Risen Hope

The idea that the disciples and other followers of Jesus hallucinated Jesus’ post-death appearances is fraught with all sorts of errors and obstacles. In this short video, from the Credo House “Resurrection Myth” series, Dr. Michael Licona continues his myth-busting talking about hallucinations and their pitfalls.

Remember, to see the course on the Resurrection that Licona is talking about, you can head over to Credo House’s website and see what that is all about and hopefully purchase a copy for yourself. I own a copy and it is a good introduction to the topic of the Resurrection.

Also, to learn more about Licona, the work he does, head on over to RisenJesus.com and give him your support. I am sure he would appreciate it.

Previous posts in this series:

1. Resurrection Myth #1 – Contradictions in the Gospel
2. Resurrection Myth #2 – Pagan Parallels and Christianity’s Origins
3. Resurrection Myth #3 – The Fraud Theory

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (May 29, 1874 – June 14, 1936) was as prolific a writer as there ever was. He wrote approximately 69 books along with countless articles and journals, along with engaging in newspaper and public debates. He was a fierce defender of the Christian faith and yet close friends with George Bernard Shaw and Bertrand Russell. He had a wit, a warmth, and a depth about him that seems to be lacking in Christianity and Christians today.

Over at the Gospel Coalition they are starting a community read-thru of his brilliant book Orthodoxy. I fell in love with this book a number of years ago and I attempt to read through it once a year if I have the time. I have not been able to read it this year yet, but I do plan on joining this group and doing so now. The book is full of insight and charm along with GKC’s usual literary nuggets of wisdom and wit.

I would strongly encourage you to join in the conversation if you are so inclined. There is currently a free copy of the Kindle version of Orthodoxy available through Amazon and they provide free-readers for you computer and certain mobile devices if you do not already own a Kindle. Even though they began this journey two days ago (August 7, 2013), there is still time to jump in. We will not begin reading until next Wednesday.

I hope to see you in the conversation.

You can learn more about G.K. Chesterton at the following sites below:

1. The American Chesterton Society
2. Mere Orthodoxy (a blog – not necessarily about Chesterton, but they take their cues from Lewis and GCK about how Christians ought to engage our current culture – think of this as Chesterton in 21st century practice)
3. Wikipedia Entry

In today’s short video, Dr. Michael Licona talks briefly about the Fraud Theory which, in essence, charges the followers of Jesus with stealing Jesus’ body from the tomb and then making up the story about the resurrection. Further, the disciples would then have become willing martyrs for the known lie that they would have invented. While there are many other problems with this theory beyond this, the video is a good place to begin the investigation.

Remember, to see the course on the Resurrection that Licona is talking about, you can head over to Credo House’s website and see what that is all about and hopefully purchase a copy for yourself. I own a copy and it is a good introduction to the topic of the Resurrection.

Also, to learn more about Licona, the work he does, head on over to RisenJesus.com and give him your support. I am sure he would appreciate it.

Previous posts in this series:

1. Resurrection Myth #1 – Contradictions in the Gospel
2. Resurrection Myth #2 – Pagan Parallels and Christianity’s Origins

Is Christianity merely an amalgamation of various pagan myths into one? Did Christianity get its origins by picking and choosing from the pagan myths of its day? Let’s see what Dr. Michael Licona has to say.

Don’t forget that this is a series of videos put together by Credo House. If you like these, head on over there and show Michael Patton some appreciation. They also have a DVD study on the Resurrection that Dr. Licona did for them as well.

Previous posts in this series:

1. Resurrection Myth #1 – Contradictions in the Gospel

Credo House is a fantastic source of theological information on the internet. If you have never visited their site, I would encourage you to do so. Michael Patton does a fantastic job leading that ministry.

Just over a year ago Credo House put together a series of short videos dealing with myths of the Resurrection, and they got my friend Dr. Michael Licona to do the videos for them on site. The next several posts will be these short videos with Licona giving a very short explanation for why the myth fails.

To see the course on the Resurrection that Licona is talking about, you can head over to Credo House’s website and see what that is all about and hopefully purchase a copy for yourself. I own a copy and it is a good introduction to the topic of the Resurrection.

Also, to learn more about Licona, the work he does and to possible become a supporting of his ministry, head on over to RisenJesus.com and give him your support.

This is the final post in this particular series on The Minimal Facts and the Historical Criteria for the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.

The empty tomb is fairly well debated amongst scholars and roughly 70% agree that a tomb was discovered empty that early Sunday morning.

Multiple, Independent Sources

The empty tomb shows up in the writings of all four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) as well as in Acts. There is debate over whether it is implied in the creedal statement in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7.  Outside the scriptures, it is strongly implied by Justin Martyr[1] and Tertullian[2].

Enemy Affirmation

We see the first enemy acknowledgement of the empty tomb in Matthew 28:12-13. Here, the Jewish leaders, rather than denying that the tomb is empty or that Jesus’ followers went to the wrong tomb, they implicitly accept the fact of the empty tomb and attempt to provide an alternate explanation for its being so. They say that Jesus’ disciples stole the body. We see this story still be circulated and retold decades and centuries later as evidenced by Justin Martyr and Tertullian (as referenced above).

