Have you ever been in a precarious situation in which an unbeliever raised onerous objections concerning the Christian faith? Why do Christians make the illogical claim that Jesus is the only way? Why does God allow babies to be born blind? Why is the church bigoted against homosexuals? To make matters worse, you were tentative and not able to respond by defending the Christian position as the opposition did in obstructing it. It can happen to the best of us. To be fair, the objections that unbelievers raise are not trivial. Sometimes objections are mean spirited, but in many cases they are legitimate questions that require thoughtful answers.

To that end, there is an upcoming opportunity here at FBCW to attend a class series in apologetics designed to provide biblical answers to our toughest questions. The value for the class participant is to help Christians better understand, defend, and proclaim their beliefs. Classes for this eight week series are on Wednesday evenings in an auditorium setting starting September 1, from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm.

Believers find today that “true biblical Christianity” is not popular. The world and its ways are diametrically opposed to the Christian faith. To compound the problem, a tragedy of our time has been the silencing of many Christians while the culture slides progressively into moral decay. Some challenges Christians face here in America, to name a few:

• Freedom of religion and speech are eroding. Political correctness is in.
• There are many who fight tooth and nail to keep abortion laws intact.
• Many left-leaning college professors force their views on students and do not like to be questioned about their beliefs.
• Rival forces resist the Bible’s narrow teaching that sexual intimacy is only for a man and woman who are married.
• In some states on a given day a man can elect to go into the bathroom of his choice.
• Because Jesus is competition for other beliefs, Christians are persecuted around the globe as well.

None of the above challenges is acceptable, yet they pervade our society. It is incumbent upon Christians to make their voices heard and explain why the opposition is wrong. This class series addresses taxing questions by employing Scripture, overhead slides, video clips, and a supporting Participant Guide. A synopsis of the questions follows:

Why Should Faithful Christians Stress That Homosexual Intimacy Is Always Wrong? The debate over transgender and homosexual rights has become a hot topic in recent years. Critics in support of gay and lesbian lifestyles want to argue that a moral judgment is bigotry. Key discussions employed in the argument: the homosexual agenda, scientific research, and theological ethics. This homosexual issue has the potential to divide the body of Christ

If God Is Good, Why Does He Allow Evil? The opponents of Christianity love to engage in debate regarding evil in the world because they feel they can very easily put Christians behind the 8-ball. Why does God allow terrible tragedies? Why the unexplained suffering? Why? Why? Why? The discourse includes the role of free will as it relates to God’s providential workings.

Who Are You To Judge? … The Death Of Truth We live in an “anything goes” society. Why are we afraid to call out sinful behavior? Was Jesus teaching that we should not make judgments? This tough question raises the priority of discernment and emphasizes that biblical truths matter, rather than the postmodern culture / political correctness / moral relativism we deal with today.

How Can A God Of Love Send Someone To Hell? Many people do not believe in a God that would send the crown jewel of His creation to eternal torment. Several popular beliefs concerning confusion about the afterlife will be discussed. A strong argument is made that heaven and hell are real … Jesus is the star witness. Will also cover the question … Can saints be happy if a family member is doomed in hell?

Now That We Live In A Scientific Age, Haven’t We Outgrown Christianity? Concerning science and Christianity this compelling question examines: Why the conflict between the two fields of study, and where do these fields of study converge? A common sense interpretation of facts suggests that a Super Intellect has monkeyed with the physics of the universe. For the scientist who has lived by his or her faith only by the power of reason, the story ends in a bad dream. The alignment of the Genesis account with science’s thermodynamic laws may be a real eye opener to attendees.

Should The Church Refrain From Silence And Stand Up To Be Heard? Pastor Gary Hamrick delivers a sermon to challenge the church in America to wake up: “Our nation is at a crossroads. Christians need to wake up and realize that we are in a spiritual battle for the heart and soul of our nation. Stand up for righteousness! Stand up for truth! And let your voices be heard for the glory of God!” This session will include live performances of God Bless America and I’m Proud To Be An American.

