Dan McClellan is a Biblical scholar who has taken to creating YouTube content. He has a popular channel, with 127,000 subscribers at the time of this writing. He often produces short videos responding to conservative scholars and apologists. Unfortunately, McClellan often comes across as incredibly condescending towards conservative scholars, with a rhetorical tone that is, in my view, unbecoming of scholarly discourse. I know that other conservative scholars feel the same way. McClellan recently published a 17-minute video responding to a TikTok video by my colleague, Dr. Sean McDowell, on discrepancies in the resurrection narratives. In this article, I will address points raised in this video.
McDowell begins by observing, correctly, that “even if there were contradictions in the Bible, this wouldn’t prove that Christianity is false.” I agree with McDowell. I do not believe that the truth of Christianity hangs on inerrancy (see my essay on this subject here) and I am persuaded of the existence of a small number of minor good-faith mistakes in the gospels, none of which substantially undermine their overall trustworthiness.[1] More evidentially significant in undermining the reliability of the sources would be examples of the evangelists making assertions that are contrary to what they knew to be true (I do not believe the evangelists ever intentionally altered the facts).
McClellan responds to McDowell,
“[W]hile I’m sure that is the rhetorical goal of many challenges to the dogma of univocality, that’s certainly not the reason that I am challenging that dogma. But I will point out that, if you imagine that every challenge to the dogma of univocality is an attempt to disprove Christianity and you are an apologist for Christianity, that obviously means you’re going to be beginning from a position of dogma and you’re going to have a much harder time actually thinking critically about the data you’re engaging. And I think your use of the subjunctive mood in ‘if there were actually contradictions in the Bible’ is indicative of that dogmatic stance from which you’re engaging the question.”
McClellan appears to misunderstand the nature of our approach. The high reliability of the gospels and Acts is the conclusion of our argument, not the premise. We do not decide ahead of time that the evangelists did not make things up or intentionally alter the facts. Rather, this is the verdict we have arrived at after careful and extensive study of the data.
McDowell asserts that “If you want to prove Christianity is false, you’ve got to reproduce the body of Jesus.” I would not agree that this is the only way by which Christianity could be “proven false” (which I’m taking to mean “rendered improbable”). Generally, a complex proposition is not “disproven” by a single piece of data, but rather by an accumulation of evidences, each of which cuts against its plausibility. My verdict is that the preponderance of evidence very heavily confirms the truth of Christianity, though I can envision various scenarios where it could have been the other way (and, in fact, there are lines of evidence I could list which would sit on the negative side of the balance). In any case, it would be next to impossible to demonstrate that a body was, in fact, that of Jesus of Nazareth (a point McClellan himself makes), so this would not by any means be the cleanest way to refute Christianity.
Resurrecting Hume
McDowell asserts that “we can show Jesus rose from the grave, even if there were contradictions in the Bible.” I agree. McClellan, however, responds,
“No you can’t. That’s a dogma. That is not something that is supported by any data. That is a claim that directly contravenes everything we’ve ever been able to observe about the nature of life in the Universe. So that’s not saying I begin from the position that it’s impossible. It’s saying I begin from the position that that is an extraordinary claim that requires extraordinary evidence and you have absolutely nothing even remotely approximating extraordinary evidence for this event that would overturn everything that we have consistently observe about the nature of life in the Universe.”
This essentially revives David Hume’s objection to justified belief in miracles. Hume argued that one could never be justified in inferring that a miracle had taken place (even if it did) because a miracle is, by its very nature, the least probable explanation (since it contradicts uniform human testimony) — thus, any naturalistic contender (no matter how intrinsically improbable) is going to be more plausible than the hypothesis that the routine course of nature has been interrupted. However, Hume was adequately addressed by his own contemporaries (e.g. William Paley, George Campbell, and John Douglas) as well as by modern philosophers (e.g. John Earman, himself an agnostic). William Paley, for example, noted,
Now the improbability which arises from the want (for this properly is a want, not a contradiction) of experience, is only equal to the probability there is, that, if the thing were true, we should experience things similar to it, or that such things would be generally experienced. Suppose it then to be true that miracles were wrought on the first promulgation of Christianity, when nothing but miracles could decide its authority, is it certain that such miracles would be repeated so often, and in so many places, as to become objects of general experience? Is it a probability approaching to certainty? Is it a probability of any great strength or force? Is it such as no evidence can encounter? And yet this probability is the exact converse, and therefore the exact measure, of the improbability which arises from the want of experience, and which Mr. Hume represents as invincible by human testimony. It is not like alleging a new law of nature, or a new experiment in natural philosophy; because, when these are related, it is expected that, under the same circumstances, the same effect will follow universally; and in proportion as this expectation is justly entertained, the want of a corresponding experience negatives [sic] the history. But to expect concerning a miracle, that it should succeed upon a repetition, is to expect that which would make it cease to be a miracle, which is contrary to its nature as such, and would totally destroy the use and purpose for which it was wrought. [2]
In other words, the purpose for which miracles are wrought (according to both the Old and New Testament) is to vindicate divine messengers. For them to function in this capacity, and grab our attention, they need to recognizably deviate from the way nature normally behaves when left to itself — otherwise, they would be robbed of their evidential value. Therefore, that miracles do, in fact, deviate from the routine course of nature cannot be taken as a serious rejoinder to the hypothesis under review. We need to look to other considerations to get a handle on the prior probability of God performing a miracle in Jesus’ case in particular (i.e., raising him from the dead).
If Jesus really is the Hebrew Messiah, then we would expect the God of Israel to raise him from the dead (cf. Isa 53:10). Jesus also indicated, on multiple occasions, that his Messianic self-claims would be vindicated by his resurrection from the dead. Therefore, arguments that (independently of the resurrection) bear on Jesus’ Messianic identity are relevant to the prior probability of God raising Jesus in particular from the dead — since they suggest that God plausibly has motivation for doing so. It is not my purpose here to provide a detailed elaboration of these independent arguments, but rather to articulate how this case can be developed.
The Case for Harmonization
Before delving into specific instances of discrepancy that McClellan alleges, it is worthwhile to briefly explain why I firmly believe that harmonization represents good historical methodology, quite aside from any concerns about inspiration or inerrancy. Although I am not myself committed to inerrancy as a matter of principle, I am an avid advocate of the practice of harmonization [see endnote 1]. Sources that have been demonstrated to be substantially reliable constitute evidence for their propositional claims. This is true whether dealing with a religiously significant text or otherwise. Therefore, if one identifies an apparent discrepancy between reliable sources (such as the gospels), the rational course of action is to search for a plausible way in which those texts may be harmonized. Though this practice is typically disavowed in Biblical scholarship, I think the scholarly bias against harmonization is quite unreasonable. I view harmonization as good, responsible scholarly practice, whether one is dealing with religiously significant sources or secular ones. Different sources that intersect in their reportage of a particular event should be allowed to illuminate and clarify one another. I also think that sources that have been otherwise demonstrated to be highly reliable should be given the benefit of the doubt when there is an apparent discrepancy. In my view, in such cases, reasonable harmonizations should be sought for as a first port of call and the author being in error should be concluded only if possible harmonizations are implausible. Lydia McGrew puts this point well:
”Harmonization is not an esoteric or religious exercise. Christians studying the Bible should not allow themselves to be bullied by the implication that they are engaging in harmonization only because of their theological commitments and hence are fudging the data for non-scholarly reasons. To the contrary, reliable historical sources can be expected to be harmonizable, and they normally are harmonizable when all the facts are known. Attempting to see how they fit together is an extremely fruitful method to pursue, sometimes even giving rise to connections such as the undesigned coincidences discussed in Hidden in Plain View [a book authored Lydia McGrew]. This is why I pursue ordinary harmonization between historical sources and why I often conclude that a harmonization is correct.”[3]
An important consideration in regards to the assessment of harmonizations, often overlooked, is that the evidential weight of a proposed error or contradiction in Scripture relates not so much to the probability of any one proposed harmonization but rather to the disjunction of the probabilities associated with each individual candidate harmonization. To take a simplistic example, if one has four harmonizations that each have a 10% probability of being correct, then the evidential weight of the problem is significantly less than if you only had one of those, since the disjunction of the relevant probabilities would be 40%. Thus, the text would be only slightly more likely erroneous than not (and inductive arguments for substantial trustworthiness may tip the scales in favor of giving the author the benefit of the doubt). In reality, of course, the math is rather more complicated than this, since one has to consider whether any of the harmonizations are overlapping or would imply one another in such a way that the probabilities cannot be added to each other. Of course, if some of the disjuncts have a very low probability of being correct, then they will not be of much help.
How Many Angels Were at the Tomb?
McDowell notes that there is a difference between a contradiction and a difference — for example, Matthew and Mark both speak of one angel at the tomb on easter morning, whereas Luke and John mention two. McDowell observes that this is not a contradiction since, if there are two, it is also true to say there was one (no text indicates there was only one). I agree with McDowell. Matthew and Mark simply spotlight the angel who spoke and omit mention of the other, who presumably did not speak. Omission is not the same as denial. Moreover, the scene with Mary Magdalene in John 20 is a separate episode, which occurs later, after Peter and John have already inspected the tomb and left. Though Mark and Luke speak of the angels as “a young man” and “two men” respectively, this is not an unusual way to describe angels in Scripture, since angels often appear as humans (cf. Gen 18:1-2; Heb 13:2). Incidentally, Bart Ehrman errs, in his book Jesus, Interrupted, when he remarks that “none of the three accounts states that the women saw ‘two angels.’”[4] [3] Luke 24:23 does, in fact, identify the “two men” as “angels.” McClellan emphasizes that, in Mark, the angel is said to be “sitting” (Mk 16:5), whereas in Luke the two angels are said to be standing (Lk 24:4). But there is nothing implausible about one or both angels changing their position in the course of the events.
