Over the past weeks we have been addressing objections to the Christian faith such as science has shown the Bible to be inaccurate, Christianity's rules are restrictive and culturally repressive, Why does a good all-powerful God not stop suffering?, How could a loving God send people to Hell?, religion causes most of the problems in the world, and How can we claim that Jesus is the only way to Heaven? These are all great questions and hopefully we have addressed them adequately, but the truth is, we can't answer everything to the skeptic's satisfaction. Tim Keller says in his book Reason for God,
"If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all He said; if He didn't rise from the dead, why worry about anything He said? This is how the first hearers felt who heard reports of the resurrection. They knew that if it was true they couldn't live their lives anyway they wanted to. It also meant they didn't need to fear anything, not Roman swords, not cancer, not anything. If Jesus rose from the dead it changes everything. Most people think that the burden of proof is on believers to prove that the resurrection happened. This is completely not the case. The resurrection puts the burden of proof on unbelievers to come up with a historically feasible explanation for the birth of the church. You have to come up with some other plausible account for how things began."
Leo Tolstoy said," My question--that which at the age of fifty brought me to the verge of suicide--was the simplest of questions, lying in the soul of every man from the foolish child to the wisest elder: it was a question without an answer to which one cannot live, as I had found by experience. It was: "What will come of what I am doing today or shall do tomorrow? What will come of my whole life?"
Differently expressed, the question is: "Why should I live, why wish for anything, or do anything?" It can also be expressed thus: "Is there any meaning in my life that the inevitable death awaiting me does not destroy?"
The apostle Paul agreed with Tolstoy but also gave him the answer in this quote in 1 Corinthians 15:12-19,
" But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied."
If Christ has not raised from the dead then this life is all there is. Tim Keller tells skeptics of the resurrection,
"Each year at Easter I get to preach on the Resurrection. In my sermon I
always say to my skeptical, secular friends that, even if they can’t
believe in the Resurrection, they should want it to be true. Most of
them care deeply about justice for the poor, alleviating hunger and
disease, and caring for the environment. Yet many of them believe that
the material world was caused by accident and that the world and
everything in it will eventually simply burn up in the death of the sun.
They find it discouraging so few people care about justice without
realizing their worldview undermines any motivation to make the
world a better place. Why sacrifice for the needs of others if in the end
nothing we do will make any difference? If the resurrection of Jesus
happened, however, that means there’s infinite hope and reason to
put ourselves out for the needs of the world."
I like to narrow the case down to five unexplainable resurrection factors that have to be dealt with and for ease of remembering, not necessarily in order of importance, I list them alphabetically. Let's start with;
A. Apostles -
When Jesus was arrested, we see them all fleeing in fear for their own lives and hid behind locked doors for fear of the Jewish leaders. (John 20:19) One even ran away naked when someone grabbed his cloak and they all went into hiding except for Peter (and probably John) who followed the Lord at a distance but when confronted swore on oath that they didn't even know Him.
Mark 14:50-54,66-71
"Then everyone deserted him and fled.
51 A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, 52 he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.
53 They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders and the teachers of the law came together. 54 Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire.
66 While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. 67 When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him.
“You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus,” she said.
68 But he denied it. “I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about,” he said, and went out into the entryway.
69 When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, “This fellow is one of them.” 70 Again he denied it.
After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.”
71 He began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about.”
What brought these men out of hiding preaching boldly to the masses this accusatory, damning message that we see below?
“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.
23 This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah. Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Acts 2:22,23, 36,39,40What made them so bold was the verses I left out of the previous passage, they saw Him raised from the dead and even saw Him ascending to Heaven.
24 "But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God..."
Not only did these post-resurrection appearances make them speak boldly, but when told to recant at the cost of their lives, none of them did. History tells us that;
King Herod had James “put to death with the sword,” likely a reference to beheading.
Peter was crucified upside-down in Rome in fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy (John 21:18).
Matthew suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, killed by a sword wound.
John faced martyrdom when he was boiled in a huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome. However, he was miraculously delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison island of Patmos. He wrote his prophetic book of Revelation on Patmos. .
James, the brother of Jesus (not officially an apostle), was the leader of the church in Jerusalem. He was thrown from the southeast pinnacle of the temple (over a hundred feet down) when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a club. And what turned James from a skeptic biologic brother of Jesus to someone who would become a leader of the church and willing to die for Jesus? 1Cor. 15:7 says that the resurrected Christ appeared to him.
