Chapter 13 Discussion

Well, I finished the Case for Christ in my Sunday School connect group yesterday. I am trying to finish out on the blog this week. Below are some responses to the questions I posted from chapter 13. Next Sunday Nov 1st I will be teaching in another connect group. I am on a rotation in that class. I will teach a lesson on where the Bible came from starting with a discussion on the history of writing and writing materials. I will post that lesson next week.


1. Are there any eyewitnesses who saw Christ after the crucifixion and if so who are some of the famous ones? The four Gospel accounts all report witnesses who saw Christ raised from the dead. The Apostle Paul reports that over 500 witnesses saw Christ and Paul challenged skeptics to go ask them for themselves. The most famous eyewitnesses where Mary Magdalene, Peter, John, all the remaining apostles and James the half brother of Jesus.


2. Is the most likely scenario not that the resurrection is a legend that was created centuries or at least many decades after the crucifixion? Doesn't the list grow over time showing that it is a legend gradually blown out of proportion? This idea comes from listing the accounts in a proposed chronological order of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John. Doing this makes the list look like it gets larger over time making it suspicious. However, Paul's writings are older than the Gospels and he reports the largest number so this hypothesis gets turned upside down.


3. Some people believe Jesus' resurrection was only spiritual and not literal, physical. What are some implications of that? My first reaction is shock that these people who are so skeptical are inventing an explanation that proves the existence of a spirit world and life after death. Secondly, it ignores the evidence of Jesus inviting people to touch his wounds and he even said he was not a phantom.


4. Could people have hallucinated the resurrection? This comes from people who reject the resurrection because it seems so impossible. The trouble is that hallucinations are unique to each individual. Masses of 500 people don't experience the same hallucination.


Chapter 14 is the last chapter and I will try to have that completed this week. Take care.