Whats The Point Of Life

Big Questions

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Who is Jesus?
Who is Jesus and in what way could he possibly impact my life?

Jesus Christ said, 'I've come that you might have life and have it to the full'
(John chapter 10 v 10)

So what, he was around 2,000 years ago! Napoleon Bonaparte: (commenting on the person of Jesus as he appears in the gospel)

'The nearer I approach, the more carefully I examine, everything is above me, everything remains grand, of a grandeur that overpowers. His religion is a revelation from an intelligence that is certainly not that of a man. I search in vain to find the person similar to Jesus Christ, or anything which can approach the gospels. Neither history, nor humanity nor the ages nor nature offer me anything which I can compare or explain it. Here everything is extraordinary.' Napoleon Bonaparte

People have different opinions of Jesus:
# Some have no opinion and have not thought about him. Some see him as a fairy tale figure, like Father christmas, gentle Jesus meek and mild...
# Some see him as a spokesman for their spiritual agenda, like Che Guevara, or New Age teacher with some politically correct things to say about tolerance.

It's difficult to have no opinion about him. Why?

We date our era from him

Chistianity is growing in the third world, as is the population in those places, and these people are moving into the developed world countries (reversed Christian Colonialism).

The American academic Philip Jenkins has studied the situation. In his book, 'The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity', he says that the Christian prophets of doom are ignorant of the explosive growth of Christianity outside Western Europe. In 1900, for instance, there were approximately ten million Christians in Africa. By 2000, there were 360 million. By 2025, conservative estimates see that number rising to 633 million. Those same estimates put the number of Christians in Latin America in 2025 at 640 million and in Asia at 460 million. According to Jenkins, the percentage of the world's population that is, at least in name, Christian, will be roughly the same in 2050 as it was in 1900. By the middle of this century, there will be three billion Christians in the world.

Jesus is a real historical figure

By every historical test known to us there is more evidence for the central events in the life of Jesus which are his birth, his teaching, his death on the cross and the claim to resurrection than for the rest of classical antiquity put together. There is more evidence for these things we know about Jesus' life than for anything we know about Julius Caesar or for instance his Gallic wars.

So what opinions do we have of him? Here are a few...

* Jesus was a legend or a myth

* Jesus was a wise and good pholosopher

* Jesus was a prophet of God no different from many others before him.

* Jesus was deluded

* Jesus was an evil liar and a con man

* Jesus is the Son of God
Jesus'claims about himself

(From the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John: summaries of his activity and teaching)

Jesus claims to be able to forgive sins (equality with God)

All Jesus' contemporaries knew that only God could forgive sins. This can only be interpreted as a claim to be equal with God.

Mark 2

5When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

6Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves,

7"Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

8Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things?

9Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? (Jesus is saying here that it is easier to heal a paralytic than to claim to be God)

10But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. . . ." He said to the paralytic,

11"I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home."

12He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"

Another example of Jesus claiming equality with God:

Matthew 7:24
[ The Wise and Foolish Builders ] "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Given the context in which Jesus was preaching on this occasion someone who considered himself to be merely an inspired teacher or a prophet would have appealed to the authority of God at this point to back up their teaching but Jesus does not - he simply mentions himself.

Jesus claimed the right to make definitive interpretations of the law of God, recorded in the Old Testament:

He didn't justify these changes he simply said 'But I say...'

Matthew 5 v 22
"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment."

Jesus saw himself as being greater than any figure in Old Testament history and actually claimed to be prexistent to several of them:

John 8:58
"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"

Although the temple in Jerusalem was considered to be the dwelling place of God at the time of Jesus, Jesus claimed to be superior to the temple:

Matthew 12:6
"I tell you that one greater than the temple is here."

Jesus even suggested that his own body was the temple:

Matthew 26:61
Finally two came forward and declared, "This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.' "

Matthew 27:51
At that moment (Jesus' cricifixion, 3 days before he rose again) the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split.

Mark 14:58
"We heard him say, 'I will destroy this manmade temple and in three days will build another, not made by man.' "

John 2:19
Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."