McClellan responds,
“The idea that, if there were two there was one argument adequately resolve the ostensible contradiction in the gospels’ accounts of the resurrection, I think, is symptomatic of one of the critical methodological flaws of apologetics because the main rhetorical goal of apologetics is not to convince people who don’t already agree — it’s not to convince me; it’s not to generate an argument that is valid for critical scholars. The main purpose of apologetics is to perform confidence and competence so that the people who already agree can be made to feel validated in that agreement. And because their worldviews and their self-identities are so entangled with the dogmas they want to be convinced are true, the evidentiary bar is lying on the ground and so they do not require remarkably robust or sophisticated or methodologically valid arguments. They just need to be made to feel that the arguments are valid. And because they generally are not incredibly well informed about critical scholarship you just have to simulate a valid argument; you don’t actually have to produce one. So apologetics is primarily aimed at performing an argument that’s good enough to convince non-specialists who really really want to be convinced that the dogma is justified. That’s the main purpose of apologetics.”
McClellan does not really appear to understand what apologetics is. Apologetics, done properly, is what one engages in after the results of a fair and balanced open-ended inquiry are in and the time has come to articulate your conclusions, and the justification of those conclusions, to the scholarly community and wider public. Every academic paper or book is an exercise in apologetics for one conclusion or another. Good apologists set a high bar for what arguments they are going to use because they do not want to mislead or misinform people by appealing to faulty arguments or incorrect information. There are many arguments for Christianity, or for theism more broadly, which I find to be unconvincing and therefore I do not use. Moreover, when I talk to people about the evidences of Christianity (sometimes Christians with doubts; other times former Christians or non-Christian seekers), I am careful to show my primary sources so that people know where my information comes from (I think anyone who has participated in a meeting with me via TalkAboutDoubts will attest to this). So, to paint all apologists with a broad brush as being either incompetent or dishonest, or both, is, in my opinion, quite disingenuous on McClellan’s part. See my essay here on how apologists can (and should) exemplify a “scout mindset” in their scholarship.
Did the Women Observe the Rolling Back of the Stone?
McClellan claims that the resurrection narratives conflict not just on the number of angels at the tomb, but on “most of the narrative details.” For example, in Mark 16:3-4, the stone is said to have already been rolled back by the time the women arrived at the tomb, whereas in Matthew, we read, “Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it,” (Mt 28:1-2). Curiously, McClellan insists on rendering καὶ ἰδοὺ (kai Idou, see Matt 28:2) as “And suddenly.” But this is an interpretive translation, not the literal meaning. The phrase καὶ ἰδοὺ is a very common New Testament expression, and means “And behold.” Contrary to McClellan, It does not necessarily imply that the women witnessed the earthquake or descent of the angel. A better way of conveying the meaning of “and suddenly” would be the phrase καὶ ἐξαίφνης (kai exaifnēs).
Indeed, the entire passage regarding the angel (verses 2-4) is introduced by the particle γάρ (“For…”). Its purpose is to explain the earthquake and state of affairs as found by the women upon their arrival at the tomb. In describing the descent of the angel, Matthew employs an aorist participle (καταβὰς). which can be rendered “…for an angel of the Lord had descended…” There is no reason, then, to infer from Matthew that the women witnessed the descent of the angel.
Multiple Stations of Angels?
According to McClellan, “in order to reconcile Matthew and Mark, we have to imagine that these women are encountering multiple stations of angels who are going to scare them and tell them not to be scared, first on the outside and then on the inside.” McClellan emphasizes that, in Mark, the angel is explicitly said to be sitting inside the tomb — “And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side…” (Mk 16:5). McClellan believes that Matthew indicates that the women encountered the angel on the outside of the tomb, before entering. But the text of Matthew does not say this — it merely indicates that “the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.’” There is no indication of where the angel was when the women encountered him or when this was said.
Preparing the Spices
McClellan observes that, in Luke, we read, “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they [the women] went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared,” (Lk 24:1). McClellan understands Luke to indicates that these spices were prepared before the Sabbath (Lk 23:56). But according to Mark 16:1, the women bought the spices after the Sabbath had passed. How might these texts be harmonized? Luke does not, in fact, say explicitly that the spices were prepared before the Sabbath. Verse 56a merely indicates that the women purchased spices following Jesus’ burial (without specifying whether this took place before or after the Sabbath). Verse 56b clarifies that the women rested on the Sabbath day, in accordance with Jewish law. Plausibly, Luke does not know exactly when the spices were purchased (whether before or after Sabbath) and leaves it ambiguous.
Even if one takes Luke 23:56 to indicate that the spices were prepared before the Sabbath, the texts do not seem particularly difficult to harmonize. One could envision, for example, that Joanna, being better off than the other women, already had spices at her house, which she had time to prepare at home. Perhaps Joanna and one or more other women spent the Sabbath at Joanna’s house and had time to prepare the spices before the Sabbath began, while the two Marys and Salome had to purchase them after the Sabbath at first dawn. Luke 24:10 lists two Marys, Joanna, and an unspecified number of “other women,” who went to the tomb — so we do not know how many women came to the tomb on easter morning. Joanna may have been a primary source behind Luke’s account of the women at the tomb (Luke is the only evangelist who mentions Joanna at all, including the fact that she was the wife of Chuza in Luke 8:1). If this is the case, it is consistent with the conjecture that she was the one who already had spices at home that she could prepare.
Had the Sun Risen, or Was it Still Dark?
McClellan points out that Mary came to the tomb, according to John 20:1, “while it was still dark,” whereas Luke 24:1 indicates that the sun had risen. The expression used by Luke is ὄρθρου βαθέως (opthrou batheōs), literally meaning “deep dawn.” It refers to the very early hours of the morning. This is rendered “early dawn” by the ESV. It is not at all implausible to think that at early dawn it would still be somewhat dark. This is arguably the weakest of McClellan’s examples.
A Different Sequence of Events in John?
McClellan observes that, in John’s account, Mary Magdalene reports to Peter and John that the tomb is empty and she does not know what has happened to Jesus. Peter and John then come and inspect the tomb but find it empty. They then leave Mary alone and she has an encounter with the risen Jesus (but angels never tell Mary anything). McClellan notes that this is an entirely different sequence of events from the synoptic gospels. The episode with Mary at the tomb in John, however, is clearly an episode distinct from the women’s encounter in the synoptic gospels. There is no contradiction here, since these are two separate and independent events. Moreover, I think plausibly Mary left the larger group of women prior to their encounter with the angel and with the risen Jesus. This is even lightly suggested by the words of Mary to Peter and John, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know (οὐκ οἴδαμεν; ouk oidamen) where they have laid him.” Note the use of the plural verb, οἴδαμεν — the use of the plural verb implies that she is speaking on behalf of other women, even though John spotlights Mary Magdalene in particular. This would explain why she did not know what had happened to Jesus even though, according to the synoptic gospels, the group of women encountered an angel and the risen Jesus at the tomb.
Conclusion
McClellan claims that he has never heard anyone attempt to harmonize the resurrection accounts. If this is so, then I would suggest that he needs to read more conservative literature — for example, John Wenham’s book, Easter Enigma, is focused on precisely this subject.[5]I do not believe that any of the harmonizations offered above are unreasonable, or a stretch. Given the very large body of evidence indicating that the authors of the gospels are individuals who are very well informed, close up to the facts, and in the habit of being scrupulous, I believe that we should approach these sources with charity, and allow them to clarify and illuminate one another. This is nothing short of good, responsible, practice when evaluating ancient sources.
References:
[1] [Editor’s Note: Jonathan McLatchie’s views on inerrancy and “biblical errors” do not necessarily represent the views of Crossexamined.]
[2] William Paley, A View of the Evidences of Christianity: Volume 1, Reissue Edition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009).
[3] Lydia McGrew, The Mirror or the Mask: Liberating the Gospels from Literary Devices (Tampa, FL: Deward Publishing Company, Ltd, 2019), 53-54.
[4] Bart D. Ehrman, Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don’t Know About Them).(New York: HarperCollins, 2009), p. 8.
[5] John Wenham, Easter Enigma: Are The Resurrection Accounts in Conflict? (Wipf and Stock; Reprint Edition, 2005).
Recommended Resources:
Why We Know the New Testament Writers Told the Truth by Frank Turek (mp4 Download)
The Top Ten Reasons We Know the NT Writers Told the Truth mp3 by Frank Turek
Counter Culture Christian: Is the Bible True? by Frank Turek (Mp3), (Mp4), and (DVD)
The New Testament: Too Embarrassing to Be False by Frank Turek (DVD, Mp3, and Mp4)
Dr. Jonathan McLatchie is a Christian writer, international speaker, and debater. He holds a Bachelor’s degree (with Honors) in forensic biology, a Masters’s (M.Res) degree in evolutionary biology, a second Master’s degree in medical and molecular bioscience, and a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology. Currently, he is an assistant professor of biology at Sattler College in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. McLatchie is a contributor to various apologetics websites and is the founder of the Apologetics Academy (Apologetics-Academy.org), a ministry that seeks to equip and train Christians to persuasively defend the faith through regular online webinars, as well as assist Christians who are wrestling with doubts. Dr. McLatchie has participated in more than thirty moderated debates around the world with representatives of atheism, Islam, and other alternative worldview perspectives. He has spoken internationally in Europe, North America, and South Africa promoting an intelligent, reflective, and evidence-based Christian faith.
Originally posted at: https://bit.ly/421kvCL
Cults and Worldviews: Why Do They Matter? with Dr. Brady Blevins
PodcastWhat is a worldview, and how does it shape everything you believe and do? This week, Dr. Brady Blevins, Senior Apologist at Watchman Fellowship, joins Frank to talk about his brand new course, ‘Conversations with the Faiths: Worldviews‘, which explores the four major groups of worldviews and equips Christians to evangelize those caught in false ideologies and protect Christian churches against modern heresy. In this episode, Frank and Brady will tackle questions like:
Frank and Brady also examine how some of today’s most popular teachings deviate from biblical Christianity and you’ll hear real-world examples of false teachers and movements that are shaping minds inside and outside the Church. If you want to be equipped to defend truth and help others find it, be sure to check out Brady’s new course: ‘Conversations with the Faiths: Worldviews‘!