Can I Feel Comfortable Handling Questions Related To Jesus’ Resurrection? We’ll end the class series with the all-important question concerning resurrection apologetics. Jesus’ resurrection is a crucial issue, i.e. the primary testimony of the early church. This session is designed for the purpose of providing strongly attested evidence for the resurrection as a resource for one's advantage whenever needed. Acronyms are employed for ease of memory recall of this important evidence. Includes an excerpt from Brother Ralph Sawyer’s 2021 Easter sermon.

In short …Unbelievers have good questions. Believers have good answers. God commands us to give them. 1 Peter 3:15-16: But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

There is plenty of darkness in the world today. Satan is at work. Rather than make concessions to those outside the Faith, we can respectfully agree to disagree. We have Christ in our corner, and we can hold tightly to the truth that His life, death, and resurrection are the answers for our problems. It’s my prayer this course emboldens Christians to speak fearlessly with those who reject the Bible (and the Christ of the Bible) in a way that causes them to reexamine and open their hearts. May God receive the glory.

Feel free to make public invitations to those whom you think may be interested … family, friends, neighbors, work associates, and even skeptics. SEE YOU THERE!

For Part 1, please click here.

In Part II we will examine sources germane to the aforementioned historical facts that Jesus was raised.

Category 1, Source 1 In first century Palestine, pen and paper were scarce. 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 is the quintessential text among critical scholars for citing the church’s earliest oral tradition. According to Dr. Habermas, most scholars place the origin of this pre-Pauline creed within five years of Jesus’ crucifixion. Paul says, 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 (NIV). The words “received” and “passed” are Greek terms for passing on tradition. Paul is not the originator of the biblical text, nor did he receive it from the Lord. Paul’s source was other Christians, and he is passing it on.[7]

Category 1, Source 2 is the oral tradition notable in the Book of Acts and reflected in the kerygma (i.e. act of preaching). All contain references to the resurrection of Christ. The most popular candidates for these condensed confessional segments are located within the sermon material in Acts: Acts 1:21-22, 2:22-36, 3:13-16, 4:8-10, 5:29-32, 10:39-43, 13:28-31, 17:1-3, and 17:30-31. Habermas points out the majority of critical scholars dates some of these kerygmatic snippets back to the thirties. Anyone asserting the resurrection claim is a legendary development occurring decades after Christ must bear the burden of proof; ironically their debate would be with critical and conservative scholars alike.

Category 2, Source 3 The evidence for authorship of Paul’s epistles is supported by a consistent writing style and unified content that in turn makes Paul the critic’s darling. Virtually all critical scholars accept 7 of his 13 epistles as trustworthy historical data: Romans, Philippians, Philemon, Galatians, 1&2 Corinthians, and 1 Thessalonians. In addition, Paul’s authorship is multiply attested: 2 Peter 3:15-16, Ignatius in his Letter to the Ephesians, Clement of Rome in 1 Clement , and Polycarp in his Letter to the Philippians claim Paul wrote 1 Corinthians.[8] Paul not only claims to be an eyewitness of the resurrection, but to personally know other eyewitnesses who preached the same message. Paul’s authorship establishes numerous resurrection claims that are a vital link in this debate.

Category 3, Sources 4-7 are the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each of these independent sources claims resurrection appearances, or implies the tomb was empty because Christ had been raised: the sources are Matthew 28:9, Matthew 28:13, Mark 16:6, Luke 24:5-6, Luke 24:36-43, John 2:18-22, John 20:1-15, John 20:24-28, and John 21:19-30. While authorship of the gospels is highly disputed, “it is well accepted that all four gospels plus Acts, the sequel to Luke, were written during the first century, within seventy years of Jesus’ resurrection.”[9]

Habermas adds that use of the gospels as a source for resurrection claims is not dependent on the gospel authorship debate. Rather, the larger point hinges on numerous, independent, early, multiply-attested, even non-biblically attested sources making claims to the resurrection. In other words, even if we took the most critical approach possible, and assumed unknown gospel authorship, and that the majority of gospel content is legendary, the fact remains: the gospels are first century documents having almost unanimous consensus among scholars claiming the disciples “AT A MINIMUM” believed Christ appeared to them.[10]

Category 4, Sources 8-9 come from the next generation leaders, Clement of Rome and Polycarp being in the forefront. Their testimony is significant, because like Paul, they are only one step removed from the eyewitnesses. In both cases, there is solid historical evidence for their apostolic association.

