If He is God, He speaks with absolute certainty and final authority. But then why did 10 of the disciples willingly die as martyrs for their belief in the resurrection? Are they all from God? Why is this important? No one would be foolish enough to believe a man had raised from the dead when his body lay dead in the tomb for all to see. Scholars such as William Lane Craig, J.P. Moreland, Gary Habermas, and others have done an especially good job of detailing that evidence.1 It is the aim of this article to offer a sort of synthesis of some of their key points and show the strength of the historical evidence for the resurrection of Christ. Thus, if we reject the resurrection, we are left with a second inexplicable mystery--first the empty tomb and now the appearances. We will see that the resurrection of Christ is the best explanation for each of them individually. Hallucinations are highly individual, and not group projections. How does such chronic pain bring him glory? That is the first-hand testimony of Peter and James. These three truths create a strongly woven, three chord rope that cannot be broken. The best explanation seems to be that Paul's death and Jerusalem's destruction are omitted because the book of Acts had been completed before they happened. Second, how can the myth theory explain the evidence for the empty tomb? Also, if the burial account was legendary, one would expect to find conflicting traditions--which we don't have. So it is impossible to get around the fact that Jesus claimed to be God. The forgiveness that Jesus died and rose to provide is given to those who trust in Him for salvation and a happy future. Therefore, if the burial account is accurate the empty tomb is likely to be accurate as well. Their concept was always that everybody would be raised together at the end of time. The resurrection of Christ provides genuine hope for eternal life. Remember that the Jewish leaders were opposed to Christianity. It is generally agreed by critical scholars that Paul receive this creed from Peter and James between 3-5 years after the crucifixion. People on this ruling class were simply too well known for fictitious stories about them to be pulled off in this way. So the legend theory is not very plausible. The Bible says that Christ's resurrection is the pattern that those who believe in Him will follow. What did Jesus say about the Bible? So why would they admit that the tomb was empty unless the evidence was too strong to be denied? For example, you would have to propose that the Jews stole the body, then the disciples hallucinated, and then somehow the pagan mystery religions influenced their beliefs to make them think of a resurrection. The penalty for our sins must be paid. He has enough on his plate. Perhaps the disciples were wrong and had been deceived by a hallucination? The apostle Paul says "He was delivered up because of our sins." William Lane Craig points out that there are three possible causes: Christian influences, pagan influences, or Jewish influences. Hallucinations, like dreams, generally don't transfer like that. Because Jesus says that by trusting in Him, we will be forgiven of our sins and thereby escape being condemned at the judgment. Dr. Paul Maier calls this "positive evidence from a hostile source. Finally, the existence of the Christian church is strong proof for the resurrection. First, the resurrection was preached in the same city where Jesus had been buried shortly before. Further, the hallucination theory cannot explain the conversion of Paul, three years later. Instead, we have testimony from the very people who claimed to have experienced it. ↩, Matt Perman is the director of career navigation at. The resurrection of Christ proves something very personal and significant to each of us--we will have to give an account of ourselves to a holy God. Second, most of the sources which contain parallels originated after Christianity was established. So we see that if the resurrection did not happen, there is no plausible way to account for the origin of the Christian faith. But since He rose from the dead, it would be foolish not to believe it. Then three men come out of the tomb, with their heads reaching up to the clouds. Sixth, we have seen that the empty tomb narrative lacks the classic traits of legendary development. So they couldn't have circulated a story about him burying Jesus unless it was true. What is the evidence for this? It comprises 18 folios and measures 21 × 15 centimetres. Furthermore, after witnessing events such as Watergate, can we reasonably believe that the disciples could have covered up such a lie? Since Acts is volume 2 of Luke's writings, the book of Luke being the first, then the Gospel of Luke was even earlier, perhaps 62. The best explanation is that Christ in fact rose from the dead! This is significant because it shows that the Jews did not deny the empty tomb. First, we have seen that the testimony of the resurrection goes back to the original experiences. I will accept the testimony of Jesus over what I would like to be true and over the opinions of other men and women. Whether in business or within the family; whether in the Church, or across communities and governmental authorities; if unity is present, these entities will thrive. In recent years, we, as a society, have undergone a … The lyric "I can take humiliation and hurtful comments from the boss" refers to the shop's owner, Middle Mr. Turnley. How to Have a Personal Relationship