This book is a fantastic resource for those people in your life who might be questioning Christianity either as “too good be true” or “too hard to believe”. I’d encourage picking up a few copies of What If It’s All True? by Rick Beckwith to share with skeptics and offer to read it together and discuss it with them. Let’s pray that this book will help many come to Christ! I highlighted several things while reading and have posted those notes below…
- At one time or another we have all asked the same question: “What if it’s all true?” If Jesus of Nazareth truly was God in the flesh, what implications does that have for your life and those you love? How we answer this pivotal question will affect the outcome of our lives—our thinking, words, actions, and relationships—more than any other question. I believe it is the most important question we all face regardless of age, stage of life, or previous religious involvement. You are wise to explore What If It’s All True? Location: 167
- So what happens if it is all true, but we wager it is not? We experience a life separated from God and our very purpose. We live separated from God’s blessing upon relationships, marriage, and children. We make decisions based only on what we think is best from our limited experience relative to the knowledge of an infinite God. And, in eternity, we find ourselves separated from God, His goodness, light, and life. Location: 213
- “What do you seek?” is the first question Jesus posed to His first two inquiring disciples as recorded in the Gospel of John (1:38a nasb1995). These two men quickly responded: “Where are You staying?” (v. 38b nasb1995), showing how desperately they wanted to be with Jesus, wherever He was going. They had previously been disciples of John the Baptist, who was preparing his hearers for the coming of the long-prophesied Messiah. Notice how Jesus checks these boxes held for the true Messiah: Be a visible, human expression of the invisible God (Col. 1:15) Bring an awareness of God to all people (Heb. 8:11) Pay the penalty for our sins so we can enjoy the life God intends for us, both here and in eternity (1 Pet. 3:18) Be resurrected after three days to conquer sin and offer any who would follow Him eternal life (Luke 18:33) Usher in the kingdom of God (Mark 1:15) If it was all true, from whom else would these young disciples rather learn? Location: 275
- Webster defines truth as “conformity to fact or reality; exact accordance with that which is, or has been; or shall be.”9 We all determine which reality to believe, but the quest for truth motivates each of us. In a Table Talk conversation from Ligonier Ministries in 2010, Dr. Steven J. Lawson said, “In a word, truth is reality. It is how things actually are. Theologically, truth is that which is consistent with the mind, will, character, glory, and being of God.”10 If we adhere to this definition it takes the pressure off of having to define for ourselves what to believe. Location: 434
- Truth is not a discovery of something new, but a continuation of something ancient. What is true should not be up for debate, but should be mined from the depths of history. Truth and how to enforce the morality surrounding it have been the backbone for societies since people began to live in villages with one another, guiding how their people live, act, and believe. Location: 467
- What Is the Source of Absolute Truth? Psalm 19:7–9 (csb) says: The instruction of the Lord is perfect, renewing one’s life; the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise. The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad; the command of the Lord is radiant, making the eyes light up. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are reliable and altogether righteous. Location: 489
- Inventing the Scriptures would have been a miracle in itself. There is too much unity for the writers to have successfully forged it since the Bible was written by forty authors, over a period of fifteen hundred years, in three different languages, on three different continents, in an era without phone lines or Internet. The New Testament quotes the Old Testament over six hundred times. The Bible has literally thousands of verifiable historical prophecies, cases in which events were clearly foretold, and both the foretelling and the fulfillment are a matter of historical record. It would be too difficult to invent the sayings and miracles of Jesus and have them correspond perfectly with Old Testament prophecy. The evidence from the Scriptures themselves is enough to prove its validity. Location: 569
- Chaos is the final result of the rejection of absolute truth, and it is rearing its ugly head a lot these days! Location: 602
- Can a person reasonably be expected to believe that these requirements for life as we know it have been met merely by chance? The earth: is exactly the right distance from the sun. is exactly the right distance from the moon. is exactly the right diameter. is exactly the right atmospheric pressure. has exactly the right tilt. has exactly the right amount of oceanic water. has exactly the right weight and mass. Location: 702
- God is not a watchmaker who made the world, stepped back, and let it tick to its logical end. Instead, He is intimately involved in His creation, near to His work. And because He has created all things, He has authority over all things and He knows how His creation works best. This means He has authority to instruct His creation and to impose structures for purity, healthy living, and loving relationships. Location: 757
- Every person who has ever lived is a believer in something or someone. I suggest there is no more credible person in all of history in whom to place a confident belief than Jesus of Nazareth. C. S. Lewis taught that an honest reflection on Jesus can only lead to one of three conclusions. He was either a liar—someone who made wild claims for His own ends—or He was a lunatic who actually believed He was God’s Son but of course was not. The only other conclusion is that Jesus is Lord.30 He simply cannot be reduced, as other world religions do, to a nice guy or wise teacher. The apostle Paul modeled an understanding of the truth Location: 855
- “If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said. If he didn’t, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether you like his teaching, but whether he rose from the dead.” Tim Keller, The Reason for God Location: 1,067
- Theologian R. C. Sproul popularized a Latin phrase that encapsulates the result of our turning toward God. It is Coram Deo, which simply means “living before the face of God.”Location: 1,214