Embarrassing Testimony

That the tomb was first discovered and reported by women is an embarrassing fact for the early believers. Given the time and culture in which they lived, women’s testimony was rarely allowed in court and they were not considered eyewitness material due to the fickle nature. In that time and culture it would take the testimony of two women to equal that of a single man. However, the first testimony given and recorded is that of women. If this were being made up, we might expect this to have not been included in the story at all (it’s not part of the creedal statement in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7). Further embarrassing detail is that none of the followers of Jesus thought that He had risen from the dead. That was not their initial reaction. They thought his body had been moved to a different location. It was only later, after Jesus appeared to them, that they came to realize He had risen from the dead.

Eyewitness Testimony

Initially the women were eyewitnesses to the empty tomb. They ran back and told the disciples that the tomb was empty and they did not believe them. They thought the women were talking nonsense (Luke 24:1-12), so Peter and John both run to the tomb to investigate for themselves.

Early Testimony

The fact that eyewitnesses relay the information demonstrate that it is early. But the fact that Christianity sprung up and took root in the very location where Jesus was arrested, beaten, put on trial, flogged, crucified, and buried followed by His disciples making incredible claims of Him rising again just 50 days later during Pentecost is unbelievable. The last place Christianity should have its beginnings is in Jerusalem. It would be like building an independent bookstore right next to a Barnes & Noble and expecting to survive. It is all about location, location, location and if Christianity’s claims were false, then the worst place to attempt to start the religion would be in the heart of Judaism. But yet, the early claims and beliefs of the first followers were able to do so because of what they experienced – a risen Jesus of Nazareth.

1. Justin Martyr, Trypho 108
2. Tertullian, De Spectaculis 30

While Paul is an interesting conversion (see yesterday’s post), James seems to be even more so.

James is believed to the the eldest sibling born to Mary and Joseph after Jesus’ miraculous birth. This makes him the half-brother of Jesus. Think how difficult it would be for you, if you have siblings, to believe that one of them is God incarnate. Something truly significant must have happened to move James from being a skeptic to a believer and leader of the Christian church in Jerusalem to eventual martyrdom.

Enemy Affirmation

Josephus mentions the death of James and the fallout that occurred from it as well. However, there are conflicting stories on the manner in which James died. Hegesippus and Clement of Alexandria (both quoted by Eusebius since their works no longer exist) say that James was thrown from the top of the temple and then beaten to death. Either way, this speaks to his willingness to be a martyr for his belief that his half-brother rose from the dead and the earliest testimony of this comes from Josephus, not a friend of the Christians.

Embarrassing Testimony

The first leader of the Christian church was someone who was a relative and a pronounced skeptic of Jesus. We see in several passages (Mark 3:21, 31; 6:3-4; John 7:5) where James and his other siblings thought Jesus had lost his mind, was out of his senses, and were definitely in disbelief over his claims. Essentially, they thought he was crazy. From a devout Jewish family living in a very small, rural place like Nazareth, they would have been an embarrassment to their local community for the things that Jesus was saying along with the stigma the family would have carried because Jesus did not have an earthly father. All these things would have made it difficult for the brothers, particularly James, to accept Jesus’ claims. But something caused him to embrace his brothers teachings and claims because he became the leader of the Christian church in Jerusalem and a martyr for his belief. That means he was willing to die for believing that his brother was who he claimed to be and for preaching the resurrection.

Early Testimony

We have early testimony from Paul that he met with the leaders in Jerusalem to ensure that what he was preaching among the Gentiles was the Gospel. John, Peter, and James confirmed his message was accurate and they all commended him to continue in his work.

The only reasonable explanation for James leading the church, being a pillar in the Christian community, and dying a martyr’s death is that he actually had an encounter with his risen half-brother at some point. In fact, in the creedal statement of 1 Corinthians 15:3-7, this is precisely what we are told happened – Jesus appeared to James. Seeing your dead sibling return to life and appear to you is fairly significant; significant enough to cause him to go from skeptic to believer and leader.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the resurrection of Jesus is the conversion of the church persecutor Saul of Tarsus (he later changed his name to Paul).

Paul was an up-and-coming Jew in the Pharisaical tradition. He was the brightest student under Gamaliel and was extremely zealous for the Jewish teachings and traditions of his ancestors. Paul was not only head and shoulders above his peers when it came to his training, but he also had the distinct advantage of having dual citizenship being born a Jew as well as being a Roman citizen based on the town that he was born in. Because of this he was able (and adept) at navigating both societies rather well.

So how does a strict, zealous Jew convert to Christianity? Paul was so wed to the Jewish belief system and ideas that he persecuted, imprisoned, and put to death Christians. He found them to be quite heretical and dangerous to the Jewish faith and against the God of Israel and his fathers. Yet, he essentially converts over night.

Multiple, Independent Sources

There are multiple sources that record Paul’s conversion: Luke in Acts, Paul in his own writings in a couple of different letters.

