Four Quick and Significant Additions to the Conclusion of the Argument for the Resurrection
You can see the suggested reading plan here.
I remember someone (I think America's leading skeptic Michael Shermer) saying (I paraphrase), "You come across people who say, 'Well, I don't really believe in that stuff of the Bible [other miracles], I only believe the main story [the resurrection].' But that's the stupidest part!"
Is it really? If it's so stupid, why is the evidence so robust even a majority of skeptical scholars have accepted claims in favor of His coming back to life? I wrote in my post on the possibility of miracles that someone reasonably could believe in Jesus solely because of proof of His resurrection, and then learn about more evidence. The resurrection could prove the Bible inside out, not have to be worked toward by answering other objections.
Bart Ehrman included that people in cultures that accept a certain belief (like people surviving death), and feeling guilty, can definitely lead to guilt-induced hallucinations. But he himself had to ignore his own observances that they all betrayed Jesus, and the Messiah wasn't expected to be crucified. It apparently proved Him to the Disciples as a false messiah and shattered the their hopes. As for Paul, I had already written about, and revisited, his "hallucination": he doesn't fit the criteria for getting a conversion disorder, much less a long-lasting one in the form of a hallucination. Finally, too many groups, all consisting of different minded unbelievers, not influencing each other, saw Jesus.
I recently realized the significance of living in an age of "science says" as it pertains to Jesus. Now, I'm not saying just because somebody says "science says this," it is right. Biased media with an agenda might claim "science says" something to support their side. But I do believe that we should learn from the natural world, and of course believe the DSM-IV and other research general to hallucinations, not trying to refute a religion.
What does science say about Jesus? Here I define science as not the search for the cause of nature only, but just general critical study(1). Science goes by critically assessing the evidence and gets peer reviewed. This is paralleled by skeptical acceptance, and hopefully you will agree I was critical when arguing over evidence. Science tests theories by taking the evidence into account and considering probabilities.
Right here, science says Jesus wasn't hallucinated. Therefore, since this is a popularly advocated among experts seeking to explain it away instead of other weaker (less probable) theories, science says Jesus rose from the dead.
Richard Dawkins once said, "Darwin made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist." Well, the critical consensus made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled Christian!
Finally, I ran into the quote, probably multiple times, where someone says that "Evolution isn't just a theory - we now know that evolution is just a simple fact."
Well, take into mind the argument: it uses claims so well-evidenced so many skeptical scholars agree, it uses strict and early eyewitness testimony ("which historians drool over"), and skeptical scholars who disbelieved debunked each other... by the late 1800s. I find it no stretch to say I know the resurrection isn't a hypothesis, and the term theory is misleading -- Jesus's resurrection is a clear and simple historical fact.
Comments
Post a Comment
I regret to say that comments have to be turned off. I encourage everyone to use this blogs resources in constructive, thoughtful discussion and research.