New Testament Resurrection
The object of Jesus Christ is a name with many interpretive meanings, all failing in some way to represent who He truly is, and that is God Himself. This is shown through His Resurrection, and by the power of His Holy Spirit. Yet the image of Jesus continues its evolution throughout modern history. Jesus Christ is dead. Jesus Christ is alive. Jesus Christ is the determining factor between the sincere belief in a realm of Supernaturalism. Jesus Christ is an interaction, a place of worship, and an elevation of one’s self to a higher state. In this state of Christ exists not ego, but serene internal doctrine and divine wisdom. This tranquility provides us the ability to usher His knowledge, utilizing it to immediately contribute and directly improve all facets of society. Jesus Christ has the ability to break down barriers that stand before our success. Jesus Christ is the shield that protects us from the abominably pervasive thoughts and influences that provoke us into distraction, parting us from what many consider to be confidence. So who is Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ is God, and without Him, we are doomed to ruminate obtrusions expropriating our conscious attempts to overcome exclusive obstacles that stand before us. Human beings were created with five [recognized] senses that allow us to decipher decisions and make judgments of an entity or object's viability to the specificity of a situation within its context. Put simply, seeing is believing, feeling is knowing, and experiencing is receiving. So how can we prove Jesus Christ’s existence in order to fulfill the sensory criteria required to know that He exists, and can produce actual visible changes for the better, in our lives? The answer is radical faith through a conglomeration of certified historical artifacts, modern-day testimonies, and Biblically documented first-hand eyewitness accounts.
First, to get the most important statement out of the way: it is not possible to 100% prove that Jesus was raised from the dead. God left room for faith. Without some percentage of faith, Christianity would be pointless. In addition, we cannot prove that we are alive and that anything exists at all. What we instead use is called a based case explanation. This is delivered by a compliment of factual data and human assessment into fill in the missing gaps in the information. As William Lane Craig describes[1], “[W]e’re justified in inferring Jesus’ resurrection as the best explanation of the facts.”
The Historicity of the New Testament Resurrection
Based upon the historical accuracy of the New Testament manuscripts which exist, it is apparent that the disciples believed they had in fact witnessed the Resurrection of Christ. This was witnessed by Mark and used by the apostles to convey meaning This can also be referred to as the Criteria of Mark and Priority, meaning that Mark and another account [Q] were the origins of the Gospel account. According to New Testament scholar Craig L. Blomberg[2], “Less than ten percent of Mark’s Gospel, moreover, is distinctive when compared with Matthew and Luke, and this material stands out as distinctive only after the composition of all the Synoptics, when we see what the later writers chose not to repeat.”
1 Corinthians 15:16-19 (ESV) “For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”
Evidence from the case for His Resurrection can be used to further other apologetic arguments including Paul’s Conversion, the disciples’ willingness to die for what they saw, and the criteria of embarrassment established by the early Church which often displayed them in an unfavorable light. New Testament Scholar J. Ed Komoszewski states on the Criteria of Embarrassment[3], “[n]o wonder the disciples reacted as they did in Luke 24:11: ‘But these words [that the women spoke] seemed like pure nonsense to them, and they did not believe them.’”
“1 Corinthians 15:22 (ESV) For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”
1 Corinthians reminds us that while disciples during the Old Testament were in perpetual peril from their fallen state, the death of Jesus Christ presented in the New Testament reveals that God wants us to thrive. It was by the death of Jesus Christ that we are promised eternal life. Under this new covenant, we are shown that God loves us as His children and does not resent us due to our inherent depravity. Instead, He was willing to come to Earth and face persecution in human form to compensate for our lack of divinity.
It is equally important to note that even upon new discoveries the inherent message remains the same, and is supported by newly unveiled evidence. Written in 1979, The King James Version Debate by D. A. Carson reveals that since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, only[4] “[m]inor changes have been made here and there as new readings have come to light;1 but there is little doubt that the Masoretes and the Jews before and after them were generally more faithful copyists than their Christian counterparts. What has developed, however, is an entire school of thought concerning the textual developments of the Old Testament biblical text.”
