Jesus of Nazareth: Fact or Fiction Part 6

References:

(1) 1 Cor. 15 is a key chapter in the Bible on the resurrection. Verses 3-8 give the 4 basic points for the proclamation of the gospel: (1) Christ died for our SINS. (2) He was BURIED PROVING that He was dead. (3) He rose from the dead. (4) And He APPEARED ALIVE to many eyewitnesses PROVING He did rise from the dead.

(2) In the book Handbook of Christian Apologetics Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli quote Rudolf Bultmann, the father of demythologizing, saying “if the bones of the dead Jesus were discovered tomorrow in a Palestinian tomb, all the ESSENTIALS of Christianity would remain UNCHANGED.”

(3) Paul would have strongly DISAGREED with Bultmann listing in 1 Cor. 15:12-19 seven negative results “if Christ has not been raised.”

(4) All these naturalistic explanations have been UNIVERSALLY REJECTED by contemporary scholarship.

(5) Lee Strobel’s best selling books: “The Case for Christ,” “The Case for Faith,” “The Case for a Creator”recounts his investigation.

(6) In his book Ten Questions Christians are Asking, David Jeremiah, the pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, CA, says, Jesus’ reply “was a simple answer, but those simple words contain the KERNELS of infinite TRUTH. In His powerful statement Jesus declared Himself to be the ANSWER to the three greatest questions of the human heart. • How can I be SAVED? Jesus is the way. • How can I be SURE? Jesus is the truth. • How can I be SATISFIED? Jesus is the life.”

(7) Jesus is COMMUNION RESTORED. Jesus is TRUTH RECOVERED. Jesus is LIFE REGAINED — the full and permanent REVERSAL of what happened in Gen. 3. THAT is the meaning of John 14:6.

This is episode 166.