Tag Archive

On the Resurrection Hypothesis, part 5 of 5: Conclusion

Published on April 3, 2016 By sirrahc

If you have been following this series, you know that we have covered a lot of ground, including various lines of evidence that generally — and, in some cases, quite strongly — support the case for Jesus Christ having been physically raised from the dead on the third day after his death and burial. We […]

On the Resurrection Hypothesis, part 4 of 5: The Disciples’ Belief

Published on March 31, 2016 By sirrahc

Origin of the Disciples’ Belief in Jesus’ Resurrection To say that the death of Jesus on the cross was devastating to the disciples would be gross understatement. Despite Jesus’ warnings, they had no concept of a Messiah that would die, much less rise up again. Without the resurrection, Jesus’ shameful death could only be seen […]

On the Resurrection Hypothesis, part 3 of 5: Postmortem Appearances

Published on March 27, 2016 By sirrahc

Postmortem Appearances We have four lines of evidence for the historical reliability of Jesus’ appearances to people after His death. 1) *Paul’s testimony shows that the disciples saw appearances of Jesus.* In I Corinthians 15, Paul lists several people to whom Jesus appeared after his death, beginning with Peter individually and the Twelve Apostles (as […]

On the Resurrection Hypothesis, part 2 of 5: The Empty Tomb

Published on March 24, 2016 By sirrahc

Empty Tomb Let’s start with the ten lines of evidence that support the factuality of Jesus’ empty tomb: 1) *Historical credibility of the burial story.* The two are closely connected. If the burial story is basically correct, both Jews and Christians would have known the site of Jesus’ tomb. If the body was still there, […]

On the Resurrection Hypothesis, part 1 of 5: Testing Historical Explanations

Published on March 20, 2016 By sirrahc

“The evidence for the resurrection is better than for claimed miracles in any other religion. It’s outstandingly different in quality and quantity.” — Sir Antony Flew, distinguished British philosopher and renowned non-theist Last year around this time, some of you may recall that I did a 4-part series called, “On Jesus’ Death”, followed by a […]

Response to a YEC about Creation and the Bible, part 2: Plain Readings and Explanatory Power

Published on April 6, 2014 By sirrahc

Unless you somehow missed it (and how could you?!), the previous post was the first part of my response to a Young-Earth Creationist, who expressed several concerns about my Old-Earth Creationist comments at the STR blog. I don’t recall the exchange being contentious, but “Doc” sure did think I was in danger of compromising the […]

Informal Logic 101: How to Think and Argue Better, Part 4

Published on July 22, 2013 By sirrahc

Part 4: Three Ways to Argue Meanwhile, at the clinic… Client (Michael Palin): “Aha! If you’re arguing, I must have paid.” Mr. Barnard (John Cleese): “Not necessarily. I could be arguing in my spare time….” OK, if you aren’t a Monty Python fan (and I am only marginally) and you don’t understand the above quote, […]