Bydraes hervat weer Donderdag

My program die afgelope twee weke was net te vol om by te bly met die bydraes oor Job.  Ek hoop om die bydraes weer Donderdag te hervat.  Jammer!

Hier is sommer twee aanhalings wat julle sal interesseer uit ‘n boek waarmee ek tans besig is: The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, 2004, deur Gary R. Habermas en Michael R. Licona van Kregel Publications gepubliseer by Grand Rapids.

Oor God se bestaan

There is good evidence that God exists.” Not only does the resurrection of Jesus provide strong evidence for the existence of God, but new understandings of complexity make recent arguments for an intelligent Designer of the universe very compelling. Scientific discoveries made during the past thirty-five five years in the fields of molecular biology and astrophysics have increased awareness of the intelligence behind creation. In addition, many have found compelling the arguments for an eternal first Cause of everything. Therefore, this interconnected account involving Jesus’ resurrection is better explained as God’s confirmation of his claims to divinity than an alien playing a cosmic joke.

Oor die opstanding

The resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of Christianity, which stands or crumbles depending on whether this event actually occurred. The “minimal facts approach” considers only those historical data that are so strongly attested that virtually all scholars who study the subject grant them as facts, even the majority of nonbelieving scholars.

Therefore, one cannot object to Jesus’ resurrection because he rejects the Bible, since in our argument nothing hinges on the trustworthiness of the Bible.

Using this approach, we have observed four minimal facts, plus a fifth fact that is granted by an impressive majority, though not virtually all of scholars. We refer to these five facts as “4+ 1.”

We have seen that (1) Jesus died due to crucifixion. Subsequent to his death, (2) the original disciples sincerely believed that Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to them. Since the disciples themselves claimed to be eyewitnesses to the resurrected Jesus, a legend developed over time cannot account for the story. Since there is good evidence that they believed that what they said was fact, deliberate lies cannot account for it either.

We have also seen that there is good evidence to support the credibility of the disciples’ claims about the resurrection of Jesus. (3) We have credible testimony from one enemy of Christianity (Paul) and (4) one skeptic (James), both of whom converted to Christianity based on their beliefs that the risen Jesus had appeared to them. Therefore, not only did Jesus’ friends believe that he had risen and appeared to them, one of his foes did as well, as did a skeptic.

Moreover, (5) the tomb was empty, a fact totally consistent with a resurrection.