"Resurrection" Article Items

Precisely why Christ was crucified is a question posed by curious Christians throughout the centuries. There is no real doubt the crucifixion occurred – it is one of the best-documented events in ancient history.  The Scriptures, as well as extra-Biblical history, support the historicity of Christ’s crucifixion.  Ancient Greco-Roman sources such as Josephus, Tacitus, and Lucian of Samosata confirm that Christ was crucified. The reason why Christ was crucified is not as obvious to modern Christians who have only marginal knowledge of the Old Testament.  As Bart Ehrman, an agnostic, notes, [If] Jesus had simply been a great moral teacher,… Read More »

The historicity of the resurrection has been debated for many years.  The “minimal facts argument was developed by Gary Habermas for his Ph.D. dissertation to evaluate the possibility that the resurrection was an actual historical event and not just a nice story invented by an ancient culture. While secular scholars might disagree as to whether Christ rose from the dead in bodily form and revealed himself to multitudes of people, they do agree on several facts concerning the event.  These critical scholars can be liberal Christians, agnostic, or even atheist in their religious views as long as they are specialists… Read More »

Some modern theologians have objections to the resurrection.  However, most historians – even the atheist and agnostic ones – agree on the historicity of the events surrounding the resurrection of Christ. The minimal facts approach proposes at least five facts which are generally agreed by everybody; Christ Died by Crucifixion The Empty Tomb There were Credible Witnesses to the Resurrection Many of the Original Skeptics were Converted to Christianity The Explosive Growth of the Christian Church There are still some imaginative excuses offered by skeptics who may not agree with some or all of the above noted minimal facts. These… Read More »

The resurrection of Christ is at the center of Christianity. While there may be different beliefs among churches as to exactly what Christ’s resurrection means for mankind, the historicity of the resurrection is a central belief shared by all Christian faiths. It is one of those non-negotiable beliefs that is required to be called a Christian. If there was no resurrection, then all the sacrifices Christians have made over hundreds of years, all the money invested in Christianity, all the time and service spent by countless millions of people, all of it would be useless. It would mean we are… Read More »