If you enjoyed this podcast episode PLEASE HELP US SPREAD THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY BY SUPPORTING OUR MINISTRY HERE. 100% of your donation goes to ministry, 0% to buildings!
Resources mentioned during the episode:
Brady’s website: Watchman Fellowship
Brady’s course: Conversations with the Faiths: Worldviews
Brave Books: BraveBooks.us
33 Defenses for the Resurrection of Jesus: Part 2
3. Are Miracles Possible?[Editor’s Note: In part 1 of this series on the Resurrection, Brian Chilton laws out five lines of evidence for the resurrection in the Acronym: RISEN – Records of Jesus’s resurrection, Irritating details about the resurrection that show its truthfulness, Sightings of the risen Jesus, Early testimony about the risen Jesus, and the Newfound faith of the disciples. He then presents and explains how ancient records and irritating historical details point to the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Part 2 of this series, Chilton will explore how early testimony, resurrection sightings, and the newfound faith of key Christians point to that same resurrection event.]
Sightings of the Risen Jesus
The biblical texts reports many witnesses who saw Jesus alive. The resurrection appearances of Jesus were a very public affair. This makes it even more difficult to dismiss.
(15) 500 Eyewitnesses of the Risen Jesus
In the NT Creed of 1 Corinthians 15:3–9, 500 people were listed as eyewitnesses who saw the risen Jesus at the same time. Often, women were not included in public lists. If this continued with the early church, then only men were counted in this number. This would mean that possibly over 1,000 people saw the risen Jesus at the same moment in time.
(16) Women at the Tomb
As previously noted, the female disciples of Jesus were the first to see him alive after he had risen from the dead. They are universally listed as the first eyewitnesses of the risen Jesus in all the Gospel narratives.
(17) Twelve Disciples
After the betrayal of Judas and his suicide, the church replaced Judas with Matthias. Nonetheless, these disciples are either called the Twelve, or the Eleven in the resurrection reports due to their diminished number (Matt. 28:16; Lk. 24:9, 33). The grouping of the disciples into a singular number was done earlier in church history rather than later. Usages of “the Eleven” or “the Twelve” denote an earlier timeframe.
(18) Sighting Reported by James
James the brother of Jesus is listed in the report of eyewitnesses in 1 Corinthians 15. He was not a believer in Jesus prior to the resurrection. Yet he is later identified as a follower and the first pastor of the Church of Jerusalem.
(19) Family of Jesus
Mary and the family of Jesus are also listed among the list of those who witnessed the risen Jesus. The brothers and sisters of Jesus became believers after the resurrection, indicating that something big happened between the crucifixion and the advent of the church.
(20) Sighting Reported by Paul
Paul was an enemy of the church and even persecuted early church members. However, Paul became a believer and an early apostle of the church after seeing the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus.
Early Testimony
Skeptics often claim that the resurrection of Jesus was a later invention of the church. However, data strongly suggests that the message of the resurrection was proclaimed early in the life of the church. The report emerged at the creation of the church. The church flowed out from the belief that Jesus had literally risen from the dead.
(21) New Testament Creeds
NT creeds are early confessions, statements of belief, hymns, and other formulations that flowed out of the early church and were recorded throughout the NT epistles. NT creeds are found in 1 and 2 Corinthians, Romans, Colossians, Philippians, Ephesians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, and various other documents. Some are even found in the Gospels and the book of Revelation. Among these formulations, one of the most important and most agreed-upon creeds is found in 1 Corinthians 15:3–9. The 1 Corinthians 15 creed lays out the fundamentals of the resurrection while also speaking of those who had encountered the risen Jesus. The creeds are strewn about the NT and date to no more than 5 years after the resurrection, with the 1 Corinthians 15 creed dating to within months of the resurrection itself.
(22) Oral Traditions of the Gospels
The early church was founded in what was a largely oral culture. While I do believe that Jewish men had a higher literacy rate than the common Greco-Roman world at that time, the cost to publish materials was quite expensive. Dr. Craig Keener suggests that the publication of the Gospel of Mark or the book of Romans could have equaled around $2,000 to $3,000 in modern currency—twenty denarii in ancient currency. [1] A project like that would require group funding. Nonetheless, most material was passed along orally.
Now before you object, know that it has been shown that cultures can pass along volumes of information from one generation to another without changing any major detail. The Talmud is an example of that process. Even still, oral traditions, like the NT creeds, have certain traits that can be detected. Through my research, I discovered that the Gospel of Matthew contains many of these traits, especially with the teachings of Jesus. While I have not researched the resurrection traditions—but plan to do so—I did find that the statements referencing the resurrection itself found a strong root in early oral traditions. Thus, the statements referencing the resurrection arose prior to the writing of the book. The Matthean Great Commission statement offered by the risen Jesus holds all the traits of an NT creed, thus indicating its early nature.
(23) Sermon Summaries in Acts
Oral traditions are not only found within the Gospels, they are also found in the sermon summaries of Paul and Peter in the book of Acts. Among these summaries include Paul and Peter’s proclamation that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead. The early nature of some of these proclamations places them in the 30s and 40s.
(24) Use of the Title “Lord” with Jesus
NT scholar Richard Bauckham deduced that the “earliest Christology was the highest Christology.” By that, he meant that the early Christian movement held a high theological view of Jesus, equating him with the Father in some sense. This is evident with the thorough usage of the title “kurios,”—a Greek term meaning “Lord.” Gary Habermas has implied that this is one of the clearest examples that early Christians held Jesus to be in some part divine.
The title “Lord Jesus Christ” is often associated with the resurrection stories, including Thomas’s awe-struck response “My Lord and my God” when seeing the risen Jesus for himself. This title would not have been applied to one who was only crucified, seeing a person hung from a tree was believed to have been accursed. Something to the effect of a resurrection would have been necessary to show the divine nature of Jesus. In other words, a crucified man alone would never be elevated to the status of “Lord.”
(25) The Exclusive Use of “Son of Man” in the Gospels and Its Association with the Resurrection
Jesus almost exclusively uses the title “Son of man” about himself. The title is only used four times outside of the Gospels—once by Stephen the first martyr as he was being killed (Acts 7:56), a quotation of Ezekiel in Hebrews 2:6, and two references in the book of Revelation (Rev. 1:13; 14:14), both connecting Jesus to the Son of Man character in Daniel 7:13–14. In the Gospels, however, Jesus uses the title for himself 14 times in Mark, 10 times in Q, 7 times exclusively in Matthew, 7 times exclusively in Luke, and 13 times in John. Altogether, Jesus uses the title 51 times. [2]
Contrary to popular belief, the title does not refer to the humanity of Jesus. Rather, it speaks of a divine being who takes on a humanlike form as he approaches the Ancient of Days in Daniel 7:13–14. Furthermore, the title is connected to the idea that Jesus would rise from the dead (Lk. 11:30) and ascend to the right hand of his Father (Mk. 14:62). The title is so strongly connected with the teachings of Jesus that NT scholar Joachim Jeremias commented, “…the apocalyptic Son of Man sayings which we have recognized as the earliest stratum must in essentials go back to Jesus himself.”[3]
(26) Early Stratum in the Resurrection Record
While many aspects of the resurrection report in the four Gospels may seem a bit confusing, a good chronology of events can be placed together. Nonetheless, there is a common stratum within all reports of the resurrection events that glues them together. The similarities between the reports include the puzzling and mysterious nature of the events, the eyes of people are opened to the identity of Jesus, beams of heavenly light sometimes accompany the divine presence, along with the mysterious appearance and disappearance of Jesus at will. Jeremias calls this stratum a chiaroscuro—a contrast between light and dark.[4] Additionally, these reports include Aramaisms, such as Mary Magdalene calling Jesus “rabboni” (Jn. 20:16) and the potential inclusion of Jesus’s historical name (“Jesus of Nazareth”) (Mk. 16:6).
(27) Early Belief that the Tomb was Empty
In his magnum opus, Gary Habermas notes that around 75% of scholars maintain the historicity of the empty tomb, still clearly accepted by a vast majority of critical scholars. [5] Even still, a good deal of evidence suggests that the church proclaimed an empty tomb very early in its history. The empty tomb appears in three of the four Gospels. [6] Additionally, the acknowledgment of the empty tomb appears in one of the sermon summaries in Acts, which could quite well be an NT creed.
Paul states, “When they had carried out all that had been written about him, they took him down from the tree and put him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and he appeared for many days to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people” (Acts 13:29–30, CSB). The sermon summaries in Acts are extremely early. Even if the summaries date to the 40s, we have very early testimony of an empty tomb. NT scholar James D.G. Dunn attests, “The story of the empty tomb was probably being told in Jerusalem shortly after the event.” [7]
(28) Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Speaking of the empty tomb, this brings us to defense #28. Protestants often claim that the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem was the likely place of Jesus’s burial. But this simply cannot be true. The tomb is too old to have belonged to Joseph of Arimathea. Furthermore, it holds no historical grounding, contains no features of a first-century tomb, and was likely created in the 7th century BC. Remember that the tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea was newly cut (Lk. 23:53). Though the Garden Tomb does not match, the same cannot be said of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Due to repair work, the stone slab covering the tomb had to be removed temporarily. Underneath, researchers found remnants of an earlier tomb, labeled with a cross amid first-century limestone. The tomb was said to have been discovered by Helena, the mother of Constantine, once Christianity became a legal religion in Rome. Local Christians had been worshiping at the tomb for centuries as they acknowledged that the tomb belonged to Jesus. Earlier Roman authorities placed a statue of Venus to desecrate the site. However, this act did not deter the Christians from their worship activities. Later, the tomb was cut out and a cathedral was built around it. Archaeologist Ted Wright once said that he was 98% certain that the tomb was the authentic burial site of Jesus. [8]
Newfound Faith
The last letter of our acronym denotes the newfound faith of the early believers. Picture yourself as one of the early disciples. You invested yourself fully in the cause of Jesus. Despite your good intentions and wholehearted investment, your beloved leader dies on a Roman cross. Everything you worked for is now lost. Quite honestly, most of the disciples probably thought about going back to their chosen occupation before following Jesus. However, due to the resurrection, they embraced a newfound truth that they had not expected nor anticipated. Jesus defeated death and ushered in a new mode of existence. Light replaced dark, life overcame death, and the goodness of God triumphed over the powers of evil.
