The Case For Christ

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there's still no non-messianic Jesus to be conjured up out of the material in the other three gospels. It's just not there." Immediately I thought of the famous exchange, recorded it, Matthew, in which Jesus asked his disciples in a private meeting. "Who do you say I am?" Peter replied with clarity, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Instead of ducking the issue, Jesus affirmed Peter for his observation. "Blessed are you," he said, "for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven." (See Matt. 16:15-17.) Even so, some popular depictions of Jesus, such as in the movie The Last Temptation of Christ, show him as basically uncertain about his identity and mission. He's saddled with ambiguity and angst. "Is there any evidence," I asked Witherington, "that Jesus ever had an identity crisis?" "Not an identity crisis, although I do believe he had points of identity confirmation," the professor replied. "At his baptism, at his temptation, at the Transfiguration, in the Garden of Gethsemane - these are crisis moments in which God confirmed to him who he was and what his mission was. For instance, I don't think it's accidental that his ministry does not begin in earnest until after his baptism, when he hears the voice saying, 'You are my Son, with whom I am well pleased.'" "What did he think his mission was?" "He saw his job as coming to free the people of God, so his mission was directed to Israel." "Specifically to Israel," I stressed. "Yes, that's correct," Witherington said. "There's very little evidence that he sought out Gentiles during his ministry-that was a mission for the later church. You see, the promises of the prophets had come to Israel-and to Israel he must go." "I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE" In his book Reasonable Faith William Lane Craig points to a substantial amount of evidence that within twenty years of the Crucifixion there was a full-blown Christology proclaiming Jesus as God incarnate. Church historian Jaroslav Pelikan has pointed out that the oldest Christian sermon, the oldest account of a Christian martyr, the oldest pagan report of the church, and the oldest liturgical prayer (1 Cor. 16:22) all refer to Jesus as Lord and God. Pelikan
said, "Clearly, it was the message of what the church believed and taught that 'God' was an appropriate name for Jesus Christ.'" In light of this, I asked Witherington, "Do you see any possible way this could have developed-especially so soon-if Jesus had never made transcendent and messianic claims about himself?" Witherington was adamant. "Not unless you're prepared to argue that the disciples completely forgot what the historical Jesus was like and that they had nothing to do with the traditions that start showing up twenty years after his death," he said. "Frankly, as a historian. this would not make any sense at all." In dealing with history, he added, all sorts of things are possible, but not all possible things are equally probable. Is it probable," he asked, "that all this stuff was conjured up out of thin air within twenty years after Jesus died, when there were still living witnesses to what Jesus the historical figure was really like? I find that just about as unlikely a historical hypothesis as you could possibly come up with. The real issue is, what happened after the crucifixion of Jesus that changed the minds of the disciples, who had denied, disobeyed, and deserted Jesus? Very simply, something happened to them that was similar to what Jesus experienced at his baptism-it was confirmed to them that what they had hoped Jesus was, he was." And what exactly was he? As I was wrapping up my time with Witherington, I wanted him to sum it up for me. Taking all his research into consideration, what was his personal conclusion about who Jesus saw himself to be? I posed the question, sat back, and let him spell it out-which he did, with eloquence and conviction. "Jesus thought he was the person appointed by God to bring in the climactic saving act of God in human history. He believed he was the agent of God to carry that out-that he had been authorized by God, empowered by God, he spoke for God, and he was directed by God to do this task. So what Jesus said, God said. What Jesus did was the work of God. Under the Jewish concept of agency, 'a man's agent is as himself. Remember how Jesus sent out his apostles and said, 'Whatever they do to you, they've done to me'? There was a strong connection between a man and his agent whom he sends on a mission. Well, Jesus believed he was on a divine mission, and the mission was to redeem the people of God. The implication is that the people of God were lost and that God had to do something-as he
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The Case For Christ By: Lee Strobel
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CONTENTS Introduction: Reopening th
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assistance; Chad Meister and Bob an
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"Check out the evidence yourself,"
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make mistakes. Looking through thos
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ooks, college professors, family me
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and yanked the trigger. The gun roa
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Blomberg's books include Jesus and
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granted that exception, the rest of
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that gave meaning to a period of hi
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crowd of journalists that once corn
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merely emphasizing that 'he was a f
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Holocaust. But it has been the Jewi
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was written before Paul was put to
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which is cited by Christians as the
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they couldn't find one. They questi
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going to be returning during their
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actually, scrolls of papyrus-were r
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3. THE CHARACTER TEST This test loo
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about Mark and Luke saying that Jes
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ever met him yet because of their i
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"In addition, we can learn through
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us the full story about Jesus? I lo
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But the most eye-popping cache of d
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Theological Seminary and both a mas
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"Quite so," he replied. "And this i
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Papyrus number two contains large p
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the fidelity with which this materi
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author of I John was inspired to wr
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sources for the history of Jesus. T
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'hurch had already determined. You
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text-what has all this done to your
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4: THE CORROBORATING EVIDENCE Is th
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the case against Harry Aleman? The
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"Now," I said a little pointedly, "
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feats and was a teacher of such peo
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the Baptist was more important beca
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Pliny the Younger became governor o
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Page 82 and 83: asked. Yamauchi pondered the questi
Page 84 and 85: and the truth will make you free."
