This is the brochure that is sold with the T-Shirt. It is designed to equip the wearer of the T-shirt with some basic knowledge required to explain and defend what is on the shirt.
Q. Did Jesus rise from the dead?
A. Jesus’ absent body and the disciples’ rapid success against hostile forces are good reasons to think he did.
Inside this brochure you will find more examples of evidences supporting the answer, as well as suggested arguments you can use, arguments we suggest you don’t use, and references for further study.
Contents:
A. Quick overview
B. Evidences
C. Suggested Arguments to use
D. Suggested Arguments not to use
A. Quick Overview
It was Paul himself who said that if Jesus was not raised, we are of all men to be pitied (1 Cor. 15:12-19). Jesus offers only the ‘sign of Jonah’ to Pharisees seeking validation of Jesus’ teaching (Matt. 12:38ff). Though there are a great many important topics that Christians must be prepared to discuss, it is the resurrection that makes or breaks the Christian faith. It is important to note that Paul, in the passage cited above, does not make the resurrection a mere matter of faith, but submits the matter to evidence, namely, the testimony of all who had seen Jesus, some of whom were still alive when he was writing the Corinthians (15:5-8). Paul was daring them to ‘check it out.’ While we no longer have living witnesses to examine, we have numerous written accounts and the historical reality that something happened… something must explain the tremendous rise of the Christian church in the face of numerous persecutions. The best explanation is that Jesus rose from the dead, just as alleged by the witnesses. But even if someone disagrees with the best, it is still a reasonable explanation which ought not be dismissed.
B. Evidences
1. Testimony of the Eye-Witnesses. 1 Corinthians 15:5-8 provides a succinct list that includes Peter, the Twelve, and ‘500’ unnamed individuals. Even within Liberal scholarship, 1 Corinthians is considered an early document, coming in at around 55 AD, a mere 20 years after the alleged resurrection. Many of these witnesses went to their deaths for what they had seen, thus giving birth to the term ‘martyrs’ which is Greek for ‘witness.’
2. Missing body. The easiest way to falsify the new Christian heresy would have been to produce the body of Jesus, dead. It would be silly to imagine that no search was made - if you were the Pharisees having just had Jesus condemned to death, wouldn’t you check around for it? But there is resounding silence by the Jews on the point. The only hint of a rival explanation is that Jesus’ body was stolen by the disciples, and this is recorded for us by Matthew (28:11-15), not by the Jews. In fact, the fifth century Jewish “Toledot Yeshu” mocks the Christian account - but still admits a missing body. Furthermore, the so-called ‘Nazareth Inscription’ authorized by either Emperor Tiberius or Claudius warning against stealing bodies (a grave robber doesn’t normally steal bodies, after all) found in Palestine strongly suggests that a certain amount of mayhem had been generated by the alleged theft of a body. Our only point here is that there is no historical evidence at all that anyone ever produced the dead body of Jesus.
3. Hostile Witnesses. If no one had produced Jesus’ dead body, it can’t possibly be for lack of trying. We are not talking about an event happening in a dusty corner. Jesus’ resurrection is alleged to have occurred right on the tail end of the Passover holidays when Jerusalem, an area of only about a square mile, swelled to half a million fest-goers. The rumors would have been rampant and the powers that be would have wanted to squash them quickly. However, in Acts 2, we hear Peter addressing Jews in town for the next big holiday, Pentecost, in Jerusalem, a mere fifty days later. There is no record of anyone challenging Peter’s interpretation of events. In fact, it says that about three thousand people were converted that very day. Jerusalem would have been the last place one would want to spread a false account, as there would have been hordes that could have refuted you (provided your claims were tied to Jerusalem, as they are in this case). Yet it was here that the church grew most rapidly (Acts 2:41, 2:47, 4:4, 5:14,6:1, etc).
4. Rapid Growth of the Church. Acts 2:6-11 gives us an idea of all the regions the Jews were from who first heard the Gospel, and helps explain how there were receptive Jewish communities as the disciples began their journeys. When you trace on your map Corinth, Galatia, Rome, etc, and compare with when their respective documents were written, you can infer reasonably that something must have compelled such growth. It is unreasonable to assume that people did not ‘check things out’ just because they lived two thousand years ago. Paul, we have shown counted on the fact that people could check out his claims (and see Acts 26:26).
C. Suggested Arguments to use.
The evidences already given provide directions to argue for the resurrection. It is very likely that some general mistrust of the New Testament documents will arise early on in the conversation, and usually reflect an anti-supernaturalistic bias. Point out that you can’t know if the supernatural is real unless you’ve ‘checked it out’ and if you use it as your litmus test, it is circular reasoning. You can move on from there by pointing out that some of the evidences given aren’t all that remarkable: The Nazareth Inscription, accounts of rapid growth, a missing body. These are not in themselves ‘supernatural.’ Challenge the person to provide his own explanation for the rise of the church, and insist on the use of evidence. After all, you’re using evidence, so they should, too. Recent media like ‘The Da Vinci Code’ are filled with clever conspiracies but precious little fact. The claim that Jesus rose from the dead - powerfully compelling when it was first made and still today - is not shown to be false by mere conspiracy theories. Consult Apologia315.com for even more fodder.
D. Suggested Arguments not to use.
Do not use a personal encounter with the risen Lord, or a Spirit filled event, as your evidence for the resurrection. True, this sort of personal experience must be factored in by you as you develop your world view, but unless the person you are talking to is a dear friend who trusts you deeply, such personal experiences are in the minds of many, just that- personal. There would be nothing wrong with returning to such experiences after you’ve dealt with the resurrection as an objective fact of history that either happened or did not happen. We must remember our challenge to the Mormons - even demons can masquerade as angels of light (2 Cor. 11:14) - and remember that our worldview admits the possibility of being deceived… even by supernatural forces. It also does no good to say that you believe he rose from the dead “because the Bible says so” since the only reason you have for believing the Bible in the first place is if you trust it is telling you the truth, primarily about the Resurrection. Saying ‘because the Bible says so’ when you are prepared to provide solid reasons might work, and this also respects people’s intelligence and natural doubts.
Copyright Apologia315.com 2007