Bartholomew, also known as Nathanael, was a missionary to Asia. He witnessed in present-day Turkey and was martyred for his preaching in Armenia, being flayed to death by a whip.
Andrew was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Greece. After being whipped severely by seven soldiers, they tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony. His followers reported that when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words: “I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it.” He continued to preach to his tormentors for two days until he died.
Thomas was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church there.
Matthias, the apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded.
Paul was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero in Rome in A.D. 67.
Look at the following video from the late Charles Colson who was Nixon's right hand man during Watergate.
He is basically saying that people will cave when it comes to their own neck on the line. These apostles wouldn't have died for a lie. No one does that. As Pascal put it, "I believe those witnesses who get their throats cut." These Apostles didn't get together and steal the body. These disciples didn't get together and say, "Hey, this ride isn't over yet. Let's tell everyone we saw Him alive. He rose from the dead, we will say..." No, that's crazy! They were terrified, despondent, and ready to hide and go back to their old lives of fishing, etc. Plus, they really weren't smart enough to pull off a scam of that magnitude and certainly they wouldn't have died for it. The only explanation is that they saw the risen Christ.
B. Bible
1. Eyewitness accounts
Now, I know that it is probably difficult for skeptics to accept point B when they don't believe the Bible is true. Hopefully though, I made the point in http://thoughtsfromtherightbrain.blogspot.com/2016/07/apologetics-week-6-science-has-shown.html when I discussed the archaeologic evidence that the Bible is at least reliable as a historical document and has the earliest and most manuscripts available by far of all ancient literature. Mark's testimony of Jesus being buried by Joseph of Arimethea has been dated within 7 years of Jesus' crucifixion. Paul in 1 Cor. 15:3-5 quotes an early church creed most likely given him on his visit to Jerusalem in 36AD.
"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve."
Then Paul adds, "After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born."
These were the eyewitnesses of the resurrection, written down and recorded during a time and date where they could be questioned as to the document's truth. I often use this illustration on this point and at the risk of being redundant, here goes;
What if I wrote a book that Elvis didn't really die because I saw him in Pigeon Forge. I would probably be ridiculed severely because the coroner, pall bearers, his wife, his children would say, "That's not true - we saw his body. We saw him put in the ground and he isn't alive." Now if it was written 100 years from now when all the eyewitnesses are dead, I might have better success. You see, as these letters were circulated about the resurrection, if they weren't true this claim wouldn't have gotten off the ground.
2. Criterion of embarrassment
What does that mean? It means that generally, if you tell something that makes you look bad, then it is probably true. If I were to give a testimony to an officer that I saw a person at a certain place at 1204 and the officer said, "How do you know it was that time"? and I said "because as I was driving past that place and saw him, I was texting a friend and the text time is 1204", that story would be very believable. Why? Because to be texting and driving incriminates you - it puts you in a bad light. It must be true.We will all make up lies to defend our egos so if we tell something to put us in a bad light it is probably true. The Passion is full of these. Look at Peter denying Jesus. Look at the disciples hidden in a locked room after running away. Look at the women telling the disciples that "He is risen", and them not believing. Look at who buried Jesus, a despised Jewish sanhedrist rather than one of the followers.
But most of all is that women are the witnesses to the resurrection in a day and age where they had such a place in society that they were not considered credible witnesses. Josephus states "Let not the testimony of women be admitted on account of the levity and boldness of their sex". Women occupied a low rung on the Jewish social ladder. Consider these Rabbinical texts; "Sooner let the words of the Law be burnt than delivered to a woman." "Happy is he whose Children are male; unhappy is he whose children are female." "Blessed are You Lord God ,ruler of the universe, who has not created me a woman. With this low view of women in this time period, the only explanation for making them the primary witnesses of the resurrection is because that is really how it happened. All these point to the veracity of the text.
3. Lack of embellishment
When we look at the Gospel narratives we see a general everyday description of the events. If this was written many years later, as legends go, this would become a glorious, magnificent story as seen in the "Gospel of Peter" which describes Jesus' triumphant egress from the tomb as a gigantic figure whose head reaches above the clouds , supported by giant angels, followed by a talking cross, heralded by a voice from Heaven, and all witnessed by a Roman guard, the Jewish leaders, and a multitude of spectators. This is how real legends look. The Biblical count stands out in it's simplicity. Why? Because that's how it really happened.
