Two Skeptics
Illustration★★★★One of the most fascinating incidents coming from the annals of a past generation tells of the remarkable conversion of two prominent men who were avowed skeptics. One was the eminent Gilbert West, the other Lord Lyttelton, the famous English statesman.
These two men agreed that Christianity should be destroyed. But they also agreed that in order to destroy it, two things were necessary. They must disprove the resurrection of Christ, and they must dispose of the conversion of the Apostle Paul.
They divided the task between them, West assuming responsibility for disproving the resurrection, and Lyttelton giving his attention to the experience on the Damascus road. They were to give themselves plenty of time—a year or more if necessary.
But what happened? When they met again to compare notes, they had both become strong and devoted Christians. Each had been confronted with the indisputable fact of the resurrection. Each confessed that the remarkable change in his life had come about as the result of contact with a risen Christ.
–Planet in Rebellion, George Vandeman, (Southern Publishing Association, Nashville, 1960), 316
George Vandeman, Planet in Rebellion, 316.
The point
Two skeptics set out to disprove Christianity by refuting the resurrection and Paul's conversion, but their investigation of the evidence converts them both to strong faith.