day no. 17,344: Christianity can be proven false

"George Washington crossed the Delaware at Trenton, John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln at Ford Theater, and Jesus rose from the dead outside Jerusalem two thousand years ago. The question is whether that third item is true in the same way that the first two are . . . as an objective historical fact, seen by reliable witnesses who wrote it down, and then believed by sensible people." ― Douglas Wilson, Not the Trope, and Not the Houseplant

The Christian faith is objectively true. It is not a philosophical or religious approach to life that can be adopted regardless of its historical reality. If Jesus Christ did not live a perfect life, die a sacrificial death, rise triumphantly from the grave three days later, and ascend to Heaven forty days after that, the Christian faith is of no value.

1 Corinthians 15:14-19

And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

Christianity is not merely another option in the marketplace of ideas. It is the only one that banks its entire existence on an objective, historical reality. If Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead, Christianity is false. Christianity is the only religion that can be proven wrong. It depends on something tangible. Sure, some turn Christianity into a philosophy which does not depend on a literal anything. They say that Christ rose spiritually and that He reigns spiritually and that everything that embodies Christianity is body-less, ethereal, spiritual, and philosophical. But that is not the Christianity of the Bible. It does not offer spiritual truths or life hacks, it presents facts that demand a response. If Christ really died, you are really obligated to respond to it in a particular way. If He did not really rise, it does not really matter what you do with it.

Christianity could be proven false if Jesus Christ's body could be found here on earth. All the good things that Christianity has produced in light of that lie could still be, and certainly would be, justified by those who see it as a philosophy or as a spiritual option on the buffet of world religions. The Christianity of the Bible, however, would be done in by it all being based on a lie. No other religion can be proven false because none of them depend on anything objective actual happening. They make historical claims, of course, but the philosophy does not depend on those claims being true. If Mohammed or Buddha turned out to be fictional characters, Islam and Buddhism could continue to exist without interruption. Moses could be metaphorical and Talmudic Judaism could go on. Mormonism does not depend on Joseph Smith having actually met an angel in the woods. They will insist that he did, but even if he didn't, Mormonism could go on. But if Jesus Christ did not physically rise from the dead, Biblical Christianity would be entirely done for... and we would all still be in our sins and about to face the Father without a peace treaty.