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8B Friday, April 1, 1988/University Daily Kansan
THE FINAL FOUR
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
EVIDENCE FOR THE RESURRECTION
.
or centuries many of the world's
of centuries many of the world distinguished philosophers have assaulted Christianity as being irrational, superstitious, and absurd. Many have chosen simply to ignore the central issue of the resurrection. Others have tried to explain it away through various theories. But the historical evidence just can't be discounted.
a event in history—the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
How can we explain the empty tomb? Can it possibly be accounted for by cause?
A student at the University of Uruguay said to me, "Professor McDowell, why can't you refute Christianity?"
"For a very simple reason," I answered. "I am not able to explain away an event in history—the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
A QUESTION OF HISTORY
YES!
More than 700 hours of studying this subject, I have come to the conclusion that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is either one of the most wicked, vicious, heartless hoaxes ever foisted on the minds of human beings—or it is the most remarkable fact of history.
Here are some of the facts relevant to the resurrection. Jesus of Nazareth, a Jewish prophet who claimed to be the Christ prophesied in the Jewish Scriptures, was arrested, was judged a political criminal, and was crucified. Three days after his death and burial, some women who were found the body gone. In subsequent weeks, His disciples claimed that God had raised Him from the dead and that he appeared to these various times as ascending into heaven.
From that foundation, Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire and has continued to exert great influence down through the centuries.
LIVING WITNESSES
The New Testament accounts of the resurrection were being circulated within the literatures of men and women alive at the time of the resurrection. Those people could certainly have confirmed or denied the accuracy of such accounts.
of such accounts.
The writers of the four Gospels either had themselves been witnesses or else were relating the accounts of eyewitnesses of the actual events. In advocating their case for the gospel, a word that means "good news," the apostles appealed (even when confronting their most severe opponents) to common knowledge concerning the facts of the resurrection
a common knowledge contest.
F. F. Bruce, Rylands professor of biblical criticism and exegesis at the University of Manchester, says concerning the value of the New Testament records as primary sources "Had there been any tendency to depart from the facts in any material respect, the possible presence of hostile witnesses in the audience would have served as a further corrective."
IS THE NEW TESTAMENT RELIABLE?
IS THE NEW TESTAMENT RELIABLE?
Because the New Testament provides the primary historical source for information on the resurrection, many critics during the 19th century attacked the reliability of these biblical documents.
By the end of the 19th century, however, archaeological discoveries had confirmed the accuracy of the New Testament manuscripts. Discoveries of early papyri bridged the gap between the time of Christ and existing manuscripts from a later date.
manuscripts from a later date.
Those findings increase scholarly confidence in the reliability of the Biblical tradition, who in his day was the world's first borealis archaeologist, said "We can already say emphatically that there is no longer any solid basis for dating any book of the New Testament after about A.D. 80, two full generations before the date between 130 and 150 given by the more radical New Testament critices of today."
Concending with the papyrus discoveries an abundance of other manuscripts came to light over 214 years ago. New Testament manuscripts are known to be in existence today). The historian Luke
THEN THE GUARDS FELL ALLEY LEVEL EVER THROUGH ITS WOODS TO CHOKE THERE THEIR HEADS,
THREE WITHIN AND REMOVING THE INNER STONE AND STONE AND BACK WITHOUT
THEM.
wrote of "authentic evidence" concerning the resurrection. Sir William Ramsay, who spent 15 years attempting to undermine Luke's credentials as a historian, and to refute the reliability of the New Testament, finally concluded: "Luke is a historian of the first rank . . . This author should be placed along with the very greatest of historians."
BACKGROUND
The New Testament witnesses were fully aware of the background against which the resurrection took place. The body of Jesus, in accordance with Jewish burial custom, was wrapped in a linen cloth. About 100 pounds of aromatic spices, mixed together to form a gumy substance, were applied to the wrappings of cloth about the body.
I claim to be an historian. My approach to Classics is historical. And I tell you that the evidence for the life, the death, and the resurrection of Christ is better authenticated than most of the facts of ancient history . . .
E. M. Blaiklock Professor of Classics Arkansas University
A Roman guard of strictly disciplined fighting men was stationed to guard the tomb. This guard affixed on the tomb the Roman seal, which was meant to prevent any attempt at vandalizing the sepalcher. Anyone trying to move the stone from the tomb's entrance would have broken the seal and thus incurred the wrath of Roman law.
