If Christ has not risen, our faith is in vain, according to the Apostle Paul (cf. 1 Cor. 15:14). Christianity is Christ and if you take Christ out of it you disembowel it; however, you can take Buddha out of Buddhism and Mohammad out of Islam and the religions remain intact somewhat for it is mainly a philosophy without God in the equation. Our faith is not in a creed or set of rules to heed, but in a person, and getting to know Him personally. If He is still dead, then how can we fellowship with Him and how can we overcome our sins?
A person can have a subjective experience like believing in superstition and you might not be able to convince him otherwise, but our faith is based on objective, historical fact--and even the most variously proved one in antiquity. Any unbiased jury would be forced to admit He rose from the dead, based on circumstantial and eyewitness evidence. The point is that you cannot prove history scientifically--by its very nature, it is nonrepeatable. The only verification one can have is the veracity of the witnesses and circumstantial evidence. Are these Christian witnesses credible or deliberate liars and perpetrators of a deliberate hoax? Usually, people tell the truth on their deathbed, and they were in the position to know the truth, not being just fanatics aroused by the spirit of the times.
Proof of the resurrection by circumstantial evidence, such as the change of the Sabbath as a day of worship to the Lord's Day or Sunday, the growth of the church, so fast so as to turn the world topsy-turvy in such a short period, the veracity of the eyewitnesses who died as martyrs and could've admitted to lying rather than die, the alleged appearances of Christ, and of course the empty tomb, which wasn't in doubt at the time. Do you think they were just deliberate liars and madmen? If the body was stolen, who moved the stone (it would've been nearly impossible with the guards and how heavy it was). But the biggest evidence is the dramatically changed lives of the disciples, from being timid and afraid to take a stand for Christ to be roaring lions for the faith unafraid of death and undaunted by the authorities.
The purpose of the resurrection appearances was for our sake, to give us hope of a resurrection (some Jews believed in this but the teaching was unclear until Christ came back from the dead as the convincing conqueror of death, the last enemy). The resurrection showed us that the Father had accepted Jesus' sacrifice and that He was victorious over Satan and that His work was a done deal! No other religion has a resurrection story to believe in but they are all pie in the sky and offer little assurance, but only fear without knowing for sure whether they are saved. We can still experience the power of the resurrection ourselves (cf. Phil 3:10), for Christ is still in the resurrection business!
The resurrection was not a continuation of this life and merely an improved body of flesh and bone, but a spiritual body of a whole new nature--a new creation! Jesus had to prove he wasn't a ghost or a spirit! He could walk through walls, defy gravity, and even eat and feel--this is a whole new existence of another notion and kind. The Greeks could be convinced of some kind of spiritual afterlife in spirit only, but they scoffed at our bodies being brought back to life.
A person can have a subjective experience like believing in superstition and you might not be able to convince him otherwise, but our faith is based on objective, historical fact--and even the most variously proved one in antiquity. Any unbiased jury would be forced to admit He rose from the dead, based on circumstantial and eyewitness evidence. The point is that you cannot prove history scientifically--by its very nature, it is nonrepeatable. The only verification one can have is the veracity of the witnesses and circumstantial evidence. Are these Christian witnesses credible or deliberate liars and perpetrators of a deliberate hoax? Usually, people tell the truth on their deathbed, and they were in the position to know the truth, not being just fanatics aroused by the spirit of the times.
Proof of the resurrection by circumstantial evidence, such as the change of the Sabbath as a day of worship to the Lord's Day or Sunday, the growth of the church, so fast so as to turn the world topsy-turvy in such a short period, the veracity of the eyewitnesses who died as martyrs and could've admitted to lying rather than die, the alleged appearances of Christ, and of course the empty tomb, which wasn't in doubt at the time. Do you think they were just deliberate liars and madmen? If the body was stolen, who moved the stone (it would've been nearly impossible with the guards and how heavy it was). But the biggest evidence is the dramatically changed lives of the disciples, from being timid and afraid to take a stand for Christ to be roaring lions for the faith unafraid of death and undaunted by the authorities.
The purpose of the resurrection appearances was for our sake, to give us hope of a resurrection (some Jews believed in this but the teaching was unclear until Christ came back from the dead as the convincing conqueror of death, the last enemy). The resurrection showed us that the Father had accepted Jesus' sacrifice and that He was victorious over Satan and that His work was a done deal! No other religion has a resurrection story to believe in but they are all pie in the sky and offer little assurance, but only fear without knowing for sure whether they are saved. We can still experience the power of the resurrection ourselves (cf. Phil 3:10), for Christ is still in the resurrection business!
The resurrection was not a continuation of this life and merely an improved body of flesh and bone, but a spiritual body of a whole new nature--a new creation! Jesus had to prove he wasn't a ghost or a spirit! He could walk through walls, defy gravity, and even eat and feel--this is a whole new existence of another notion and kind. The Greeks could be convinced of some kind of spiritual afterlife in spirit only, but they scoffed at our bodies being brought back to life.
In sum, Our faith in Christ is unique and something worth living for, not just dying for.; if it were for this life only, we are the most to be pitied, says Paul, you might say: "If you only believe Jesus lived, and isn't living, you don't believe in the same Jesus: The resurrection is the crux of Christianity-- its "Rock of Gibraltar." Soli Deo Gloria!
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