Faith, reason, and the educated Christian Creationism - College and ...

tion, rejected this idea. He wrote: “It is
impossible that one who had just come
forth from the grave half dead, who
crept about weak and ill, who stood in
need of medical treatment, of bandaging,
strengthening, and tender care, and
who at last succumbed to suffering,
could ever have given the disciples the
impression that he was a conqueror
over death and the grave.”
• That the risen Christ appeared only
to believers. That is not true. Thomas, at
first, was not a believer. It seems likely
that James, the brother of Jesus, was not
a believer when the risen Christ appeared
to him; certainly he had been an
unbeliever during Christ’s earthly ministry
(1 Corinthians 15:7; Mark 3:21;
6:3, 4; John 7:5). From the fact that
James is listed among the 120 disciples
who were together in Jerusalem at the
time of the ascension and from the fact
that Paul, an opponent of Christ, was
Attention,
Adventist
Professionals
If you hold a degree in any field and
have an e-mail address, we encourage
you to join the Adventist Professionals’
Network (APN). Sponsored by the
Adventist Church, this global electronic
registry assists participant institutions
and agencies in locating consultants
with expertise, volunteers for mission
assignments, and candiates for positions
in teaching, administration, or
research. Enter your professional information
directly in the APN website:
http://apn.adventist.org
Encourage other Adventist professionals
to register!
converted following an encounter with
Him, it is clear that some became believers
and witnesses after seeing the risen
Christ.
Richard Swinburne, who recently examined
the case for the Resurrection
from the scientific, rationalist position,
reached the conclusion that “the detailed
historical evidence” is “so strong”
that, “despite the fact that such a resurrection
would have been a violation of
natural laws, the balance of probability
is in favour of the resurrection.” A dispassionate
lawyer or historian would
have to consider the case proven.
David Marshall (Ph.D., University of
Hull) is a historian and the author of many
articles and several books. This article is
based on his essay “The Risen Jesus” included
in The Essential Jesus, edited by
Bryan Ball and William Johnsson, and
published by Pacific Press in 2002.
Sources
P. Beasley-Murray, The Message of the
Resurrection (Nottingham: InterVarsity
Press, 2000).
Ross Clifford, Leading Lawyers Look at the
Resurrection (Sutherland, NSW: Albatross,
1991).
S. Davis, D. Kendall, and G. O’Collins, eds., The
Resurrection: An Interdisciplinary Symposium
on the Resurrection of Jesus (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1997).
R. T. France, The Evidence for Jesus (London:
Hodder and Stoughton, 1986).
M. Green, The Empty Cross of Jesus (London:
Hodder and Stoughton, 1984).
A. T. Hanson, The Prophetic Gospel (Edinburgh:
T. and T. Clark, 1991).
J. McDowell, The Resurrection Factor (First
edition, Alpha, 1993; 2000 edition).
John Wenham, The Easter Enigma: Are the
Resurrection Accounts in Conflict? (Exeter:
Paternoster Press, 1996).
N. T. Wright and M. Borg, The Meaning of Jesus
(London: SPCK, 1999).
Faith, reason…
Continued from page 9.
8. See Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli,
Handbook of Christian Apologetics
(Downer’s Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity
Press, 1994), pp. 29-44.
9. “God never asks us to believe, without
giving sufficient evidence upon which to
base our faith. His existence, His
character, the truthfulness of His word,
are all established by testimony that
appeals to our reason; and this testimony
is abundant. Yet God has never removed
the possibility of doubt. Our faith must
rest upon evidence, not demonstration.
Those who wish to doubt will have
opportunity; while those who really desire
to know the truth will find plenty of
evidence on which to rest their faith.”
Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ [Mountain
View, California: Pacific Press, n.d.], p.
105.
10. Adapted from Jay Kesler, “A Survival Kit,”
College and University Dialogue 6:2 (1994),
pp. 24, 25.
11. Thomas Kuhn, in his book The Structure of
Scientific Revolutions, 2nd edition
(University of Chicago Press, 1970)
showed how scientists work within a
mutually accepted conceptual paradigm
that changes with time.
12. I am indebted to Michael Pearson for the
basic structure of this illustration, which I
have elaborated here. See his essay, “Faith,
Reason, and Vulnerability,” College and
University Dialogue 1:1 (1989), pp. 11-13,
27.
13. A worldview is a global outlook on life
and the world that each mature
individual possesses. Worldviews answer
four basic questions: Who am I? Where
am I? What is wrong? What is the
solution? See Brian Walsh and Richard
Middleton, The Transforming Vision:
Shaping a Christian Worldview (Downers
Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1984).
14. Arthur F. Holmes, Building the Christian
Academy (Grand Rapids, Michigan:
William B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., 2001),
p. 5. See also William Lane Craig,
Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and
Apologetics, rev. ed. (Wheaton, Illinois:
Crossway Books, 1994).
15. See Richard Rice, “When Believers Think,”
College and University Dialogue 4:3 (1992),
pp. 8-11. Rice is the author of the book
Reason and the Contours of Faith (Riverside,
Calif.: La Sierra University Press, 1991).
16 Dialogue 15:3 2003