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"None of those who have Hell before their eyes will fall into Hell. No one of those who despise Hell will escape Hell.... Nothing is so profitable as to converse concerning Hell. It renders our souls purer than any silver."  

~St. John Chrysostom~

BOOK

Evidence for the Resurrection 

Dear Aaron,

             Wow that was quick! Just a short while ago we were discussing your roommate’s unfortunate dive into hedonism, and now you’re staying up half the night discussing religion. I understand he hasn’t stopped his pleasure-loving ways, but at least you were able to plant some seeds. Hopefully, when he hits the inevitable dead end that all those who live for pleasure do, he’ll remember some of what you said and turn to God.

I guess it doesn’t surprise me that the conversation centered around the resurrection of Christ, since Christianity stands or falls on the veracity of that event. If Christ rose from the dead, then His claim of being the incarnate God must be taken seriously. If not, then we as Christians are the most foolish of all people, as we are worshipping a dead guy. That being said, there is no absolute proof of the resurrection, other than God’s revelation to the human heart, but there is, in my opinion, some good circumstantial evidence.

To begin with, everyone is in agreement that a man named Jesus of Nazareth lived and died some 2,000 years ago, and that shortly after his death, his disciples began to preach that he had proven himself to be the Messiah by rising from the dead. They also claimed that after His resurrection and before He ascended into Heaven, He had spent a period of forty days teaching them all they would need to know to begin this new religion.

Now, I think your roommate would agree that this claim is either true, or the disciples lied. There doesn’t appear to be any middle ground. Maybe, if the disciples story was that after Jesus’ death they were all depressed and sitting around the campfire when suddenly His face appeared in the flames smiling at them, as if to say everything was going to be all right so proceed with the mission, then we could all agree that it may have been a mass illusion stemming from their depressed state, and the shock they had just been through. When, on the contrary, the disciples claim that a risen Jesus taught them for forty days after the resurrection, then all ideas of a mass illusion must be set aside.

If your roommate will agree that the disciples were either telling the truth or lying, then the question to ask him would be, “If they were lying, what was their motivation?” The Jews at the time had a perfectly valid religion. Their problem was not a lack of religion but oppression by the Romans. Remember, the Jews during that period were looking for a messiah, but they were looking for a messiah to deliver them from Rome, and the disciples were preaching one who came to deliver them from sin and death. They weren’t even preaching a messiah about which their own people wanted to hear! Consequently, many of the religious leaders began to persecute them. They were rejected by their own people, beaten, whipped, stoned, all but John martyred, and none of them ever recanted. Since they never tried, nor obtained, fame or fortune in their lifetimes, it escapes me as to what their motivation could have been to dedicate their lives and die for what they would have known to be a lie.

Ask your roommate, if under similar circumstances, either he or anyone he knows would have done the same. If not, then at least in my opinion, this is pretty powerful evidence that the disciples fully believed that Jesus had risen from the dead. In fact, if you read what they wrote and how they lived and died, it seems obvious that they believed this with all of their heart. What else other than the resurrection could have caused this belief? Once again, they were obviously not deceived, and it doesn’t make sense that it was all just a charade. I’d be interested to hear your roommate’s opinion.

While you are at it, ask him about Paul. Remind him that Paul was a rising star in the Jewish religion, who called himself a Pharisee and a disciple of Gamaliel. He was so angered at this new sect of Judaism that was preaching what he considered to be a false messiah, that he actually went to other countries to track down its adherents and to bring them back to Jerusalem for prosecution.

One day, seemingly out of the blue, he began to preach the very faith he had been persecuting. He claimed that as he was on his way to Damascus Syria, he was confronted by the risen Christ, he was blinded, and in essence he was asked why he was banging his head against the wall. He was then taken to Damascus, and after three days being prayed for by a believer, had his sight restored, was baptized, and then began preaching Jesus as the Christ. As a result of this, Paul lost his job and standing in the community, was beaten, whipped, stoned, imprisoned, and eventually martyred. He never sought or obtained fame or fortune nor did he ever recant in his lifetime.

On top of all of this, when Paul wrote his letter to the Corinthian Church and was speaking to them about the resurrection, he told them that upwards of 500 people had seen Jesus after he had risen, and most of them were still alive.  Essentially, he was challenging them to contact these witnesses and was confident that they would back up his claim. Would Paul have gone out on such a limb if he were making it all up? That would have been unlikely at best.

The key to this whole puzzle is motivation. Obviously Paul was not deceived by a clever argument or bribed by poverty stricken disciples, to leave everything and die for a lie. There is no reason to believe that either Paul or the disciples were deceived. They knew whether or not Jesus had risen from the dead. Again, what your roommate has to come up with is a reasonable motive if it was all a lie. If he does come up with one, be sure to let me know, because in all of my years of evangelizing I have yet to hear any that make even a little sense.

          All of these circumstances may not prove to your roommate that Jesus rose from the dead, but it should at least be enough to get him thinking and maybe seeking for answers. Keep up the good work, and I’ll be praying for him and for you. 

With much love,

Uncle Greg