The Resurrection? The Story of Jesus is too fantastic to be believed.
Written by Ed Allen
Sunday, 16 April 2006 08:04
The Evidence: Is Christianity Believable?
Many people have doubts about the resurrection of Jesus. Some scholars believe that the resurrection was a myth. Others believe that there is some rational explanation. Join us as we look at the evidence.
Sermon Notes
1 Corinthians 15:3-7
2 Approaches to analyzying the 'historical' Jesus
1. A dymythologized Jesus
This approach assumes that the events of Jesus' life are not actual historical events. They are myths or themes meant to represent larger, epic truth.
Problems with this approach
Proponents of this approach reject the resurrection without any real investigation of the evidence.
Proponents of this approach may even claim to follow Christianity. However, without an historical Jesus, there is no Christianity. Christianity at its core rises or falls on teh reality of Christ's resurrection.
2. A natural approach / rationalism
This approach assumes that the events of Jesus' life represent actual events, but they must be reinterpreted. Every so-called miracle has a natural, rational explanation. An example of this approach would be the Swoon theory that says that Jesus never actually died on the cross.
Problems with this approach
This approach begins with the assumption that miracles cannot happen.