Walking on thin ice?

When I was new to the faith, I was often frustrated around Easter time. The root of my frustration was that some people often used the occasion to try and debunk certain aspects of Christian belief. There are always tv shows, news specials, magazine articles, etc. tackling "controversial" issues about Jesus life, death and resurrection. There is always someone asking, "Was Jesus a real person?" or "Was Jesus really resurrected?"

It took me some years to realize why these things bothered me. I realized, for me, that the problem was my own internal struggle. Because I was new to the faith, there were parts of me that had questions, and parts of me that weren't sure. When someone asked a question about what I believe to be true, I had to ask the same question and wonder what the consequences of the answer were.

This Easter season is no different than most. Yahoo! News this morning caught my attention with the headline: "Jesus May Have Walked on Ice?"

Professor Doron Nof of Florida State University has announced a study that found that an unusual combination of atmospheric and water conditions in northern Israel may have created ice on the Sea of Galilee that may have made it possible for Jesus to have walked on ice and appeared to have been walking on water.

Now this is precisely the sort of thing that would have unnerved me a few years ago. Upon reading this, I would have been faced with the question myself, "What if Jesus didn't walk on water?" and "If Jesus didn't walk on water, what does that mean for my faith?"

With a few years of spiritual growth behind me, my reaction has changed. I am less bothered and more compelled by this sort of thing. Here is why I am less bothered: my belief in God and Jesus Christ is not a thing that can be proven or disproved. It is more than a collection of facts. If you could prove of disprove any one of the facts that are part of the overall system of my beliefs, it will not change that faith that I have in God and Christ. In other words, if you could prove that Jesus didn't walk on water, it would cause no change to my belief in Jesus. Besides that, the gospels are more than just a collection of stories that prove that Jesus is the Son of God,
they are a collection of stories that tell who Jesus is and therefore who God is. If, indeed, Jesus did walk on ice, it doesn't change what the Gospel reveals to me about the nature of God.

Here is why the "controversial" announcements around Easter compel me. The reasons behind them are quite varied. Some are trying to debunk Christianity. Some are trying to make a name for themselves. Some are just trying to start a conversation. It is the last one that I like. I don't think that we talk about Christianity enough. I am not even talking about in "public" life. I don't think in the church or in our homes we talk about this stuff. If headlines like this one get us to think about our own faith and discuss it with our fellow journeyers, than they do more good than harm.

peace,

will