(29) The Transformation of Paul
The transformation of Paul was quite baffling. Paul had been a persecutor of the church. Yet after seeing the risen Jesus, he not only accepted the tenets of Christianity, but he was one of the hardest-working Christian evangelists of all time.
(30) The Transformation of James
None of the family members of Jesus, outside of Mary the mother of Jesus, believed him to be the Messiah prior to his resurrection (Jn. 7:5). However, oddly, Jesus’s siblings became believers after his resurrection. James became such a strong believer in Jesus that he became the first pastor of the Church of Jerusalem.
(31) The Willingness of the Disciples to Die for What They Knew to Be True
Even though some people will die for something they mistakenly believe to be true, no one will die for something they know to be a lie, especially if that condemnation includes an excruciating death. Yet the disciples of Jesus were willing to die for what they knew to be true. They never wavered, and they never changed their minds. They knew Jesus to be the risen Son of God.
(32) Change of the Day of Worship from Saturday to Sunday
Perhaps one of the most astounding defenses for the resurrection was the early disciples’ decision to change their day of worship from the Sabbath day (Friday evening—Saturday) to early Sunday morning. They called this day the “Lord’s Day” (Rev. 1:10). The change in worship times was done to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus. N. T. Wright maintains that 1 Corinthians 16:2 implies that the church began keeping Sunday as the Lord’s Day as early as the mid-50s if not earlier. [9] In the early church, leaders often waited until early Easter Sunday to baptize everyone who had come to faith the previous year. Easter Sunday became one of the most important days of the year for the early Christians because of the resurrection of Jesus.
(33) Jesus’s Fulfillment of Messianic Prophecies
Last, but certainly not least, the early Christians professed that Jesus had fulfilled numerous messianic prophecies predicted about the Messiah. And they were absolutely on point! Space does not permit us to elucidate every prophecy at this time. But it can be said that Jesus fulfilled so many prophecies about the Messiah through his life, death, and resurrection that it is mathematically impossible to leave to chance. It is assuredly impossible for anyone by mere human means to fulfill the prophecies written about the Messiah, particularly concerning his resurrection.
Admittedly, this article turned out much longer than I anticipated. And in full disclosure, I took a shotgun approach to the defenses for the resurrection as I laid out multiple lines of defense.[10] Some are assuredly stronger than others. Nevertheless, given these 33 data points, a person can build a cumulative case for the proposition that Jesus of Nazareth literally rose from the dead on the first Easter Sunday.
There is much more that could be offered, such as the inability of alternative theories to explain all the details, further studies into oral traditions and their trustworthiness, enemy attestation, the chronology of Easter events, and other factors concerning Jesus’s post-Easter appearances. Suffice it to say, we have every reason to believe that Jesus is the risen Son of God. So, what will you do with the data that has been given? It’s one thing to accept that Jesus arose from the dead, but it is quite another to accept him as the Lord of your life. What will you do with the risen Jesus?
References:
[1] Craig S. Keener, IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, 418.
[2] Joachim Jeremias, New Testament Theology, 259–260.
[3] Ibid., 266.
[4] Ibid., 303.
[5] Gary Habermas, On the Resurrection: Evidences, 141.
[6] Ibid., 47.
[7] James D. G. Dunn, Jesus Remembered, 836.
[8] Look for Bellator Christi’s interview with Ted Wright on earlier episodes.
[9] N. T. Wright, Resurrection of the Son of God, 297, 579, 594.
[10] [Editor’s note: Originally, this 2 part series was a single blog article at Bellator Christi – https://bellatorchristi.com/2024/03/29/33-defenses-for-the-resurrection-of-jesus/]
Recommended Resources:
Why We Know the New Testament Writers Told the Truth by Frank Turek (mp4 Download)
The Top Ten Reasons We Know the NT Writers Told the Truth mp3 by Frank Turek
Early Evidence for the Resurrection by Dr. Gary Habermas (DVD), (Mp3) and (Mp4)
Cold Case Resurrection Set by J. Warner Wallace (books)
Brian G. Chilton earned his Ph.D. in the Theology and Apologetics at Liberty University (with high distinction). He is the host of The Bellator Christi Podcast and the founder of Bellator Christi. Brian received his Master of Divinity in Theology from Liberty University (with high distinction); his Bachelor of Science in Religious Studies and Philosophy from Gardner-Webb University (with honors); earned a Certificate in Christian Apologetics from Biola University, and plans to purse philosophical studies in the near future. He is also enrolled in Clinical Pastoral Education to better learn how to empower those around him. Brian is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Evangelical Philosophical Society. Brian has served in ministry for over 20 years and currently serves as a clinical hospice chaplain as well as a pastor.
Originally posted at: https://bit.ly/3RFTCOC
The Top 3 Reasons Why We Can Believe in the Resurrection – Part 2
PodcastLast week, Frank introduced three compelling reasons to believe in the resurrection, including embarrassing details and eyewitness testimony. In this midweek episode, he jumps back into more archaeological discoveries that include names of people involved in the death and crucifixion of Jesus and how the excruciating deaths of the eyewitnesses offer powerful evidence that they weren’t lying as well. He also answers questions like:
Later in the episode, Frank draws from major cultural events in modern U.S. history—like 9/11, the OJ Simpson trial, and the Rodney King incident—to reveal how human bias can shape the way we interpret evidence and how “impact events” can help us in evaluating the historicity of the New Testament. If you missed Part 1 of this special Resurrection Weekend mini-series be sure to check it out in the resources section listed below!
If you enjoyed this podcast episode PLEASE HELP US SPREAD THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY BY SUPPORTING OUR MINISTRY HERE. 100% of your donation goes to ministry, 0% to buildings!
Resources mentioned during the episode:
PART 1: The Top 3 Reasons Why We Can Believe in the Resurrection
BOOK: I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist
BOOK: On the Resurrection Volume 2: Refutations by Gary Habermas
PODCAST: Did the Apostles REALLY Die as Martyrs? with Sean McDowell
The Real Issue and the Christian Philosopher
2. Does God Exist?Human beings are rational animals, according to Aristotle. As animals, human beings are sensible beings who have sensations and movements (in contrast to plants, which are living beings without true sensation and self-initiated movement). But human beings are not just any kind of animal. We have a special quality that separates us from animals, plants and the rest of the material world, which is that we have a rational soul.
Furthermore, leaving Aristotle aside (as we shall see later), this doesn’t mean that human beings are the summit of all that exists. God, who is infinite and intellect in its fullest form can alone claim his proper place at the top of the summit (although, technically speaking, He is the foundation) of all that exists. Still, since human beings are rational animals, but are also finite, it is natural (and by that I literally mean that it is part of human nature), to ask questions.
Why Metaphysics Matters
Now, human beings can and do ask questions about a lot of topics. But there are some questions that matter most not because of their necessarily immediate practical implication, but because of the effect their answers have on the questions that do possess an immediate practical implication. That is, we cannot properly begin to understand secondary matters until we first understand primary matters. And one of the most basic primary questions to answer is “what is (or are) the first principle of reality?”.
Metaphysics deals with these types of primary questions and its importance is by now evident. The results of every other discipline depend on resolving fundamental metaphysical questions. The Christian (let alone the trained Christian philosopher) can’t escape this reality. Simply put, a wrong move in metaphysics will affect doctrines about God, creation, and salvation.
This fact of metaphysics has become evident to me in the modern debate about divine simplicity. Dr. William Lane Craig rejects the Thomistic understanding of the doctrine of divine simplicity and this means his conception of God is different (very different) than that of an existential Thomist, and proper logic mandates that both conceptions of God cannot be correct. Dr. Craig says, “Deny the real distinction between essence and existence, and the nerve of Thomism is cut.[1]” This claim strikes me as plainly true. I’m not talking about whether we should deny the real distinction between essence and existence (that’s a whole separate matter), but he is correct in that if we do so, the nerve of Thomism is cut, and with it, the Thomistic understanding of God must be denied.
This important matter, the distinction between essence and existence, is the central focus of this blog and my aim is to show how different views of this distinction lead to a different understanding of God, raising the stakes for the Christian (and the Christian philosopher) to ensure that his metaphysics is correct.
In this regard, human beings face a monumental task. Humans, as rational animals, must wrestle with the fact that they can ask questions beyond even their own limitations. For example, as any Christian should affirm, human beings (who only have a human essence) are contingent beings to whom existence owes nothing to make them exist necessarily, want to properly explain existence as a principle and its relationship with essences in general. Despite this limitation, we will see that even in this brief essay there is much that can be said in this regard.
Four Philosophers, Four Visions and Their Implications
Aquinas: Let’s start our brief analysis with none other than Thomas Aquinas. He maintained that there is a real distinction between essence and existence. This means that he believed that essence and existence are real and distinct principles that together constitute the being of a thing. A thing’s essence is what it is, and existence is that it is. Following Dr. Richard Howe’s use of human beings to illustrate this, essence is what makes you human; existence is what makes you a being.[2]
The only exception to this rule is God, in whom essence and existence are identical, and this has several implications. First, he is unique and totally distinct from everything else that exists. He alone is existence; everything else just has existence. Second, as existence itself, God is the only necessary being. Every other being is contingent and depends on God for its existence. Third, God’s omnipotence is evident in His ability to bring things into existence from nothing (creatio ex nihilo). Between existence and non-existence, there’s an infinite metaphysical chasm that only an infinite cause can bridge.
