A guided path in nine steps

The Case for Christianity

Christianity makes public claims: that God exists, that he acted in history, and that Jesus of Nazareth was raised from the dead. Claims like that can be examined.

This path takes the questions in the order they depend on each other. Each step gives a short answer, states the strongest objection fairly, responds to it, shows the biblical and historical evidence, and links the primary sources and the site's fuller treatment. Each also says plainly what it does not show.

Begin with step 1How this path works

The nine questions

  1. Step 1 · PhilosophyDoes God exist?No single argument forces every reasonable person to believe in God.
  2. Step 2 · PhilosophyAre miracles possible?If God exists, miracles are possible: nothing in science shows that the Creator cannot act within what he made.
  3. Step 3 · HistoryDid Jesus historically exist?Yes. Among historians of the ancient world and of early Christianity, the existence of Jesus of Nazareth, a first-century Jew crucified under Pontius Pilate, is not normally in dispute.
  4. Step 4 · HistoryCan we trust the New Testament?Two questions sit here. The text: with more than 5,500 Greek manuscripts, early translations and quotations, scholars can reconstruct what the New Testament authors wrote with high confidence, while openly marking passages that are later additions.
  5. Step 5 · The claims of JesusWho did Jesus claim to be?More than a teacher or a prophet. In the earliest Gospel, Jesus forgives sins on his own authority, calls himself lord of the Sabbath, and answers the high priest by claiming a place at God's right hand.
  6. Step 6 · The resurrectionDid Jesus rise from the dead?Historians can establish that Jesus died by crucifixion, that his followers very soon and sincerely believed they had seen him alive, and that this belief transformed people who had no reason to invent it.
  7. Step 7 · The early ChurchWhat did the earliest Christians believe?The writings that survive from the generations after the apostles show communities that worshipped Christ, baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, gathered on Sunday for the Eucharist, and were served by an ordered ministry.
  8. Step 8 · The early ChurchDid Jesus establish a continuing Church?The New Testament presents Jesus gathering the Twelve, giving baptism and the Eucharist, and promising that his community would endure.
  9. Step 9 · The Christian confessionWhat is the Trinity?Christians confess one God who exists eternally as Father, Son and Holy Spirit: not three gods, and not one person wearing three masks.

How this path works

  • In order. Each question builds on the ones before it, from whether God exists to what the Church confesses about him.
  • Short, then deeper. Every step opens with a brief answer and a 2-minute version, then the evidence, the sources and the site's full treatment.
  • The other side, fairly. Each step states the strongest objection in terms a thoughtful sceptic would accept, and says what the step does not show.
  • Your pace. Progress is saved in this browser; nothing is required to begin.

The standard throughout is the one in How We Work: steelman the objection, source the claims, and do not claim more than the evidence bears. Read our standards · How we rate evidence