Today it has become even more difficult to dispute the historical accuracy of the New Testament. According to Liberty University professor and New Testament Historian Gary R. Habermas[5], “[o]f crucial note regarding these minimal facts is that the naturalistic hypotheses that are frequently proposed in order to account for these data have failed. One critical indication that this is the case is the diminishing use of these natural views even among skeptical specialists,” On this perspective, many critical scholars agree that the disciples believed that they had individually witnessed the risen Jesus, reducing their only defense to an unexplainable denial of faith.
The Legend Theory Has Fallen Obsolete in Modern Times
It is important to deal skeptic’s question of “legend” status, and how it pertains to His Resurrection, as we find no evidence of the possibility that this method could be applied. Unlike previous idols, the apostles came into their faith through first-hand experience and not through tradition. Saul, a persecutor of Christians for their faith, was so radically changed that God declared his name changed to Paul, and began preaching the Gospel. As we know that the Apostles indeed held first-hand accounts of His Resurrection, in order for a legend theory to exist God certainly uses the most broken and lost individuals to accomplish the assembling of His Kingdom. Paul was converted to an apostle, within the first few years of Christ’s death, preserving the early image of Jesus, whereas not enough time would have passed before he could be venerated.
It is vitally important that resurrection testimony found in the Bible occurred within the years immediately following Jesus’s death. Without that criteria, it would not be possible that the apostles witnessed Resurrection firsthand. Paul’s voyage to Corinth happened within seventeen to twenty years after the death of Christ. In this message, Paul reveals one of the early creedal statement, which, according to Dr. Mark Foreman, he claimed to have received from others in authority. We can know for certain that they did in fact witness His Resurrection, as they were physically changed for their beliefs, and willing to die to uphold their faith in God. In America, Christians are not so heavily persecuted for their faith, yet many fail to recognize the prize which we have been delivered from the Lord Himself, the gift of sight. Atheists and Critical Scholars argue that Jesus was an out-of-control evolutionary tale that has become wildly hyped up to encourage division and control. As Gary Habermas describes, rather than consider why there was a period of time between Jesus’s death and the writing of the Gospels, it to first ask “Why were the Gospels written at all[6]?”
This negative connotation could not be further removed from the truth. The fall of Jerusalem was not mentioned in the Gospel accounts, which certainly would have been of the utmost importance. In addition, the psychopathic Nero revealed his weakness when he fearfully murdered the apostles in an attempt to stay in power. Christian creeds are important to reject legendary development to His Resurrection as they reveal that the image of Jesus Christ was not something new that had evolved over time, nor was it another repulsive interpretation of a synthetic pagan idol.
2 Timothy 1:8-9,10b (ESV) “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God…who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”
2 Timothy reminds us that we should not be ashamed of our Supernatural experiences, nor our personal testimony. Many Christians find it difficult to deal with reoccurring sin which persists past their baptism. It is by our own testimonies we can remind ourselves that God loves us, even in our fallen state. If we commit ourselves entirely to Him and follow the path of Scripture we can achieve a solid connection of transmission which allows us to gain wisdom and insight into events that would otherwise cause conflict and defeat. Evangelizing the Gospel is essential to obliterating the legend status, as Jesus Christ’s Resurrection was clearly witnessed and transcribed within years after his death.
The Accuracy of Christ in Scripture
New Testament scholar Robert Bowman states that[7], “The Hebrew makes it clear that by "the LORD" and "my Lord" two different persons are in view. Jesus identified the second person ("my Lord") as the Messiah when he applied the text to himself.” This reveals that it would not have been easy for the image of Jesus to be exaggerated, as He claimed to be the Messiah, receiving the same worship that was reserved for the [same] Old Testament God.