John 2:21
But the temple he had spoken of was his body.

Jesus claimed that his words would out last heaven and earth:

Mark 13:31
"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."

Matthew 5:18
"I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."

Jesus claimed that total authority had been given to him and that how people responded to him would decide their eternal destiny:

Matthew 28 v 18
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."

John 11:25
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;"

Jesus claimed that he would be the judge on the day of judgement:

Matthew 25 v 31
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left."

Jesus claimed that he would take precedence over his followers' family, friends and career:

Matthew 10 v 32
"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven."

v37
"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

Jesus readily accepted worship and prayer directed towards himself:

John 20:28
Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"

Matthew 18:20
"For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

Jesus commanded people to pray in his name:

Mark 16:17
"And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;"

John 15 v 7
"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you."

Jesus invited people to put their faith in him and praised them when they did:

Matthew 16 v 13 - 17 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven."

Jesus taught that whatever people did to him they did to God:

Mark 9:37
"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."

John 14 vs 6 - 9
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."

Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."

Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father."

Jesus also enacts his claim to divinity in ways that we wouldn't necessarily know unless we were aware of the Jewish context a little bit more:

The miracle of feeding five thousand people with bread and fish (recorded in all the gospels) is significant because the people amongst whom Jesus did this being Jewish would have understood from their old testament that God alone could make a feast of fat things on the mountainside as it said in the book of Isaiah:

Isaiah 55 v 1- 2
"Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
Why spend money on what is not bread'

II Kings 4:42-44
'A man came from Baalshalishah, bringing the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of the grain in his sack. And Elisha said, "Give to the men, that they may eat." But his servant said, "How am I to set this before a hundred men?" So he repeated, "Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, 'They shall eat and have some left.'" So he set it before them. And they ate, and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.'

Or walking on water

Psalms 77 v 19
'Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters, yet your footprints were unseen.'

Job 9:88
'He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads on the waves of the sea.'

Isaiah 43:16
'This is what the LORD says-
he who made a way through the sea,
a path through the mighty waters'

We have every reason to believe that the authors of the gospels preserve and pass on summaries of Jesus' actual teaching as opposed to inventing their own and putting it in his mouth. The authors of the gospels had their own particular theological agendas: they were not setting out to write impartial historical accounts as we understand such things but at a technical level these texts show none of the hallmarks of what is known as myth: they are understated they are quite matter of fact and the evidence that Jesus considered himself to be much more than a man is so diverse and consistent its far more likely that the gospels reflect the historical Jesus and his actual claims as opposed to the idea that they are all invented.

Nevertheless despite this I know that what goes through our minds.

Surely the whole thing is so incredible that we would have to regard it as a fairy story. The atheist John Stewart Mill asked this very important question:

'Who among Jesus' disciples was capable of inventing the sayings ascribed to Jesus? Or imagining the life and character revealed in the gospels? Jesus seems to have a character so original, so complete, so uniformly consistent, so human and yet so far above human greatness that is it really possible to regard him as a fraud or a fiction? It might be said that it would take amore than a Jesus to actually invent a jesus.'

In which case it matters very much what he has to say about life.
The Son of Man?

Why does Jesus refer to himself as 'Son of Man'?

'In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, and nations and men of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.' Daniel 7: 13-14

So in applying this Old Testamnet term to himself Jesus is saying that he is someone who approaches God himself in His heavenly throne room and is given universal authority and dominion. Thus the 'son of man' is in effect a claim to divinity, not just mere humanity.
How Jesus Forgives

What does it mean that Jesus forgives sins?

'Jesus claims to forgive sins in the synoptics, and that's something only God can do. Jesus accepts prayer and worship. Jesus says, Whoever acknowledges me, I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven.' Final judgement is based on one's reaction to - whom? This mere human being? No, that would be a very arrogant claim. Final judgement is based on one's reaction to Jesus as God.

As you can see, there's all sorts of material in the synoptics (Matthew, Mark and Luke) about the deity of Christ, that then merely becomes more explicit in John's gospel.' Craig L Blomberg, PHD (CFC p30)
Did Jesus exist?

