We can apply this argument to anything violent that happens whether it is the Holocaust or someone going postal in a school, mall or workplace. The problem with the logic is that God didn’t pull the trigger. A person did. In the case of the Holocaust, it was a group of people.
Archives for 2014
10. What is the simplest case you can make for the resurrection?
I’m torn on how to answer to this one. Whether I should tell you what I think or tell you what Strobel said in his books or use the points made by Habermas & Licona in The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus. Whether theirs or mine, it’s all stuff from previous posts with only […]
9. How do we know Jesus didn’t pass out on the cross & just revive in the tomb?
Passing out during crucifixion is like passing out underwater. Stop moving, stop breathing, die in the time it takes to drown.
8. How do we know the disciples weren’t suffering from a mass hallucination or mass hypnosis?
Hmm, how about such things wouldn’t explain it. No, really, that’s the answer for both of them.
7. How do we know it was really Jesus on the cross? How do we know the tomb was really empty?
They sound like unrelated questions, but they have a common answer. Enemy attestation. Say what? English, por favor? The disciples’ enemies did not deny the claims that Jesus died on the cross or that the tomb was empty. They argued over what happened to the body.
6. How do we know the disciples weren’t lying about seeing the resurrected Christ?
The only disciple whose fate I can remember ever being mentioned growing up was Judas. Judas hangs himself in remorse (Mt 27:5) after the Sanhedrin condemns Jesus. So what happened to the other 11? They settled down, get married & live happily ever after on the royalties from all those stories? No, unfortunately, the majority died […]
5. How do we know there is any truth in the gospel stories?
The principle of embarrassment applies here. If you were making up a story, why would you include things that make you look bad? The gospels include embarrassing or problematic details.
4. Could the Resurrection be a legend added later to the New Testament?
The gospels were written too soon for a legend to appear. Legends take many years to develop, because the first & secondhand eyewitnesses have to die off before the truth can be distorted. Otherwise the eyewitnesses say that’s not what happened.
3. How can we trust the Bible after all that copying & translating over the years?
The short answer on translations is new translations are based on the oldest greek & hebrew text. They are not translations of translations of translations. A difference in wording between modern translations like the Lord’s Prayer in Mt. 6:12 (…forgive us our debts vs. trespasses or sins), means translators disagree on what phrase best expresses the […]
2. Could the Resurrection be a borrowed myth?
There are several aspects of the story of Jesus death & resurrection that are fairly unique. He dies once, so that the sins of mankind can be forgiven. He predicts his own death & resurrection. Predicting your own death isn’t a big trick if you are suicidal, but fulfilling that resurrection part is a little […]
1. How do we know Jesus was a real person & not just a myth?
There actually is plenty of evidence that Jesus was a real person & the story of his life & death is not a myth. His crucifixion is attested to outside the Bible by Tacitus, Josephus & Pliny the Younger. All 3 were non-Christians writing in the 1st & early 2nd centuries AD.
Introductions
Ever sit in church on Easter & wonder if 2000 years of worship by zillions of people was just one huge cosmic joke? I did. I used to feel like a liar for coming to church anytime, but especially on Easter. What if Jesus was a myth or maybe he just passed out on the […]