With God (Christianity). Fourth, the early disciples were Jews, and it would have been unthinkable for a Jew to borrow from another religion. His conversion was in fact too early for any myth to have developed by then. In other words, we ought to accept an event as historical if it gives the best explanation for the evidence surrounding it. William Lane Craig describes this as an approach where we "begin with the evidence available to us and then infer what would, if true, provide the best explanation of that evidence." Surely you are going to accept the testimony of one who rose from the dead over the testimony of a skeptical scholar who will one day die himself--without being able to raise himself on the third day. The Zappos brand would become successful enough to be acquired by Amazon for $1.2 billion. How then can we explain his conversion? It explains the empty tomb, the resurrection appearances, and the existence of the Christian church. Third, the myth theory cannot explain the origin of the Christian faith--for we have already seen that the real resurrection of Christ is the only adequate cause for the resurrection belief. In acknowledging the empty tomb, they were admitting the reality of a fact that was certainly not in their favor. This is also another good argument against the theory that the disciples were hallucinating. And if we are honest with ourselves, we will have to admit that we do not measure up to his standard. When so many voices are saying, “Follow your heart,” Christians know better than to trust all of our impulses and desires. Trust Jesus--He rose from the dead. Sometimes that which we are doing is correct enough but simply needs to be persisted in patiently, not for a minute or a moment but sometimes for years. Now, Peter and James are listed in this creed as having seen the risen Christ. On this view, the disciples knew that Jesus had not really risen, but they made up this story about the resurrection. How to get my glyph: Spoiler Ill be putting a few codes on my last Mandachord video of the day, but I have additional ways to give out codes. The historical evidence for the resurrection of Christ is very good. It proves that our bodies will be resurrected one day. This is what legend looks like, and we see none of that in Mark's account of the empty tomb--or anywhere else in the gospels for that matter! Try it. Remember, as a subscriber, you can request any chart that you don't find here. "Earn Enough for Us" "Earn Enough for Us" is a power pop song with subject matter similar to Partridge's previous "Love on a Farmboy's Wages". This is striking because it was the 1st century custom to set up a shrine at the site of a holy man's bones. There is no other theory that even come close to accounting for the evidence. Because even the most skeptical NT scholars admit that the disciples at least believed that Jesus was raised from the grave. Why is this? Third, most of the similarities are often apparent and not real--a result of sloppy terminology on the part of those who explain them. #1 "Graves Into Gardens" by @, See the top 10 most downloaded chord charts by our users in January 2021! Let me close with the sixth reason the resurrection is significant. Third, many people are confused by the many different religions in the world. So the idea of one individual rising in the middle of history was foreign to them. But then we will see, even more significantly, that when these facts are taken together we have an even more powerful case for the resurrection--because the skeptic will not have to explain away just one historical fact, but three. Since there was no such shrine for Jesus, it suggests that his bones weren't there. Craig writes, "Since the belief in the resurrection was itself the foundation for Christianity, it cannot be explained as the later product of Christianity." But how does the reliability of Jesus' burial argue that the tomb was empty? Fourth, the resurrection of Christ proves that God will judge the world one day. Since the early disciples were Jews, they had no conception of the messiah rising from the dead in the middle of history. Because the testimony of women in 1st century Jewish culture was considered worthless. Your CCLI Profile provides you with one place to edit your personal details, manage account information, and access CCLI services such as SongSelect and Online Reporting. Worship chord charts and guitar tabs for gospel or black gospel music from artists like Todd Dulaney, Eddie James, William McDowell, Hezekiah Walker, Byron Cage, Tasha Cobbs and more. And trying to combine them will only make matters worse. In reality, serious scholars have almost universally rejected this theory since WWII, for several reasons. Here, you will find the largest collection of accurate charts for your favorite gospel worship artists like: Todd Dulaney, William McDowell, Clint Brown, Israel Houghton, Hezekiah Walker, People & Songs, Tasha Cobbs Leonard, William Murphy, Travis Greene, Eddie James, Jonathan Nelson, Kurt Carr, BJ Putnam, Byron Cage, Sinach and more! This brings us within twenty years of the events, which is not enough time for legends to develop. The disciples would have had no motive, either. Why does it matter? If we deny the resurrection, we are left with at least three inexplicable mysteries. But the fact is that even if we take only the passages which skeptical scholars admit as authentic, it can still be shown that Jesus claimed to be God. So it seems like the rational person will accept that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. One reason for this is because of the inclusion of Joseph of Arimethea as the one who buried Christ. 