CFS-WB-CH07

The unprecedented growth
of the early Church gives
evidence not only of the
power of the Holy Spirit in the
ministry of the Apostles, but
also of the Resurrection of
Jesus.
about it senseless. Such a lie would have brought needless suffering
onto oneself. The Resurrection doctrine set the early Christians at odds
with the Jewish tradition they lived in, causing them to be expelled from
their synagogues and ostracized by their communities. It quickly led to
hounding by the Roman authorities as well. Ultimately, it meant active
persecution, torture, and death. It would have been a huge leap of logic
for an unbeliever to willingly associate himself with such persecution
and danger to his own life for a lie he himself did not even believe.
Indeed, Paul himself suffered repeatedly from these threats and
would even die for the Faith. If the Resurrection were a lie, all that suffering
would have been for nothing. As he himself indicated — “If the
dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die’” (1
Corinthians 15:32). Paul uses this dilemma to show (in a legal fashion)
that he and the other witnesses — believers and unbelievers alike — had
everything to lose and nothing to gain by bearing false witness to the
Resurrection of Christ. Their testimony is more reliable since it goes
against their own self-interest.
Constantine’s Conversion, by Peter Paul Rubens
134 Apologetics I: The Catholic Faith and Science
© Magis Center