by Scott Oliphint—

Of all religions, Christianity is the one that has the most historical evidence, and therefore the least to hide, in what it purports. We should never hide from, or routinely dismiss, the historical aspect of Christianity. But if all we have are historical reasons for our belief in the resurrection, then it is possible to conclude, with a certain amount of probability, that the resurrection of Jesus Christ happened in history. However, we also recognize that, when we are thinking about the “why” question as it pertains to the resurrection of Christ, Christians should never be content to begin and end their belief in the resurrection of Christ with only historical data. Those data can support our belief in the resurrection. They can supplement what we believe and why we believe it. But historical data cannot be the center of our response to the “why” question. If the historical data are at the center, then the best we can say is that we believe the resurrection probably occurred. But that will not do; we do not believe in the probability of the resurrection. Instead, the center of our response to the “why” question of the resurrection is that, without the resurrection of Christ, there is, in fact, no Christianity at all.

Read the whole article here: https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/what-the-resurrection-means/

This is a Youtube playlist. Click here to access.

Easter is so much more than bunnies, colored eggs, and jelly beans. Indeed, there is a much better name for this wonderful holiday—Resurrection Day. That's because the main focus of it is new life and victory over death accomplished by one particular figure of history who is famous for this. But of course there had to be a death before there could be a victory over it. The editors of Tao and Tawheed have produced this series of talks on the subject to capture the important events and details of this historical narrative from the four gospels of the New Testament. Its presenters include Ben Edwards, Ismail Nemr, Wissam Yousif and Eddie Yousif (together), Steve Schlichter, Jon and Jayne Frazier (together), Jeff Davis, Scott Cherry, and UMD student Christian Ledford.

by Scott Cherry—

In the 1st century the Christian faith mushroomed throughout the Roman Empire despite waves of persecution against Christians. Unlike Islam, it spread without military force or any sort of violence perpetrated by Christians for three whole centuries. It was literally unstoppable, but why?! Because it was credible, and thousands of average people believed it even though they had nothing to gain and everything to lose during those three centuries. There is no other logical way to explain the growth of Christianity but that Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to the disciples and "more than 500 brethren at one time". (1 Cor. 15)

1. Jesus died by Roman crucifixion.
2. He was buried, most likely in a private tomb.
3. Soon afterward, the disciples were discouraged, bereaved, and despondent, having lost hope.
4. Jesus’ tomb was found empty very soon after his interment.
5. The disciples had experiences that they believed were actual appearances of the risen Jesus.
6. Due to these experiences, the disciples’ lives were thoroughly transformed, even being willing to die for this belief.
7. The proclamation of the resurrection took place very early, at the beginning of church history.
8. The disciples’ public testimony and preaching of the resurrection took place in the city of Jerusalem, where Jesus had been crucified and buried shortly before.
9. The Gospel message centered on the death and resurrection of Jesus.
10. Sunday was the primary day for gathering and worshipping.
11. James, the brother of Jesus and former skeptic, was converted when, he believed, he saw the risen Jesus.
12. Just a few years later, Saul of Tarsus (Paul) became a Christian believer due to an experience that he believed was an appearance of the risen Jesus.”[1]

Gary R. Habermas, The Risen Jesus & Future Hope (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003), 9-10.

https://dissectingjesus.com/tag/gary-habermas-12-minimal-facts/