Scotus: Aquinas’ view of God, stemming from his real distinction between essence and existence, can be contrasted with that of John Duns Scotus. Scotus maintained that every essence has some degree of being, according to its (proportional) intrinsic perfection. This implies that the distance between any finite being and nothingness is not infinite. As a result, God’s omnipotence is primarily expressed not in sustaining beings in existence, but in freely determining which essences are actualized in reality. In other words, for Scotus, God’s power, is primarily evident in freely determining what comes to be, rather than in directly causing the act of being itself. It is worth noting that Aquinas integrates both perspectives, affirming divine volition alongside God’s continuous causal role in sustaining creatures in existence.
Plato: On the other hand, Plato did not conceive of existence as an act received from God. Plato believed that the forms—eternal, unchanging, immaterial, and universal realities—are the highest level of reality, while the material world is just an imperfect reflection of them. As such, Plato’s god is really a craftsman-like figure who does not create things (let alone via creation ex nihilo), he merely imposes order on pre-existing chaotic matter in accordance with the forms. He works with what already exists; he does not make things to be or define what they are. There’s no doubt that Plato’s God is a “smaller” God than that of Aquinas.
Spinoza: Benedict Spinoza’s views are also important to mention. He denied the distinction between essence and existence because he maintained that only one substance exists. The implications of this view are profound. If everything that exists is the same substance, that means that everything that exists collapses into a single substance. As a result, God is identical with nature. There is really no distinction between God and everything else, leading directly to pantheism.
It is evident that this view is incompatible with the metaphysical commitments required by Christianity. We need not delve into the implications of this view for divine omnipotence or the necessity of creation. Suffice it to say that since this view denies the distinction between God and His creation, this implies that you, I, and all human beings are part of the same divine nature. This position plainly contradicts Scripture —and, indeed, everyday experience.
Conclusion
There’s much more that could be said about this, and many other important philosophers throughout history could be cited. However, this brief analysis shows that one’s metaphysical conclusions can strongly influence one’s theology. Every Christian should desire to know God and reality as they truly are. To do so properly, one’s metaphysics must be correct. Therefore, we as Christians, must make sure to get our metaphysics right.
References:
[1] William Lane Craig and Bishop Robert Barron, Bishop Barron & William Lane Craig Symposium, Part 1: Divine Simplicity, Reasonable Faith, accessed February 21, 2025,
https://www.reasonablefaith.org/videos/lectures/bishop-barron-william-lane-craig-symposium-part-1-divine-simplicity
Symposium, Part 1: Divine Simplicity. Reasonable Faith. Accessed February 21, 2025.
https://www.reasonablefaith.org/videos/lectures/bishop-barron-william-lane-craig-symposium-part-1-divine-simplicity
Gilson, Étienne. Being and Some Philosophers. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1952.
———.Craig, William Lane, and Bishop Robert Barron. Bishop Barron & William Lane Craig
[2] Aquinas on Existence and the Essence-Existence Distinction,” Southern Evangelical Seminary, accessed February 21, 2025, https://ses.edu/aquinas-on-existence-and-the-essence-existence-distinction/
———.Aquinas on Existence and the Essence-Existence Distinction.” Southern Evangelical
Seminary. Accessed February 21, 2025
https://www.reasonablefaith.org/videos/lectures/bishop-barron-william-lane-craig-
symposium-part-1-divine-simplicity
Recommended Resources:
How Philosophy Can Help Your Theology by Richard Howe (DVD Set, Mp3, and Mp4)
What is God Really Like? A View from the Parables by Dr. Frank Turek (DVD, Mp3, and Mp4)
What is God Like? Look to the Heavens by Dr. Frank Turek (DVD and Mp4)
Your Most Important Thinking Skill by Dr. Frank Turek DVD, (mp4) download
Diego Fallas earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. During his studies, he became passionate about Christian apologetics. He quickly found himself immersed in the field as he started taking seminary courses in apologetics and became a Reasonable Faith chapter director. Today, he is the Director of Operations for CrossExamined.org, and teaches and speaks in Latin America. Diego is the co-host of the weekly Livestream show Piensalo Bien and is currently completing his M.A. in philosophy from Southern Evangelical Seminary.
The Top 3 Reasons Why We Can Believe in the Resurrection
PodcastDid Jesus of Nazareth really rise from the dead? And if that’s the case, how should that impact our view of history and everything we believe about God and reality? With the colloquial Easter holiday coming just around the corner, let’s dive into the BEST evidence for the resurrection!
In this week’s solo podcast episode, Frank takes you step-by-step through three powerful reasons to believe the resurrection of Jesus is not only possible—but reasonable and true. Tune in as he unpacks the evidence that will challenge skeptics and strengthen Christians to trust and defend the Gospel with confidence. During the episode, Frank will answer questions like:
This episode will give you the tools to confidently defend the resurrection and explain why it’s the most significant event in history. As Frank explores the truth of the resurrection, listeners will discover why human life has eternal value, why Christianity stands alone among other worldviews, and how we can know the Bible is historically reliable. Plus, Frank shares a special invitation to join the CE team!
If you enjoyed this podcast episode PLEASE HELP US SPREAD THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY BY SUPPORTING OUR MINISTRY HERE. 100% of your donation goes to ministry, 0% to buildings!
Resources mentioned during the episode:
Come join our mission! Careers.CrossExamined.org
Testimonial from Wright State Univ.
BOOK: I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist
PODCAST: Live Free with Josh Howerton
PODCAST: Resurge with Josh Howerton & Josh McPherson
ONLINE COURSE: Conversations with the Faiths: Worldviews
33 Defenses for the Resurrection of Jesus
3. Are Miracles Possible?, 4. Is the NT True?I told someone recently that Easter (aka., “Resurrection Sunday”) is my favorite holiday. It holds a greater prominence for the child of God than even Christmas. Up until the commercialization of Christmas, Easter was the central holiday for the Christian. One of my good friends recently stated that her pastor called Easter the “Super Bowl for Christianity,” and for good reason. Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Are there, however, good reasons for believing that Jesus of Nazareth literally arose from the dead on that first Resurrection Sunday? The historicity of the resurrection and the Gospels were a major sticking point for me in my time of doubt. If the resurrection was only wishful thinking, then believers have no genuine hope for their eternity. Yet if the resurrection is true and did occur, then the believer has a hope that nothing else could afford. But do we know that it did happen?
In my book The Layman’s Manual on Christian Apologetics, I used an acronym to lay out the core fundamental evidence for the resurrection. However, my doctoral studies revealed even deeper reasons to accept the resurrection of Christ as a real event of history. Using the acronym RISEN as a launch pad, we will consider 33 defenses for the resurrection of Jesus. For those who are unfamiliar with Layman’s Manual on Christian Apologetics, the RISEN acronym stands for the following:
Records of Jesus’s resurrection,
Irritating details about the resurrection that show its truthfulness,
Sightings of the risen Jesus,
Early testimony about the risen Jesus,
Newfound faith of the disciples.[1]
Records of Jesus’s Crucifixion and Resurrection
Jesus’s resurrection maintains a high level of credibility when considering the early records that speak of this event. For this section, five groups of independent sources will serve as the first five defenses for the resurrection.
(1) Five Independent Testimonies in the Gospels
Now, you likely read the above statement and asked yourself, “Five independent sources in the Gospels? How can there be five independent sources when there are only four Gospels? Within the four Gospels, scholars recognize five independent sources behind the texts.
The Markan material briefly describes the resurrection of Jesus. Q may not explicitly reference the resurrection, but it does contain material where Jesus alludes to, if not boldly predict his resurrection. Additionally, M, L, and John’s material all speak of the resurrection of Jesus, even noting the risen appearances of Jesus. Altogether, these five sources alone offer a strong case for the resurrection of Jesus.
(2) Independent Testimonies in the Epistles
Like the Gospels, we must consider the individual epistles as singular documents of history. Paul discusses the resurrection of Jesus thoroughly in 1 Corinthians 15. James the brother of Jesus does not specifically discuss the resurrection. He does, however, call Jesus by the title “Lord,” indicating that he identified him with divinity. Only the resurrection could have convinced James of this association. Peter wrote two epistles. In those documents, he refers to Christ as the cornerstone (1 Pet. 2:6) and alludes to the resurrection with his teachings of God raising up those who had suffered. Likewise, John wrote three letters and identified Jesus with the Logos (wisdom) of God—a tremendously high theology that flowed from an understanding of the risen Jesus.
(3) Extra-biblical Christian Testimonies about the Resurrection
Outside of the biblical texts, numerous Christian authors of the first and second-century, along with subsequent generations mentioned the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus This present exercise will not permit us to list all of them at this time. Some of the more prominent writers include Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Irenaeus, Polycarp, and Justin Martyr.
(4) Extra-biblical Roman Testimonies about the Resurrection
Early Roman historians make mention of Jesus of Nazareth and the early Christian’s belief that Jesus had appeared to them alive on the third day after Jesus’s crucifixion. These historians include Tacitus (AD 55–120), Josephus (c. AD 37–97), Suetonius (AD 69–122), Thallus (c. AD 52; who mentioned the darkness that surrounded the region and tried to rationalize it), Pliny the Younger (late first-century through early second-century). Pliny’s letters to both Emperor Trajan and Emperor Hadrian talk about how the Romans were to deal with the Christian movement, especially seeing that they refused to worship the gods of the Roman pantheon.
(5) Extra-biblical Jewish Testimonies about the Resurrection
Additionally, it may surprise some to find that early Jewish rabbis included comments about Jesus in the Jewish Talmud, although their comments were not that flattering. Many referred to Jesus as a sorcerer (speaking to Jesus’s miracles), a deceiver (speaking of the resurrection), and a bastard (speaking to the Virgin Birth). Certainly, their portrayal of Jesus was not that kind.
