There is nothing wrong with admitting that we rely on our
faith regarding the Bible’s claims. The atheists and the doubters also maintain
their positions by believing things that cannot be proved. I like the way
Geisler and Turek put it in the title
of their book: I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist. The
atheist must take it on faith that the known universe came into being through a
long series of chance occurrences. Honest scientists are gradually moving away
from the Darwinian explanation of evolutionary process to explain what we
observe. (I dealt with this more fully in “Think About
It.”)
While believers do believe certain unlikely things, that
belief is not without support. In Surprised by Hope, Wright dismisses
the common arguments that the disciples stole the body, or that Jesus never
really died, or that mass psychosis can explain what happened. These attacks on
faith that deny the resurrection are easily debunked as many
apologists have done previously. What most impressed me was the way Wright
demonstrated that the resurrection of Jesus was completely unexpected, having
no precedent either in secular thinking or the theology of the Jews.
Wright points out that much of the secular world in the
first century followed Plato in thinking that the physical realm was inferior
to the non-physical. This led them to imagine that after death, they would
achieve a state of being that had shed all the imperfections of physicality.
Hence, bodily resurrection was not something to be desired. Most of those who
did not follow Plato believed there was a life after death in some far away place
like the Elysian
Fields of Greek mythology. The had no thought that they would be
resurrected on earth.
The Jews, according to Wright, were split into two camps;
the Sadducees denied any resurrection at all, while the Pharisees and others
believed there would be a general resurrection of all humans at the end of
time. This resurrection was the reestablishment of the kingdom of Israel the
prophets spoke of. You hear that idea surface when the
disciples asked the risen Jesus if He was about to restore the kingdom. Rather
that correcting their kingdom idea, Jesus offered an explanation involving
timing. He said only the Father knew when that would happen.
This still left them with the anomaly of Jesus’
resurrection. No one imagined, says Wright, that someone would be brought back
from the dead individually some time before the general resurrection they
looked forward to. Wright makes the case that nothing in the first century
context would have led the disciples to invent the resurrection account. It was
unheard of and therefore an unlikely fabrication meant to hide the “fact” of
Jesus’ death at the hands of His enemies.
When the risen Jesus first appeared, the women thought He
was a gardener or someone else, but they had no reason to think they were
seeing Jesus. The same is true for the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Rather
than going about looking for Jesus in His new body, the disciples were gathered
together in fear that their execution would be next. When Jesus made His
unnatural appearance in the locked room, they thought He might be a ghost; no
one said, “Oh there you are, the Risen One.” To prove his physicality to
Thomas, Jesus offered a touch of His wounded hands and side. Interestingly,
although it was a new body with unusual characteristics, it bore remnants of
its former state. This represents another totally new idea that no first
century thinker would have imagined.
That the resurrection of Jesus was a totally new idea in the
first century without precedent in any historical context proves that it was
thrust upon the first disciples and not invented by them. As Wright points out,
the disciples heard Jesus speak of His resurrection, and they had no idea what
He was talking about. They had to wait for the coming of the promised Holy
Spirit to put it all together. Once they grasped it, it became the centerpiece
of their preaching. To them, the resurrection was the ultimate validation of
Jesus’ messiahship.
So, while we do hold the idea of the resurrection by faith,
there is no reason to fear the arguments of the doubters and the atheists. In
fact, it is they who should fear our argument. If Jesus did rise from the
grave, a fact with abundant historical and rational support, those who deny it
are signing their death warrant. Only those who believe in Christ’s
resurrection will take part in the ultimate resurrection to eternal life when
He returns to call His people home. To that I say, Maranatha Jesus; come
quickly.
Related posts: I
Don’t Believe in God; Do
We Really Need God”
😊😊
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