At the University of Chicago Divinity School, each year they would invite one of the greatest minds to lecture in the theological education center. One year they invited Dr. Paul Tillich. Dr. Tillich spoke for two-and-a-half hours trying to prove that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was false. He quoted scholar after scholar and book after book. He concluded that since there was no such thing as the historical resurrection, the religious tradition of the Church was groundless, because it was based on a relationship with a risen Jesus, who, in fact, never rose from the dead in any literal sense. He then asked if there were any questions. After about 30 seconds, an elderly Christian stood up in the back of the auditorium. “Dr. Tillich, I got one question,” he said as all eyes turned toward him. He reached into his lunch sack and pulled out an apple and began eating it. “Dr. Tillich, my question is a simple one. Now, I ain’t never read those books you read, and I can’t recite the Scriptures in the original Greek." After he finished the apple he asked, “all I wanna know is: that apple I just ate, was it bitter or sweet?” Dr. Tillich paused for a moment and answered in scholarly fashion: “I cannot possibly answer that question, for I haven’t tasted your apple.” The old man looked up at Dr. Tillich and said calmly, "thats right, neither have you tasted my Jesus!” The 1,000-plus in attendance could not contain themselves. The auditorium erupted with applause and cheers. Dr. Tillich thanked his audience and promptly left the platform. “Taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusts in him” (Psalm 34:8). It has been well said, “The man with an experience is not at the mercy of a man with an argument.”
Posted on: Tue, 08 Oct 2013 10:20:29 +0000