Embarrassing Testimony

Paul, a staunch champion for the Jewish faith not only converts to Christianity, but then goes on to be an Apostle and evangelist to the Gentiles! The one who was doing the greatest harm to the church in the early part of the 1st century AD goes on to be one of the biggest defenders of the Christian way. Further, he does not shy away from talking about his former way of life and using that as a source of teaching.

Eyewitness Testimony

Paul confesses that he encountered the risen Jesus in a glorified state on his way to Damascus in order to harass and imprison Christians who had fled from Jerusalem. This is shortly after he had just been in charge of overseeing the death of the first Christian martyr, Stephen, in Jerusalem.

Early Testimony

Paul’s testimony comes just a couple of decades after the resurrection event and after he had been preaching during the majority of that time. We have this in some of his earliest letters from that time which most likely date from the mid-50s.

So what would cause a vehement, highly educated persecutor like Paul to convert? The only reasonable explanation is that he actually had an encounter with a resurrected and glorified Jesus of Nazareth.

In an earlier post I made mention of the five minimal facts used to demonstrate that Jesus rose from the dead. There was also an additional post regarding the historical criteria that historians employ when making judgments about what is and is not historical. Today’s post looks at the second of these five facts.

Fact #2: The disciples believed they saw him alive after his death.

Multiple, Independent Sources

We have multiple independent sources that tell us that the disciples really believed they thought they had encountered Jesus after his death and burial.

1. Paul
2. Creedal statement (1 Corinthians 15:3-7)
3. Sermon summaries (such as Acts 2)
4. Gospel of Matthew
5. Gospel of Mark
6. Gospel of Luke
7. Gospel of John
8. Acts
9. Clement of Rome
10. Polycarp
11. Tertullian
12. Ignatius
13. Origen
14. Dionysius of Corinth (via Eusebius)

Enemy Affirmation

We see in the book of Acts that the disciples are arrested by the Jewish leaders, imprisoned, beaten, and put to death due to their telling people that they believe Jesus had risen from the dead. But these things are also hinted at in writings by those such as Lucian of Samosata and others.

Embarrassing Testimony

That the disciples and those who knew the disciples would write about their persecution at the hands of their enemies or that they would endure ridicule from those that they preached to instead of glossing over those stories and making themselves look good shows that they revealed true, embarrassing facts about their experiences.

Eyewitness Testimony

Paul, John, and Matthew describe what they saw and experienced with the risen Jesus. Peter, through his own letters as well as through Mark does the same. They provide their own eyewitness testimony.

Early Testimony

These testimonies were recorded during the lifetime of the eyewitnesses and that makes them extremely early in terms of ancient documents. Even the creedal statement in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 is so early that it makes it practically negligible the time between the event and the formation of the creed.

In my previous post I began talking about the evidence that supports the fact that Jesus died by crucifixion. Today’s post will complete that one.

The initial post talked about the Multiple, Independent Sources (MIS). This post will cover the rest the remaining principles that historians use to help determine historical facts (EA = Enemy Affirmation; Emb = Embarrassing Testimony; Eye = Eyewitness Testimony; Early = Early Testimony)

Enemy Affirmation
Those who were against Jesus affirmed that he had been put to death. This can be seen in various writings such as the Talmud, Toledoth Jesu, and the writings of Josephus. (Although Josephus was not technically an enemy of Jesus, he was not a follower either – he is more of a disinterested neutral party to the events he records).

Embarrassing Testimony
We see the authors of the Gospels writings all sorts of embarrassing things about themselves as well as Jesus when they are recording his arrest, trial, and crucifixion. The disciples desert Jesus, Peter denies him publicly, no one steps forward to testify on his behalf, Jesus is publicly humiliated through multiple beatings and floggings, Jesus is ultimately nailed to a crucifix, stripped of his clothes, mocked, and left to die.

If this was a made up story, why portray it in this sort of way? All these particular embarrassing details (there are many more besides these) point to the events recorded being historical and true, because anyone serious about starting a new religious movement would not do it in this particular way.

Eyewitness Testimony
Many of the events described are testified to have been witnessed by eyewitnesses such as John and Peter. John and Jesus’ mother, Mary were present at the time of his death and Mary, some other women and Joseph of Arimathea helped to bury Jesus’ dead body.

Early Testimony
Eyewitness testimony is always early testimony because they were eyewitnesses; they were there when the events occurred and that’s as early as one can get. However, there is also the creedal statement found recorded in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7:

Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
and that He was buried,
and that He was raised on the third day  according   to the Scriptures,
and that He appeared to  Cephas, then  to the twelve.
After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time,
most of whom remain until now,
but some  have fallen asleep;
then He appeared to James, then to  all the apostles;

I’ll write more on this creedal statement in a future post, but for now critical scholars, both conservative and liberal, date this creed to anywhere between 1-5 years after the event. There are even some who would place this 6 months after his death and resurrection.

Tomorrow I will begin looking at the second fact for the resurrection, that the disciples believed they saw him alive again after his burial.