1 It is the aim of this article to offer a sort of synthesis of some of their key points and show the strength of the historical evidence for the resurrection of Christ. Thus, Judaism of that day could have never produced the resurrection hypothesis. Countless LGBTQ-identifying artists have come forward with their traumatic experiences growing up in the church. This would have been decisive evidence to refute the early Christians who were preaching the resurrection--for if the tomb had not been empty, it would have been evident to all and the disciples would have been exposed as frauds at worst, or insane at best. Therefore, we must accept his statement to be the only way to God: "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, except through me" (John 14:6). While I do believe these things, we are going to focus here on three truths that even critical scholars admit. If you belong to a faith, getting to know God through a personal relationship with him is the most rewarding thing one can do. Because of the absurdity of the theory that the disciples were lying, we can see why almost all scholars today admit that, if nothing else, the disciples at least believed that Jesus appeared to them. Since God is just, He cannot simply let our sins go. Second, have you ever wondered what reasons there are to believe in the Bible? So the early source Mark used puts the testimony of the empty tomb too early to be legendary. Because of the strong evidence for the empty tomb, most recent scholars do not deny it. How are we to know which religion is correct? Therefore, what Jesus said about the Bible must be true. Craig tells us that "they are self-confessedly without any explanation to offer. When we look at the evidence, the truth of the resurrection emerges very clearly as the best explanation. Now, if Jesus had stayed dead in the tomb, it would be foolish to believe this claim. Seventh, critical scholars agree that the resurrection message was the foundation of the preaching of the early church. In fact, they have been considered dead and refuted for almost a hundred years. Jesus' disciples had real experiences with one whom they believed was the risen Christ. They cannot all be true any more than 2+2 can equal both 4 and 5 at the same time. Then a talking cross comes out of the tomb! It answers that He did this because we are sinners. By a simple test: which religion gives the best evidence for its truth? They could not have done this if Jesus was still in his tomb--no one would have believed them. For example, even if two of these facts were to be explained away, there would still be the third truth to establishes the fact of the resurrection. This is not commonly disputed today because we have the testimony of the original disciples themselves that they saw Jesus alive again. Remember the eyewitness creed of 1 Corinthians 15:3-5? Because of the resurrection of Christ, believers will one day experience, forever, the freedom of having a glorified soul and body. As we have been reading through this great letter from Paul to the Romans, we have seen the gospel of Jesus Christ which is able to set men free. Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. But if Jesus did not rise, the disciples knew it. It will actually increase the degree of improbability. As Paul Althaus writes, the resurrection proclamation "could not have 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." I have written a paper elsewhere to demonstrate this. And because we have sinned, we are deserving of God's judgment. One of the brothers talked about unity — or the lack of it — and everything that was centered around that word really struck a chord with me. These three independently established facts also make alternative explanations less plausible. Would he be convinced by a myth? For they were zealous in their belief that the pagan religions were abhorrent to God. People will often die for a lie that they believe is the truth. In Matthew 28:11-15, there is a reference made to the Jew's attempt to refute Christianity be saying that the disciples stole the body. This cannot be done with hallucinations. He claimed to be God. By selling imported monkeys as pets to people door to door, Jones had saved enough money to open his own church in Indianapolis. Jesus' disciples did not go to some obscure place where no one had heard of Jesus to begin preaching about the resurrection, but instead began preaching in Jerusalem, the very city where Jesus had died and been buried. It has far reaching implications on our lives. Free chords, lyrics, videos and other song resources for "Christ Is Enough – Hillsong Worship" by Hillsong Worship. I will list two pieces. To begin, what is the evidence that the tomb in which Jesus was buried was discovered empty by a group of women on the Sunday following the crucifixion? Scholars such as William Lane Craig, J.P. Moreland, Gary Habermas, and others have done an especially good job of detailing that evidence. Next, there is the evidence that Jesus' disciples had real experiences with one whom they believed was the risen Christ. That is, the theory that explains the most of the evidence is more likely to be true. We’re on a mission to change that. There is simply no plausible natural explanation today to account for Jesus' tomb