Post by Josh on Aug 4, 2009 15:47:29 GMT -8
Or, stated more fully: Fact #2: Jesus' disciples believed that he rose and appeared to them
To establish this claim, and the virtually unanimous scholarly opinion on this subject, Habermas and Licona take a two step approach.
First, before demonstrating that the disciples' believed that Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to them, they demonstrate simply that this is beyond doubt what the disciples' claimed
This is established using nine early and independent sources from three categories:
1) Paul
a) Paul claimed that his own authority in the church was equal to that of the other apostles (2 Cor. 10:8,11:5,13:10, 1 Thess. 2:6, 4:2, Philemon 1:21, etc..)
b) That authority was acknowledged by a number of the apostolic fathers soon after the completion of the New Testament. Two of those early writers may have been direct disciples of the apostles.
c) Paul reported that he personally knew at least some of the other disciples, even the big three- Peter, James, and John (Gal. 1:18-19, 2:2-20)*
d) The book of Acts reports that the disciples and Paul knew and fellowship with each other
e) After writing about the resurrection in 1 Cor. 15 (one of the earliest dated books of the NT), Paul said that he worked harder than all of the other apostles (15:10) but that whether "it was I or they, this [Jesus' resurrection appearances} is what we preach (15:11). Thus, Paul knew the apostles personally and reports that they claimed that Jesus rose from the dead.
2) Oral Tradition/ Early Creeds
Many scholars acknowledge that 1 Cor. 15:3-5, written 20 years after Jesus' death, contains a creed that Paul himself received and that significantly predates the writing of 1 Corinthians:
3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
Speeches in the book of Acts also bear the marks of oral tradition written down.
Also, the early church fathers, some of whom knew the first generation of Christian believers, indicate that they had heard of the resurrection from the first disciples/ apostles.
3) The Gospels
All skeptics acknowledge that all four gospels were written in the 1st Century, and all accounts refer to Jesus' resurrection and there are several documents written by second-generation Christians that claim the same.
These reasons among others are why it can be considered a historical fact that Jesus' disciples claimed Jesus rose from the dead.
Questions/ Comments?
Next, I'll demonstrate why virtually all scholars also acknowledge that the disciples believed these claims.
*Virtually every scholar admits that Paul wrote about 20 years after Jesus' death and had multiple interactions with Jesus' brother and two of his lead disciples. All three of these went to their deaths, and two suffered martyrdom.
b)
To establish this claim, and the virtually unanimous scholarly opinion on this subject, Habermas and Licona take a two step approach.
First, before demonstrating that the disciples' believed that Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to them, they demonstrate simply that this is beyond doubt what the disciples' claimed
This is established using nine early and independent sources from three categories:
1) Paul
a) Paul claimed that his own authority in the church was equal to that of the other apostles (2 Cor. 10:8,11:5,13:10, 1 Thess. 2:6, 4:2, Philemon 1:21, etc..)
b) That authority was acknowledged by a number of the apostolic fathers soon after the completion of the New Testament. Two of those early writers may have been direct disciples of the apostles.
c) Paul reported that he personally knew at least some of the other disciples, even the big three- Peter, James, and John (Gal. 1:18-19, 2:2-20)*
d) The book of Acts reports that the disciples and Paul knew and fellowship with each other
e) After writing about the resurrection in 1 Cor. 15 (one of the earliest dated books of the NT), Paul said that he worked harder than all of the other apostles (15:10) but that whether "it was I or they, this [Jesus' resurrection appearances} is what we preach (15:11). Thus, Paul knew the apostles personally and reports that they claimed that Jesus rose from the dead.
2) Oral Tradition/ Early Creeds
Many scholars acknowledge that 1 Cor. 15:3-5, written 20 years after Jesus' death, contains a creed that Paul himself received and that significantly predates the writing of 1 Corinthians:
3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
Speeches in the book of Acts also bear the marks of oral tradition written down.
Also, the early church fathers, some of whom knew the first generation of Christian believers, indicate that they had heard of the resurrection from the first disciples/ apostles.
3) The Gospels
All skeptics acknowledge that all four gospels were written in the 1st Century, and all accounts refer to Jesus' resurrection and there are several documents written by second-generation Christians that claim the same.
These reasons among others are why it can be considered a historical fact that Jesus' disciples claimed Jesus rose from the dead.
Questions/ Comments?
Next, I'll demonstrate why virtually all scholars also acknowledge that the disciples believed these claims.
*Virtually every scholar admits that Paul wrote about 20 years after Jesus' death and had multiple interactions with Jesus' brother and two of his lead disciples. All three of these went to their deaths, and two suffered martyrdom.
b)