Did Jesus even exist and is there any evidence outside the New Testament about Jesus?

Josephus

'Very important Jewish Historian of the first century' (Edwin M. Yamuchi, PH.D, CFC p77)

'In The Antiquities he described how a high priest named Ananias took advantage of the death of the Roman governor Festus - who is also mentioned in the New Testament - in order to have James killed.'

'He (Ananias) convened a meeting of the Sanhedrin and brought before them a man named James, the brother of Jesus, who was called the Christ, and certain others. He accused them of having transgressed the law and delivered them up to be stoned.' (Josephus The Antiquities 20.200)

Josephus

Tacitus

'Tacitus recorded what is probably the most important reference to Jesus outside of the New Testament' (Edwin M. Yamuchi, PH.D, CFC p82)

'Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome....Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty: then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind.' (Tacitus, Annals 15.44)

'This is an important testimony by an unsympathetic witness to the success and spread of Christianity, based on a historical figure - Jesus - who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and it's significant that Tacitus reported that an 'immense multitude' held so strongly to their beliefs that they were willing to die rather than recant.' (Edwin M. Yamuchi, PH.D, CFC p83)

Tacitus

Pliny the Younger

'the nephew of Pliny the Elder, the famous encyclopedist who died in the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D.79. Pliny the Younger became governor of Bythinia in northwestern Turkey. Much of his correspondence with his friend, Emperor Trajan, has been preserved to the present time.' (Edwin M. Yamuchi, PH.D, CFC p83) 'I have asked them if they are Christians, and if they admit it, I repeat the question a second and third time, with a warning of the punishment awaiting them. If they persist, I order them to be led away for execution; for, whatever the nature of their admission, I am convinced that their stubbornness and unshakeable obstinacy ought not to go unpunished....

They also declared that the sum total of their guilt or error amounted to no more than this: they had met regularly before dawn on a fixed day to chant verses alternately amongst themselves in honor of Christ as if to a God, and also to bind themselves by oath, not for any criminal purpose, but to abstain from theft, robbery and adultery.... This made me decide that it was all the more necessary to extract the truth by torture from two slave-women, whom they called deaconesses. I found nothing but a degenerate sort of cult carried to extravagant lengths.' (Pliny the Younger, Letters 10.96: written about A.D.111)

Edwin M. Yamuchi insists that the importance of this reference lies in the fact that it 'attests to the rapd speard of Christianity, both in the city and in the rural area, among every class of persons, slave women as well as Roman citizens, since he also says that he sends Christians who are Roman citizens to Rome for trial. Edwin M. Yamuchi adds that 'it talks about the worship of Jesus as God, that Christians maintained high ethical standards, and that they were not easil swayed from their beliefs.' (Edwin M. Yamuchi, PH.D, CFC p84)

Pliny the younger
The Earth Darkened

Did the earth really go dark as Jesus hung on the cross?

'This phenomenon, evidently, was visible in Rome, Athens and other Mediterranean cities. According to Tertullian...it was a "cosmic" or "world event."

Phlegon, a Greek author from Caria writing a chronology soon after 137A.D, reported that in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad (i.e. 33A.D.) there was "the greatest eclipse of the sun" and that "it became night in the sixth hour of the day (i.e., noon) so that stars even appeared in the heavens. There was great eathquake in Bithynia, and many things were overturned in Nicaea."

(Paul L.Maier, Pontius Pilate (Wheaton, III.: Tyndale House, 1968), 366, citing a fragment from Phlegon, Olympiades he Chronika 13, ed.Otto Keller, Rerum Naturalium Scriptores Graeci Minores, 1 (Leipzig: Teurber, 1877), 101.Translation by Maier)

Myth and Legend

Could the Gospels (the accounts of the life of Jesus) be mere myth and legend?

