Minister Jacoby looks at logic of Christianity

Christian speaker Douglas Jacoby presented on Thursday night a lecture titled “Is Christianity Rational? A Critical Examination of the Life and Teachings of Jesus.”

Jacoby, who hold degrees from Harvard, Duke University and Drew University, has spoken extensively about the Bible in over 500 cities as well as 100 countries.

In front of a group of over 100 people in Frist Campus Center, Jacoby began the lecture by acknowledging his bias on the topic as a Christian. However, he explained, this bias did not limit his ability to be critical of the religion.

Though Jacoby explained that the term “critical” is often seen negatively, he said, “In theology, ‘critical’ means you are being honest with the text and have the willingness to ask questions.”

Jacoby also said that “it is not irrational for someone to be a Muslim or an atheist given one’s starting place and interpretation of data. The only time someone is irrational is if the data comes your way and you refuse to change your mind.”

The first part of his lecture examined the historical life of Jesus as is documented in the first century Bible.

Jacoby said that through careful study of the Gospels, one would find that Christ was born into a large family of meager means.

“[In Matthew] specifically, it says that Jesus had four brothers and ‘all his sisters’ which I take to mean at least three,” Jacoby said.

Jacoby also explained his belief that Christ’s appearance was “unremarkable.” He noted that many Christians’ current conception of Christ’s image is born out of later generation’s urge to fill in the unknowns.

Jacoby then addressed skepticism about the crucifixion of Jesus, saying, “One reason I believe Christ was crucified was because crucifixion was for the lowest of the low. It was a fate reserved for slaves and people who committed high treason. If you can trace your family lineage back to slavery, you wouldn’t lie about that, would you? Why would people lie about the crucifixion, then?”

In a section on objections, Jacoby discussed the arguments commonly brought by non-believers against Christianity, explaining that the list of objections he examined was a collection of questions he had been asked in his 20 years as a minister and 34 years as a Christian.

One of the objections against the resurrection, he said, was that deceased people do not rise.

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“Dead people don’t rise by natural means,” Jacoby noted. “However, the Bible never says Jesus rose by natural means, [but by] supernatural means.”

Jacoby ended his lecture by relating some of the conclusions he has reached over the years, saying, “There is ample evidence that Jesus lived an extraordinary life, was executed and his followers were convinced he rose from the dead. They were willing to stake their lives on it.”

Jacoby also noted that anti-Christian sentiment may be born out of an inconvenience for non-believers to believe.

“People reject the Bible not because it contradicts itself, but because it contradicts them,” he said.