CA201

Ten Reasons to Believe in the Christian Faith LESSON 05 of 10

Reason 5: Its Foundational Claim of Resurrection

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R. Douglas Geivett: Suppose we say that God wanted to write

human beings a letter with His solution to the human condition,
the predicament that we’re in. How would we know that the
signature at the bottom of the letter was His? I think a miracle
would be of great help. A miracle functions rather like a seal
on the envelope that says this message came from God. Now
in Christianity we have the miracle of the resurrection of Jesus
Christ, which is powerful evidence that God has in fact taken an
interest in the human predicament and done something about it
in a way that we can learn about, know about, and experience.
Now that is evidence that we were right all along to expect God to
do something about our situation.

Dr. Bob Pyne: The best argument for Christianity is the

resurrection of Christ. If it happened, then Christianity is true.
Then anything which competes against Christianity is false. If the
resurrection didn’t happen, then Christianity is false, and anything
competing against Christianity as a truth claim may well be true.
It also centers right there in the resurrection. If it happened,
Christianity is true. If it didn’t happen, then Christianity is false

Dr. Vernon Grounds: You know, as we read the Gospels, we

come to realize that the disciples of Jesus weren’t expecting a
resurrection. They had to be convinced almost you might say
against their better judgment. They didn’t believe that this leader
of theirs was going to emerge alive. And it wasn’t until ex post
facto, after the fact really that they came to believe.

Dr. Bob Pyne: If you don’t want to believe in Christianity, then

somehow you have to do something with that empty tomb. You
have to do something with that body. You have to do something
with those claims. You have to do something with the resurrection.
You have to find a way around it. People are obviously free to
reject the gospel. They’re free to reject Christianity. But if they’re
going to do so with any kind of rational credibility, they’ve got to
deal with that issue. They’ve got to deal with the resurrection.

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Transcript - CA201 Ten Reasons to Believe in the Christian Faith
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Lesson 05 of 10 Reason 5: Its Foundational Claim of Resurrection

Edwin Yamauchi: I think that one of the greatest arguments

for belief in the reality of the resurrection was in fact the
transformation that occurred to specific individuals who believe
they had witnessed the resurrected Christ. Most known was Paul,
who had persecuted the Christians and was certainly a very sincere
and almost fanatic believer in his particular brand of pharisaical
Judaism. What convinced him to make a complete 180-degree
turn and become the foremost missionary of Christ?

The first Christians were not driven by political or religious

dissent. Their primary issues were not moral or social. They were
not well-credentialed theologians or social philosophers. They
were witnesses. They risked their lives to tell the world that
with their own eyes they had seen an innocent man die and then
miraculously walk among them three days later. Their argument
was very concrete. Jesus was crucified under the Roman governor
Pontius Pilate. His body was buried and sealed in a borrowed
tomb. Guards were posted to prevent grave tampering. Yet after
three days the tomb was empty and witnesses were risking their
lives to declare that He was alive.

Dr. Bob Pyne: If somebody has doubts about the resurrection,

if they have doubts about whether or not the claims of Christ
are true, there are a couple of things I would recommend. First
and foremost, I would recommend sitting down with the gospel
of John and just reading the thing through. Not just once, but
five times. Maybe get up once between each reading, but read it
through at least five times, and just pray for insight while reading.
The gospel of John was really written so that the people who read
it would be able to recognize that Jesus was Christ, the Son of
God, and that by believing they’d have life in His name. John said
that’s why he wrote it. So I believe that’s why we should read it.
We ought to read it looking to see what it is that God has shown
us in that book about Himself and about the gospel. Second, after
doing that, I would encourage people just do some reading on the
resurrection of Christ, investigate His claims, to take it seriously,
to read some of the books that are out there on apologetics, to talk
to a pastor, talk to some of the wonderful parachurch ministries
that are available, just to see what types of evidence, what types
of arguments are out there, and to consider them well. The one
thing I wouldn’t recommend, the one thing we can’t do with an
issue this important, is to leave it behind, and say well, it’ll go
away sometime. An issue like this doesn’t go away. It’s too big.
We’ve got to deal with it. We just can’t assume that we’ll figure
it out some day. It’s worth investigating carefully, and worth

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Transcript - CA201 Ten Reasons to Believe in the Christian Faith
© 2015 Christian University GlobalNet. All rights reserved.
Lesson 05 of 10 Reason 5: Its Foundational Claim of Resurrection

investigating hard, because this is the biggest issue in life.

Christ-Centered Learning — Anytime, Anywhere

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Transcript - CA201 Ten Reasons to Believe in the Christian Faith
© 2015 Christian University GlobalNet. All rights reserved.