'The standard scholarly dating, even in very liberal circles, is Mark in the 70s. Matthew and Luke in the 80s and John in the 90s. But listen: that's still within the lifetimes of various eye witnesses of the life of Jesus, including hostile eye witnesses who would have served as a corrective if false teachings about Jesus were going around.'(Craig L Blomberg, PHD (CFC p33)

Now the gospels came to be written down some 30 years following Jesus' death. Because Jesus' original disciple group were being martyred: The gospels were all completed within the life span of these disciples. Some argue that these dates seem rather late however we can make a comparison with other historical accounts that is really rather instructive: 'The two earliest biographies of Alexander the Great were written by Arrian and Plutarch more than four hundred years after Alexander's death in 323B.C, yet historians consider them to be generally trustworthy. Yes, legendary material about alexander did develop over time, but it was only in the centuries after theses two writers. In other words, the first five hundred years kept Alexander's story pretty much intact; legendary material began to emerge over the next five hundred years. So whether the Gospels were written sixty years or thirty years after the life of Jesus, the amount of timje is negligible by comparison. It's almost a nonissue.' (Craig L Blomberg, PHD (CFC p33)

Here is further evidence of how well the Gospels stand up to both 'time lapse' and 'no. of copies' comparison:

Work	When written	Earliest Copy	Time Lapse	No. of copies
Herodotus	488-428 BC	AD 900	1,300 years	8
Thucydides	c 460-100 BC	cAD 900	1,300 years	8
Tacitus	AD 100	AD 1100	1,000 years	20
Caesars Gallic War	58-50 BC	AD 900	950 years	9-10
Livys Roman History	59 BC - AD 17	AD 900	900 years	20
New Testament	AD 40-100	AD 130 (full manuscripts AD 350)	30-130 years	5,000+ Greek 10,000 Latin 9,300 others

F.J.A. Hort summarises that evidence by saying this: `In the variety and fullness of the evidence on which it rests, the text of the New Testament stands absolutely and unapproachably alone amongst ancient prose writings.' That is not a conclusion that any secular historian would disagree with.

F.F. Bruce summarising that evidence quotes Sir Frederic Kenyon, a leading scholar in this area: 'The interval between the dates of original composition and the earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed. Both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the New Testament may be regarded as finally established.'

Furthermore, some of the letters in the New testament, professing the fundamental beliefs in Jesus' atonement, his resurrection and his unique association with God are even earlier in composition.

Lindisfarne gospels

The Four Gospels

Who wrote the four Gospels?

Strictly speaking the Gospels are anonymous.

The uniform testimony of the early church is that Matthew, also known as Levi, the tax collector and one of the twelve disciples, was the author of the first Gospel of the New Testament. John Mark, a companion of Peter, was the author of the gospel we call Mark. Luke, known as Paul's beloved physician, wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. 'There are no known competitors for these three gospels. Apparently it was just not in dispute.' Craig L Blomberg, PHD (CFC p23) John is the only gospel where there is some question about authorship: the question is whether it is John the apostle or a different John.

'The testimony of a Christian writer named Papias, dated about A.D.125, refers to John the Apostle and John the elder, and it's not clear from the context whether he's talking about one person from two perspectives or two different people. But granted that exception, the rest of the early testimony is unanimous that it was John the apostle - the son of Zebedee - who wrote the gospel.' Craig L Blomberg, PHD (CFC p23)

Irenaeus writing about A.D.180:

'Matthew published his own Gospel among the Hebrews in their own tongue, when Peter and Paul were preaching the Gospel in Rome and founding the church there. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, himself handed down to us in writing the substance of Peter's preaching. Luke, the follower of Paul, set down in a book the Gospel preached by his teacher. Then John, the disciple of the Lord, who also leaned on his breast, himself produced his Gospel, whilst he was living at Ephesus in Asia.' (Irenaeus, Adversus haereses 3.3.4.)
What if you've never heard of Jesus?

What about those people who haven't heard about Jesus?

There are many questions surrounding this enormous theological issue. There are startling examples from around the world of God working in the lives of all sorts of peoples and preparing them, often centuries in advance, for the coming of the Gospel.