Irritating Details
We now move on to the second letter of our RISEN acronym, which is the “I” that indicates irritating details of the resurrection that would be embarrassing for the early Christians to proclaim. For our present venture, these irritating details also speak to details surrounding the resurrection that skeptics may have a difficult time explaining.
(6) The Testimony of Women as the First Eyewitnesses
Nearly every record of the resurrection begins with the testimony of women. Living in an egalitarian society as we do in the United States, many may look over this truth as inconsequential. However, that is far from the case. The testimony of women did not enjoy the same strength as a man’s in the first-century. Therefore, if a woman testified to seeing something as phenomenal as the resurrection, her report may not be taken seriously. Yet it was the faithful women of Jesus’s troupe that first saw Jesus risen from the dead and encounter the empty tomb. Even the disciples scoffed at this notion at first. The early church would simply not invent this detail if it were not true.
(7) Joseph of Arimathea Offering the Burial for Jesus
Another embarrassing detail for the church was that they could not offer Jesus a proper burial. In fact, a member of the very Sanhedrin that condemned Jesus, named Joseph of Arimathea, offered the family and friends of Jesus his newly cut tomb to inter the body of Jesus. According to the tradition of the day, families would leave a body wrapped in cloth for a year. After a year, the body decayed in the dry, arid climate of Israel. The family then took the cloth and poured the bones into a family burial box called an ossuary. The early church would not have shown and exposed Joseph of Arimathea as the caregiver of Jesus if it were not in fact true.
(8) The Testimony of the Resurrection Beginning in Jerusalem
Skeptics like to infer that the resurrection is a later invention of the church. Yet another detail that is irritating for the skeptic is that the report of the resurrection flowed out of Jerusalem, Israel in AD 33. If a person did not believe the report of the empty tomb, all one had to do was to travel to the tomb and see for themselves. Jerusalem was ground zero for the resurrection event.
(9) The Fact That No One Expected a Resurrection Before the End of Time
Another irritating detail for the skeptic is yet another detail that is often overlooked. Many skeptics posit that the early church presented Jesus as the risen Son of God to fulfill some preconceived expectation they had for the Messiah. However, data suggests that the early church would not have done such a thing because they never expected the Messiah to rise from the dead in the first place! The Pharisees’ and Essenes’ understanding of the resurrection was that the dead would rise at the end of time, not three days after the Messiah’s death. The messianic anticipation was that the Messiah would lead a revolt like Judas Maccabeus did to redeem the people from Roman rule and usher in the end of days. That did not happen. Their concept of resurrection did not match the resurrection of Jesus.
(10) The Understanding that a Man Hung on a Tree Was Accursed .
Deuteronomy 21:22-23 states that anyone who is hung upon a tree is cursed. As such, Jewish believers would have scoffed at the idea that their hero would have been nailed to a tree. Seeing that they did not have an understanding of a resurrection in the here and now, the idea of a crucified Messiah makes no sense unless it was accompanied by a resurrection. Early followers of Jesus would have abandoned him as an accursed man unless they had reasons to believe that he had overcome death itself. The resurrection was the answer.
(11) The Crucifixion Nail
Archaeologists discovered a portion of a heel bone that dated to a first-century crucified man named Yehohannon. Most interestingly, the heel bone contained a nail that was bent around a piece of olive wood. The nail is one of the first physical examples of the crucifixion. It also shows the brutality of the practice, which highly dismisses any idea that a person could have merely passed out on the cross and reawakened in a normal state after spending three days in a tomb. Additionally, another example of a crucified ankle was found a few years ago in northern Italy.
(12) The Nazareth Decree
Archaeologists also discovered another artifact of great interest to resurrection studies. It is a decree offered by the emperor. Scholars typically agree that it was decreed by Claudius between AD 41–54.[3] The decree states the following:
The decree reveals that the news of Jesus’s resurrection likely reached the ears of the emperor at least by the 40s. The decree was posted in Nazareth, Jesus’s hometown. Coincidence? I think not.
(13) The Ossuary of James
The thirteenth defense isn’t as strong as others on this list, but it is still worth mentioning. A few years ago, archaeologists discovered an ossuary (i.e., a burial box) that contained the remains of a man named “James son of Joseph brother of Yeshua.” This “James” is identified as the brother of Jesus. The ossuary dates to the first-century, leading many to deduce that the ossuary contained the bones of James the brother of Jesus. While the ossuary of James does not necessarily prove the resurrection, it does show that the burial practices presented in the Gospels match those of the times. If the burial box is legitimate and is connected to the holy family, then it does show that James’s identity was tied to being a brother of Jesus just as James was identified in the biblical narratives.
(14) The Shroud of Turin
Space will not allow us to give all the reasons to believe that the Shroud of Turin is legitimate. However, we can say that new data more strongly than ever suggests that the Shroud is the authentic burial cloth of Jesus. For those who are unaware of the cloth, the Shroud of Turin is a herringbone cloth that contains a faint, hair-length image of a crucified man that matches the same kind of crucifixion that Jesus experienced. Recent data suggests that a similar image can be made if a cloth is exposed to high doses of X-ray radiation. For the image on the cloth to be made, it would require that a high dose of light radiation luminated from the body and that the body dematerialized, leading to the cloth collapsing on itself. These details match what one would expect with a resurrection event.
Stay tuned for part 2 in this series!
References:
[1] Brian G. Chilton, Layman’s Manual on Christian Apologetics, 96–99.
[2] [Editor’s Note: While much of the scholarship community has moved away from “Q-theory”, it has had a lot of support over the last 150 years, with some supporters still today.]
[3] Gary Habermas, The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ, 176.
Recommended Resources:
Why We Know the New Testament Writers Told the Truth by Frank Turek (mp4 Download)
The Top Ten Reasons We Know the NT Writers Told the Truth mp3 by Frank Turek
Early Evidence for the Resurrection by Dr. Gary Habermas (DVD), (Mp3) and (Mp4)
Cold Case Resurrection Set by J. Warner Wallace (books)
Brian G. Chilton earned his Ph.D. in the Theology and Apologetics at Liberty University (with high distinction). He is the host of The Bellator Christi Podcast and the founder of Bellator Christi. Brian received his Master of Divinity in Theology from Liberty University (with high distinction); his Bachelor of Science in Religious Studies and Philosophy from Gardner-Webb University (with honors); earned a Certificate in Christian Apologetics from Biola University, and plans to purse philosophical studies in the near future. He is also enrolled in Clinical Pastoral Education to better learn how to empower those around him. Brian is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Evangelical Philosophical Society. Brian has served in ministry for over 20 years and currently serves as a clinical hospice chaplain as well as a pastor.
Originally posted at: https://bit.ly/3RFTCOC
What REALLY Happened During the Inquisitions? with Bill Federer
PodcastWhat’s the real history behind the Inquisitions, what do they reveal about the Christian faith, and could history be repeating itself? A few weeks ago, we unpacked the truth about the history of the Crusades and how (despite some behavior not condoned by Christ) they were military responses to Muslim aggression and saved Europe from being conquered by Muslim invaders. Most Christians at the time didn’t know what the Bible taught.
This week, the great Bill Federer returns to shed light on the rise of the first inquisitions, their lasting impact on both the Church and American history, and how these events connect to the biblical narrative. Join Frank and Bill as they tackle questions like:
In this thought-provoking episode, Frank and Bill explore how political powers throughout history have exploited religion to gain control—often with tragic consequences. From assassinations to coerced conversions, you’ll get a gripping look at the real story behind the inquisitions—while also debunking myths and setting the record straight by looking at the facts! Want to dig deeper? Visit AmericanMinute.com to check out some of Bill’s books mentioned in the resource list below!
If you enjoyed this podcast episode PLEASE HELP US SPREAD THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY BY SUPPORTING OUR MINISTRY HERE. 100% of your donation goes to ministry, 0% to buildings!
Resources mentioned during the episode:
Bill’s website: AmericanMinute.com
PODCAST: What REALLY Happened During the Crusades?
BOOK: Backfired: A Nation Founded for Religious Tolerance No Longer Tolerates the Religion of Its Founders
BOOK: Three Secular Reasons Why America Should Be Under God
BOOK: Endangered Speeches: How the ACLU, IRS & LBJ Threaten Extinction of Free Speech
BOOK: Bullies and Saints
Do the Resurrection Narratives Contradict? A Reply to Dan McClellan
3. Are Miracles Possible?, 4. Is the NT True?Dan McClellan is a Biblical scholar who has taken to creating YouTube content. He has a popular channel, with 127,000 subscribers at the time of this writing. He often produces short videos responding to conservative scholars and apologists. Unfortunately, McClellan often comes across as incredibly condescending towards conservative scholars, with a rhetorical tone that is, in my view, unbecoming of scholarly discourse. I know that other conservative scholars feel the same way. McClellan recently published a 17-minute video responding to a TikTok video by my colleague, Dr. Sean McDowell, on discrepancies in the resurrection narratives. In this article, I will address points raised in this video.
McDowell begins by observing, correctly, that “even if there were contradictions in the Bible, this wouldn’t prove that Christianity is false.” I agree with McDowell. I do not believe that the truth of Christianity hangs on inerrancy (see my essay on this subject here) and I am persuaded of the existence of a small number of minor good-faith mistakes in the gospels, none of which substantially undermine their overall trustworthiness.[1] More evidentially significant in undermining the reliability of the sources would be examples of the evangelists making assertions that are contrary to what they knew to be true (I do not believe the evangelists ever intentionally altered the facts).
McClellan responds to McDowell,
McClellan appears to misunderstand the nature of our approach. The high reliability of the gospels and Acts is the conclusion of our argument, not the premise. We do not decide ahead of time that the evangelists did not make things up or intentionally alter the facts. Rather, this is the verdict we have arrived at after careful and extensive study of the data.