After the body was placed in a solid rock tom, an extremely large stone was rolled against the entrance of the tomb. Large stones weighing approximately two tons were normally rolled (by means of levers) against a tomb entrance.
incurred the wrath of tolol.
But three days later the tomb was empty. The followers of Jesus said He had risen from the dead. They reported that He appeared to them during an interval of 40 days, showing Himself to them by many "inflatable" Paul. The apostle recounted that Jesus appeared to more than 500 of His followers at one time, the majority of whom were still alive and who could confirm what Paul wrote.
could confirm what.
So many secure precautions were taken with the trial, crucifixion, burial, exhumation, sealing, and guarding of Christ's tomb that it becomes very difficult for critics to defend their position that Christ did not rise from the dead. Consider these facts.
FACT #1: BROKEN ROMAN SEAL
As we have said, the first obvious fact was the breaking of the seal that stood for the power and authority of the Roman Empire. The consequences of breaking the seal were extremely severe. The FBI and CIA of the Roman Empire were called into action to find the man or men who were response to it they were apprehended, it meant automatic execution by crucifixion upside down. People feared the breaking of the seal. Jesu's disciples displayed signs of coercion when they hid themselves. Peter, one of these disciples, went out and denied Christ three times.
FACT #2: EMPTY TOMB
As we have already discussed, another obvious fact after the resurrection was the empty tomb. The disciples of Christ did not go off to Athens or Rome to preach that Christ was raised from the dead. Rather, they went right but the city of Jerusalem, where, if what they were teaching was the falsity would be evident. The empty tomb was "too notorious to be denied." Paul Althaus states that the resurrection "could have not been maintained in Jerusalem for a single day, for a single hour, if the emptiness of the tomb had not been established as a fact for all concerned."
tiness of the tomb. Both Jewish and Roman sources and traditions admit an empty tomb. Both Jewish and Roman sources and traditions of fifth-century Jewish writings called the "Toledoth Jeshu" Dr Paul Maier calls this "positive evidence from a hostile source, which is the strongest kind of historical evidence. In essence, this means that if a source admits a fact decidedly not in its favor, then that fact is genuine."
not in its favor; 'their' Gamalai, who is a member of the Jewish high court, the Sanhedrin, put pressure that the rise of the Christian movement was God's doing; he could not have done that if the tomb were still occupied, or if the Sanhedrin knew the whereabouts of Christ's body.
the Sabbathkrith observes that " if all the evidence is weighed carefully and Paul Martin observes that " it is indeed justifiable, according to the canons of historical research, to conclude that the sepulcher of Joseph of Arimathea, in which Jesus was buried, was actually empty on the morning of the first Easter. And no shred of evidence has yet been discovered in literary sources, epigraphy, or archaeology that would disprove this statement.
On that Sunday morning the first thing that impressed the people who approached the tomb was the unusual position of the one and a half to two-tone stone that had been lodged in front of the doorway. All the Gospel writers mention it.
FACT #3: LARGE STONE MOVED
Those who observed the stone after the resurrection describe its position as having been rolled up a slope away not just from the entrance of the tomb, but from the entire massive sepulchre. It was in such a position that it looked as if it had been picked up and carried away. Now I ask you, if the disciples had wanted to come in, tipper around the sleeping guards, and then roll the stone over and steal Jesus' body, how could they have done that without the guards' awareness?
There exists no document from the ancient world, witnessed by so excellent a set of textual and historical testimonies . . .
Skepticism regarding the historical credentials of Christianity is based upon an irrational bias
FACT #4: ROMAN GUARD GOES AWOL
ACT #4: ROMAN GUARD GOES AWOL
The Roman guards fled. They left their place of responsibility. How can their attrition be explained, when Roman military discipline was so exceptional?
total*.
Richin, in Digest #49, mentions all the offenses that required the death penalty. The fear of their superiors' wrath and the possibility of death meant that they paid close attention to the most minute details of their jobs. One way a guard was put to death was by being stripped of his clothes and burned alive in a fire started with his garments. If it was not apparent which soldier had failed in his duty, then lops were drawn to see what one would be punished with death or failure. Certainly the entire unit was in deep despair with that kind of threat over their heads. Dr. George Currie, a student of Roman military discipline, wrote that fear of punishment "produced flawless attention to duty, especially in the night watches."
