Jesus of Nazareth: Fact or Fiction Part 4

References:

(1) Nothing like the resurrection is claimed by any other founder of a religion, and no miracle has as much historical evidence to confirm it.

(2) Dan. 9:25-27 tells us much about the time when the Messiah will be “cut off.” I think that refers to His death.

(3) The meaning of “weeks” can refer to any period of 7. It is generally accepted that it should be interpreted as 7 years. So the period of 69 weeks is therefore taken as 483 years. A year in Jewish reckoning is 360 days. Thus, 483 years = 173,880 days.

(4) There are several decrees about rebuilding parts of Jerusalem, but the one to rebuild Jerusalem and the streets and the wall was given on March 14, in the year 445 BC. Therefore accounting for leap years it will come out to be the week of Passover in the week of Jesus’ crucifixion in 33 AD. According to my calculation it turns out to be on Thursday of that week.

(5) Karl Popper, one of the 20th century’s most influential philosophers of science, has argued that whenever a “RISKY PREDICTION” is FULFILLED, it counts as CONFIRMATION of the theory that comes with it. What could be more RISKY than predicting one’s own resurrection from the dead? Jesus was willing to let the decision of who He is RIDE on whether or not this prediction came true.

(6) There are LOGICAL REASONS for believing in the Resurrection. But skeptics say that the resurrection is a MYTH or a LEGEND. That is TANTAMOUNT to charging that the resurrection story is a LIE. A lie, like a truth, must have ORIGINATED somewhere by SOMEONE.

(7) In agreement with what the gospels relate, it must have been Jesus' DISCIPLES who PROCLAIMED the story of the resurrection.

(8) Then what would have been the disciple’s MOTIVE for inventing and proclaiming this story if it were not true? What would they have EXPECTED to get out of telling it?

(9) William Lane Craig has written 3 books on the topic of the resurrection including “Knowing the Truth on the Resurrection” and “The Son Also Rises.”

(10) The Jewish religious authorities promoted the “theft hypothesis” saying that Jesus’ followers had STOLEN the body. Consequently, they were inadvertently ADMITTING that the tomb was empty, CORROBORATING the essential fact about the crucifixion and resurrection, namely, that Jesus’ body was missing from the tomb.

This is episode 164.