God's Not Dead: Evidence for God in an Age of Uncertainty (20 page)

3. E
YEWITNESSES

The strongest historical evidence for the resurrection is the eyewitness testimonies of the disciples and more than five hundred other witnesses, which later would include the apostle Paul.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to
more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. (1 Corinthians 15:3–8
NIV
)

The transformation in these early disciples was so great that even skeptical New Testament scholars acknowledge that the disciples really believed they encountered the risen Christ. For instance, the famed New Testament scholars and skeptics E. P. Sanders and Bart Ehrman acknowledge this fact:

That Jesus’ followers (and later Paul) had resurrection experiences is, in my judgment, a fact. What the reality was that gave rise to the experiences I do not know.
²⁵

It is a historical fact that some of Jesus’ followers came to believe that he had been raised from the dead soon after his execution. We know some of these believers by name; one of them, the apostle Paul, claims quite plainly to have seen Jesus alive after his death. Thus, for the historian, Christianity begins after the death of Jesus, not with the resurrection itself, but with the belief in the resurrection.
²⁶

One of the most striking features of the eyewitness testimony, as stated previously, is that the first witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection were women. The early church never would have made this up because, during that time, the testimony of women was not considered valid or admissible as evidence.

4. E
ARLY
R
ECORDS

The accounts of the resurrection originate from the time period immediately after the crucifixion event. John Dominic Crossan, New Testament scholar and skeptic, wrote with Jonathan Reed,

Paul wrote to the Corinthians from Ephesus in the early 50s C.E. [Common Era, or another way to say AD]. But he says in 1 Corinthians 15:3 that “I handed on to you as of first importance which I in turn received.” The most likely source and time for his reception of that tradition would have been
Jerusalem
in the early 30s when, according to Galatians 1:18, he “went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas [Peter] and stayed with him fifteen days.”
²⁷

5. E
MERGENCE OF THE
C
HURCH

A final evidence for the resurrection is the formation of the early church. Before the resurrection, nearly all of Jesus’ followers abandoned Him. Many fled in fear for their very lives. Then suddenly His followers came together and formed the Christian church. This group of believers not only boldly proclaimed that Jesus rose from the dead but centered their lives on celebrating this event and following His teaching. Eventually the church grew, despite great opposition, until it dominated the Roman Empire and spread throughout the known world.

This scared, frightened band of the apostles, which was just about to throw away everything in order to flee in despair to Galilee; when these peasants, shepherds, and
fishermen, who betrayed and denied their master and then failed him miserably, suddenly could be changed overnight into a confident mission society, convinced of salvation and able to work with much more success after Easter than before Easter, then no vision or hallucination is sufficient to explain such a revolutionary transformation.
²⁸

This sudden emergence of the Christian community can be seen as the “third big bang” in history. The first was the beginning of the universe, the second was the
Cambrian explosion
, and the third was the explosion or sudden emergence of the Christian community.

W
HAT
D
OES THE
R
ESURRECTION
M
EAN?

The fact that Jesus of Nazareth was raised from the dead after three days would simply be a curiosity if it were not for the meaning ascribed the event in the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:1–3). Through God’s Word we are able to grasp the significance of the resurrection.

1. J
ESUS
I
S THE
S
ON OF
G
OD

The existence of multiple religions has led some to ask the question, how could there be such confusion if God is real? Three of the five major religions—Christianity, Judaism, and
Islam
—are connected by the common belief in figures such as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, but even these faiths have significant distinctions. The only answer is that people were somehow separated from God, as taught by Scripture. Therefore, all views
of God would be different and imperfect. The resurrection of Jesus, however, demonstrates that Jesus truly is the “Son of God,” or perfect representation of God on earth. This fact sets Christianity apart from every other religion or philosophy and makes Jesus the only reliable source to fully know God.

2. H
IS
W
ORDS
A
RE
T
RUE

Because of the resurrection we can have confidence that Jesus’ words are the words of God Himself. The resurrection of Jesus was the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham and Moses and the prophets of Holy Scripture. Jesus said, “
Heaven
and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24:35). When the
Old Testament
prophets spoke, they prefaced their remarks with the phrase, “Thus says the L
ORD
,” but when Jesus spoke He said, “Truly I say to you” (Luke 21:3). The difference? God Himself was speaking.

3. O
UR
S
INS
A
RE
F
ORGIVEN

The great quest of humanity is to be accepted by God and considered righteous. The question is asked, what does God expect of us? He expects that we keep the moral law. When that moral law is broken, the crime is called
sin
. Jesus Christ offers real forgiveness because the resurrection verified that His death for the payment of our sins was accepted. “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:25
NIV
). Justification is a legal term that declares that we are not guilty.