But before we look at these it is very interesting to see what the Bible says.... The book of Genesis tells an amazing story of how Abraham (at the time Abram) stumbles across a Canaanite king named Melchizedek. What takes place during their encounter gives us an astonishing insight into how varied God's revlation to His people is.

Genesis 14 v18
"Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying,
"Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
And blessed be God Most High,
who delivered your enemies into your hand."

'Brace yourself for Abram's reply. We may be about to listen in on the first theological argument in the history of mankind! What will Abram say? Will he reply, "One moment your highness! The correct name for the almighty is Yahweh, not El Elyon (God Most High)! Furthermore, I cannot accept a blessing offered under this Canaanite name El Elyon, since your Canaanite concept of the Almighty undoubtedly must be tainted with pagan notions. In any case, Yahweh has told me that I am the one who is supposed to bless you. Don't you think you have been a little presumptuous in blessing me?"

No! Abram's response was to give Melchizedek a "tenth of everything" which was recovered from Kedorlaomer in the rescue operation (Genesis 14 v 20)

V 20
"Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything."

This action by Abram in thus "paying the tithe" to Melchizedek triggers a flurry of comments by the New Testament authornof the epistle to the Hebrews. For example: "Just think how great (Melchizedek ) he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder!" He then goes on to argue that the Canaanite Melchizedek's priesthood must on this basis be considered superior to the Hebrew people's own Levitical priesthood, on the ground that "Levi...paid the tenth (to Melchizedek) through Abraham, because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor (Abraham)" (Hebrews 7: vs 4 -10)

Concerning Melchizedek's action in blessing Abraham, and Abraham's implied acceptance of that blessing, the same author comments that Melchizedek "blessed him who had the promises. And without doubt the lesser person is blessed byt the greater" ((Hebrews 7: 6,7 italics added)

But that is not all that points to the incredible greatness of this personage called Melchizedek. The author of Hebrews than quotes a prophecy byt the Hebrew King David - the king who first wrestled Melchizedek's ancient Salem from the Jebusites (1,000B.C) and made it Jerusalem, the capital of the Hebrew nation. David's prophecy explicitly states that the Jewish Messiah, when He comes, will not serve as a member in the inherently temporal Levitical priesthood with its restricted lineage. Rather, he will be a priest of "the order of Melchizedek", in which membership is not restricted to one particular lineage. Not only that, but Messiah's membership in this "order of Melchizedek" is confirmed by nothing less than a divine oath; and his membership in Melchizedek's order is eternal! "The Lord has sworn, and will not change his mind: 'You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek'" (Psalms 110: 4)

Perhaps Yahweh warned Abram in advance that he would find someone like Melchizedek already standing up for the true God among the Canaanites. All I can say is, if Yahweh didn't tell Abram beforehand about Melchizedek (and the record gives no clue that He did) then the discovery of Melchizedek among these "benighted Canaanites" must have really rocked father Abram back on his heels!

Not that Melchizedek's prior presence in Canaan detracted in any way from Abraham's God-given destiny! On the contrary there is not the slightest evidence that these two men regarded eachother with even a hint of jeaulousy or competition. Melchizedek shared his "bread and wine" with abram and blessed him, and Abram "paid the tithe" to Melchizedek. They were brothers in El Elyon/Yahweh! Melchizedek and Abram were allies in His cause!

Well they should be! For Abram stood in that valley of Shaveh as a representative of Yahweh's special revelation. Melchizedek, on the other hand, had already been there for a very long time as the archetype of general revelation - the kind of revelation that is "just there". Already on the scene before special revelation arrives. And since general revlation and special revelation both spring from El Elyon/Yahweh, it was to be expected that Melchizedek would share bread and wine with Abram and that Abram would "pay the tithe" to Melchizedek.