McDowell asserts that “If you want to prove Christianity is false, you’ve got to reproduce the body of Jesus.” I would not agree that this is the only way by which Christianity could be “proven false” (which I’m taking to mean “rendered improbable”). Generally, a complex proposition is not “disproven” by a single piece of data, but rather by an accumulation of evidences, each of which cuts against its plausibility. My verdict is that the preponderance of evidence very heavily confirms the truth of Christianity, though I can envision various scenarios where it could have been the other way (and, in fact, there are lines of evidence I could list which would sit on the negative side of the balance). In any case, it would be next to impossible to demonstrate that a body was, in fact, that of Jesus of Nazareth (a point McClellan himself makes), so this would not by any means be the cleanest way to refute Christianity.
Resurrecting Hume
McDowell asserts that “we can show Jesus rose from the grave, even if there were contradictions in the Bible.” I agree. McClellan, however, responds,
This essentially revives David Hume’s objection to justified belief in miracles. Hume argued that one could never be justified in inferring that a miracle had taken place (even if it did) because a miracle is, by its very nature, the least probable explanation (since it contradicts uniform human testimony) — thus, any naturalistic contender (no matter how intrinsically improbable) is going to be more plausible than the hypothesis that the routine course of nature has been interrupted. However, Hume was adequately addressed by his own contemporaries (e.g. William Paley, George Campbell, and John Douglas) as well as by modern philosophers (e.g. John Earman, himself an agnostic). William Paley, for example, noted,
In other words, the purpose for which miracles are wrought (according to both the Old and New Testament) is to vindicate divine messengers. For them to function in this capacity, and grab our attention, they need to recognizably deviate from the way nature normally behaves when left to itself — otherwise, they would be robbed of their evidential value. Therefore, that miracles do, in fact, deviate from the routine course of nature cannot be taken as a serious rejoinder to the hypothesis under review. We need to look to other considerations to get a handle on the prior probability of God performing a miracle in Jesus’ case in particular (i.e., raising him from the dead).
If Jesus really is the Hebrew Messiah, then we would expect the God of Israel to raise him from the dead (cf. Isa 53:10). Jesus also indicated, on multiple occasions, that his Messianic self-claims would be vindicated by his resurrection from the dead. Therefore, arguments that (independently of the resurrection) bear on Jesus’ Messianic identity are relevant to the prior probability of God raising Jesus in particular from the dead — since they suggest that God plausibly has motivation for doing so. It is not my purpose here to provide a detailed elaboration of these independent arguments, but rather to articulate how this case can be developed.
The Case for Harmonization
Before delving into specific instances of discrepancy that McClellan alleges, it is worthwhile to briefly explain why I firmly believe that harmonization represents good historical methodology, quite aside from any concerns about inspiration or inerrancy. Although I am not myself committed to inerrancy as a matter of principle, I am an avid advocate of the practice of harmonization [see endnote 1]. Sources that have been demonstrated to be substantially reliable constitute evidence for their propositional claims. This is true whether dealing with a religiously significant text or otherwise. Therefore, if one identifies an apparent discrepancy between reliable sources (such as the gospels), the rational course of action is to search for a plausible way in which those texts may be harmonized. Though this practice is typically disavowed in Biblical scholarship, I think the scholarly bias against harmonization is quite unreasonable. I view harmonization as good, responsible scholarly practice, whether one is dealing with religiously significant sources or secular ones. Different sources that intersect in their reportage of a particular event should be allowed to illuminate and clarify one another. I also think that sources that have been otherwise demonstrated to be highly reliable should be given the benefit of the doubt when there is an apparent discrepancy. In my view, in such cases, reasonable harmonizations should be sought for as a first port of call and the author being in error should be concluded only if possible harmonizations are implausible. Lydia McGrew puts this point well:
An important consideration in regards to the assessment of harmonizations, often overlooked, is that the evidential weight of a proposed error or contradiction in Scripture relates not so much to the probability of any one proposed harmonization but rather to the disjunction of the probabilities associated with each individual candidate harmonization. To take a simplistic example, if one has four harmonizations that each have a 10% probability of being correct, then the evidential weight of the problem is significantly less than if you only had one of those, since the disjunction of the relevant probabilities would be 40%. Thus, the text would be only slightly more likely erroneous than not (and inductive arguments for substantial trustworthiness may tip the scales in favor of giving the author the benefit of the doubt). In reality, of course, the math is rather more complicated than this, since one has to consider whether any of the harmonizations are overlapping or would imply one another in such a way that the probabilities cannot be added to each other. Of course, if some of the disjuncts have a very low probability of being correct, then they will not be of much help.
How Many Angels Were at the Tomb?
McDowell notes that there is a difference between a contradiction and a difference — for example, Matthew and Mark both speak of one angel at the tomb on easter morning, whereas Luke and John mention two. McDowell observes that this is not a contradiction since, if there are two, it is also true to say there was one (no text indicates there was only one). I agree with McDowell. Matthew and Mark simply spotlight the angel who spoke and omit mention of the other, who presumably did not speak. Omission is not the same as denial. Moreover, the scene with Mary Magdalene in John 20 is a separate episode, which occurs later, after Peter and John have already inspected the tomb and left. Though Mark and Luke speak of the angels as “a young man” and “two men” respectively, this is not an unusual way to describe angels in Scripture, since angels often appear as humans (cf. Gen 18:1-2; Heb 13:2). Incidentally, Bart Ehrman errs, in his book Jesus, Interrupted, when he remarks that “none of the three accounts states that the women saw ‘two angels.’”[4] [3] Luke 24:23 does, in fact, identify the “two men” as “angels.” McClellan emphasizes that, in Mark, the angel is said to be “sitting” (Mk 16:5), whereas in Luke the two angels are said to be standing (Lk 24:4). But there is nothing implausible about one or both angels changing their position in the course of the events.
McClellan responds,
McClellan does not really appear to understand what apologetics is. Apologetics, done properly, is what one engages in after the results of a fair and balanced open-ended inquiry are in and the time has come to articulate your conclusions, and the justification of those conclusions, to the scholarly community and wider public. Every academic paper or book is an exercise in apologetics for one conclusion or another. Good apologists set a high bar for what arguments they are going to use because they do not want to mislead or misinform people by appealing to faulty arguments or incorrect information. There are many arguments for Christianity, or for theism more broadly, which I find to be unconvincing and therefore I do not use. Moreover, when I talk to people about the evidences of Christianity (sometimes Christians with doubts; other times former Christians or non-Christian seekers), I am careful to show my primary sources so that people know where my information comes from (I think anyone who has participated in a meeting with me via TalkAboutDoubts will attest to this). So, to paint all apologists with a broad brush as being either incompetent or dishonest, or both, is, in my opinion, quite disingenuous on McClellan’s part. See my essay here on how apologists can (and should) exemplify a “scout mindset” in their scholarship.
Did the Women Observe the Rolling Back of the Stone?
McClellan claims that the resurrection narratives conflict not just on the number of angels at the tomb, but on “most of the narrative details.” For example, in Mark 16:3-4, the stone is said to have already been rolled back by the time the women arrived at the tomb, whereas in Matthew, we read, “Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it,” (Mt 28:1-2). Curiously, McClellan insists on rendering καὶ ἰδοὺ (kai Idou, see Matt 28:2) as “And suddenly.” But this is an interpretive translation, not the literal meaning. The phrase καὶ ἰδοὺ is a very common New Testament expression, and means “And behold.” Contrary to McClellan, It does not necessarily imply that the women witnessed the earthquake or descent of the angel. A better way of conveying the meaning of “and suddenly” would be the phrase καὶ ἐξαίφνης (kai exaifnēs).
Indeed, the entire passage regarding the angel (verses 2-4) is introduced by the particle γάρ (“For…”). Its purpose is to explain the earthquake and state of affairs as found by the women upon their arrival at the tomb. In describing the descent of the angel, Matthew employs an aorist participle (καταβὰς). which can be rendered “…for an angel of the Lord had descended…” There is no reason, then, to infer from Matthew that the women witnessed the descent of the angel.
Multiple Stations of Angels?
According to McClellan, “in order to reconcile Matthew and Mark, we have to imagine that these women are encountering multiple stations of angels who are going to scare them and tell them not to be scared, first on the outside and then on the inside.” McClellan emphasizes that, in Mark, the angel is explicitly said to be sitting inside the tomb — “And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side…” (Mk 16:5). McClellan believes that Matthew indicates that the women encountered the angel on the outside of the tomb, before entering. But the text of Matthew does not say this — it merely indicates that “the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.’” There is no indication of where the angel was when the women encountered him or when this was said.
Preparing the Spices
McClellan observes that, in Luke, we read, “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they [the women] went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared,” (Lk 24:1). McClellan understands Luke to indicates that these spices were prepared before the Sabbath (Lk 23:56). But according to Mark 16:1, the women bought the spices after the Sabbath had passed. How might these texts be harmonized? Luke does not, in fact, say explicitly that the spices were prepared before the Sabbath. Verse 56a merely indicates that the women purchased spices following Jesus’ burial (without specifying whether this took place before or after the Sabbath). Verse 56b clarifies that the women rested on the Sabbath day, in accordance with Jewish law. Plausibly, Luke does not know exactly when the spices were purchased (whether before or after Sabbath) and leaves it ambiguous.
Even if one takes Luke 23:56 to indicate that the spices were prepared before the Sabbath, the texts do not seem particularly difficult to harmonize. One could envision, for example, that Joanna, being better off than the other women, already had spices at her house, which she had time to prepare at home. Perhaps Joanna and one or more other women spent the Sabbath at Joanna’s house and had time to prepare the spices before the Sabbath began, while the two Marys and Salome had to purchase them after the Sabbath at first dawn. Luke 24:10 lists two Marys, Joanna, and an unspecified number of “other women,” who went to the tomb — so we do not know how many women came to the tomb on easter morning. Joanna may have been a primary source behind Luke’s account of the women at the tomb (Luke is the only evangelist who mentions Joanna at all, including the fact that she was the wife of Chuza in Luke 8:1). If this is the case, it is consistent with the conjecture that she was the one who already had spices at home that she could prepare.
