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Apologetics Class 3/18/2018

Today in our class we watched J. Warner Wallace speak about the case for the resurrection of Jesus from the perspective of a Cold Case homicide detective:

Before the video started, I read Matthew 28:1-10:

1 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. 2 And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. 3 And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. 5 The angel said to the women, ” Do not be afraid ; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. 6 “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. 7 “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead ; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.” 8 And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, ” Do not be afraid ; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

Here is the note-taking form I handed out before the video:

J. Warner Wallace – the Resurrection 3/18/2018

What is r_________________ (not what’s possible), this is the judicial standard.
Presuppositional bias, you tend to see things through the lens of your presuppositions.
Although archaeological evidence exists to support the locations of the New Testament, it doesn’t mean that the miracles are true. It could be mythology set in a historical setting.
The most singularly important piece of evidence in the Christian worldview is the r___________
Gary Habermas surveyed the writings of 3400 scholars and came up with a list of m_____________ f__________ agreed by all of them regarding the resurrection.
Here are the minimal facts according to J. Warner Wallace:
1. Jesus was c___________ and b______________
2. The tomb was e_______________ and no one ever produced his body.
3. The disciples b__________________ they saw the risen Jesus.
4. The disciples were tr______________ following their alleged Resurrection observations.
Explanatory possibilities-the first six of the following are possible, but not reasonable:
1. They were w____________:
  1. From Luke 22, “His sweat became like drops of blood”, this is a scientific condition known as psychogenic hematidrosis. This condition is most often seen in death row inmates.
  2. We have a tendency to underestimate what He endured, because Renaissance paintings don’t show Him as bloodied.
  3. John 19:34, “bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.” Pericardial Effusion produces blood in a fluid that looks like water. The other possibility is Pleural Effusion.
2. They were l_____________: Conspiracies take 5 things to work:
  1. A small number of conspirators.
  2. A short conspiracy time span.
  3. Excellent communication.
  4. Strong familial relationships.
  5. Little or no pressure to confess
  6. On the contrary, the disciples:
    1. Had to hold the conspiracy for about 60 years
    2. Were separated by 1000’s of miles
    3. Were men from all walks of life
    4. Never recanted their testimony
  7. 1st person who saw Jesus was a woman (not be trusted in 1st century society).
3. They were d________________:
  1. Paul and James, as skeptics, would not have wanted to see Jesus alive
  2. No one has group dreams or group hallucinations
  3. There’s still an empty tomb
4. They were f_________________:
  1. If you want to be successful conning someone you have to know more about the topic than the person you are trying to con.
  2. After His resurrection, He appeared miraculously, Luke 24:36.
  3. He performed miraculously, John 21:6, Acts 1:3.
  4. He ascended miraculously, Luke 24:51, Acts 1:9.
5. They were i_________________:
  1. Mary couldn’t influence others.
  2. Peter was seldom alone. Would Mary and the women then lie in retrospect?
  3. Paul didn’t wish it was true.
  4. Resurrection appearances are from multiple eye-witnesses w/extensive detail.
  5. If you run back to the tomb, and the tomb is empty, you don’t have an imaginary vision problem, you have a conspiracy.
  6. The tomb was empty and no one ever produced his body.
6. They were d______________________:
  1. We know these are early accounts, and have been attested repeatedly by the “chain of custody”.
7. They were a__________________ (the Christian explanation):
  1. Jesus was crucified and buried.
  2. The tomb was empty and no one ever produced His body.
  3. The disciples believed they saw the risen Jesus.
  4. Disciples were transformed following their alleged resurrection observations.
Every single one of these 7 explanations above have s______________ and w_______________
Weakness of Christian explanation is that it requires a resurrection, a belief in the supernatural.
Are supernatural events possible? The evidence regarding these events was:
1. Timely
2. Quoted
3. Verified
4. Described
5. Transmitted
6. Attested
Atheists begin with conclusion that supernaturalism is not possible. That is circular reasoning.
There are only one of two possibilities about what happened to Jesus.
1. Jesus rose from the dead: Only one barricade to overcome, anti-supernatural bias. I’m the reason that barricade is there, I won’t consider supernatural explanations!
2. Jesus did not rise from the dead: Many barricades to overcome as listed above.
Do your part to make c___ for the resurrection, & let God do His part to convince the individual.
Not like game of tennis, like game of baseball. Just get up to bat & advance runner to next base.
You are f__________ and o______________ to God when you get your butt up off the bench and get in the batter’s box. That’s it! If you “make contact” great.
The writers of scripture claimed to be eyewitnesses, Luke 1:1, 2 Peter 1:16, 1 John 1:1-3
I’m not a case maker to win an argument, I’m a case maker to be able to pull down the barriers between you and the G_______________
You may not consider yourself to be an evangelist, but none of you gets out of the responsibility to be a case maker. If you are a Christian, you are a case maker according to 1 Peter 3:15.
The first decision you made was for Christ, the second decision you need to make is to become A Christian Case Maker.
It easy to call yourself a Christian, but it’s hard to d______________ what you believe.

Discussion Questions

What were the main points J. Warner Wallace was trying to make in this video?