I've never been overly excited about Easter.
It might have something to do with wrongly assuming it had to be taken entirely on faith.
It now appears obvious that God wanted this pivotal event upon which all of Christianity hangs to be so abundantly supported by historical records inside and outside the Bible, that any person could rationally believe it beyond reasonable doubt.
There’s so much material available online about the resurrection in fact, that this week I just wanted to limit this list of links about the resurrection to a handful of trusted resources. Leading up to this post I also covered evidence for the crucifixion and being buried in a tomb.
This video summarizes the case for the resurrection:
There was an empty tomb. If there was not, the Jews would have marched people down to the tomb and showed the body, and wouldn’t have claimed the body was stolen.
Jesus appeared to more than 500 people at once, and at different times and places.
The disciples died for proclaiming that Jesus really did die and was raised from the dead.
7 aspects of Jesus’s life that are historically reasonable to believe:
Receive in two minutes a summary of the best reasons that Jesus existed. PhD candidate and pastor Brian G. Chilton.
Sift through this video of objections from atheists on the resurrection:
I liked this video because host Marlon Wilson of The Gospel Truth brought on Dr. Michael Licona and Dr. Gary Habermas to respond to many of the criticisms of the resurrection leveled by atheists. I've created links below and summaries for the parts I found most useful.
00:44 - Atheist Paulogia argued only two of the 12 disciples were martyred.
Dr. Licona and Dr. Habermas beginning at 2:13 added much more nuance to the issue. They said historians look at how probable something is to have happened. The evidence that Paul, Peter and James were killed because they believed and told everyone Jesus Christ was the Messiah is strong, the two historians argued. Evidence also exists for other disciples such as Thomas and Andrew. Atheist Paulogia misrepresented the research of Dr. Sean McDowell, Habermas argued. Dr. Licona said at 35:22 that the bulk of the evidence best fits the theory that the resurrection of Jesus actually occurred.
36:10 - Were disciples hallucinating about a resurrected Jesus?
Paulogia argued Paul just saw a vision of Jesus. Dr. Licona provides his rationale for why Paul really did see Jesus.
42:30 - Dr. Habermas said these atheists misrepresent data. Atheist Matt Dillahunty at 45:50 talked about the lack of verifiable evidence that Jesus lived. Dr. Licona said Dillahunty’s view is an extremely fringe position held by fewer than 10 scholars in the field.
50:37 - Dillahunty argued the only evidence for the resurrection is the gospel.
Dr. Habermas provided multiple non-Biblical references talking about the event.
52:37 - Gospels are anonymous.
"To say gospels are anonymous is overplayed big time," responded Dr. Licona at 53:33. He then explained that nearly every similar biography from that era was anonymous. In that context, the gospels including the author’s names would have been odd.
1:00 - Dillahunty said the Bible contradicts itself so often that you can’t depend on it.
Dr. Habermas said even if you toss out every problem passage where people disagree, what's left still confirms the resurrection.
1:03 - "There's not a possibility until a possibility is demonstrated," Dillahunty said.
Dr. Habermas pointed out Dillahunty’s faulty logic. Dr. Licona then at 1:05 adding that these atheists should have to demonstrate with facts that what they are saying is possible. They only apply this to the arguments of opponents. If they say we know hallucinations are possible, then we could say we know miracles are possible because they've been documented.