I'll stay focused on the Resurrection. Looking for the hard evidence that in fact Jesus Christ did rise from the dead. Again, it's one thing to go back and forth regarding the historical existence of someone who called himself Jesus being around back then, riling up the authorities and being executed for it.
But resurrection from the grave in a No God world...how might that even be possible? It's what most call the "supernatural". So, if I do come upon something in these videos that truly does startle me -- something, in other words, that makes me doubt my own doubt about Christianity -- trust me: you'll be the first to know.
4 Proofs of the Resurrection - Lee Strobel from The Case for Christ:
https://youtu.be/FT4Cj-Pi4m0?si=2MvoPabwFFkjvtK7
Here, however, we have someone who was once an atheist. So, he creates this video in order to explain what changed his mind. What evidence did he come upon that changed his mind?
Well, there were four "categories" that convinced him.
Jesus did die after the crucifixion. Lee Strobel informs us that no one doubts that: "We have no record of anyone, anywhere surviving a full Roman crucifixion. Even the peer reviewed Journal of the American Medical Association...said, 'clearly the weight of the evidence indicates that Jesus was dead even before the wound in His side was inflicted.' Even the atheist Gerd Lüdemann said, "historically it's indisputable that Jesus was dead."
Okay, a mere mortal who called himself the Son of God was executed back then. He died on the cross.
"The second category of evidence is the early accounts for the resurrection. I used to think as an atheist that the resurrection was just a legend...but what I learned is that we have preserved
a creed of the earliest Christian church..,a creed that is an eyewitness report of the resurrection of Jesus. Now this creed has been dated back by scholars to within months of the death of Jesus. That is historical gold."
Huh? What am I missing here? A "creed" of the "Christian church"? What are these documented early accounts such that beyond all doubt they prove He was resurrected? Just image the nature of documented accounts we have today regarding the death of someone famous. Now, imagine, him or her being resurrected. The accounts of this extraordinary event would come pouring in from media around the globe. They would be scrutinized and confirmed such that who could doubt the sheer accumulation of evidence?
The third category is "the empty tomb". And the best evidence for that "is that even the opponents of Jesus admitted the tomb was empty. And when the disciples pointed out that Jesus had risen what the opponents pointed out was that the disciples stole the body."
In other words, "everyone is conceding the tomb was empty...how did it get empty?"
And this takes us to the fourth category: "There were eyewitnesses."
"For most of what we know about ancient history, it comes from one or maybe two sources of information. And yet for the conviction of the disciples that they encountered the resurrected Jesus we have no fewer than nine ancient sources...inside
and outside the New Testament...confirming and corroborating the conviction of the disciples that they encountered the risen Christ. That is an avalanche of historical data."
Okay, someone please note the sources outside the New Testament. And what exactly are they confirming?
Suppose Pope Francis were to die tomorrow. Suppose there were then reports that he had risen from the dead. How hard would it be to prove that he had died? How hard would it be to prove that he was back from the grave?
What
is the strongest evidence outside the Bible that Christ had risen from the dead? Because if that proof is in fact conclusive, I would certainly take more seriously the belief that He was the Son of God. After all, to the best of my knowledge no mere mortal has ever been resurrected from the grave. So, sure, overwhelming proof that Jesus Christ had been resurrected would be extraordinary news.