Page 86 and 87: question of whether the New Testame
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Page 90 and 91: People thought Josephus was wrong,
Page 92 and 93: to thirty-two countries, fifty-four
Page 94 and 95: Still, there were some matters I ne
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Page 98 and 99: thought might challenge him. So the
Page 100 and 101: McRay tossed me the article in whic
Page 102 and 103: For Further Evidence More Resources
Page 104 and 105: commentator Paul Harvey likes to sa
Page 106 and 107: to me, 'Well, Greg, it looks like t
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Page 112 and 113: proximity to the event, the less ch
Page 114 and 115: athed in its blood and guts. Then t
Page 116 and 117: it fits well with the Gnostic mind-
Page 118 and 119: But your love goes beyond that. You
Page 120 and 121: elying on the news media in reporti
Page 122 and 123: Theological Seminary, where I found
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Page 132 and 133: Marshall, I. Howard. The Origins of
Page 134 and 135: 146 THE CASE FOR CHRIST Shock; Can
Page 136 and 137: Granted, as we look back through hi
Page 138 and 139: feeling intoxicated, just as if the
Page 140 and 141: I laughed. "I told you it was an in
Page 142 and 143: it's quite another to embody the ch
Page 144 and 145: Now, Jesus claims to be God. But do
Page 146 and 147: saying, 'Who can forgive sins but G
Page 148 and 149: type of thing. That's getting Close
Page 150 and 151: "If you're going to quote Colossian
Page 152 and 153: eternal suffering for those who rej
Page 154 and 155: e done for all to see. And no one w
Page 156 and 157: followed by the 'new man.' Trouble
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Page 162 and 163: I shook my head, saddened at the th
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Page 166 and 167: though he had done no violence, nor
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Page 170 and 171: would respond. 1. The Coincidence A
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Page 174 and 175: For Further Evidence More Resources
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specifically, to the Garden of Geth
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that day and went on to the cross-w
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tension on the muscles would be eas
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to the cross by ropes.' Won't you c
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A QUESTION FOR THE HEART Convincing
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McDowell, Josh. The Resurrection Fa
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gaze, Craig still looks the role of
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Bible in my lap and quickly reviewe
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the Jews would gather the bones of
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the disciples faking one, this woul
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contradiction says, 'This cannot be
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"Jesus said in Matthew 12:40, 'For
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Essentially, he said a major argume
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the empty tomb. In other words, the
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But I had heard the tapes of the de
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a car, drive to Lynchburg, and make
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"When I was young, I was reading a
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convinced," he insisted indignantly
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willing to be interviewed. Now, sto
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people in the gospels and Acts-some
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MARKS MISSING CONCLUSION When I fir
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central proclamation of the earlies
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Christians-how did they get talked
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death in 1995. And do you know what
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Ask Timothy McVeigh. He may have th
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eaten, imprisoned. And finally, mos
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Muhammad's conversion to Islam as b
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they could be in right standing wit
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together to celebrate his teachings
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and the amazing emergence and growt
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willing to lay down your life for a
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IS THERE CREDIBLE EVIDENCE FOR JESU
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DID JESUS-AND JESUS ALONE-MATCH THE
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evidence that Jesus is the unique S
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Evidence? By November 8, 1981, my l
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cross of Jesus to bridge that gulf.
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case for Christ is conclusive. The
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Boyd, Gregory A. Cynic Sage or Son
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Gruenler-Royce Gordon Cruenler, New
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O'Collins-Gerald O'Collins, The Eas
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NOTES INTRODUCTION: REOPENING THE I
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Press, 1996), 196-97. 10. Paul L. M
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1. Leland H. Gregory 111, "Fop Ten
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The Case For Christ

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