At North Village Church, we are always talking about the importance of Jesus, but what about all those arguments for how Jesus is a waste of time?
In our new blog series, ‘How to Respond When Someone Says’, we are providing you with Biblical ways to respond when some argues against your Faith in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Part 1: How to respond when someone says: Jesus’ resurrection was exaggerated.
- People will say, “Ancient people didn’t have science, so they naturally believed in superstition and magic. For example: Lightning was a weapon of Zeus, bloodletting, infertility was because the gods were upset.
- People will say, “Ancient people would have been more likely to believe fantastic claims like ‘Jesus being resurrected from the dead.’” For example: People believed in Odin, Zeus, Shiva, and human sacrifices to appease the gods.
- People will say, “Jesus’ followers went through a traumatic experience, which makes them more susceptible. (We’re still learning about how memory works in trauma. How do we know their accounts are reliable?)
- People will say, “We have a history of fantastic claims evolving over time, which is probably what happened in the story of Jesus.” (King Arthur, Joan of Arc, Johnny Appleseed, St. Denis.)
These are all great arguments against Jesus’ resurrection, but:
- The first accounts of the resurrection are found in the writings of Paul, who wrote only fifteen years after Jesus’ death. The accounts weren’t put in the gospels later as corroboration. Paul mentions that Jesus appeared to over 500 people at once in 1 Corinthians 15.
- New Testament letters were read aloud, publicly, inviting anyone who might have been skeptical to go and talk with the eyewitnesses themselves.
- Additionally, the accounts of the resurrection state that women were the first eyewitnesses to the empty tomb. This is a significant problem because women had such a low social status that they couldn’t even testify in court. So, if these stories were fabrications, they would only undermine the credibility of the testimonies.
- N.T. Wright notes that there must have been enormous pressure to change the accounts and remove the women from them. Still, the disciples would not do so to keep the integrity of the account, and probably could not do so anyway because the records were already too well known.
- Timothy Keller summarizes a great way of thinking about the resurrection: “Nothing in history can be proven the way we can prove something in a laboratory. However, the resurrection of Jesus is a historical fact much more fully attested to than most other events of ancient history we take for granted. Every effort to account for the birth of the church apart from Jesus’s resurrection flies in the face of what we know about the first-century history and culture.”
- In other words, the resurrection of Jesus gives definitive evidence for the birth and rapid growth of the church. Without the resurrection, the Jesus movement would never have taken off. It would have stopped as any movement does when its leader dies.
- Moreover, the disciples that we see being cowards before the resurrection all died gruesome and courageous deaths afterward, and no one would die for something that they thought might be untrue. We can see a total transformation in his followers because of their newly qualified trust in Jesus, and we have documentation that dates only within a few years of the actual event.
- If Jesus didn’t rise from death, then nothing He said matters. But if Jesus did rise from death, then everything we think about the world, ourselves, and God, we now have to rethink and let the reality of the resurrection rebuild it. Now, everything He said matters.
Did this help?
Check out the rest of this 6 part series. Perhaps you have some objections you would like to recommend. If so, please email those objections to [email protected].
You might also want to check out our sermon, What About, People Who Haven’t Heard?
North Village Church
This article was written by Pastor Michael Dennis, Lead Pastor at North Village Church; a non-denominational church in Austin, TX, established in 2009 and built around Jesus and Bible teaching.
Are you looking for a church in Austin? At North Village Church we put Jesus at the center of our church family. We worship together every Sunday at 10:30am, encourage Christ centered fellowship through groups, and host special events such as Bible studies and Theological Training, to ensure that we are rooted in in God’s Word. We also serve our local community in association with several Austin based organizations.
North Village Church is made up of professionals, married couples, singles, and families who are wanting to experience the life-transforming power of Jesus. If you are a family with children or teens, we can support you with either or both our Kids Ministry and Youth Ministry.
Check out our North Village Church calendar highlights such as our Christmas Eve Service in Austin and Easter Sunday Service.
You are welcome to contact us if you would like more information, please call (512)-623-9272 or email [email protected]
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