Anthony Maqbool
My name is Anthony Maqbool. I come from a Christian family. Because of this, reading the Bible, praying three times a day, and discussing doctrinal topics were normal parts of my life.
I strongly believed in the idea of Friedrich Nietzsche: “What does not kill me makes me stronger.” Because of this, I started studying different worldviews such as atheism, agnosticism, and deism, as well as criticisms of Christianity. While studying these ideas, their arguments began to trouble me deeply.
This was a time in my life when I was searching for logical reasons to follow the religion of my forefathers.
At that time, I felt like the paralytic in the Gospel of Mark (Mark 2:1–12). Just as the paralytic of Capernaum needed the help of four friends to bring him to Jesus, I also needed the right people to guide me back to the truth.
When a person sincerely seeks truth, like Paul the Apostle, the Lord provides the right people to help him. God did the same for me by bringing me to the Christian Research Center.
I have been part of the Christian Research Center since February 6, 2021. Today, I consider myself very fortunate to be part of this institution. Through this center, I learned that faith in Christianity is not based only on emotions or blind tradition. It is also rational and reasonable. This gave me the confidence to say, “Yes, I am a Christian.”
In this journey, our teacher Dr. Thomas Saeed played a very important role. Because of his strong knowledge of exegesis, theology, philosophy, and apologetics, he answered many difficult questions very clearly. Listening to his teachings on the Trinity and Christology was truly a blessing for me.
If you or any of your friends are going through similar questions, I invite you to join our new batch this year so that you too can proudly say:
“Yes, I am a Christian.”
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Hello, I'm Ezekiel. I'm glad to share my experience related to my Biblical intellectual journey, which is extremely supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. I remembered that while I was an atheist who didn't believe in God or supernaturalism, I was just a cultural omnivore or festive eclectic due to family or forefathers' reasons. I was growing under the ideology of secular celebratism. On June 9, 2017, I was baptized in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. My journey started a new chapter when I moved to God and believed in Jesus Christ, Trinity, and Biblical theology. I appreciate Dr. Thomas Saeed, a great mentor who led me like a younger brother, teaching me proper and systemic theology, insisting I learn and grow in knowing God Biblically and secularly. I'm now part of the Christian Research Center. I recommend you come to know Christ, the cornerstone of our lives. If I could be changed and transformed from an atheist with incomprehensibilities, God can give you a pathway to know him. I believe my testimony boosts your passion and encourages you to know Christ, our Lord and God. (2 Timothy 2:2)
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Hey, I'm Timotheus Sarfaraz. I remember when I was a kid, my father, Pastor Sarfaraz Rocky, taught me about Christianity, what we believe, and especially who Jesus is. I regularly went to church, praying and reading Scripture, but sometimes many verses perplexed me while reading Scripture, and I tried to find answers to my questions. So Lord, grace upon me.
One day, I met Dr. Thomas while we were discussing multiple topics. I observed that the Lord had blessed this man to understand His words deeply. So I joined the Christian Research Center in 2018, which Dr. Thomas had founded. And indeed, by joining this center, I learned most of the answers to my questions, which Dr. Thomas explained very well. And I felt myself getting stronger in my Christian faith, and now I had a reason to answer according to 1 Peter 3:15, "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect."
A great Christian philosopher, Alvin Plantinga, said, "To be Christian is not irrational." Now I understood the meaning of this by knowing Scripture deeply; indeed, Christianity is not irrational.
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