being empty. Get OnSong (for iPad) and PDF charts or import to Planning Center Onlin All of our resources exist to guide you toward everlasting joy in Jesus Christ. And since most scholars agree that Mark was the first gospel written, that gospel would have been composed even earlier, perhaps in the late 50s. Why is this important? This places the evidence for the empty tomb too early to be legendary, and makes it much more likely that it is accurate. The resurrection proves that those who trust in Christ will not be subject in eternity to a half-human existence in just their souls. One would like to think Woody is a big enough person to want him spared. So it is pretty well established that the early Jews admitted the empty tomb. Imagine if I came in here and said to you, "wasn't that a great dream I had last night?" All other religious leaders are still in their tombs. Jesus is the only religious leader who has risen from the dead. Even if we take each fact by itself, we have good enough evidence. This means that Acts was written before 64, when Paul died. A method commonly used today to determine the historicity of an event is "inference to the best explanation." Who would you believe? Seventh, the tomb was discovered empty by women. It acknowledges that the tomb was empty, and attempts to explain it away. Fifth, Jesus' tomb was never venerated as a shrine. Why might God allow his children to endure years, or even decades, of unremitting suffering? Is there good reason to believe that it was inspired by God, or is it simply a bunch of interesting myths and legends? We have also shown the unlikeliness that they hallucinated this belief. We would be left with a third inexplicable mystery. There were at least 50 such cites in Jesus' day. Clearly, both claims cannot be right! They would have been dying for a lie that they knew was a lie. The good news is that God, out of His love, became man in Jesus Christ in order to pay the penalty for sinners. If we deny the resurrection of Jesus, we are left with an inexplicable mystery." This is the central declaration of the gospel: Christ has come, he has died, he has risen again, and he has come into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit in order that we who believe in him might be free. Joseph was a member of the Jewish Sanhedrein, a sort of Jewish supreme court. But on a closer examination we see that they cannot all be from God, because they all contradict each other. Thus, they wouldn't have just been dying for a lie that they mistakenly believed was true. As Craig says, "if the empty tomb story were a legend, then it is most likely that the male disciples would have been made the first to discover the empty tomb. What explanation, then, do the critics offer, you may ask? The facts we have established so far are enough to put to rest any idea of a legend. Thus, they would have never hallucinated about a resurrection of Christ. In other words, these three truths are so strong that they are accepted by serious historians of all stripes. He took upon Himself the very death that we deserve. Living well is the best revenge. Or is this some dry, dusty old piece of history that has no relevance to our lives? 3, Charles Jenkins & Fellowship Chicago: The Best Of Both Worlds, T.D. The fact that despised women, whose testimony was deemed worthless, were the chief witnesses to the fact of the empty tomb can only be plausibly explained if, like it or not, they actually were the discoverers of the empty tomb." On the cross, Jesus died in the place of those who would come to believe in Him. We are sinful, and therefore deserve to be condemned at His judgment. Fourth, the empty tomb is supported by the historical reliability of the burial story. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, Paul records an ancient creed concerning Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection appearances that is much earlier than the letter in which Paul is recording it: For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. The resurrection of Jesus answers the question. So, the resurrection appearances alone demonstrate the resurrection. For example, the Jews or Romans had no motive to steal the body--they wanted to suppress Christianity, not encourage it by providing it with an empty tomb. What did Jesus claim? Psychologists will tell you that hallucinations cannot contain anything new--that is, they cannot contain any idea that isn't already somehow in your mind. Paul is saying that Christ's resurrection proves that His mission to conquer sin was successful. And you don't need to believe in the reliability of the gospels to believe this. Thus, it could not have been the product of the later church. Why would they go through all of this for a deliberate lie? I'd just noodle in-between chord lines. So it is not the case that the resurrection belief evolved over time. Fourth, the myth theory cannot explain the conversion of Paul. Charts available featuring... "Providence (Broke My Chains)"Citipointe Live. Were they lying? The disciples record eating and drinking with Jesus, as well as touching him. Since they are the ones who gave this creed to Paul, this is therefore a statement of their own testimony. The resurrection of Jesus is not just the best explanation for the empty tomb, it is the only explanation in town! In other words, those who believe in Christ will one day be resurrected by God just as He was. 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