Dr. Reeds Testimony

Bob Reed
Associate Professor
Economics

Why is it that some people desperately need to know whether God exists, while others could care less? For me, it was an intensely personal thing. I was an emotional wreck. For as long as I could remember, my life was characterized by tremendous anxiety and fear. Why was I so anxious and fearful? Who knows. I guess some people are just born that way. Anyway, ever since I could remember, that's just how things had always been for me.

During my junior year in college, my personal struggles came to a head. I knew that I could not go on living as I had. And yet, I also couldn't see any way out of my problems. Because my problem was me! The only solution seemed to lie in being changed--yet I was incapable of changing who I was. I concluded that if there was any solution for my problem, it would have to come from outside of myself.

And so I began my spiritual journey. I took up Transcendental Meditation. I read books on other religions. I wasn't particularly disposed towards Christianity, even though that was my family's religious tradition. After all, if there was a God, He (or She, or It, or Them) would be the God of all nations and peoples. The "accident" of my own birth circumstances shouldn't influence my search for the existence and true identity of God. I had met enough hypocrites who called themselves Christians that--if anything--Christianity was relatively discredited in my eyes.

It didn't take long, however, for me to conclude that IF there was a God out there, it had to be the Christian God. In terms of historical evidences, consistency and reliability of the religion's sacred writings, Christianity was head and shoulders above all other religions. Nevertheless, there was still a pretty big IF preceding that conclusion.

To make a long story short, after a period of searching that lasted approximately two years, I came to the conclusion that God existed and that He was the Christian God testified to by the Bible--the Three- In-One-God of God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. I accepted the Bible's teaching that I was a sinner in need of a savior. So I bent my knee and prayed to God. In that prayer I acknowledged my need and thanked Him for His solution for my problem: forgiveness for my sins and a new nature through Jesus Christ. And that is how I became a Christian. Did becoming a Christian solve my problems? Yes it did. Not overnight. But God completely transformed my life, as He promised in the Bible.

I want to address one last point. Maybe you're thinking that here's another story of some loser who needed a crutch to get him through life. Well, you're right. I was a needy guy who needed a crutch. And maybe that made me more desperate to imagine a God who really wasn't there. I can certainly understand the skepticism of one who would think that. On the other hand, I ask you to consider this: it is the sick and the afflicted who are often in the best position to testify of the skill of the physician. I've identified two books below that I think do well in answering the questions of the skeptic. I encourage you to check them out. The questions of whether God exists, what He is like, and what He wants from us, are questions of truth. In Chapter 8, Verses 31 and 32 of the Book of John (in the Bible), it says, "To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, 'If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'" I have found these words to be true.