How the resurrection is made compelling by beauty, coherence and historical evidence
What is confirmed by even the most skeptical skeptics using modern historical methodology? 12 Non-Negotiable Facts About the Resurrection of Jesus, by Gary Habermaas
- Jesus died by Roman crucifixion.
- He was buried, most likely in a private tomb.
- Soon afterward, the disciples were discouraged, bereaved, and despondent, having lost hope.
- Jesus’ tomb was found empty very soon after his interment.
- The disciples had experiences that they believed were actual appearances of the risen Jesus.
- Due to these experiences, the disciples’ lives were thoroughly transformed, even being willing to die for this belief.
- The proclamation of the resurrection took place very early, at the beginning of church history.
- 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.
- The Gospel message centered on the death and resurrection of Jesus.
- Sunday was the primary day for gathering and worshipping.
- James, the brother of Jesus and former skeptic, was converted when, he believed, he saw the risen Jesus.
- 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/
Do the Narratives of Jesus's Resurrection conflict?
Dan Barker, many years ago issues a challenge to Christians to take the 4 gospels and build a reasonable narrative of them. Presumably, he feels it is difficult, when in fact, the 4 gospels harmonize nicely without adding any commentary at all.
The conditions of the challenge are simple and reasonable. In each of the four Gospels, begin at Easter morning and read to the end of the book: Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, and John 20-21. Also read Acts 1:3-12 and Paul's tiny version of the story in I Corinthians 15:3-8. These 165 verses can be read in a few moments. Then, without omitting a single detail from these separate accounts, write a simple, chronological narrative of the events between the resurrection and the ascension: what happened first, second, and so on; who said what, when; and where these things happened. ...His premise is that the gospels contradict and cannot be reconciled.
The Search for the Missing Corpse
In 33 AD, Palestine was the Roman name for the geographical region encompassing Judea and Galilee at that time over which the Romans were firmly in control of their Jewish and other Levantine subjects. I call this a CSI story because it focuses on the human capacity and function of forensic reason that is required to solve perplexing crimes such as some murders, abductions and others are. Based on actual historical events of the early first century and documented by histor- ians of the day, that's the kind of story this is. It masterfully depicts the reality of worldview presuppositions at work, and the application of both inductive and deductive reason that are unavoidably relied upon to unravel mysteries of this nature within the complex Judeo-Roman milieu.
Why We Can Have Justified Confidence in Knowledge We Gain From Experience
What is Reality?
It sometimes strikes me how much disparity there is among philosophers, even within the same stream. And this has always been true. It reaches all the way back to the dawn of Greek philosophy with the Milesians. But it is captured especially well by the relationship of the two most significant Greek philosophers who were not only contemporaries but master and pupil no less—Plato and Aristotle. Since then, rather than reaching eventual consensus among themselves, the disparities have continued through history to more recent eras with their prominent thinkers such as Descartes, Leibniz, Kant, Berkeley, Spinoza, and Hume to name just a few. Today’s students of philosophy might be hard-pressed to choose which if any one system is true as a whole. The neophyte may be plunged into utter confusion until he/she can sort through the plethora of arguments for and against every conceivable belief they once held, not to mention the ideas they have never even considered. (As I see it, the university seems to relish in this.) On the other hand, as seen from another perspective and through different lenses it is very impressive to note how much commonality there actually is. It really depends on what one is looking at. Philosophical disparities are every bit as pronounced today as ever they were, but I will focus much more on the commonalities.