FACT #5: GRAVECLOTHES TELL A TALE
FACT #5: GRAVECLOTHES
In a literal sense against all statements to the contrary, the tomb was not totally empty; perhaps of an amazing phenomenon. John, a disciple of Jesus himself, arrived to the place where the body of Jesus had lain, and there he grazed the clothes, in the form of the body, slightly caved in and—like the empty chrysalis of a caterpillar's cocoon. That's enough to make a believer out of anybody. John never did get over it.
to make a believer out of say yeah people). The first thing that stuck in the minds of the disciples was not the empty tomb, but rather the empty grave clothes—undisturbed in form and position.
FACT #6: JESUS' APPEARANCES CONFIRMED
of that first easier!
When studying an event in history, it is important to know whether enough people who were participants or eyewitnesses to the event were alive when the facts about the event were published. To know this is obviously helpful in ascertaining the accuracy of the published report. If the number of eyewitnesses is substantial, the event can be regarded as fairly well established. For instance, if we all witness a murder, and a later police report turns out to be a fabrication of lies, we as eyewitnesses can refute it.
Figure 34 Christ appeared alive on several occasions after the cataclysmic events of that first Easter
OVER 500 WITNESSES
number of Witnesses records of Christ's appearing after the resurrection is by Paul. The apples appealed to his audience's knowledge of the fact that Christ had appeared by more than 500 people at one time. Paul reminded them that the majority of those people were still alive and could be questioned. Dr. Edwin M. Yamauchi, associate professor of history at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, emphasizes: "What gives a special authority to the list (of witnesses) as historical evidence is the reference to most of the five hundred brethren being still alive. St. Paul says in effect, 'If you do not believe me, you can ask them.' Such a statement in an admittedly genuine letter written within thirty years of the event is almost as strong evidence as one could hope to get for something that happened nearly two thousand years ago."
Several very important factors are often overlooked when considering Christ's post-resurrection appearances to individuals. The first is the large number of witnesses of Christ after that resurrection morning ___
thousand years ago.
Let's take the more than 500 witnesses who saw Jesus alive after His resurrection and place them in a courtroom. Do you realize that if each of those 500 people were to testify for only six minutes, including cross-examination, you would have an amazing 50 hours of firsthand testimony? Add to this the testimony of many other eyewitnesses and you would have the largest and most lopsided trial in history.
HOSTILE WITNESSES
Another factor crucial to interpreting Christ's appearances is that He also appeared to those who were hostile or unconvinced
also appeared to those who were hostile or ill-treated. Over and over again, I have read or heard his comment that Jesus
was seen alive after His death and burial only by His friends and Using that argument, they attempt to water down the overwhelming impact of the multiple eyewitness accounts. But that line of reasoning is so pathetic it hardly deserves comment author or informed individual would regard Saint Paul as being a follower of Christ. The facts show the exact opposite. Paul despised Christ and esteemed his followers. It was a life-shattering experience when Christ appeared to him. He sat at the time not a disciple, he later became the apostle Paul, one of the greatest witnesses for the truth of the resurrection.
resurrection
The argument that Christ's appearances were only to follow him is a argument for the most part from silence, and arguments from silence can be dangerous. It is equally possible that all to whom Jesus appeared became followers. No one acquainted with the facts can accurately say that Jesus appeared to just "an insignificant few."
Christians believe that Jesus was bodily resurrected in time and space by the supernatural power of God. The difficulties of belief may be great, but they are usually not so great as the mysteries of life.
The theories advanced to explain the resuerie that by *10^6* human causes are weak; they actually help to build confidence in the truth of the resuerie.
If the resurrection-claim was merely because of a geographical mistake, the Jewish authorities would have lost no time in producing the body from the proper tomb, thus effectively quenching for all time any rumor resurrection.
THE WRONG TOMB?
HALLUCINATIONS?
A theory propounded by Kirsopp Lake assumes that the women who reported that the body was missing had mistakenly gone to the wrong tomb. If so, then the disciples who went to check up on the women's statement must have also gone to the wrong tomb. We may be certain, however, that Jewish authorities, who asked for a Roman guard, could not have been mistaken about the location. Nor would the Roman guards, for they were there!
Another attempted explanation claims that the appearances of Jesus after the resurrection were either illusions or hallucinations. I supported by the psychological principles governing the appearances of hallucinations, this theory also does not contain a logical justification for resurrection. Again, where does why was it (it produced) why was it (it produced)?