Had the Sun Risen, or Was it Still Dark?
McClellan points out that Mary came to the tomb, according to John 20:1, “while it was still dark,” whereas Luke 24:1 indicates that the sun had risen. The expression used by Luke is ὄρθρου βαθέως (opthrou batheōs), literally meaning “deep dawn.” It refers to the very early hours of the morning. This is rendered “early dawn” by the ESV. It is not at all implausible to think that at early dawn it would still be somewhat dark. This is arguably the weakest of McClellan’s examples.
A Different Sequence of Events in John?
McClellan observes that, in John’s account, Mary Magdalene reports to Peter and John that the tomb is empty and she does not know what has happened to Jesus. Peter and John then come and inspect the tomb but find it empty. They then leave Mary alone and she has an encounter with the risen Jesus (but angels never tell Mary anything). McClellan notes that this is an entirely different sequence of events from the synoptic gospels. The episode with Mary at the tomb in John, however, is clearly an episode distinct from the women’s encounter in the synoptic gospels. There is no contradiction here, since these are two separate and independent events. Moreover, I think plausibly Mary left the larger group of women prior to their encounter with the angel and with the risen Jesus. This is even lightly suggested by the words of Mary to Peter and John, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know (οὐκ οἴδαμεν; ouk oidamen) where they have laid him.” Note the use of the plural verb, οἴδαμεν — the use of the plural verb implies that she is speaking on behalf of other women, even though John spotlights Mary Magdalene in particular. This would explain why she did not know what had happened to Jesus even though, according to the synoptic gospels, the group of women encountered an angel and the risen Jesus at the tomb.
Conclusion
McClellan claims that he has never heard anyone attempt to harmonize the resurrection accounts. If this is so, then I would suggest that he needs to read more conservative literature — for example, John Wenham’s book, Easter Enigma, is focused on precisely this subject.[5]I do not believe that any of the harmonizations offered above are unreasonable, or a stretch. Given the very large body of evidence indicating that the authors of the gospels are individuals who are very well informed, close up to the facts, and in the habit of being scrupulous, I believe that we should approach these sources with charity, and allow them to clarify and illuminate one another. This is nothing short of good, responsible, practice when evaluating ancient sources.
References:
[1] [Editor’s Note: Jonathan McLatchie’s views on inerrancy and “biblical errors” do not necessarily represent the views of Crossexamined.]
[2] William Paley, A View of the Evidences of Christianity: Volume 1, Reissue Edition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009).
[3] Lydia McGrew, The Mirror or the Mask: Liberating the Gospels from Literary Devices (Tampa, FL: Deward Publishing Company, Ltd, 2019), 53-54.
[4] Bart D. Ehrman, Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don’t Know About Them).(New York: HarperCollins, 2009), p. 8.
[5] John Wenham, Easter Enigma: Are The Resurrection Accounts in Conflict? (Wipf and Stock; Reprint Edition, 2005).
Recommended Resources:
Why We Know the New Testament Writers Told the Truth by Frank Turek (mp4 Download)
The Top Ten Reasons We Know the NT Writers Told the Truth mp3 by Frank Turek
Counter Culture Christian: Is the Bible True? by Frank Turek (Mp3), (Mp4), and (DVD)
The New Testament: Too Embarrassing to Be False by Frank Turek (DVD, Mp3, and Mp4)
Dr. Jonathan McLatchie is a Christian writer, international speaker, and debater. He holds a Bachelor’s degree (with Honors) in forensic biology, a Masters’s (M.Res) degree in evolutionary biology, a second Master’s degree in medical and molecular bioscience, and a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology. Currently, he is an assistant professor of biology at Sattler College in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. McLatchie is a contributor to various apologetics websites and is the founder of the Apologetics Academy (Apologetics-Academy.org), a ministry that seeks to equip and train Christians to persuasively defend the faith through regular online webinars, as well as assist Christians who are wrestling with doubts. Dr. McLatchie has participated in more than thirty moderated debates around the world with representatives of atheism, Islam, and other alternative worldview perspectives. He has spoken internationally in Europe, North America, and South Africa promoting an intelligent, reflective, and evidence-based Christian faith.
Originally posted at: https://bit.ly/421kvCL
How Does a Skeptical Philosopher Become a Christian? with Wikipedia Co-Founder Larry Sanger
PodcastHow does someone go from co-founding one of the world’s most visited websites as an atheist to becoming a Bible-believing Christian? And what kind of evidence can shake a skeptical philosopher out of his naturalistic worldview?
This week, Frank sits down with Dr. Larry Sanger, co-founder of Wikipedia, to explore the surprising path that led him back to faith in Christ. Tune in as Larry shares how his early exposure to Christianity faded during his academic journey, how his curiosity was reignited by some disturbing cultural trends, and why he began to see the Bible in a new light. During their conversation, Frank and Larry will answer questions like:
In this episode you’ll hear about Larry’s exciting new project and how his love for philosophy, a hunger for truth, and disillusionment with shallow arguments led him to reconsider the Christian worldview. From confronting evil in the world to exploring the design behind creation, Larry’s journey is both intellectual and deeply personal. If you’re curious about faith, philosophy, or how one of the internet’s pioneers found truth in Scripture, be sure to read Larry’s testimony on his website using the link below!
If you enjoyed this podcast episode PLEASE HELP US SPREAD THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY BY SUPPORTING OUR MINISTRY HERE. 100% of your donation goes to ministry, 0% to buildings!
Resources mentioned during the episode:
Larry’s Website – LarrySanger.org
Larry’s Testimony – How a Skeptical Philosopher Becomes a Christian
Archaeology and Jesus’ Tomb
4. Is the NT True?Every Easter, we Christians gather to remember and celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. During the Easter Season, however, there are times when we tend to hear more skeptical portrayals of the resurrection story. For example, In How Jesus became God, Bart Ehrman argues that the empty tomb was just a created story by the first Christians to support their belief that Jesus had been physically raised. Is this probable?
In this post, I share how six different pieces of information about the tomb of Jesus in the Gospel of John match up with archaeological investigations of tombs around Jerusalem. Because of this, it’s unlikely that John is completely making up what he says about the tomb of Jesus.
In the Gospel of John, the tomb is located outside Jerusalem. First, John says that the site of Jesus’ crucifixion was outside the city (John 19:20). Next, he also says the tomb that Jesus was buried in was in the same place as where he was crucified (John 19:41), so it would also be outside Jerusalem. Archaeological investigations of tombs around Jerusalem have shown that tombs are always located outside the city.[1]So, this piece of information in John matches with archaeology.
Jesus was probably crucified near a road. It was common Roman custom to crucify people near public roads[2]and Matthew and Mark note that people were walking by while Jesus was hanging on the cross (Matthew 27:39, Mark 15:29). Since John locates Jesus’ tomb in the same place as where he crucified, the tomb would also be near a road. Archaeology shows that tombs could be near roads around Jerusalem,[3]so again John’s information is probable.
John says Jesus’ tomb was in a garden (19:41). Some people say the idea that Jesus was buried in a garden is just something John made up to suggest that Jesus was buried like a king. But archaeology shows that in first century Jerusalem, tombs and areas of agriculture could easily exist in the same place .[4] So, we shouldn’t immediately conclude that John is fabricating this detail.
Like all the other Biblical gospels, John has the tomb of Jesus being sealed with a stone. There is so much archaeological evidence for this practice that I don’t really need to harp on it.[5] Suffice to say that John, and the other gospels, are accurate here.
After Jesus was resurrected, John describes those who want to get in or look inside having to stoop (John 20:5, 11). This detail matches perfectly with what we know about entrances to first century tombs outside of Jerusalem. They were very low, and you would have to stoop to get in.[6]
According to John 20:12, when Mary Magdalene looked inside the tomb, she saw two angles sitting “one at the head and one at the feet, where Jesus’ body had been lying.” This detail matches with first century tombs around Jerusalem having benches along their walls and these being used for placement of the dead body.[7]
Personal Memories of Jesus’ Tomb
These six details correspond to what archaeology tells us about first century tombs around Jerusalem. Despite what Ehrman suggests, it’s unlikely that John made up what he wrote about the empty tomb. Rather, because this gospel claims to have been authored by an eyewitness (John 21:24), it’s more likely that this is his personal memory of Jesus’s tomb being found empty that Easter morning. Archaeology seems to match up well with what we read about Jesus’ tomb in the Gospel of John.
References:
[1] Amos Kloner, and Boaz Zissu. The Necropolis of Jerusalem in the Second Temple Period. Translated by Debby Limmer and Sherry Whetstone. Interdisciplinary Studies in Ancient Culture and Religion, 8. Leuven: Peeters, 2007, pg.29.
[2] Psuedo-Quintillian, Lesser Declamations, 1:259
[3] Kloner, Amos, and Boaz Zissu. The Necropolis of Jerusalem in the Second Temple Period. Pgs.23-24.
[4] Ibid., 34.
[5] Ibid., 53-58.
[6] Ibid., 52.
[7] Amos Kloner, “Did a Rolling Stone Close Jesus’ Tomb?” Biblical Archaeology Review 25, no. 5 (1999), pg.29.
Recommended Resources:
Why We Know the New Testament Writers Told the Truth by Frank Turek (mp4 Download)
The Top Ten Reasons We Know the NT Writers Told the Truth mp3 by Frank Turek
Early Evidence for the Resurrection by Dr. Gary Habermas (DVD), (Mp3) and (Mp4)
Cold Case Resurrection Set by J. Warner Wallace (books)
When writing this blogpost, Matt Spinelli was an intern at the Hendricks Center at Dallas Theological Seminary.
Originally posted at: https://bit.ly/44gblUe