"For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead" (Acts 17:31, NLT).
A huge stone was rolled in front of the tomb and soldiers were set to guard it till the third day, for the Pharisees knew Christ had foretold his resurrection and they were given permission to make it as secure as they knew how. This stone would've required several men to move it and couldn't have been done in the middle of the night secretly without waking the guards if they were sleeping--but they would be in trouble for sleeping on duty--punishment could be death. The soldiers testified that someone stole the body while they were asleep! Never in the history of jurisprudence has the testimony of someone been accepted from while they were asleep.
There is much circumstantial evidence that Christ rose from the dead: the graveclothes were undisturbed as if Christ had passed through them in spirit (who would steal a body without clothes?); the most convincing proof is that the body was gone--how does one explain that? Everyone knew where the tomb was and could've verified this fact--Christ was missing in action! If you could produce a body the movement of Christianity would be stopped! Look at all the martyrs as witnesses, and the record of the apostles, as eyewitnesses: People will die for what they believe is true, but not for a known lie!
Note that Christ was seen by eyewitnesses who went to their deaths testifying of their veracity and truth--they could've saved their own skins by admitting a hoax--one usually tells the truth when facing death! Note that they were in a position to know the truth, and not just fanatics convinced by some tall tale, myth or fable! But the biggest miracle of all is the transformation of the lives of the apostles from demoralized followers to bold witnesses not afraid of death anymore.
Other circumstantial evidence is amazing and cannot be explained away so easily: the changing of the worship day to Sunday or the Lord's Day; the rise of the church; the way the disciples turned the world upside down; the miracle of the New Testament and its historical proofs and accuracy. Many theories have been advanced that attempt to explain away the resurrection: the swoon theory that Christ didn't actually die (this is debunked by the fact that no one could have survived in a cold tomb half-dead and then convince the followers that he conquered death and give them hope of eternal life); the wrong tomb theory is debunked because everyone knew where it was and could've verified or debunked the testimony of the apostles; the theory that the apostle or even the authorities stole the body is not worth refuting because they had no motive! The authorities and the Jews were trying to quash the rumors and refute their spirited preaching!
Paul preached the resurrection at Mars Hill in Athens where intellectuals gathered and it was the philosophical capital of the known world and they scoffed at the idea of a resurrection, but some believed! People were skeptical back then just as they are today! Luke opens his book of Acts saying that there are "many infallible proofs" of the resurrection! Thomas Arnold, a famous historian, said that no fact in history is better attested than the resurrection. Finally, you can "taste and see that the Lord is good" and find out for yourself: I don't have to prove it to you because you can experience Christ personally and find out for yourself!
God is no man's debtor and will authenticate Himself to any honest seeker of truth who doesn't close his mind and searches out the evidence. In fact, according to evidence experts from jurisprudence, if the facts of the resurrection were presented to any objective jury in the world, it would conclude and render the verdict that Christ actually did rise from the dead--there's no evidence to the contrary! If you examine the evidence with an open mind you will be convinced, even against your will because it cannot be denied as fact.
The only way to deny without committing intellectual suicide is to have the presupposition that Christ couldn't have risen from the dead and that the historical records are thus inaccurate and unreliable. The question of whether God can raise the dead is philosophical, not scientific, and it ultimately depends upon the veracity of the witnesses and the credibility of the records presented as evidence. Just because men don't generally rise from the dead doesn't prove that God can't do it! All science can posit is that people don't usually rise from the dead; miracles are unusual events caused by God.
This Gibraltar of the faith is either the biggest and cruelest hoax perpetrated on mankind, or it's the most wonderful, blessed newsworthy gospel message ever heard or disseminated. It's not a matter of faith versus reason, but which set of presuppositions you commence within your reasoning. The resurrection, according to Dr. D. James Kennedy, is arguably the best-attested fact of antiquity. "Indeed, taking all the evidence together ... there is no historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Christ. Nothing but the antecedent assumption that it must be false could have suggested the idea of deficiency of the proof of it" (Canon B. F. Westcott, a scholar at Cambridge). One-time historical events are not subject to scientific verification or scrutiny! Indeed, His cruel death was not the end of Him! Soli Deo Gloria!
