The Case For Christ

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But I had heard the tapes of the debates for myself. In the face of the facts, they have been impotent to put Jesus' body back into the tomb. They flounder, they struggle, they snatch at straws, they contradict themselves, they pursue desperate and extraordinary theories to try to account for the evidence. Yet each time, in the end, the tomb remains vacant. I was reminded of the assessment by one of the towering legal intellects of all time, the Cambridge-educated Sir Norman Anderson, who lectured at Princeton University, was offered a professorship for life at Harvard University, and served as dean of the Faculty of Laws at the University of London. His conclusion, after a lifetime of analyzing this issue from a legal perspective, was summed up in one sentence: "The empty tomb, then, forms a veritable rock on which all rationalistic theories of the resurrection dash themselves in vain." Deliberations Questions for Reflection or Group Study 1. What's your own conclusion concerning whether Jesus' tomb was empty on Easter Morning? What evidence did you find most convincing in coming to that judgment? 2. As Craig pointed out, everyone in the ancient world admitted the tomb was empty; the issue was how it got that way. Can you think of any logical explanation for the vacant tomb other than the resurrection of Jesus? if so, how do you imagine someone like Bill Craig might respond to your theory? 3. Read Mark 15:42-16:8, the earliest account of Jesus' burial and empty tomb. Do you agree with Craig that it is "stark in its simplicity and unadorned by theological reflection"? Why or why not? For Further Evidence More Resources on This Topic Craig, William Lane. "Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?" In Jesus under Fire, edited by Michael J. Wilkins and J. P. Moreland, 147-82. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995. "The Empty Tomb of Jesus." In In Defense of Miracles, edited by R. Douglas Geivett and Gary R. Habermas, 247-61. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1997. Knowing the Truth about the Resurrection. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Servant, 1988.
Reasonable Faith. Westchester, Ill.: Crossway, 1994. Craig, William Lane, and Frank Zindler. Atheism vs. Christianity: Where Does the Evidence Point? Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1993. Videocassette. Harris, Murray J. Three Crucial Questions about Jesus. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994. 13: THE EVIDENCE OF APPEARANCES Was jesus Seen Alive After His Death on the Cross In 1963 the body of fourteen-year-old Addie Mae Collins, one of four African-American girls tragically murdered in an infamous church bombing by white racists, was buried in Birmingham, Alabama. For years family members kept returning to the grave to pray and leave flowers. In 1998 they made the decision to disinter the deceased for reburial at another cemetery. When workers were sent to dig up the body, however, they returned with a shocking discovery: The grave was empty. Understandably, family members were terribly distraught. Hampered by poorly kept records, cemetery officials scrambled to figure out what had happened. Several possibilities were raised, the primary one being that her tombstone had been erected in the wrong place.' Yet in the midst of determining what happened, one explanation was never proposed: Nobody suggested that young Addie Mae had been resurrected to walk the earth again. Why? Because by itself an empty grave does not a resurrection make. My conversation with Dr. William Lane Craig has already elicited powerful evidence that the tomb of Jesus was empty the Sunday after his crucifixion. While I knew that this was important and necessary evidence for his resurrection, I was also aware that a missing body is not conclusive proof by itself. More facts would be needed to establish that Jesus really did return from the dead. That's what prompted my plane trip to Virginia. As my flight gently banked over the wooded hills below, I was doing some last-minute reading of a book by Michael Martin, the Boston University professor who has sought to discredit Christianity. I smiled at his words: "Perhaps the most sophisticated defense of the resurrection to date has been produced by Gary Habermas." I glanced at my watch. I would land with just enough time to rent
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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
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asked. Yamauchi pondered the questi
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and the truth will make you free."
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question of whether the New Testame
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Herodium, all in Israel, over an ei
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People thought Josephus was wrong,
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to thirty-two countries, fifty-four
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Still, there were some matters I ne
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ancient historians or geographers m
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thought might challenge him. So the
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McRay tossed me the article in whic
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For Further Evidence More Resources
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commentator Paul Harvey likes to sa
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to me, 'Well, Greg, it looks like t
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miracles - walking on water, raisin
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history is based on single sources.
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proximity to the event, the less ch
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athed in its blood and guts. Then t
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it fits well with the Gnostic mind-
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But your love goes beyond that. You
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elying on the news media in reporti
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Theological Seminary, where I found
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Testament formed his people and set
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elationship between a child and his
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there's still no non-messianic Jesu
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had always done-to intervene and se
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Marshall, I. Howard. The Origins of
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146 THE CASE FOR CHRIST Shock; Can
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Granted, as we look back through hi
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feeling intoxicated, just as if the
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I laughed. "I told you it was an in
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it's quite another to embody the ch
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Now, Jesus claims to be God. But do
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saying, 'Who can forgive sins but G
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type of thing. That's getting Close
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"If you're going to quote Colossian
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eternal suffering for those who rej
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e done for all to see. And no one w
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Page 174 and 175: For Further Evidence More Resources
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Page 186 and 187: A QUESTION FOR THE HEART Convincing
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Page 200 and 201: "Jesus said in Matthew 12:40, 'For
Page 202 and 203: Essentially, he said a major argume
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Page 218 and 219: MARKS MISSING CONCLUSION When I fir
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Page 250 and 251: case for Christ is conclusive. The
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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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