★★★★★ 5
An Excellent Book that Appeals to All Levels of Inquiry
Format: Paperback, Format: Paperback
The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus by Gary R. Habermas and Michael R Licona makes a persuasive case for the historical resurrection of Jesus. What I like about this book is that it is structured for different levels of interest. The first 150 pages gives the basic facts surrounding the resurrection and addresses the major objections to the resurrection. The next seventy pages deals with the lesser known objections and offers some suggestions on how to dialog with objectors. The Appendix is almost thirty pages of a detailed outline of information provided which leads to the uniqueness of this book. It does more than gives you information; it makes a valent attempt for the reader to remember this information.
The authors helps the reader remember the information provided by providing nineteen flow charts which outline each major point (very helpful), the appendix, highlighted summaries, and a DVD game. The flow charts allowed me to quickly see the flow and the connection of each major point. The highlight summary sections quickly state the main points. The DVD game is imaginative and fun and is divided into ten categories with some two hundred questions which reinforced the material. The appendix is another avenue to gain quick access to the information.
The material and arguments are from a minimalist approach. The authors focus on information that almost all historians agree upon and how a historian determines the likelihood of an event. The mindset of a historian is not to say that something is true or false but to determine a scale or gradient to determine if something ranges from very doubtful to very certain. Some of the criteria of evaluating an event include multiple independent witnesses, attestation by enemies, embarrassing admissions, eyewitness testimonies, and early testimonies supporting the historical claims. When it comes to the resurrection of Jesus there are at least four and possibly five facts that land in the “very certain” category.
The historical claims that are graded in the very certain category are these four. One, Jesus died by crucifixion which is supported by five non-Christian sources. Two, the disciples of Jesus believed that He rose and appeared to them which is supported by nine sources in three categories pointing to a multiple and very early eyewitness testimony. Not only did the disciples of Jesus believe that they personally saw the resurrected Jesus, but they were willing to suffer for that belief which is attested to by seven ancient sources. Three, the church persecutor, Paul, was suddenly changed and became a martyr for this testimony which is supported by seven ancient sources. Four, Jesus’ skeptic brother, James, was converted and became a follower of Jesus which resulted in him becoming a martyr for this belief as reported by Josephus, Hegesippus, and Clement of Alexandria. Finally, the empty tomb is in a separate category from “very certain” (75% of scholars accept the empty tomb as a historical fact). The reasons that most scholars accept the empty tomb as a historical is because of the attestation of enemies, the culturally embarrassing testimony of the women, and the Jerusalem factor.
After establishing the historical events that are accepted by historians, the authors simply compare these facts against various alternate theories that have been floated over time. The question is, do these theories deal with the facts and which theory clearly stands out from all the other ideas because it deals with the facts? In short, there is but one idea that stands alone. “Therefore, Jesus’ resurrection is more than the most plausible explanation to account for the data. It is the only explanation that accounts adequately for all of the facts.”
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Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2019