The Case For Christ

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Marshall, I. Howard. The Origins of New Testatnent Christology. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1976. Moule, C. F. D. The Origins of Christology. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1977. Witherington, Ben, III. The Christology of jesus. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1990. 8: THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EVIDENCE Was jesus Crazy When He Claimed to Be the Son of God? When a psychologist or psychiatrist testifies, he shall wear a cone-shaped hat that is not less than two feet tall. The surface of the hat shall be imprinted with stars and lightning bolts. Additionally, he shall be required to don a white beard that is not less than eighteen inches in length and shall punctuate crucial elements of his testimony by stabbing the air with a wand. Whenever a psychologist or psychiatrist provides testimony, the bailiff shall contemporaneously dim the courtroom lights and administer two strikes to a Chinese gong. By suggesting this amendment to the state statutes in 1997, New Mexico state senator Duncan Scott left no doubt about his attitude toward experts who testify that defendants are insane and therefore not legally responsible for their crimes. Apparently, Scott's cynicism was shared by a majority of his colleagues-they voted to approve his tongue-in-cheek proposal! The joke got as far as the House of Representatives, which eventually blocked it from becoming law.' Admittedly, there's an undercurrent of skepticism in courthouses over psychiatrists and psychologists who testify concerning the mental state of defendants, their ability to cooperate with their attorney in preparing their defense, and whether they were legally insane at the time they committed their crime. Even so, most lawyers recognize that mental health professionals offer important insights for the criminal justice system. I recall a case in which a mild-mannered housewife stood accused of murdering her husband. At first glance she appeared no different from anybody's mother-well dressed, pleasant, kindly, looking as if she had just emerged from baking a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies for the neighborhood children. I scoffed when a psychologist testified she was mentally unable to stand trial. Then her lawyer put her on the witness stand. Initially her
testimony was clear, rational, and lucid. However, slowly it became more and more bizarre as she described, calmly and with great seriousness, how she had been assaulted by a succession of famous individuals, including Dwight Eisenhower and the ghost of Napoleon. By the time she finished, nobody in the courtroom doubted that she was totally out of touch with reality. The judge committed her to a mental institution until she was well enough to face the charges against her. Looks can be deceiving. It's the psychologist's job to peer beneath the defendant's veneer and draw conclusions concerning his or her mental condition. It's an inexact science, which means mistakes and even abuses can occur, but overall psychological testimony provides important safeguards for defendants. How does all this relate to Jesus? In the preceding chapter Dr. Ben Witherington III offered convincing evidence that even the earliest material about Jesus showed he was claiming to be God incarnate. That naturally raises the issue of whether Jesus was crazy when he made those assertions. In search of an expert's assessment of Jesus' mental state, I drove to a suburban Chicago office building to elicit testimony from one of the country's leading authorities on psychological issues. THE SEVENTH INTERVIEW: GARY R. COLLINS, PH.D. With a master's degree in psychology from the University of Toronto and a doctorate in clinical psychology from Purdue University, Collins has been studying, teaching, and writing about human behavior for thirty-five years. He was a professor of psychology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School for two decades, most of that time as chairman of its psychology division. A live wire with boundless energy and enthusiasm, Collins is a prolific author. He has written nearly 150 articles for journals and other periodicals and currently is editor of Christian Counseling Today and contributing editor of the Journal of Psychology and Theology. He also has produced an astounding forty-five books on psychology-related topics, including The Magnificent Mind; Family
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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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a Jewish mob by executing Jesus, ot
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would know that first, Jesus was a
Page 82 and 83: asked. Yamauchi pondered the questi
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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 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 170 and 171: would respond. 1. The Coincidence A
Page 172 and 173: issued a decree for the Jewish peop
Page 174 and 175: For Further Evidence More Resources
Page 176 and 177: stabbing of Jesus by the Roman sold
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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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