Section 17
The case is the case
The choice is the reader’s.
Theism is more rational than naturalism. Among monotheisms, the Christian conception is the most coherent. The New Testament documents are the best attested ancient texts. Jesus claimed to be God, was tried for blasphemy, was crucified, was buried, was reported risen by named witnesses, and his disciples were transformed in ways no naturalistic alternative explains.
The site does not claim this proves Christianity beyond all logical doubt. It claims that, by the standards historians apply to any first century event, the case is sufficient for rational belief.
If the case is right, the question is no longer whether Jesus rose. It is what follows from the fact that he did.
The only possible reason why early Christianity began and took the shape it did is that the tomb really was empty and that people really did meet Jesus, alive again.
N. T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, 2003, p. 710.
By the numbers
- Sections of evidence
- 17
- Knowledge base extended engagements
- 11
- Mainstream consensus on the minimal facts
- >95 percent
Strongest counter position
A reader can hold that no historical evidence overcomes a prior commitment to philosophical naturalism. That commitment is itself a metaphysical assumption to be examined.
What this does not prove
The site cannot make the reader believe. It can only present the case.
Citations
- N. T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, 2003.
Goes deeper