Skeptic David Friedrich Strauss—certainly no believer in the result blow to any thought
MOMENTS DON'T BOTH THE MEMBERS HUST, JUST PRASED OUT ON THE EROSS, WHEN WORK UP IN THE TOM, PUSHED UP. THE TWO STONE, OVERPOWERD THE ROMAN SOLDIERS, AND escaped.
blow to any thought that Jesus revived from a swoon. "It is impossible that a being who had stolen half the sepulchre, who creapt about weak and ill, wanting immeasurement, treatment, who required bandaging, strengthening and indulgence, and who still at last yielded to its sufferings, could have given to the disciples the impression that He was a Conqueror over death and the grave, the Prince of Life, an impression which lay at the bottom of their future ministry. Such a resuscitation could only have weakened the impression which He had made upon them in life and in death, at the most concord only have given it an elegant voice, but could by no possibility have changed their sorrow into enthusiasm, have elevated their reworked into worship."
THE BODY STOLEN?
Then consider the theory that the body was stolen by the disciples while the guards slept. The depression and cowardly of the disciples provide a hardhitting argument against their suddenly becoming so brave and daring as to face a detachment of soldiers at the tomb and steal the body. They were in no mood to attempt anything like that.
The theory that the Jewish or Roman authorities moved Christ's body is no more responsible an explanation for the empty tomb than by the disciples of the authorities had the body in their possession or knew where they prayed, when the disciples were preaching the resurrection in Jerusalem, didn't they explain "Wait! We moved the body, see. He didn't rise from the grave?"
And if such a rebuttal failed, why didn't they explain exactly where Jesus' body lay? If this failed, why didn't they recover the corpse, put it on a cart, and wheel it through the center of Jerusalem? Such an action would have destroyed Christianity—not in the cradle, but in the womb!
THE RESURRECTION IS A FACT
THE RESOURCE REQUEST
Professor Thomas Arnold, for 14 years a headmaster of Rugby, author of the famous, *History of Rome*, and appointed to the chair of modern history at Oxford, was well acquainted with the value of evidence in determining historical facts. This great scholar said, "I have been used for many no study of the histories of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than the great sign which God hath given us that Christ died and rose again from the dead.
Brooke Foss Westcott, an English scholar, said, "Taking all the evidence together, it is not too much to say that there is no historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Christ. Nothing but the antecedent assumption that it must be false could have suggested the idea of deficiency in the proof of it."
REAL PROOF: THE DISCIPLES' LIVES
REAL PROOF. THE DISCUSSION
But the most telling testimony of all must be the lives of those early Christians. We must ask ourselves. What caused them to go everywhere telling the message of the risen Christ?
If the New Testament were a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond all doubt.
F. F. Bruce
Manchester University
Had there been any visible benefits accrued to them from their efforts prestige, wealth, increased social status or material benefit—we might logically attempt to account for their actions, for their wholehearted and to talienge to this "risen Christ."
tal allegiance to this risen command. As a reward for their efforts, however, those early Christians were beaten, stoned to death, thrown to the lions, tortured and crucified. Every conceivable method was used to stop them from talking
certain fact that they have lived their lives as the ultimate proof of their complete confidence in the truth of their message.
WHERE DO YOU STAND?
How do you evaluate this overwhelming historical evidence? What is your decision about the fact of Christ's empty tomb? What do you think of Christ?
of Christ?
I resumed if I was confronted with the overwhelming evidence for Christ's resurrection, I had to ask the logical question: "What difference does all this evidence make to me? What difference does it make whether or not I believe Christ rose again and died on the cross for my sins? It is put best by something Jesus said to a man who did nothing — Thomas Jesus told him that he was dead, and the fact that no one comes to the resurrection through Me." (John 14:6)
On the basis of all the evidence for Christ's resurrection, and considering the fact that Jesus offers forgiveness of sin and an eternal relationship with God, who would be so foolhardy as to reject Him? Christ is alive! He is living today.
The prayer I prayed is "Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. Open the door of my life and trust You as my Savior. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person you want to be. Thank You that I can trust You."
You can trust God right now by faith through prayer. Prayer is talking with God, God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. If you have never trusted Christ, you can do so right now. I am Loved You. Thank You for dying
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