 A number of years ago, I was able to get my hands on a missionary training manual. It was a guidebook for the training of people who were going out to convert people to Christianity. And when I read it, it sounded familiar. And the reason was because it sounded very, very much like a sales training manual that I had read years ago. And the truth is that much of the technique that's used by at least professional missionaries and even people who are not professional but people who are committed to convincing others and persuading others, whether they know it or not, they're employing techniques of influence that are used by professional salespeople. Now in sales and marketing, one of the most effective techniques is the one of testimonial. You'll often see products that are sold by people, their testimonies about how this product helped them, how it changed their life, how it worked so wonderfully. And the same kind of testimonials are used in many, many different kinds of sales promotions. One of the things that we will hear frequently from Christians that are seeking to influence others is the claim that their lives have been dramatically improved since they accepted Jesus. And that's when you're thinking about communicating with someone on the other end that can be very powerful because when you think about it, one of the go-to approaches of Christian missionaries is to appeal to the Bible, to take out their Bible and to show all these verses. But the reality is many people in the world don't know about the Bible, don't care about the Bible, and as soon as someone starts talking Bible to them, their eyes glass over because it's not that necessarily compelling to many people, but to hear a personal story about how someone's life was changed in a very positive way, people don't have a resistance to that, and it's a kind of story that we are very much drawn into. And if it's a positive story, it can be persuasive and compelling. So what we'll hear from many Christians is that since they became a Christian, they'll say they became happier, that they have better relationships with people, they might speak about the fact that for years they never got along with their family, and now they have an incredibly closer relationship with their family. They might speak about the fact that now that they've been saved, they've become more ethical and more moral people, they're living on a higher level, they might speak about the fact that they gave up drugs, that they were living a life that was really not a healthy life, and now they've cleaned themselves up and they've given up drugs, and they might speak about the fact that they feel very close to God now. These are all the kinds of things that we will hear. And in most cases, these reports are probably true. The question is, does it prove the truth claims of Christianity? The fact that someone is happier, or the fact that someone was able to give up drugs, or the fact that someone is now a more ethical person, does that prove that the religious system that they are now adhering to, does that prove that that religion is true, and that all of the beliefs of that religion are true? So that's what I want to think about with you tonight. The truth is that there are many people who are living lives that are out of control. We live in a world where people don't have any center to their lives, and if they embrace any kind of meaningful program of self-development or self-improvement, any kind, they will see dramatic improvements in their life. If previously there was no focus to their life, and their life was spinning out of control, anything they do, any step they take to make an improvement in their life, they will see improvement, believe it or not. If they join a gym and start exercising, they will tell you the same incredible things. I feel better now, I feel happier now, I feel healthier now, and because I have discipline in my life and because I have a goal and a focus and a purpose, they'll speak about the fact that their life is improving in many different ways. People who begin meditating, people who begin volunteering, imagine someone goes through their life and it's all about me and it's all about being self-centered, and they decide, you know what, I have to change and maybe I'm going to spend a lot of my time now and energy volunteering and helping other people. Even if they don't commit themselves to a religious path, they will feel much better about themselves, and they will report that they have incredible improvements in their life. So one thing we should realize is that the idea that people can report positive changes in their life is not something that is exclusive to Christianity or any religion. And the truth is that people will report very similar positive changes in their life who accept any religious system in the world today. So if you listen to the testimony of people that have embraced Buddhism or that have become Baha'i or people that, as Jews, never grew up with any kind of spiritual path and later in life they embraced Judaism as their spiritual path, they will report the same kinds of positive improvements in their lives. They feel happier, they feel that their life has purpose and direction and meaning, they'll feel they have a relationship with God, they will speak about the fact that the way they're living is more noble and more ethical and more moral, and they'll speak about the fact that their relationships have improved. So the idea that Christianity can improve your life proves the truth of Christianity just doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Now what about the claims that many Christians make to have experienced supernatural events in their lives? The claim that many Christians make that in their lives they've witnessed incredible supernatural miracles. Now that's a little bit more dramatic than saying I was able to stop smoking or I was able to get along better with my brother and sister. Does that prove the truth of