4. Lack of Collusion of the authors
When you look at the gospel accounts they all have variations, even so much so that this becomes a point where skeptics argue that the Bible can't be trusted. The same argument used against the Bible is a very powerful argument for the truth of these texts. Each author, as he recorded it, told it in his own words and emphasized the facts that each thought were significant. Was it night or day? Were there two angels or one?
When I went to court to testify on a malpractice case where both me and the hospital were being sued, I was told not to talk to the nurses involved because we might rehearse what we were going to testify. We might collaborate. The fact that our testimonies were a little different helped add to the credibility of what we were saying and helped to vindicate both of us in the end.
The gospels hold up to scrutiny much better because they are different in details but similar on the crux of the matter.
C. Calendar
Did you know that B.C. means before Christ and A.D. means in the year of our Lord in Latin? The calendar used by most if not all of the world was rearranged on the basis of Jesus Christ. There have been a lot of famous people to die in history and a lot of people to get killed unjustly or for a noble cause. But only one shaped history so much that he affected time. What was different about him? How about the fact that he rose from the dead. No one else has ever done that. Every great and famous person that ever lived, died and stayed dead.
D. Dead Body
Every murder or crime show has a dilemma, what do the perpetrators do with the body? In Fargo they used a wood chipper. In Breaking Bad they used acid in a bath tub. (not wise) We have a body dilemma in the killing of Jesus, too. Where did His body go?
The myth circulating was that the disciples stole the body. How? There were armed guards stationed at the tomb with the royal stamp saying if you break this seal you die or if you soldiers fail your duty you die. As we have seen , the disciples were cowering in fear when Jesus was taken and there is no way they could have moved this huge stone without the guards hearing it. Also they wouldn't start a legend when all that was in it for them was poverty, hiding, and death.
What about the Romans? If they took the body they would have just produced it to squelch this new religion which was a nuisance to them. There is no logical explanation for where the body went.
The body was gone because it was resurrected. It was walking around appearing to hundreds of people, eating food, showing it's scars. These weren't hallucinations or dreams. You don't have common hallucinations. You don't say to someone, "wasn't that an amazing dream we both had"? When people take LSD or other hallucinogens, they don't have the same trip - they don't see the same things. Neither did 500 people all at once experience the same hallucination.
Not only did people not hallucinate the risen Christ, there would be no reason to even consider a resurrection. No religious leader or political leader has ever been assassinated and the followers claimed that he came back to life. This was unprecedented and still is today. Also in this culture, bodily resurrection would be considered undesirable. The pervading view at this time was that the body was the evil part and the soul was the good part. To have a resurrection that would raise the body back to life would not even be considered.
Maybe you think that people back then believed myths like that because they were naïve and not as informed as we are today. When we look at several accounts of the resurrection being told to people we see that this isn't true.
Festus - ..." Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”
24 At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.” Acts 26:23,24
Epicurian and Stoic Philosophers -..." He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered. Acts 17:31,32
E. Empty Tomb
The fact that Christianity grew from Jerusalem in and of itself is a testimony to the fact that the tomb itself was empty otherwise people could walk a few blocks away and say, "Nope, it's still full." In this day and age where distant travel was difficult, a legend could have been started in the Orient that Jesus rose from the dead because no one could have checked out the veracity of the claim, but to start a movement saying that Jesus rose from the dead in the same city it happened has to be true.
Also, if you go to the holy lands you can visit his suspected tomb. Why "suspected"? Because the tomb wasn't the issue. Any famous person who dies, you can go visit their tomb and it becomes an icon. Why do people even question today if this was the right tomb or not? Because Jesus wasn't in there. Why enshrine a tomb that has no one in it. If you want to see Jesus, He is somewhere in the area walking around - don't go looking for Him in the tomb.
The Journal of the American Medical Society concludes, "Clearly, the weight of historical and medical evidence indicates that Jesus was dead before the wound to His side was inflicted and supports the traditional view that the spear, thrust between his right ribs, probably perforated not only the right lung, but also the pericardium and heart and thereby ensured his death. Accordingly, the interpretations based on the assumption that Jesus did not die on the cross appear to be at odds with modern medical knowledge." Now if that isn't attestation by a hostile witness, I don't know what is! Jesus died on the cross, was buried and rose on the third day, and the church exploded. Explain that away. Try as you might, you can't.
As I said at the beginning, there are many objections to Christianity that I have tried, with the help of many authors much more informed than myself, to answer intelligently. If we can just keep pointing to , "but what happened on Easter?" it can be an effective means of evangelism as seen in this message by Andy Stanley. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E12aqMc2z6I
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