These slides are designed around two resources. Video Lectures: The Case for the Resurrection, by Dr. Michael Licona & Michael Patton (available from Credo House) and Book: The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus by Gary R. Habermas and Michael R. Licona. The slides were designed to be used with the book and using the lecture videos as supplements.
What kind of evidence does Christianity have?
“In our opinion, the quality and quantity of evidence that Christianity is true far surpasses the evidence in favor of any other religion or worldview.” (Kindle location 60)
“The evidence suggests that God exists and has actually revealed himself to us in Jesus Christ. The evidence attests that Christians have the most accurate view of reality.” (Kindle location 61)
Most genuine scholars reject their methods or conclusions
Luke Timothy Johnson says the group is self-selected based on prior commitment to radical liberal views. (Kindle location 106 [see endnote 2])
Craig Blomberg says their methodology is seriously flawed and their conclusions are unnecessarily skeptical. (Kindle location 107 [see endnote 3])
Crossan admits his views are not representative of most scholar’s (Kindle location 109 [see endnote5])
What can make proclaiming the gospel difficult?
Culture is constantly bombarded with different worldviews (Kindle location 133)
Christianity therefore is falsifiable.
Meaning, in theory, it can be proven to be false.
If Jesus did not rise form the dead we can’t take His claims seriously.
However, if He did, we can be confident that His statements are true.
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” - C. S. Lewis
Proof does not aim at “absolute historical certainty” (Kindle location 193)
It is impossible to have absolute certainty about anything.
Degrees of certitude
Jesus disciples believed that he rose and appeared to them
First they claimed to have see, talked with, walked with, ate with and touched the risen Jesus
Second their lives were dramatically transformed
They did not change that belief in the face of imprisonment, torture or martyrdom
Paul
Paul’s Letters and Acts
Oral Tradition
Creeds (1 Cor 15:3-8)
Sermon Summaries (Acts 2)
Written Tradition
Gospel Accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke/Acts, John)
Apostolic Fathers (Clement and Polycarp)
The woman are listed as primary witnesses
Generally a woman’s testimony was held in low esteem in Jewish and Roman cultures of the day
The woman’s testimony would be seen as questionable and certainly not as good as a man’s testimony
Why included it, if it wasn’t true?
Jesus died by crucifixion
Jesus disciples believed that he rose and appeared to them
The church persecutor Paul was suddenly changed
The skeptic James, brother of Jesus, was suddenly changed
The tomb was empty (+1)
Is it fair to seek naturalistic explanations over supernatural explanations?
If there is a God there is no reason to exclude supernatural explanations
Is Christianity exempt from examining claims of miracles?
We examine reports from other religions and should welcome investigation.
The resurrection passes the first three and is plausible for the fourth
It does not fail the fourth – many will claimed it is not a naturalistic explanation and thus fails the fourth
However, there is no definitive proof of naturalism over supernaturalism
It is an a priori rejection of supernaturalism
Embellishments
It is a non-historical literary style
Myths from other religions
Generally legend takes time to grow
Difficult but not impossible to happen quickly
People were still alive when the tradition started – could have refuted the legend
Even liberal scholar Bart Erhman agreed 1 Cor 15 verbal creed was popular within 2 years
New Testament completed within 60 years
Claim Christians took from previous mystery cults
The question is who copied who?
Most are vague and not actual parallel
Many are written after the New Testament is complete
Many are associated with agriculture or seasons
Some like Marduk are not clearly dead
Osiris did not bodily rise (plus conflicting stories)
The story of Jesus resurrection was made up
Motive
Save face, gain, promote their views
Matthew’s gospel records Jews claimed fraud
People die for causes they think are true
People don’t die for their lies
“Swoon Theory”
Jesus had not actually died
Accounts empty tomb
Accounts for bodily appearances
Attempts to account for death by crucifixion
Illusions, delusions and hallucinations
Illusion is a distorted perception of something
Delusion is a false belief
Hallucination is a false perception
Hallucination theory was popular over a hundred years ago
Hallucinations are private experiences
Hallucinations are not collective experiences
Group Hallucination
Groups of people have hallucinations at the same time don’t hallucinate the same things
Hallucinations don’t transform lives
No naturalistic explanations for collective hallucinations
http://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/crj_explainingaway/crj_explainingaway.htm#_edn14