Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth for the Coulson Center on Johnstone Street. Is the resurrection of Jesus just a matter of blind belief, or can we really know what happened that first Easter Sunday? According to Biola professor and theologian Thaddeus Williams, the answer is yes, we can. And it involves four facts from seven non-Christian scholars and six Hollywood movies. Here's Thaddeus Williams.
First, the facts. Fact one, Jesus died by crucifixion. Outspoken critic of Christianity Bart Ehrman argues, quote, Since no one would have made up the idea of a crucified Messiah, Jesus must have really been crucified. Gerd Ludemann calls it indisputable, while Pinchat Lepine considers it historically certain. Fact two, the disciples had experiences from which they concluded that Jesus rose bodily from the dead.
Again, Bart Ehrman, quote, we can say with complete certainty that some of Jesus' disciples at some later time insisted that he soon appeared to them, convincing them that he had been raised from the dead. Marcus Borg concurs, quote, for the early Christians, the living Christ was not an object of belief, but an element of experience.
Some saw him. Fact three, Paul, an anti-Christian, became a willing to die Christian because he thought he encountered a risen Jesus. Famed critic of Christianity Shelby Spong argues, quote, there is no question that Paul was a learned Jew, yet his conversion was total, dramatic, and complete. Ludemann concludes that, quote, a particular event made a persecutor a proclaimer, the enemy of Christ a disciple. of Christ.
Act 4. The tomb of Jesus was empty. Atheist James Tabor places it beyond doubt that Jesus's, quote, temporary place of burial was discovered empty shortly thereafter his death. Cites what he calls, quote, one disconcerting fact, namely, that the women who set out to pay their last respects to Jesus found, to their consternation, not a body, but an empty tomb.
Now, which hypothesis best explains these facts? Here are six that have been proposed using the plots of some movies you probably know. Number one, the Loki hypothesis, or Muslim theory. Loki, the shape-shifting god of Norse and Marvel mythology, captures the essence of Islamic perspectives on Jesus. Loki appears to die on no less than three occasions in the Marvel universe, but never truly dies.
Speaking of Jesus, the Quran states that, quote, they neither killed nor crucified him, it was only made to appear so. Surah 4, verse 157. Hypothesis two. The Hairy Hypothesis, or Mystery Religions Theory. Over a hundred years ago German scholars uncovered mystery religions that seemed to feature mythological dying and rising gods.
In the same way we might find parallels between Harry Potter and the Christ story. King's cross, the willful acceptance of the killing curse, the smiting of a snake, the resurrection stone, and so on. These German scholars concluded that the New Testament Jesus was a copycat, plagiarized from the stories of Mithro, Osiris, and other mythical characters. Number three, the Ocean's 11 hypothesis, or stolen body theory. Our third hypothesis resembles the 2001 box office hit Ocean's 11, in which con man Daniel Ocean recruits his dream team of skilled criminals to pull off an epic heist.
Perhaps after Jesus was executed, the remaining disciples hast a plan to retrieve the body. With the corpse secretly discarded, the disciples could dupe the world into believing that their Messiah triumphed over the grave, the most successful heist in history. Number four, the Sixth Sense hypothesis, or hallucination theory. In the 1999 thriller, The Sixth Sense, we hear one of the most chilling lines ever. I see dead people.
An apropos line, For the hallucination theory, Jesus died on Good Friday and his followers, quote, saw him afterward, though not because he was physically resurrected, perhaps they consumed psychedelics or had a grief-induced hallucination. Number five, the Princess Bride Hypothesis, or swoon theory. Wesley of 1987's Princess Bride endures unspeakable torture. Miracle Max, a wise cracking dwarf, examines Wesley's body and declares, quote, There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead.
Now mostly dead is slightly alive. In 1828, a German atheist named Heinrich Paulus argued that Jesus was mostly dead after the crucifixion and therefore slightly alive. Number six, the Three Amigos hypothesis or wrong tomb theory. In 1986's The Three Amigos, three failed Hollywood actors are beckoned to the remote Mexican village of Santo Poco to liberate the townsfolk from the ruthless bandit El Cuapo. Mistaking the telegram as an invitation to start in a new movie.
The amigos make their way to Santa Poco thinking it is a movie set. It is not. It is an exploited Mexican village. But what if the disciples' proclamation that Jesus rose from the dead was a similar case of mistaken destination?
Now, let's test our hypotheses against the facts. The hairy hypothesis that Christianity was borrowed from ancient myths cannot account for any of the four facts as historical facts. The Princess Bride and Loki hypotheses fail to account for fact one that Jesus died by crucifixion, much less the other three facts. The ocean's 11 and 3 amigos hypotheses falter at facts 2 and 3. The disciples and Paul's sincerity and willingness to face death for their convictions that Jesus met them after the crucifixion.
And of course, the most obvious obstacle for the sixth sense hypothesis is the empty tomb. This brings us to the resurrection hypothesis. Jesus' body was not heisted, imagined, impersonated. or misplaced, it was resurrected. This is the only hypothesis that accounts for the known facts of history and is the hope celebrated by over 2 billion people every Easter.
The resurrected Christ is no myth, lost corpse, or trick of the brain. He is risen. He is risen indeed. Thanks, Thaddeus. You can hear Dr.
Williams give a fuller treatment of the resurrection in his video, What Really Happened That First Easter Sunday. Or you can pre-order his book, Reflecting the Sun. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with Breakpoint. If you appreciate these daily commentaries, would you leave us a review wherever you download your podcast? And for more resources or to share this commentary with others, go to breakpoint.org.
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