DAY 217

CHALLENGE

“Luke’s Gospel isn’t reliable. It was written long after the events, and Luke was not an eyewitness.“

DEFENSE

Luke’s Gospel was written within living memory of the events that it records, and it is based on eyewitness testimony.

We elsewhere discuss the fact that Luke wasn’t an eyewitness (see Day 44). Biographies are commonly written by people who aren’t eyewit- nesses, and Luke was in an especially good position as a biographer because he consulted eyewitnesses (Luke 1:2).

Raymond Brown proposed a late date for Luke and Acts of “85, give or take five to ten years”…

DAY 216

CHALLENGE

“Religion is inherently violent, producing countless wars.”

DEFENSE

This claim does not withstand scrutiny.

War is not unique to humanity. Other species—including ants, bees, and chimpanzees—wage war, understood as the organized, collective use of lethal violence against external enemies (such as for control of territory). Yet these species do not have religion. War’s roots are thus non-religious.

Religion is a human universal, and historically there have been no atheist societies. It is thus impossible to argue that non-religious societies were less violent than reli…

DAY 215

CHALLENGE

“Why can’t we explain the Resurrection by combining hypotheses, such as proposing the disciples went to the wrong tomb and then hallucinated?”

DEFENSE

Combined hypotheses avoid some problems but inherit problems from both original hypotheses.

The challenge may explain the empty tomb, Resurrection appearances, and Ascension, but it inherits problems from both the wrong tomb and hallucination hypotheses. From the wrong tomb hypothesis (see Day 207), it inherits the facts that:

Specific, named women saw where Jesus was buried and returned to find the tomb empty.

Jesus’ …

DAY 214

CHALLENGE

“The disciples stole Jesus’ body and lied about the Resurrection appearances.”

DEFENSE

This does not fit the data, particularly of the apostles’ later careers.

Matthew reports that the tomb was guarded, that the Jewish authorities paid the guards to say the disciples stole the body after they fell asleep, and that this story was circulating in the Jewish community (Matt. 28:11–15). That Matthew responds to the charge indicates it was viewed as the most plausible alternative to the Resurrection.

However, that doesn’t mean it was likely. Guards were paid not to fall asl…

DAY 213

CHALLENGE

“Why can’t we explain the Resurrection appearances in purely spiritual terms? Paul says that at the general resurrection, people will have a ‘spiritual body’ (1 Cor. 15:44). What if the disciples simply saw visions and concluded from them that Jesus had been spiritually resurrected?”

DEFENSE

The term “spiritual body” (Greek, sōma pneumatikon) does not mean an immaterial body but rather a supernaturally transformed body.

That’s why Paul compares the body to a seed that is sown in the ground and then becomes an adult plant (1 Cor. 15:35–44). The plant is …

DAY 212

CHALLENGE

“Why can’t we explain the Resurrection appearances of Jesus by saying that the disciples innocently hallucinated them all?”

DEFENSE

Hallucinations are normally caused by medical or psychological disorders, so they are experienced by individuals, not groups.

We have no evidence of such disorders among the witnesses of the Resurrection, and—although we have indications of private appearances to Mary Magdalen (Mark 16:9; John 20:14–17), Peter (Luke 24:34; 1 Cor. 15:5), and James the Just (1 Cor. 15:7)—most appearances were to groups (Matt. 28:8–10, 16–20; Mark 16:12–18; …

DAY 211

CHALLENGE

“The Gospels say the disciples had difficulty recognizing Jesus after the Resurrection (Matt. 28:17; Mark 16:12; Luke 24:13–31; John 20:13–16, 21:4–7). So maybe he was actually replaced by an impostor.”

DEFENSE

The passages cited do not support the proposal.

Matthew 28:17 states: “When they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted.” We are not told what they doubted. Were they doubt- ing it was Jesus? Were they seeing Jesus but thinking he was a ghost (cf. Luke 24:36–43)? Is this just a way of saying they were amazed? (As when we say, “I can’t believe it!” meani…

DAY 210

CHALLENGE

“Why can’t we explain the Resurrection appearances by saying Jesus had a twin who was crucified, making the disciples innocently think Jesus was raised? An early Christian text called the Acts of Thomas says Thomas was Jesus’ twin brother (Acts of Thomas 11).”

DEFENSE

The Acts of Thomas is a Gnostic document from the third century. It has no historical value for learning about Jesus’ life. It also does not claim Thomas was crucified in Jesus’ place.

The Acts of Thomas claimed Thomas was Jesus’ twin because certain Gnostics venerated Thomas. They thus seized on the fac…

DAY 209

CHALLENGE

“Why can’t we explain the Resurrection appearances by saying that Jesus swooned on the cross? After all, Pilate was surprised he ‘died’ so quickly (Mark 15:44). If Jesus actually revived in the tomb, Pilate and the disciples might have thought he rose from the dead.”

DEFENSE

There are multiple problems with this hypothesis.

Jesus did die quickly. Other crucifixion victims lingered for days. However, Jesus was subjected to severe stress and trauma in the hours before the Crucifixion.

This included sleeplessness (Matt. 26:42–46), emotional anguish (Matt. 26:38), being…

DAY 208

CHALLENGE

“Why can’t we explain the Resurrection by saying someone tricked the disciples? Maybe Jesus was drugged on the cross when he was given

a drink (Matt. 27:48; Mark 15:36; John 19:28–30), later he revived, and co-conspirators got him out of the tomb and posed as angels (Matt. 28:2–7; Mark 16:5–7; Luke 24:4–7; John 20:12).”

DEFENSE

Anesthesiology was not a developed science in the first century, and it would be extremely risky to administer a drug to a person who had been severely traumatized and was being crucified. The odds of the drug killing him would be too high.

Fur…