The amazing thing is that they have continued to do just that down through the subsequent history of mankind. For as Yahweh's speacial revelation - let's call it the Abraham factor - has continued to reach out into the world through the Old and New Testament eras, it has continually found that Yahweh's general revelation - let's call it the Melchizedek factor - is already on the scene, bringing out the bread, the wine and the blessing!' (Don Richardson Eternity in their Hearts Revised Edition CA, Regal, 1981, 1984 p 8-10)

The following stories are also taken from Don Richardson's anthropological investifgations and attempt to trace through history some examples of this beautiful interaction between the Melchizedek factor - God's general revelation - and the Abraham factor - God's special revelation.

The Incas (South America)
Pachacuti, king of the Incas from 1438 to 1471, restored one of the temples of the god worshipped by all his people - the sun. But he began to have doubts. He noted that a mere cloud could dim this 'god.' The sun did nothing but the same thing over and over, acting more like a laborer than a god. His observations brought the conclusion that the sun is neither universal, nor perfect, nor all-powerful.

In Inca tradition there was a vague memory of Viracocha, the omnipotent Creator. Pachacuti's own father had had a dream in which Viracocha reminded him that he truly was the Creator of all things. Deciding that the Creator, not the sun, was worthy of worship, Pachacuti met with the sun priests. He told them that the Creator is supreme and uncreated. He made all spirits and all peoples by his word. He manifests himself as a trinity when he wishes but otherwise he is surrounded only by archangels and heavenly warriors. He warms the world through his created sun. He brings peace and order. He is in his own being blessed and he has pity on people's wretchedness. He alone judges and forgives and enables people to overcome their evil tendencies.

From now on, Pachacuti commanded the aristocracy, the sun was to be regarded, like humanity, as created and that prayer was to be directed to Viracocha with awe and humility. (Don Richardson Eternity in their Hearts Revised Edition CA, Regal, 1981, 1984 p 33-41)

The Wa (Burma)
In the 1880's, Pu Chan, a Wa tribesman, persuaded several thousand of his people to abandon headhunting and spirit-appeasement. He said the true God was about to send the long-awaited 'white brother with a copy of the lost book' that had been part of their folk-lore from time immemorial. If the brother learnt that the Wa people were doing evil things, he might consider them unworthy of the true God's book.

One morning Pu Chan readied a Wa pony, and told some of his disciples to follow it. He said that the previous night the true God had told him that at last the white brother was near. God would cause the pony to lead them to him. The pony started walking. Surely it would simply stop at the nearest stream. To the disciples' amazement it kept going. On and on it went for about 200 miles over mountainous trails and down into the city of Kengtung, then turned into the gate of a mission compound and headed straight for a well. The disciples looked all around. No white man. No book. Hearing sounds in the well, they peered in. From the dry well a white face greeted them. Did he have a book from God? Yes! Before long about 10,000 Wa people had given their lives to Jesus. (Don Richardson Eternity in their Hearts Revised Edition CA, Regal, 1981, 1984 p 87, 102-104)

(Of course, there's nothing special about being white. It's just an historical fact that for some people groups it was white people who first brought them the Gospel.)

The Gedeo (Ethiopia)
The Gedeo were a half-million strong Ethiopian tribe who believed in Magano, the benevolent, omnipotent, Creator of everything. And yet few prayed to Magano. They were far more concerned about trying to appease Sheit'an, an evil spirit. They felt they did not know Magano well enough to be free from this evil spirit. One day, however, a Gedeo man, Warrasa, prayed that Magano would reveal himself to the Gedeo people. Then followed a vision in which he saw two white-skinned strangers erect temporary shelters under a certain sycamore tree near Warrasa's hometown, Dilla.

Later they built more permanent shiny-roofed structures. Warrasa had never seen either type of dwelling before. A voice told him that these men would bring a message from Magano. During the next eight years other Gedeo soothsayers prophesied that strangers would soon arrive with a message from Magano. At the end of 1948, missionaries Brunt and Cain planned to set up base far from Dilla but the political climate forced them to decide on Dilla. So two white men erected tents under that very sycamore tree Warrasa had seen in his vision. Events continued to unfold in accordance with the vision.

