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Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Notes from Discourse by Dr William Lane Craig Most Critics Regard As Historical the Basic Facts of Jesus Resurrection

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Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Notes from Discourse by Dr William Lane Craig Most Critics Regard As Historical the Basic Facts of Jesus Resurrection Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Notes from discourse by Dr William Lane Craig Most critics regard as historical the basic facts of Jesus resurrection 1. Jesus honorably buried in the tomb owned by Joseph of Arimethea a. Burial of Jesus attested to by various independent sources i. Independent sources mean much more probable to be historical than made up ii. Mentioned in old tradition quoted by Paul in 1 Cor 15.2-3 1. Sylized formula, non-Pauline. 2. Probably goes back to AD 36 when he spent two weeks with Peter and James in Jerusalem mentioned in Galatians 2. This would have been just 5 years removed from resurrection 3. Paul uses a source material used by Gospels. a. Although Gospels are not in sync with chronology of Jesus life events, they are very much n sync in describing The Passion week events. b. Burial events part of pre-Markan passion story that the gospels relied on to write their own narratives. iii. Joseph of Arimethea is unlikely to be a Christian invention 1. The jewish leaders had engineered a judicial murder of Jesus 2. So, unlikely that Christians would invent a member of the court that condemned Jesus who then. Honors Jesus by then giving him a proper burial instead of dispatching him like a common criminal. 3. No other competing burial story exists. If the burial by Joseph of Arimethea were false there would have been either competing stories or myths. 4. The burial of Jesus is one of the earliest attested facts about Jesus. 2. The discovery of the empty tomb by women. a. The location of Jesus’ tomb was a well known fact in Jerusalem i. If burial site were known, it would be impossible for a movement founded on belief to arise if there was a tomb that still contained his corpse. 1. So by the time the followers began to preach the resurrection (50 days later), the tomb had to be empty. 2. Empty tomb story attested by multiple independent sources a. Pre-markan source b. Mark gospel ends with empty tomb c. Paul’s letter to Corinthians implies empty tomb d. Expression on the third day is probably sourced by women’s testimony of their visit to the tomb. e. The four line tradition cited by Paul summarizes both the Gospel accounts and the preaching from book of Acts. Third line “he was raised on third day” corresponds to empty tomb. f. Mark’s description is simple and lacks fictional embellishment i. In gospel according to peter, there is great embellishment about what happens upon resurrection ii. Real legends are colored by motifs b. Josephus - the testimony of women regarded as unreliable and should not be admitted in court of law. So, it is remarkable that women who are the chief witnesses is best explaiined by the fact that they were the discoverers. c. The earliest Jewish allegation thst the disciples had stolen the body is a testimony to the fact the tomb was empty. The earlies Jewish response is in itself an attempt to explain why the body was missing. This comes from the opponents of Jesus. 3. Many people witnessed Jesus alive after his resurrection. a. Paul cites specifically several people who saw Jesus; Peter, the 12,James (Jesus’ brother), 500 witnesses b. The gospels provide multiple independent attestations that these appearances ocurred. c. Certain appearances have earmarks of histroicity. i. Neither James nor Jude were followers of Jesus. But it is indisputable that they became followers after his death. ii. Josephus documents James martyrdom in AD 60’s. What would it take to convinve you thst your brother is the Lord enough that you would be willing to die formthat fact. 4. Original disciples believed Jesus raised from the dead despite having every reason to believe otherwise. a. The Messiah not supposed to suffer and die, instead he was supposed to defeat Rome and reestablish David’s throne b. Catastrophe of crucifixion showed that Jewish leadership was right and Jesus was a heretic according to Deut 21.23 and under the curse of God. c. Jewish beliefs about the afterlife precluded anyone rising from the dead to glory to immortality before the general resurrection at the end of the world. All the disciples could have done is preserve the tomb so that Jesus' bones would be in good shape awaiting the resurrection at the end of times. d. But the disciples were willing to believe in and go to their deaths. Some sort of massive event must have moved the disciples to change their worldviews. Best explanation of these facts Most skeptics choose to remain agnostic about the question. Best explanation is simply God raised Jesus from the dead. CB McCullough - 6 tests historian use to determine best explanation. The hypothesis "God raised Jesus from the dead" passes all tests 1. Great explanatory scope - it has full evidence that explains it. 2. Great explanatory power - it explains well 3. Plausible - given the context of Jesus unparalleled life and claims, resurrection serves to confirm them 4. Not ad hoc or contrived. Explains well the hypothesis that God exists. 5. It is in accord with accepted beliefs. God raised Jesus from the dead does not conflict with accepted belief that people do not rise naturally from the dead. 6. It far outstrips any rival hypothesis in meeting conditions 1-5. Alternatives Conspiracy hypothesis Swoon Stolen body hypothesis. none of these meet the 6 conditions above. One of the world's leading Jewish theologians, Pinchas Lapide declared himself convinced on the evidence that God raised Jesus from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus is God's stamp of approval that Jesus is who he claims to be. .
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