Additionally, we have the criteria of multiple attestations. This means that it can be found in multiple independent sources, meaning that it is likely authentic. Moreover, these first-hand encounters were documented directly from the source. Additionally, the criteria of embarrassment remains true, which displays the objectivity of the facts, no matter their attestation. In this case, a woman was the first person to see the Resurrected Jesus Christ. This would have been a less-than-ideal choice if Jesus Christ was meant to become a legend. Surely someone legendary would have at least reserved the accreditation for themselves engraving their eternal mark in history. Instead, this discovery was given to a woman, a source declared unreliable during this time. While there remain multiple views of Jesus, the conglomeration of theories that attempt to disprove his Resurrection remains even more controversial. Rather than relying on the validity of the Gospel accounts as truthful, one must attempt to rely on multiple factors, acting as a house of cards. This means the disproval of just one of the multiple theory combinations renders the entirety of their position as invalid.
New Testament scholar Mike Licona states that[8] “There are a few [critics] today who assert that Jesus is a myth who never existed, although it appears that no widely respected scholar holds this position. There are also those who deny there ever was a Holocaust. Moreover, a consensus can be reached due to shared biases, convictions, objectives and a lack of knowledge. We need to be reminded every so often that a consensus of scholars does not establish the objectivity or truth of their conclusion. Communities in the past have held numerous beliefs that have since been disproved.” This provides evidence that those who hold disbelief in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ today suffer from many of the same symptoms of the perils of our species’ past.
Conclusion
God created us in His image, to be His children and exalt His image in all that we do, no matter the obstacles that we may face. Confiding in the security of Jesus Christ provides a security unknown to the natural realm. It is our duty as Christians to reveal that more exists beyond what we see before our eyes, and there resides our creator, calling for a personal relationship with us. He can shield us from negative influence, heal us from hazards and injuries, and give our lives a second chance at redemption. When the devil commands that it is over, we must remind ourselves that if we are still breathing God is not done with us yet. It is by this mentality that we can overcome all doubt and reconnect with the essence of perfection that gave us life. It is through His covenant that we can achieve the promise of eternal life and rejoice as we share this good news with the world.
Bibliography
1. Blomberg, Craig L.. A New Testament Theology (p. 275). Baylor University Press. Kindle Edition.
2. Carson, D. A.. The King James Version Debate (pp. 81-82). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
3. Craig, William Lane. On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision (p. 277). David C Cook. Kindle Edition.
4. Habermas, Gary. 2021. Risen Indeed: A Historical Investigation Into the Resurrection of Jesus (p. 23). Lexham Press. Kindle Edition.
5. J. Ed Komoszewski. 2006. Reinventing Jesus. (Kindle Locations 414-415). Kindle Edition.
6. J. Ed Komoszewski. Reinventing Jesus (Kindle Location 189). Kindle Edition.
7. LICONA, MICHAEL R. The Resurrection of Jesus (pp. 62-64). IVP. Kindle Edition.
8. Robert Bowman; J. Ed Komoszewski; Darrell L. Bock. Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ (Kindle Locations 2726-2727). Kindle Edition.
[1] Craig, William Lane. On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision (p. 277). David C Cook. Kindle Edition.
[2] Blomberg, Craig L.. A New Testament Theology (p. 275). Baylor University Press. Kindle Edition.
[3] J. Ed Komoszewski. 2006. Reinventing Jesus. (Kindle Locations 414-415). Kindle Edition.
[4] Carson, D. A.. The King James Version Debate (pp. 81-82). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
[5] Habermas, Gary. 2021. Risen Indeed: A Historical Investigation Into the Resurrection of Jesus (p. 23). Lexham Press. Kindle Edition.
[6] J. Ed Komoszewski. Reinventing Jesus (Kindle Location 189). Kindle Edition.
[7] Robert Bowman; J. Ed Komoszewski; Darrell L. Bock. Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ (Kindle Locations 2726-2727). Kindle Edition.
[8] LICONA, MICHAEL R. The Resurrection of Jesus (pp. 62-64). IVP. Kindle Edition.