325 Week 3

Does history contribute to faith?

The blog topic this week, to me is very interesting. When I have thought about Jesus' life, I always think of my faith, what I have been taught about Him and what I know about my religion. I have never really thought of Jesus from a historical perspective. Its hard to remember sometimes that other people may not believe that Jesus is our Savior or our God.

My answer to this question is yes, history does contribute to our faith, however it is not the sole reason we believe. History is the basis for all religions. This is obvious after our class discussion. During class, Professor M brought up the fact that Judaism, Christianity and Islam have some common elements, such as Abraham. History, gives us proof that the elements of our faith (regardless of which one you believe in) really did exist. It is called history because it based on factual events and persons.

History gives faith a starting point. It allows us to start somewhere and then we form our own beliefs from there. For example, there is plenty of historical evidence that Jesus existed, very few people will deny that. However, as Peter says in his first letter, Christians believe that Jesus is our Savior and that we should be obedient to Him. Other religions view of Jesus however are very different. For example, when He was alive, the Jews considered Jesus a heretic, and eventually put him to death for his teachings. The conclusion I have come to is that faith is rooted in history, but perception, judgement and individuality form your faith.