In AD 95, Clement wrote in 1 Clement that the apostles were so certain of the resurrection they proclaimed the Kingdom of God. Around AD 185 Irenaeus in Against Heresies states: “Clement had been conversant with the apostles, and received instructions from them.” Around AD 200, Tertullian writes in Prescription for Heretics, that Clement had been ordained a bishop by Peter.

Polycarp, in his Letter to the Philippians (AD 110 - AD140), mentions Christ’s resurrection five times. Around AD 180, Irenaeus says of Polycarp in Against Heresies, that he was instructed and ordained a bishop by the apostles. In addition, Irenaeus reports that Polycarp received his instruction directly from the eyewitnesses, and had familiar interaction with John, and the other disciples who had seen Christ.[11]

Additionally, we have good historical evidence the apostles and disciples not only “claimed” to see the risen Christ, but “believed” it. The evidence for this claim rests on the assertion that people do not usually suffer and die for something they know to be false. This is contrasted with those who die for a sincere belief, which happens often. The eyewitnesses, not their successors, were in the unique position to know if Christ had been resurrected, making their death all the more improbable if they were purposely lying.[12] These sufferings and deaths and their connection to the risen Christ rests on multiple sources: Clement (AD 95), Polycarp (AD 100), Ignatius (AD 110), Tacitus (AD 64-67), Dionysius (AD 170), Hegesippus (AD 170), Tertullian (AD 200), Origen (AD 200), Clement of Alexandria (AD 200), and Eusebius (AD 230s). Even if all these accounts were riddled with embellishments, the weight of historical evidence points toward the disciple’s suffering, and in some cases dying, for their “sincere belief” that Christ was raised from the dead.[13]

In conclusion, evidence for Jesus’ resurrection has been presented using the minimal facts approach, which considers only data so strongly attested historically that even the majority of non-believing scholars find them acceptable. We considered a quintet of facts: C.A.P.S. plus the Empty Tomb.

Using the acronym O.P.E.N. we have examined nine independent early sources spanning four categories of historical evidence with the focus on Christ’s postmortem appearances. Dr. Habermas summarizes the critical response to this data: “I recently completed an overview of more than 1,400 sources on the resurrection of Jesus published since 1975. I’ve studied and catalogued about 650 of these texts in English, German, and French. No fact is more widely recognized than that early Christian believers had real experiences they thought were appearances of the risen Jesus. A critic may claim they saw hallucinations or visions, but he does not deny that they actually experienced something.”[14]

The academic work of William Lane Craig justifies him as conceivably the premier Christian apologist in the last half century. In Craig’s view, the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus rests upon three independently established facts: the empty tomb, the resurrection appearances, and the origin of the Christian faith. If these facts can be established, then one is justified in inferring Jesus’ resurrection as the most plausible explanation.[15]

Attempts claiming the resurrection has little or no historical support comes from understudied laymen, not critical scholarship. The wealth of historical data does not prove the resurrection, but is the first step in advancing the probabilistic historical argument that multiple, independent, early, and some cases eyewitness claims about the resurrection are more than myths. Christians can safely base their faith on strong historical data, and if they are current on New Testament criticism, can easily repudiate a skeptic’s claim to the contrary. When the truth of Christ’s resurrection is attacked, it is incumbent upon us to take a stand: 3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people Jude 3 (NIV).

If you are interested in pursuing additional depth in defense of the historical claim of the physical resurrection of Jesus and being able to share those truths, a recommended resource is The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus authored by Gary Habermas and Michael Licona.

Footnote References [1] Norman Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2000), 665. [2] Gary Habermas and Michael Licona, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2004), 47. [3] Ibid, 36-40. [4] Ibid, 48-68. [5] Ibid, 69-74. [6] Ibid, 48-77. [7] Ibid, 51-53. [8] Ibid, 280. [9] Ibid, 53. [10] Ibid, 50-51. [11] Ibid, 54-55. [12] Ibid, 56-57. [13] Ibid, 57-59. [14] Ibid, 60. [15] William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith Christian Truth and Apologetics (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008), 361.