4. G
OD
E
XISTS

The miracle of the resurrection demonstrates that God is not dead! In the
naturalistic
worldview,
miracles
are impossible
due to the philosophy that suggests we should not accept an improbable act as true. They forget that God created the laws of nature and can interject something from the outside into the system. Because there are laws that explain what ordinarily happens, we are able to know when something extraordinary has taken place. God has revealed His nature and character through both the ordinary laws and processes He established as well as through extraordinary miracles such as the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

5. C
ERTAINTY
I
S
P
OSSIBLE

Because Christ has been raised from the dead, we have been given the gift of
certainty
. It’s ironic that one of the key scientific principles is called the
uncertainty principle
. In short, we cannot know both the speed and location of subatomic particles. There are other ideas such as those offered by Immanuel Kant in the eighteenth century that contend we can’t really know what’s beyond the physical world. These ideas reveal the limitations of
knowledge
. There are limits to our finite understanding.

The miracle of the resurrection of Christ is that it demonstrated how God pierced the veil of the physical world by becoming a human in Jesus Christ. The resurrection verified the truth of this reality. Though we are still limited in what we can ultimately know, God gave us the ability to know that He is real, His word is true, and there is life after death. Just as my young
children
aren’t able to comprehend certain things but can know enough to trust me as their father, we can know enough through the resurrection of Jesus to trust God in the things that we cannot understand on this side of eternity.

T
HE
N
AME
A
BOVE
E
VERY
N
AME

No other name produces such a reaction as the name of Jesus Christ. All the religious figures combined don’t generate as much debate or controversy, “nor is there salvation in any other” (Acts 4:12). The reason that Christ is the only source of salvation is He did what no other person in history did by living a perfect life and then offering that life for the sins of the world.

The death and resurrection of Christ verified His identity as the Son of God and proved His words were the words of God Himself. Because God became a man in Jesus, we have been given the gift of
certainty
. As finite beings we can’t be certain about everything, but we can be certain of enough to trust God in the things we cannot possibly know.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
    taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in
heaven
and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5–11
NIV
)

In short, the impact of the life of Christ has altered the course of human history.

S
UMMARY

Dr. James Allan Francis wrote
One Solitary Life
during the early 1900s. This description of the life and impact of Christ has become one of the most quoted and beloved pieces of Christian literature since that time.

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. Until He was thirty, He worked in a carpenter shop and then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He wrote no books. He held no office. He never owned a home. He was never in a big city.

He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never did any of the things that usually accompany greatness. The authorities condemned His teachings. His friends deserted Him. One betrayed Him to His enemies for a paltry sum. One denied Him. He went through the mockery of a trial.

He was nailed on a cross between two thieves. While He was dying, His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He owned on earth: His coat. When He was dead He was taken down and placed in a borrowed grave.

Nineteen centuries have come and gone, yet today He is the crowning glory of the human race, the adored leader of hundreds of millions of the earth’s inhabitants. All the armies that ever marched and all the navies that were ever
assembled and all the parliaments that ever sat and all the rulers that ever reigned—combined—have not affected the life of man upon this earth so profoundly as that One Solitary Life.
²⁹

8
THE WITNESS OF
SCRIPTURE

The existence of the Bible, as a book for the people, is the greatest benefit which the human race has ever experienced. Every attempt to belittle it . . . is a crime against humanity.

—I
MMANUEL
K
ANT
,
L
OOSE
L
EAVES
FROM
K
ANT
’
S
E
STATE
¹

I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good of the Savior of the world is communicated to us through the Book. But for it, we could not know right from wrong.

—A
BRAHAM
L
INCOLN
²

THE KING DAVID HOTEL IN JERUSALEM IS ONE OF THE most picturesque and historically significant places in the world. So much drama has taken place there, from negotiations between heads of state to bombings during the ongoing Middle East crisis. It was there I met one of the most unusual men in
the world, George Blumenthal. Besides being a pioneer in the cell phone industry, his passion is digitizing rare documents such as the
Dead Sea Scrolls
, which he did digitize for the
Israel
Museum.
³

George is truly one of the most colorful characters I’ve ever met. He’s even had many small parts in various movies, including brief cameos in
Wall Street
and
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
with his friend Michael Douglas. “I wish you could come with me tomorrow—I’m giving Jerry Bruckheimer [a movie producer] and some others a little tour of the city.” His little tour would include some of the most fantastic archaeological digs uncovering the Israel of the last five thousand years.

My wife, Jody, and I were scheduled to leave the next day and regretfully declined his invitation. Over the next two years I ran into George on several occasions. When we first met in 2006, he was an
agnostic
about the existence of God, but his passion about the history and
archaeology
surrounding the Bible was making an impact on his skepticism. “The people and places that the Bible mentions are actually real,” he would tell me.