![]() Now the burial account is part of Mark’s source material for the story of Jesus’ suffering and death. We have four biographies of Jesus, by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which have been collected into the New Testament, along with various letters of the apostle Paul. Jesus’ burial is multiply attested in early, independent sources. Historians have established this fact on the basis of evidence such as the following:ġ. ![]() I want to share four facts which are widely accepted by historians today.įact #1: After his crucifixion Jesus was buried by Joseph of Arimathea in a tomb. Now, let’s look at that first contention more closely. O the origin of the disciples’ belief in his resurrection. (I) There are four historical facts which must be explained by any adequate historical hypothesis: That leads me, then, to my first major contention, namely: Ehrman says that there cannot be any historical evidence for the resurrection, we’ll see that what he really means is that the resurrection cannot be the best explanation of that evidence, not that there is no evidence. That the resurrection is the best explanation is a matter of controversy. On the other hand, the explanation of that evidence is controversial. As we’ll see, it’s agreed to by most scholars. This distinction is important because in this case the evidence is relatively uncontroversial. In constructing a case for Jesus’ resurrection, it’s important to distinguish between the evidence and the best explanation of that evidence. Ehrman’s thunder, I’ll wait until he’s presented his argument before I show where the fallacy lies.įor now, I want to sketch briefly how a historical case for Jesus’ resurrection might look. I was stunned to discover that the philosophical argument he gives for this claim is an old argument against the identification of miracles which I had studied during my doctoral research and which is regarded by most philosophers today as demonstrably fallacious. Now this is a very bold claim, and so naturally I was interested to see what argument he would offer for its justification. He maintains that there cannot be historical evidence for Jesus’ resurrection. But he does deny that there can be historical evidence for Jesus’ resurrection. Ehrman’s writings, whether he still believes in Jesus’ resurrection or not. ![]() In his most recent book he poignantly describes how he came to lose his teenage faith. Ehrman came to radically different conclusions as a result of his studies. But as a result of my studies, I came to see that a remarkably good case can be made for Jesus’ resurrection historically as well, and I hope to show tonight that the resurrection of Jesus is the best explanation of certain well-established facts about Jesus. It’s the way that most Christians today know that Jesus is risen and alive. Of course, ever since my conversion, I believed in the resurrection of Jesus on the basis of my personal experience, and I still think this experiential approach to the resurrection is a perfectly valid way to knowing that Christ has risen. As a result of my studies, I became even more convinced of the historical credibility of that event. I received a fellowship from the German government to study the resurrection of Jesus under the direction of Wolfhart Pannenberg and Ferdinand Hahn at the University of Munich and at Cambridge University. After graduation we both went on to pursue doctoral studies. Eager to serve him, we both attended the same college in Illinois, Wheaton College, where we both even studied Greek under the same professor. I was amazed to discover how much our life stories are alike: as slightly marginalized teenage boys with some passing acquaintance with Christianity, both of our lives were turned upside down when at the age of 15 or 16 we each experienced a spiritual rebirth through personal faith in Christ. In preparing for this debate, I had quite a surprise. I’ve really been looking forward to discussing the issues with Dr. Good evening! I want to say how grateful I am for the invitation to participate in tonight’s debate. ReasonableFaithOrg (Full-Length Videos).#865 An Ex-Muslim Asks, “What Makes Jesus Special?”.#866 The Case for Unitarianism and the Logical Relation of Identity.
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