There are only three questions in life that matter.  First, is Jesus God? Second, did Jesus rise from the dead (in body)?  Third, is the Bible the revelation of God?  If the answer to any of these questions is ‘no’, then Christianity is false and another worldview is correct.  Let’s briefly take these three one by one and work through their implications.

1. Is Jesus God?  Jesus asks Peter, “Who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8:29).  Your answer to this question matters more than anything else in the world.  It encompasses the larger philosophical question of whether God exists and goes straight to the center of Christianity.  If Jesus is God, then Islam and Judaism are incorrect (along with a host of less consequential religions).  Further, if Jesus is uniquely God, then the view of Mormonism that He’s the first of many gods is false.  Look to Putting Jesus in His Place by Robert Bowman or The Deity of Christ by Christopher Morgan. For information on this topic or for a deeper, historical writing On the Incarnation by Athanasius.

2. Did Jesus rise from the dead (in the body)?  The Apostle Paul tackles this question head on in 1 Corinthians 15:14-17 when he wrote, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.”  Paul sees the resurrection as the cornerstone event of the faith.  If Jesus is still in the ground or He never died on the cross, then all the claims of Christianity are false.  Gary Habermas is the expert on this topic with books such as The Case for the Resurrection

3. Is the Bible the revelation of God?  This question is intertwined with the first two because the Bible provides the basis for God’s revelation about Jesus.  If you believe the Bible is accurate then the natural conclusion is that Jesus is God and died and was raised for our sin.  It also then matters, because it provides a guide for our faith and conduct.  It results in the fourth question, which is “how should I live my life?” If the Bible is not God’s revelation, or a corrupted transmission of His revelation, then we are left to consider claims of truth from other religions or be left without any guide from above.  Resources on this topic include Inerrancy by Norman Geisler, The Cannon of Scripture by FF Bruce and The New Testament Documents by Bruce.

Following these three questions, you’ll want to have a clear picture of the person of Jesus. For this read, Jesus – Made in America or books by Ed Komoszewsi.