Today there are tens of thousands of Gedeo Christians. (Don Richardson Eternity in their Hearts Revised Edition CA, Regal, 1981, 1984 p 54-56)
'What happened among the Gedeo is by no means an isolated incident,' writes Richardson. 'Incredible as it seems, literally thousands of Christian missionaries down through history have been startled by exuberant welcome even among some of the earth's remotest peoples! Folk . . . anticipated the coming of message-bearers for the true God almost as knowledgeably as if they had read about them in the morning news!' (Don Richardson Eternity in their Hearts Revised Edition CA, Regal, 1981, 1984 p 56)

The Santal (India)
In the late 1860s two missionaries began preaching to the Santal people, of whom there were about two and a half million. Suddenly Santal sages excitedly declared that this new teaching must mean that the 'Genuine God' (Thakar Jiu) had not forgotten them after all.

As relayed by an elder, Kolean, according to the Santal long long ago (and notice the marvellous biblical parallels), Thakur Jiu - The Genuine God - created the first man - Haram - and the first woman - Ayo - and placed them far to the west of India in a region called Hihiri Pipiri. There a being named Lita tempted them to make rice beer. Then he enticed them to pour part of the beer on the ground as an offering to Satan. Haram and Ayo became drunk on the rest of the beer and slept. When they awoke they knew they were naked and felt ashamed.

Ayo later bore Haram seven sons and seven daughters who married and founded seven clans. The clans migrated to a region called Kroj Kaman where they became corrupted. Thaku Jiu called mankind to "return to Him." When man refused, Thakur Jiu destroyed the rest of mankind with a flood. Later, descendants of the 'holy pair' multiplied and migrated to a plain called Sasan beda ("mustard field"). ThereThakur Jiu divided them into many different peoples.

A branch of mankind which we shall call "pro-Santal" migrated first to 'Jarpi land', and then continued eastward "from forest to forest" until high mountains blocked their way. Desperately they sought a way through the mountains, but every route proved impassable, at least to their women and children. Not unlike the children of Israel in Sinai, the people became faint on their journey.

In those days, Kolean explained, the proto-Santal, as descendants of the holy pair, still acknowledged Thakur Jiu as the genuine God. Facing this crisis, however, they lost their faith in Him and took their first step into spiritism. "The spirits of these great mountains have blocked our way," they decided. "Come, let us bind oursleves to them by an oath, so that they will let us pass." Then they conenanted with the "Maran Buru" (spirits of the great mountains), saying, "O, Maran Buru, if you release the pathways for us, we will practise spirit appeasement when we reach the other side."

Soon after they found a pass (the Khyber Pass?). Because of their oath, the Santal began appeasing spirits and engaging in sorcery until all knowledge of the 'Genuine God' was lost except the name. The thought that Jesus could heal the rift between their race and the 'Genuine God' moved them so greatly that tens of thousands became Christians. (Don Richardson Eternity in their Hearts Revised Edition CA, Regal, 1981, 1984 p 41-48)

The Karen (Burma)
In 1795 an English diplomat received an usually friendly welcome from the Karen people. Through an interpreter they asked if he was the 'white brother' they had been expecting for countless generations. If he were, he would have with him a book that their forefathers has lost. It was written by Y'wa, the Supreme God, and it would free them from their oppressors. The diplomat shook his head.

Burma was home to about 800,000 Karen people and living in perhaps a thousand of their villages were people they esteemed as prophets of the God they called Y'wa. These special teachers kept reminding the people that the ways of the evil spirits that most of them followed were not the ways of Y'wa and that one day they must fully return to Y'wa's ways. They rigorously opposed idolatry, and the Karen people refused to succumb to centuries of strong Buddhist influence. (Don Richardson Eternity in their Hearts Revised Edition CA, Regal, 1981, 1984 p 73-77)

Here is one of their hymns:
The omnipotent is Y'wa; him we have not believed.
Y'wa created men anciently;
He has perfect knowledge of all things.
Y'wa created men at the beginning;
He knows all things to the present time.
O my children and grandchildren!
The earth is the treading place of the feet of Y'wa,
And heaven is the place where he sits.
He sees all things, and we are manifest to him.

