Apologetics Class at Faith Rogue River!
The following theses are for an Adult Sunday School class here at Faith Rogue River. This series is being taught during the season of Easter, focusing on Evidential Apologetics (Montgomery, “History, Law, and Christianity”) and Conversational Apologetics (Jonathan Fisk, “Talk Them Into It”). Leave a suggestion for improvements or refinements down below!
Theses VII-XI (The Historical Argument)[1]
THESIS 7 – The NT documents withstand historical scrutiny when evaluated by the same standards applied to other ancient texts:
Textual Transmission: The NT is one of the best-preserved works of antiquity, with a large number of manuscripts and short gap between the original composition and surviving copies.[2]
Internal Claims: The NT presents itself as eyewitness testimony to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus (Luke 1:1-4; John 19:35; 1 John 1:1-4).
External Attestation: Events and persons described in the NT are corroborated by early non-Christian and Christian sources (e.g., Josephus, Tacitus, Polycarp, Papias).
Therefore:
The NT is at least as historically credible as other ancient writings.
The historical existence of Jesus is as well attested as any other figure of antiquity.
The NT’s claims about Jesus deserve serious examination.
THESIS 8 – The NT asserts that Jesus of Nazareth is not merely a man or a moral teacher, but God Incarnate: the eternal Son of God in human flesh (Matt. 16:16; John 1:1, 14; Heb. 1:3).
THESIS 9 – Given the claims of Jesus and the testimony of the NT, only four explanations are logically possible:
Liar: Jesus was a liar who claimed to be the Son of God.
Lunatic: Jesus was a lunatic who sincerely though he was the Son of God.
Legend: Jesus was a legend whom the disciples used to push their own agendas.
Lord: Jesus is Lord, the Son of God and the LORD of the OT.
THESIS 10 – Jesus foretold His death and resurrection as the decisive sign of His divine identity (Matt. 12:38-40; John 2:18-22). The NT testifies that:
Jesus was crucified, died, was buried, and rose bodily on the third day (Matt. 26-28; Mark 14-16; Luke 22-24; John 18-21; Acts 1; 1 Cor 15).
The Resurrection of Christ was not a myth or metaphor, but a historical event (1 Cor. 15:3-8; 2 Peter 1:16; 1 John 1:1-14).
The tomb was empty, and His body was never produced to counter the claims of the Apostles on Pentecost or later (Matt. 28; Acts 2).
THESIS 11 – The apostles and early Christians boldly proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus, even under the threat of death (Acts 2:32). Many suffered persecution and martyrdom instead of denying that Jesus is the Crucified & Risen Lord (Acts 4-5, 7; 12:1-3; 22ff; cf. 2 Tim. 4:6-8).
THESIS 12 – Given this historical evidence, the most coherent explanation is that Jesus truly rose from the dead and is the LORD:
A liar would not have been raised from the dead; Jesus’ enemies could have stomped out the Church by producing His body.
A lunatic could not have taught such wise teaching or inspired such a coherent witness and willingness to be martyred among His disciples.
The disciples are unlikely to have all died for what they knew to be a lie or to develop a legend that led to their deaths with little to no earthly benefits!
4. Therefore, the most plausible conclusion is that He is risen and He is who He claimed to be: LORD.
[1] The chief arguments in Theses 7-11 are taken from J.W. Montgomery, History, Law, and Christianity (Irvine, CA: New Reformation Press, 2014), 3-44.
[2] See, for example, the chart in Stanley E. Porter and Andrew W. Pitts, Fundamentals of New Testament Textual Criticism (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2015), 50, corrected in the errata.
For Further Study
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.
John Warwick Montgomery, History, Law, and Christianity (New Reformation Books, 2014).
J. Warner Wallace, Cold Case Christianity (David C. Cook, 2013).