Christianity, the appeal to miracles? So one thing is obvious that it's easy for people in many cases to claim to have had these experiences, but I think that it's legitimate for anyone on the receiving end of that report to expect some kind of verification because not every claim that people make is necessarily true. Why do I say this? Not because I'm some cynical skeptical Jew, but the reality is that within the world of Christianity, and not just Christians in general, within the world of evangelical Christians who specifically are the ones that are seeking to influence others, they themselves have studied and have researched the claims of people to have experienced supernatural healings and supernatural miracles. They're the ones that have investigated these claims, and they are the ones that report that in many, many cases these claims are either fabricated or greatly exaggerated. So since you find that among Christians themselves there is great reason to be a little bit suspicious about such claims, we shouldn't necessarily jump to the conclusion and assume that any time someone reports to have received some kind of a supernatural experience or miracle that it is definitely true, we should basically put on the brakes. But let's assume that people have had miraculous things happen. So one thing that is important to clarify is, could there be another explanation for what happened to them other than miraculous? For example, you'll find that many Christians will claim that they were healed of a particular medical issue, and that they suffered from some kind of a disease or an infirmity for months or for years, and people prayed to Jesus for their healing, and they got better. Now was this a situation where the person had not been seeking normative medical care, meaning imagine someone was suffering from pneumonia, and they were being treated for it in the same way anyone would be treated for a disease. In addition to that medical treatment, people were praying for them. Now they assume that the only explanation for their healing and for their improvement was the prayers to Jesus. But it's quite possible that even if no one had prayed about this person to Jesus, they would have been healed or cured because they were being treated by doctors. So again, when we hear reports of miraculous healings, we have to again try to ascertain well, do we know for sure that the only reason that the person was helped was because of the prayer or were there other more down-to-earth reasons for their improvement? Third point, even if a person had a true miracle happen, let's say for example, there was no prayer, there was no treatment, no medical treatment. The person simply had prayer said for them and they were healed. So would that prove that Christianity is true? So the truth is that every religion in the world today, if you begin to investigate world religions, every religion in the world makes claims of miraculous healings. If you go to Islamic groups or Jewish groups or Hindu groups or Buddhist groups, Christian groups, Mormon groups, wherever you go, people will claim that they had incredible miracles happen that they were cured of some disease or infirmity. Well does that prove that Christianity is true? Because they had a miracle happen when the same exact miracles happen in all groups. And one could say possibly that what would this prove? What do these miracles prove? You could say that what it proves is that there's a God in the world. That God answers prayer and maybe God answers any prayer that's sincere even if maybe it's not going to the right P.O. box. Meaning that if we see people from every religion in the world and even people that don't have a religious path, but sometimes in a desperation, they call out to God. We say no atheist in a foxhole. So if people pray to God, God has the ability obviously to heal, to bring relief, to cure people regardless of their religion. And so what miracles might prove is that there's a God in the world. But what they will not prove is which religion is true. That's something that a miracle cannot do. If every religion experiences miracles, miracles cannot prove that a particular religion is true. We see in the Bible, in Artura, that in terms of religious claims, miracles really don't prove anything. And the source for this is the book of Deuteronomy, Devarim chapter 13 where the Torah says that there are going to be people who will be false prophets. We're told in advance there are going to be false prophets. And the Torah tells us that these false prophets will be able to perform incredible supernatural miracles. So we see in the Torah itself that even someone who is teaching us something that's not true and not right, they are able to effect incredible supernatural miracles. Now the obvious question is, if they're a false prophet, why would God allow them the ability to do incredible miracles? It's an obvious question. And the Torah there in the 13th chapter of Deuteronomy gives you the answer because God might be testing us to see if we're going to follow the truth which we've had established in the Torah or will we be swayed by the magic tricks and the miracles of some false prophet. And so we see basically that any claim that Christians make that they had an improved life or they had miracles happen, we have to be careful to really think about the claim, analyze the claim, and then come to realize at the end of the day, even if all of the stories happened as reported, they don't prove anything. They don't have the ability to prove anything. Any religious claim from a Jewish perspective has to be evaluated according to the Torah. If the belief system violates and contradicts the Torah, even if they have hundreds or thousands of miracles, you disregard the miracles because what we accept as true is what was revealed to us clearly in the Torah. Once that was revealed clearly in the Torah, we are not to be misled by the miraculous, even if they truly are miraculous instances.