And another:
Y'wa formed the world originally.
He appointed food and drink.
He appointed the 'fruit of trial.'
He gave detailed orders.
Mu-kaw-lee deceived two persons.
He caused them to eat the fruit of the tree of trial.
They obeyed not; they believed not Y'wa . . .
When they ate the 'fruit of trial,'
They became subject to sickness, aging, and death . . .
(Don Richardson Eternity in their Hearts Revised Edition CA, Regal, 1981, 1984 p 78)

In 1816 a Muslim made contact with some Karen people. He was not very light skinned but upon questioning they discovered that he had a book he said was from God. The people were so interested that he gave it to them as a parting gift. For twelve years they venerated that book and kept constant vigil for the teacher who would one day give them understanding of the contents of the book. (Don Richardson Eternity in their Hearts Revised Edition CA, Regal, 1981, 1984 p 76)

Finally the white man they had been expecting arrived, opened the book and found it to be Christian - the Book and Common Prayer and the Psalms. The missionary affirmed it was indeed a good book from God, who alone should be worshipped. Their faces lit up, but darkened again when he explained they should not have worshipped the book. The tribesman who had gained honor as custodian of the book surrendered his status and became a humble follower of Jesus, along with tens of thousands of his people. (Don Richardson Eternity in their Hearts Revised Edition CA, Regal, 1981, 1984 p 95)

The Lisu (China)
In southwestern China several hundred thousand Lisu expected a white man to one day arrive with the book of the true God written in their own language. The amazing thing is that as at that time there had never been a written form of their language. Of course, it happened and they responded. (Don Richardson Eternity in their Hearts Revised Edition CA, Regal, 1981, 1984 p 89, 105)

Korea and China
Richardson cites evidence of an ancient belief in China and Korea that there was just one God and he must never be represented by idols. This belief seems to have predated Confucius by over 2,000 years. By about 1000 BC, however, religious leaders so emphasized God's majesty and holiness that they decided that the Emperor was good enough to worship him just once a year. Everyone else was forbidden from worshipping God directly. (Don Richardson Eternity in their Hearts Revised Edition CA, Regal, 1981, 1984 p 63)

About Don Richardson
What prompted Don Richardson's research into the religions of primitives is itself an amazing story. He bravely brought his family to live with cannibals for whom treachery was their highest virtue. This Irian Jayan tribe delighted in befriending strangers and showering them with kindness for months until their unsuspecting victims felt totally safe and accepted. Then they would suddenly kill and eat them. So perverse were these natives that when Don shared with them the Gospel story, Judas became their new hero. Jesus was the dupe to be laughed at. It seemed impossible for Gospel light to penetrate their darkened minds. Then tribal war broke out and Don threatened to leave unless they made peace. They wanted Don's medicines, so they decided on a truce. Richardson began to wonder how a peace settlement could ever take place between people who esteemed deception. A man sadly gave up his baby boy and offered it to the other tribe for adoption. For as long as the son lived, there would be peace. Don, seeing the connection, exclaimed that Jesus was the Peace Child given by God to the world. Suddenly, the natives saw everything in a new light. To kill a Peace Child was a grave offense. They knew that a person giving up his son was a person to be trusted. Because Christ lives forever, peace with God is possible. Don found other 'Christ-foreshadowing beliefs' in their traditions. Everything began to fall into place. It was not too long before they were building a church to hold a thousand people.

This experience made Don wonder whether the Lord has similarly seeded into the religions and traditions of other Gospel-ignorant peoples concepts that would prepare them for receiving the Gospel. He made some fascinating discoveries.

The above is no substitute for reading Richardson's books, which contain valuable additional details. Bracketed numbers in the text below indicate pages in Eternity in their Hearts from which the information was taken.

Some books by Don Richardson:
Peace Child Ventura CA, Regal, 1974
Lords of the Earth Ventura CA, Regal, 1977
Eternity in their Hearts Revised Edition CA, Regal, 1981, 1984

Big Questions