Topic: A Skeptic Goes To Bethlehem

Journalist and author Malcolm Muggeridge was doing a TV commentary at Bethlehem and he thought the crypt was tacky and inappropriate. He observed most people in the holy places of Bethlehem were just sightseers. However, each face was transfigured by the experience of being in what purported to be the place of Jesus' birth. Muggeridge, a skeptic, found the truth about how the story of Jesus must be found in the hearts of believers rather than in archaeological dust or anthropological bones.

Jesus has outshined Augustus. Christ's story has been retold more than any other; modern revisionists claim Christ's kingdom is of this world, man can live by bread alone, and man must lay up treasures on earth. Using this revisionist approach, the more we think we know Him the less we heed Him.

Jesus has inspired much of what is best in Western civilization. He had greater demands than any other teacher. However, He was not an idealist in our sense and did not believe the world could be made better on the world's terms. Christ's teaching leaves no middle ground. In Jesus alone does the belief persist that God came to earth in human form.

Muggeridge in his old age came to believe in the "fantasy" of the resurrection. Jesus' "wild claims" became more captivating.

Webmaster's comment: Those who refuse to believe have a problem with those who do believe. Those who refuse to believe are so threatened by those who believe the unbelievers resort to saying we believe in "fantasy." The problem for non-believers is they do not believe in anything except not believing.

Article Reference:
Title: A Skeptic Goes To Bethlehem
Adapted from data source: Reader's Digest
Original article author: Malcolm Muggeridge

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