The Significance of the Resurrection
In chapter 22, The Resurrection of Jesus, Groothuis calls the resurrection of Jesus the crowning credential of Christ. No other religion or worldview is based on the resurrection of its founder. Some claim that Christians stole the idea of the resurrection from various mystery religions as in the film The God Who Wasn’t There (2005). Groothuis states that the early church could not have drawn no inspiration from such stories in their accounts of the risen Christ and the empty tomb, nor were mystery religions well established during the time of Jesus or the early church.
Paul makes it clear in 1 Corinthians 15 that Christianity without a risen Christ is pointless.
For apologetic purposes, Groothuis marshals arguments for the reality of the resurrection and takes seriously any claims to the contrary.
Theism and The Resurrection of Christ
The resurrection of Jesus is part of a theistic worldview. The convincing case for theism makes belief in the resurrection of Christ much easier than obviously, the worldview of atheism or agnostism. Of course, died in the wool, critical New Testament scholars reject the clear evidence because of their commitment to methodological naturalism that must never admit a supernatural explanation for anything.
Are Miracles Credible?
David Hume charged that miracle stories are never believable. Groothuis defines miracles as signs of the in-breaking of God’s kingdom. Deist have argued that belief in miracles is tantamount to claiming that God botched the original version of creation and now must monkey with it in order to bring it up to speed. David Hume famously defined a miracle as “a violation of the laws of nature” (Of Miracles in Writings on Religion, p. 68). Groothuis responds: But miracles do not break natural laws. The Christ raised Lazarus, people all over the world were still dying and staying dead. The law of nature had not been changed.
Hume’s Argument against Miracles
Hume’s first argument is the in-principle that belief in miracles is never intellectually justified because it is always more probable that the purported miracles can be explained naturally. But if God exists, miracles are then possible by which to determine that a miracle has occurred.
Hume’s second argument that all miracles are claimed by “ignorant and barbarous nations” (ibid, i.e., p. 72). C. S. Lewis argued that an ancient Jew such as Joseph, whatever his scientific naiveté, could recognize that his fiancée’s virgin pregnancy was not caused by natural means.
Jesus’ Character and the Resurrection
Antony Flew spoke with Gary Habermas about his abandonment of atheism for a minimal form of theism (or deism), Flew, while not a believer in the resurrection, made this telling point about Christianity’s claim of resurrection with respect to other miracle claims: The evidence for the resurrection is better than for claimed miracles in any other religion. It’s outstandingly different in quality and quantity, I think, from the evidence offered for the occurrence of most other supposedly miraculous events” (My Pilgrimage from Atheism to Theism: A Discussion Between Antony Flew and Gary Habermas, p. 209).
Minimal Facts and Maximal Results: Resurrection
This strategy enlists a set of “minimal facts” contained in the New Testament that are accepted by the majority of critical New Testament scholars, both liberal and conservative, on the basis of certain criteria. It is then argued that these minimal facts are best explained on the basis of the resurrection of Jesus and not according to any hypothesis.
1. Death by crucifixion.
2. Burial in a known tomb.
3. The empty tomb.
4. The postmortem appearances of Jesus.
The Transformation of the Disciples
It this resurrection did not actually occur how can we account for the origin and rapid spread of Christianity across the face of the ancient world? How did the same disciples---who could not pray one hour for their Lord before his crucifixion and who scattered after his capture---be the same evangelists who braved persecution and martyrdom for a resurrected Jesus?
The Early Worship of Jesus
Larry Hurtado emphasizes, it is extremely odd and unlikely that the zealously monotheistic Jews of Jesus’ day would be found worshiping a human being. Jesus’ resurrection is, in fact, the best explanation for why ancient monotheistic Jews would worship him as divine.
Circumstantial Evidence
Both church ordinances are based on the resurrection of Christ and “would have been a complete travesty had the earliest Christians not believed that Jesus rose from the dead” (Michael Green, Empty Cross of Jesus, p. 94). The early Jewish believers changed the day of worship from the Sabbath to the first day of the week and thus broke thousands of years of Jewish tradition to honor Christ’s resurrection.
Spiritual Experiences in History and Today
The fact that millions of Christ’s followers around the globe for the last two thousand years have testified to the reality of their risen Savior’s claims lends credibility to the reality of the resurrection.
Alternative Naturalistic Theories
Blaise Pascal in Pensees presents the essential dichotomy that if Christ was not raised the disciples were either innocently deceived or culpable deceivers. The most popular explanation for this is the hallucination theory.
Hallucinated or Resurrected?
If the defeated and depressed group of disciples overnight could change into a victorious movement of faith, based only on autosuggestion or self-deception---without a fundamental faith experience---then this would be a much greater miracle than the resurrection itself (Lapide Resurrection of Jesus, p. 126).
A Christian Conspiracy?
The disciples did not have the popper motive nor the means to pull off this conspiracy. For these reasons, this view is not offered in scholarly circles in modern times.
Was it a Corpse Heist?
The disciples would not have stolen the body of Christ and then later died for a lie. Grave robbers robbed the graves of the rich not the poor like Christ. This still does not explain the many post-resurrection appearances of Christ.
Are there Discrepancies in the Resurrection Accounts?
In fact, some minor differences in the telling of this story indicate authenticity, not substantial error. If each account perfectly mirrored the rest, this would likely be a sign of collusion, not accurate history told from differing (but equally truthful) perspectives.
Christ is Risen Indeed!
In a theistic universe miracles (including the resurrection of Christ) are not impossible but possible, since a transcendent, morally impeccable, immensely powerful being exists who could perform them.