Arthur in Walking with Frodo. Think of life as a book, and God is the author. Just because the author includes some suffering for the main character in the plot, it does not mean: a)The author doesn't care about the characters in the story, b)the author can't control the plot, or c)the author doesn't exist. Obviously, there has to be an author to write the book. The author is the one writing the story, so he can do anything he wants with the plot. And if the author is a skilled writer, he will care about the characters. Tragedy usually serves to start some change in the characters, usually for the better in the long run. Think how boring a book would be if it just told the story of a perfect person with a perfect life, and nothing bad ever happened to them. Nobody would read it. This one reason why God includes suffering in the plot of life. Just remember that there's a happy ending to the story!

For all you atheists out there that still aren't convinced, try this argument on for size. I'm not sure who said this, but I remembered it because it is so good: You don't believe there is a God, and I do. So let's suppose you're right, and there isn't a God. We both die, and that's it. We both lose. But if I'm right, and there is a God, I go to heaven and live forever, while you don't. I win, you lose.
Either way, the atheist loses, but the Christian has at least a 50-50 chance of winning.

Well, there you have it: Christianity in a nutshell. As this is only an introduction, I strongly recommend you get some more information. Of course you will need the Bible, but there are also many more modern books available at your local bookstore. I hope you take this message seriously and choose to live forever in paradise. Remember, it's never too late! There is no number or intensity of sins that God can't or won't forgive. So what are you waiting for? Become a Christian today, and make your life mean something!