How can a respected scientist believe in the resurrection? Can I trust the Bible’s account that Jesus actually rose from the dead? If the resurrection really occurred, of what importance is it to you and me? Our ready embrace of the authority of science has left many doubting that Jesus’s resurrection was a verifiable, historical event. Yet Thomas Miller, an experienced scientist and well-respected surgeon, challenges the notion that modern medicine has disproved the possibility of the resurrection. Through careful investigation of the evidence and evaluation of its reliability, Dr. Miller demonstrates that science and religion are not incompatible and makes a compelling case for the reality of the resurrection.
Major feature films such The Passion of the Christ and Risen, and books such as Bill O'Reilly's Killing Jesus raise many questions about one of the greatest controversies in history--what really happened to the crucified body of Jesus of Nazareth. Using a popular question-and-answer format, this book examines the historical evidence concerning the fate of Jesus. Did Jesus really die on the cross? If so, what became of his body? Was it stolen? Misplaced? Is the resurrection a cleverly devised plot to found a new religion? Did the disciples of Jesus hallucinate? Is the Resurrection of Jesus a myth developed decades later, after the original disciples' experience of Jesus was distorted by a subsequent generation? Or did Jesus rise from the dead, as he promised and as his disciples came to believe and sacrifice their lives to proclaim? Carl Olson carefully weighs the evidence with in-depth analysis. Whether you are a believer, a skeptic, or something in between, be prepared to have your thinking challenged by this provocative and insightful book.
Seems reasonable…perhaps Jesus was comatose. Or perhaps his body was stolen. Or maybe the women arrived at the wrong tomb…they were grieving, after all; it would have been an honest mistake. There are any number of explanations. Dr. William Lane Craig uses well-documented historical facts to explore the evidence that surrounds the days following Jesus’ crucifixion. Without assuming “the Bible says so,” Did Jesus Rise from the Dead” presents positive religious, cultural, and historical evidence for the reality of the resurrection while breaking down the six most common hypotheses used to explain the unusual events that unfolded from the moment Christ breathed his last. Thoroughly researched, yet deftly digestible, Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? belongs in the library of any apologist, skeptic, or seeker.
[This] is the most important question regarding the claims of the Christian faith. Certainly no question in modern religious history demands more attention or interest, as witnessed by the vast body of literature dealing with the Resurrection. James I. Packer says it well in his response to this debate: 'When Christians are asked to make good their claim that this scheme is truth, they point to Jesus' resurrection. The Easter event, so they affirm, demonstrated Jesus' deity; validated his teaching; attested to the completion of his work of atonement for sin; confirms his present cosmic dominion and coming reappearance as Judge; assures us that his personal pardon, presence, and power in people's lives today is fact; and guarantees each believer's own reembodiment by Resurrection in the world to come.' The Apostle Paul considered the Resurrection to be the cornerstone of the Christian faith. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, the whole structure, Christianity, collapses. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:14-17, 'And if Christ has not been raised, 'our preaching is useless and so is you faith.' More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God. . . . And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile [emphasis added].' The Christian faith-and its claim to be Truth-exists only if Jesus rose from the dead. The heart of Christianity is a living Christ.
"A phenomenal resource that is both user-friendly and up-to-date, [and will] equip believers to defend this crucial issue." - Josh McDowell. Includes an interactive CD in a game-show format to test your memory of the key issues and concepts.
Although the resurrection is the keystone dogma of Christian belief, and Sunday churchgoers rarely if ever think to question it, scholarly research shows with the utmost clarity that from a historical standpoint Jesus was not raised from the dead. In fact, it is almost universally recognized among scholars of New Testament textual criticism that the gospel narratives describing the resurrection appearances are not reliable eyewitness accounts, but expressions of faith written by the first Christian believers long after the death of Jesus.In this thorough exegesis of the primary texts dealing with the resurrection of Jesus, New Testament expert Gerd Lüdemann (University of Göttingen) presents compelling evidence that shows the resurrection was not a historical event and further argues that this development leaves little, if any, basis for Christian faith as presently defined.Beginning with Paul's testimony in 1 Cor. 15: 3-8, in which the apostle declares that Jesus has been raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, Lüdemann systematically evaluates every reference to Jesus' resurrection in the New Testament, as well as apocryphal literature. He examines the purpose of the text writers, the ways in which they reworked tradition, and the historical value of each account. Through this approach, he offers a reconstruction of the probable course of events as well as the circumstances surrounding Jesus' death on the cross, the burial of his body, his reported resurrection on the third day, and subsequent appearances to various disciples.Since the historical evidence leads to the firm conclusion that Jesus' body was not raised from the dead, Lüdemann argues that the origin of the Easter faith must be sought in the visionary experiences of Christianity's two leading apostles. From a modern perspective this leads to the inescapable conclusion that both primary witnesses to Jesus' resurrection, Peter and Paul, were victims of self-deception.In conclusion, he asks whether in light of the nonhistoricity of Jesus' resurrection, thinking people today can legitimately and in good conscience still call themselves Christians.Gerd Lüdemann is a professor of the history and literature of early Christianity at the University of Göttingen, Germany. Professor Lüdemann's published conclusions about Christianity aroused great controversy in his native Germany, where the Confederation of Protestant Churches in Lower Saxony demanded his immediate dismissal from the theological faculty of his university. Despite this threat to his academic freedom, he has retained his post at the university, although the chair he holds was renamed to disassociate him from the training program of German pastors. Lüdemann is also the author of Jesus After 2000 Years, Paul: The Founder of Christianity, and The Resurrection of Christ: A Historical Inquiry.
This updated edition by one of the world's leading apologists presents a systematic, positive case for Christianity that reflects the latest work in the contemporary hard sciences and humanities. Brilliant and accessible.
Edited by Paul Copan and Ronald Tacelli, this is a lively and provocative debate between Christian philosopher William Lane Craig and New Testament scholar and atheist Gerd Lüdemann on the historical truth of the resurrection.
Were the resurrection appearances real physical events - or nothing more than grief-induced hallucinations? What does it mean to say, Jesus rose from the dead? Dissatisfied with what he regarded as evasive answers given by theologians and scholars about the nature of the resurrection of Jesus, Gerd Ludemann here subjects the New Testament traditions to a thorough investigation. In particular, Ludemann is concerned with the story of the empty tomb and the subsequent appearance stories first related by Peter. Ludemann's startling and somewhat radical conclusions have created a stir in Europe. This book, written for nonspecialists, presents Ludemann's provocative conclusions. Readers will find a positive, albeit a revolutionary, new way of viewing the resurrection.
The earliest traditions around the narrative of Jesus' resurrection are considered in this landmark work by Dale C. Allison, Jr, drawing together the fruits of his decades of research into this issue at the very core of Christian identity. Allison returns to the ancient sources and earliest traditions, charting them alongside the development of faith in the resurrection in the early church and throughout Christian history. Beginning with historical-critical methodology that examines the empty tomb narratives and early confessions, Allison moves on to consider the resurrection in parallel with other traditions and stories, including Tibetan accounts of saintly figures being assumed into the light, in the chapter “Rainbow Body”. Finally, Allison considers what might be said by way of results or conclusions on the topic of resurrection, offering perspectives from both apologetic and sceptical viewpoints. In his final section of “modest results” he considers scholarly approaches to the resurrection in light of human experience, adding fresh nuance to a debate that has often been characterised in overly simplistic terms of “it happened” or “it didn't”.
