"Religion and a Dead Man Named Jesus"

Acts 25.19 “The Message”

“The accusers came at him [Paul] from all sides, but their accusations turned out to be nothing more than arguments about their religion and a dead man named Jesus, who the prisoner claimed was alive.”

Many people think Jesus was a good man who lived a long time ago. To say He lived is to imply He died which, of course, He did. Their concept of Jesus leaves out an essential element of the story, namely, the resurrection. Without the resurrection, Jesus is nothing more than “a dead man.”  This common view presents Jesus as a good “dead man,” and forms the foundation of a system of “religion;” that is, the teachings of a good man who once lived, or more aptly, the teachings of “a dead man.”

• Buddhism ~ the teachings of Buddha
• Islam ~ the teachings of Mohammed
• Judaism ~ the teachings of Moses 
• Mormonism ~ the teachings of Joseph Smith

These religious teachers all have one thing in common… they’re all “dead” and gone. Christianity is different. It is not just the teachings of “a dead man.” Jesus was a dead man, but is no longer.

Christianity is not a “religion” about “a dead man named Jesus.” It’s a personal relationship with the living Christ.