In a recent post, I had mentioned the 5 Facts of the Resurrection. If we have those five facts, then what are the criteria that historians use to determine the best explanation of those historical facts? In his 1997 debate with Gerd Ludemann, William Lane Craig cites the work of historian C.B. McCullah’s Justifying Historical Descriptions. Craig gives the following six tests:
It has greater explanatory scope
It has greater explanatory power
It is plausible
It is not ad hoc or contrived
It is in accord with accepted beliefs
It far outstrips any of its rival theories in meeting conditions 1 through 5
According to Craig, the hypothesis “God raised Jesus from the dead” passes all these tests better than any other naturalistic theories offered, and I would agree with that assessment.
I am currently reading Jesus’ Resurrection: Fact of Figment?: A debate between William Lane Craig and Gerd Ludemann, edited by Paul Copan and Ronald Tacelli. This book is a transcript of the audio debate posted here. In addition to the transcribed debate, the book also offers critique of Craig’s position by two atheists and critique of Ludemann’s position by two theists. Finally , the book is closed out with final comments given by Criag and Ludemann of their positions along with their assessment of the critiques offered of their respective positions.
Jesus’ Resurrection: Fact of Figment?: Craig vs. Ludemann (1:19:38)
I just finished reading The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus by Gary Habermas and Mike Licona last night. What a terrific, accessible book on this topic. If you are interested in this subject but have not read very much on it, then this is a great starting point. This book walks you right through a very simple, yet powerful argument for the Resurrection of Jesus. But it doesn’t stop at just making a positive case for the Resurrection because it also looks at many of the alternate naturalistic theories that exist as well as objections to the event. It handles them all simply, yet expertly. The appendix is a very detailed layout of the entire argument just presented in the book to make it easy to refresh your memory without needing to re-read the entire book. Finally, it comes with a Resurrection Game CD (Windows only) that presents the material in the book in an interactive game show fashion to help you reinforce your reading and your learning. I highly recommend picking up a copy and working your way through it.
Bonus: You can also play a flash version of the game online here.
A very recent debate between the worlds leading Christian Philosopher William Lane Craig and Free-Thinker Historian Richard Carrier on the topic of the Resurrection. If you have never heard Craig debate before, then you are definitely in for a treat. He is a powerhouse when it comes to these types of public events. Enjoy!
Please be praying for Christian Apologist Mary Jo Sharp this week as debates on Friday in Toronto, Canada on the topic of The View of Women in Islam and Christianity. Mary Jo has had at least one other debate with Islamic Apologist Ehteshaam Gulam and you can view the video from that debate here. For those who do not know about the behind the scenes workings of these types of events, there is a lot of work that takes place. Usually, the participants are preparing for these debates months in advance. That, along with all the logistical and administrative work that takes place as well requires a lot of moving parts and teamwork to pull off. Please be praying specifically for Mary Jo as well as everyone else involved in pulling this together.