A huge stone was rolled in front of the tomb and soldiers were set to guard it till the third day, for the Pharisees knew Christ had foretold his resurrection and they were given permission to make it as secure as they knew how. This stone would've required several men to move it and couldn't have been done in the middle of the night secretly without waking the guards if they were sleeping--but they would be in trouble for sleeping on duty--punishment could be death. The soldiers testified that someone stole the body while they were asleep! Never in the history of jurisprudence has the testimony of someone been accepted from while they were asleep.
There is much circumstantial evidence that Christ rose from the dead: the graveclothes were undisturbed as if Christ had passed through them in spirit (who would steal a body without clothes?); the most convincing proof is that the body was gone--how does one explain that? Everyone knew where the tomb was and could've verified this fact--Christ was missing in action! If you could produce a body the movement of Christianity would be stopped! Look at all the martyrs as witnesses, and the record of the apostles, as eyewitnesses: People will die for what they believe is true, but not for a known lie!
Note that Christ was seen by eyewitnesses who went to their deaths testifying of their veracity and truth--they could've saved their own skins by admitting a hoax--one usually tells the truth when facing death! Note that they were in a position to know the truth, and not just fanatics convinced by some tall tale, myth or fable! But the biggest miracle of all is the transformation of the lives of the apostles from demoralized followers to bold witnesses not afraid of death anymore.
Other circumstantial evidence is amazing and cannot be explained away so easily: the changing of the worship day to Sunday or the Lord's Day; the rise of the church; the way the disciples turned the world upside down; the miracle of the New Testament and its historical proofs and accuracy. Many theories have been advanced that attempt to explain away the resurrection: the swoon theory that Christ didn't actually die (this is debunked by the fact that no one could have survived in a cold tomb half-dead and then convince the followers that he conquered death and give them hope of eternal life); the wrong tomb theory is debunked because everyone knew where it was and could've verified or debunked the testimony of the apostles; the theory that the apostle or even the authorities stole the body is not worth refuting because they had no motive! The authorities and the Jews were trying to quash the rumors and refute their spirited preaching!
Paul preached the resurrection at Mars Hill in Athens where intellectuals gathered and it was the philosophical capital of the known world and they scoffed at the idea of a resurrection, but some believed! People were skeptical back then just as they are today! Luke opens his book of Acts saying that there are "many infallible proofs" of the resurrection! Thomas Arnold, a famous historian, said that no fact in history is better attested than the resurrection. Finally, you can "taste and see that the Lord is good" and find out for yourself: I don't have to prove it to you because you can experience Christ personally and find out for yourself!
God is no man's debtor and will authenticate Himself to any honest seeker of truth who doesn't close his mind and searches out the evidence. In fact, according to evidence experts from jurisprudence, if the facts of the resurrection were presented to any objective jury in the world, it would conclude and render the verdict that Christ actually did rise from the dead--there's no evidence to the contrary! If you examine the evidence with an open mind you will be convinced, even against your will because it cannot be denied as fact.
The only way to deny without committing intellectual suicide is to have the presupposition that Christ couldn't have risen from the dead and that the historical records are thus inaccurate and unreliable. The question of whether God can raise the dead is philosophical, not scientific, and it ultimately depends upon the veracity of the witnesses and the credibility of the records presented as evidence. Just because men don't generally rise from the dead doesn't prove that God can't do it! All science can posit is that people don't usually rise from the dead; miracles are unusual events caused by God.
This Gibraltar of the faith is either the biggest and cruelest hoax perpetrated on mankind, or it's the most wonderful, blessed newsworthy gospel message ever heard or disseminated. It's not a matter of faith versus reason, but which set of presuppositions you commence within your reasoning. The resurrection, according to Dr. D. James Kennedy, is arguably the best-attested fact of antiquity. "Indeed, taking all the evidence together ... there is no historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Christ. Nothing but the antecedent assumption that it must be false could have suggested the idea of deficiency of the proof of it" (Canon B. F. Westcott, a scholar at Cambridge). One-time historical events are not subject to scientific verification or scrutiny! Indeed, His cruel death was not the end of Him! Soli Deo Gloria!
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