Christ Ressurection

Christ Resurrection. Minimal facts approach. The minimal facts approach seeks to prove the resurrection of Christ by use of a few facts. Secular scholars that have studied the approach have accepted it due to the historical defenses that support it which are in no way influenced by doctrines sourced from the Word of God. The scholarly approach, pioneered in the 1970’s by a philosopher Gary R. Habermas, seeks to establish reliability in the Bible and portrays Christianity as a historical fact. In applying the minimal facts approach in the resurrection of Jesus we could say that Christ’s resurrection makes him truly a special being worthy of all the recognition.
A few facts such as, “after his crucifixion, Jesus was buried in a tomb of stone by Joseph of Arimathea. Jesus died on the cross, a fact that is accounted for in all the gospel books. It was also attested by Paul when he wrote that he was passing a message he had received, that Christ had died for people’s sins in accordance with the scriptures, he was buried, raised on the third day and appeared to Cephas then the twelve disciples.
A few secular historians like Josephus, Mara Bar-Serapion, Lucian and Tacitus agreed that Jesus Christ was executed by crucifixion. Their writings serve as references which make the Crucifixion impossible to disapprove since it would be ironical for these scholars to write an untrue philosophy about a man they did not reference. Crossan(1991) wrote, “His crucifixion is as sure anything historical can ever be”(394).

If He would not have risen from the dead even the disciples may not have gone on to proclaim Him in writing, He would have been seen as an ordinary man.
The disciples believed and preached that Jesus resurrected. He also appeared to all of them. The gospels give us brief snapshots of Jesus’ life and even though the order varies from book to book the story of passion has a chronological sequence of events until after the burial. Proclamation of such a claim would have resulted in very dire consequences on the disciples. Following this, they experienced and had to endure horrid punishments which demonstrate its legitimacy. It is hard to imagine anyone believing a made up story and standing by it to the point of torture and even death.
Joseph (of Arimathea) was a Jewish leader he had a seat in the Jewish court, yet he was on the front line to ensure Jesus received a proper burial. Ironic, as leaders like him were the ones quick to judge and demand persecution of both the Lord and the disciples, opposing all men and consequently displeasing God. In the records, there is no other burial story that competes with this one. If at all there was, there would have been a famous account or even traces documenting this.
The third day following the crucifixion, a Sunday, Jesus tomb was found empty by a group of his women followers. Allegations made in the book of Matthew that the disciples stole the body of the Saviour further back the fact that the tomb was empty. Even Halliburon(1987) stated that” All this time, most interpreters of the scriptures believe in the reliability of the statements concerning the empty tomb’(16). Multiple eyewitnesses claim to have encountered Him in the flesh post-mortem. These attestations guarantee the fact that he rose. It was written that He appeared to up to five hundred brethren at one time, James, Cephas (Peter) and the twelve.
I strongly agree with the use of the minimal facts approach to defending the resurrection story. The approach uses information that scholars and critics agree with. Its use does not take away the role of the Holy Spirit but brings forth the possibility of a deeper discussion of the gospel. It has also helped cancel out the uncertainty in the events of Christ’s resurrection.
How the question of legend pertains to the resurrection
A legend is a well-known traditional story often regarded as historical, but it cannot be authenticated. The legend theory states that biblical accounts of the resurrection are a legend that gained popularity over time admitting that Jesus was a historical figure and certain things in the Bible actually happen, although over time certain additions were made that replaced the actual truth. It is important to deal with the question of legend as the early church enunciated the account almost immediately after Jesus died. This means that there was not enough time to create, propagate and ensure that a made up story went around and was in actuality believable. Gospel accounts were also first-century historical accounts, therefore; more time would have been required to spoil the historical core of the story.
Legend theories take on three main types: embellishments, non-historical genre and myths of other religions. They allow people to decide for themselves whether something is real or not. Testimonies made by eye-witnesses argue against the embellishment argument. The fact that there were disciples, Paul and James who believed in the events to be true argues against the non- historical aspect of it being a legend theory. Another theory used is that resurrection was stolen from ancient myths of resurrected gods. It, however, does not hold any weight since the myths that are supposedly parallel Jesus’ rise from the dead show plenty of dissimilarity. Clearly, the resurrection story is no myth or story.
Dates of the writing of the gospels and dates of the origination of the first Christian creeds prove the legend theories wrong. In Corinthians 15, which was written between the years 55-57, we see that without a doubt, Jesus died and resurrected and was seen by many witnesses. This shows that there was no time for any legend to cause embellishments to what the disciples witnessed and testified to.
The Apostles Creed has grown to become a central part of worship where individuals declare their belief in the Trinity and resurrection. It had to be a mutually agreed upon a standard so that their preaching would not vary. It establishes its approval on the resurrection since it was ordained by all of the apostles as a confession of faith that they followed which were things they believed in.
In the long run, we see that legend is clearly not the culprit behind resurrection. In my opinion, firsthand accounts of what took place made by Matthew and John and secondhand testimonies by Mark and Luke back up this finding. Paul and James’ conversion from which they previously were into subsequent ministry also carry weight. The evidence they put forward about the empty tomb as well as how they portrayed Jesus life as a historical event also holds water.
Proof that Jesus was raised from the dead
The principle of proportionality demands there to be evidence for extraordinary claims. It is hard to imagine that since the dawn of time, approximately a hundred billion people have lived but not one of them was seen to have returned to life which makes this a very extraordinary claim, a miracle. This makes evidence put forward on the same makes it harder for historians to justify. In order to discredit it, one may put forward a claim that maybe those that claimed to have seen this were superstitious and may have reported only feeling Christ ‘in spirit’ and over time heir testimony may have been altered to suggest otherwise. This bids the question, why was Jesus silent when Pontius Pilate sort to know the truth (John 18: 38).
Proof that Jesus was raised from the dead all depends on an individual’s definition of the word proof. Even historians, when speaking of events long gone usually do not address them with at most certainty as they were not physically present when those events took place. It is somewhat impossible to prove that Jesus was raised from the dead; however, Craig (2010) acknowledges that historical evidence is enough since it was an attestation made by people who were physically there at the time (par.3).
In light of this, the factors mentioned above that bring clarity on whether the resurrection happens to guide toward a very high possibility that the events occurred. The certainties rely on pieces of evidence we have rather than proof. Countless apostles and Christians in the Roman era have died while defending Him and even today people face persecution because they have faith that the Messiah rose from the dead. The existence of thousands of manuscripts on the New Testament also fuels the proof as there is certainly no other piece of literature that has had such longevity as this one.
To counter any other apologetic arguments we can use the evidence we have, but since critics will always exist we will always have proof and not evidence. This means that if we had proof there wouldn’t be a need for argument as the resurrection would be an undeniably accepted truth. The resurrection also further confirms the existence of God. In Craig’s words, “If there is no God, then man and the universe are doomed. Like prisoners condemned to death, we await our unavoidable execution. The consequences of this are that there would be no meaning for life. It means that the life we have is without ultimate significance, value, or purpose.” All in all, it brings forth belief in Christianity and is and a starting point towards sharing the good news about Christ to others.
Bibliography
Craig, William. On guard: Defending your faith with reason and precision, Oregon: David Cook, 2010.
Halliburton, John. The authority of a bishop, Michigan: SPCK, 1987.
Crossan, John. The Historical Jesus: The life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant. Harper Collins, 1991.
Heninger, David. Historical Evidence and argument. University of Wisconsin Press, 2006.
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