Did
Jesus Christ really rise from the dead? This is THE question, is it not? If the
answer is no, Christianity falls. As the Apostle Paul puts it, if Jesus did not
rise from the dead, then Christians are to be pitied more than any other, as our
faith is useless, futile, without foundation, worthless. However, if the answer
is yes, then there is good reason to believe in the truthfulness of
Christianity. The question then becomes, how do we know whether Jesus really
did rise from the dead?
Some choose simply to believe.
“If the Bible says it, I believe it,” they say. There is nothing necessarily
wrong with this, but to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ need not be
a leap of blind faith. Arguments can be made and evidence presented to make a
strong case for the historicity of Jesus, his death, and his resurrection. In
fact, according to Dr. Gary R. Habermas, Distinguished Professor and Chair of
the Department of Philosophy and Theology at Liberty University, “There are a
minimum number of facts agreed upon by practically all critical scholars,
whatever their school of thought. At least twelve separate facts are considered
to be knowable history.”
- Jesus
died by crucifixion.
- He
was buried.
- Jesus’
death caused the disciples to despair and lose hope, believing that his
life was ended.
- The
tomb in which Jesus was buried was discovered to be empty just a few days
later.
- The
disciples had experiences which they believed were literal appearances of
the risen Jesus.
- Because
of these experiences, the disciples were transformed from doubters who
were afraid to identify themselves with Jesus to bold proclaimers of his
death and resurrection.
- This
message was the center of preaching in the early church.
- [This
message] was especially proclaimed in Jerusalem, where Jesus died and was
buried shortly before.
- As
a result of this preaching, the church was born and grew.
- Sunday
[became] the primary day of worship.
- James,
who had been a skeptic, was converted to the faith when he also believed
that he saw the resurrected Jesus.
- Paul was converted by an experience which he likewise believed to be an appearance of the risen Jesus
Dr.
Craig Hazen, Professor of Comparative Religion and Apologetics at Biola
University, put together a chart of the most prominent theories having to do
with Jesus’ resurrection. Basing his chart on the work of Josh McDowell, Dr.
Hazen puts each theory to the test to see how well they correspond to the
twelve known historical facts concerning the resurrection of Jesus. Here’s what
he came up with (The numbers correspond to the known historical facts that DO NOT fit the theory):
- Unknown
Tomb – The disciples didn’t know which
tomb Jesus was buried in. (4-12)
- Wrong
Tomb – The disciples went to the wrong
tomb. (5-12)
- Legend – Jesus was not a real historical
figure. He’s no more than a legend. (1-12)
- Twin – Jesus had a twin brother who
suddenly appeared as the resurrected Jesus. (4, 11)
- Hallucination – All of the post-resurrection
appearances were the result of hallucinations. (5, 11, 12)
- Existential
Resurrection – Jesus is alive in the hearts of
Christians regardless of whether He actually rose from the dead. (4, 5,
11, 12)
- Spiritual
Resurrection – Jesus’ spirit was resurrected
but not his body. (4, 5, 11, 12)
- Disciples
Stole the Body – (5, 6, 11, 12)
- Authorities
Hid the Body – (5-12)
- Swoon – Jesus didn’t really die. He
just swooned to make it seem as if He had died. (1, 6)
- Passover
Plot – Based on a book written by Hugh
Schonfield, Jesus was a mortal man who believed he was the Messiah. He deliberately
planned his entire ministry according to the Old Testament prophecies to
the point plotting his own arrest, crucifixion and resurrection. (5, 6,
11, 12)
- Jesus
was an Alien – Yes, a space alien! (None!)
- Bodily Resurrection – The Christian view. (None)
In the end, only two theories
account for all twelve knowable historical facts concerning Jesus’
resurrection. Either Jesus was an alien or He experienced a bodily
resurrection. While the latter is the Christian theory of Jesus’ resurrection,
there is something to the whole Jesus is an alien thing! Dr. Hazen
characterizes the alien-hood of Jesus not in the sense of his being a space man
the likes of E.T. Rather, Jesus was an alien in the sense that He was not of
this world. Jesus didn’t come down by way of the mother ship. He was sent by
the Father. In obedience to the Father, Jesus died on the cross, but was raised
back to life. Resurrected from the dead, Jesus lives. In Christ, we too shall
defeat death, not merely to enjoy the spoils of heaven, but to enjoy and
worship the One who gives us life.
Reprinted from: http://educateandequip.org/the-resurrection-of-jesus-christ-historical-truth-or-heightened-tale/
