The Second Oldest Question: Brad: It's all about Jesus

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Here's my attempt to answer What's it all about.

Jeff, if there is no God then our argument IS trivial. You and I are simply the product of accidental chemical reactions and our worth only a product of our desire to survive. There is no free will. Your argument is no more rational than mine because even your argument is a product of your desire to thrive. And your desire to thrive is only a product of your chemical reactions set into motion by the previous generation who was only seeking to do the same thing. Even your reaction to the paper you were reading is meaningless. It seems from your world view the care, sympathy, empathy you have toward what's going on in the world, your wife, kids has no meaning other than that which you ascribe it. It's not real outside of your own making. So why get upset by the paper? The victims of violence you read about are nothing more than accidents of nature, and your concern for them only a part of your survival instinct, your hoping it doesn't happen to you.

I'm glad you are convinced Jesus lived. You are wrong, however, that the only evidence for the resurrection is the four Gospels. I would like the chance to present that case. And while Habermas and Craig and the other scholars I will reference do attempt to provide such evidence, I fail to see how their attempts are unethical and a contrivance. They are simply doing what any historian would attempt to do in the case of a proposed ancient event. Both Christian and non-Christians have sought to do so. Your task is simply to look at the evidence they raise and judge for yourself whether it is compelling.

Your analysis of the Gospels, Mark's early authorship, etc. will be addressed, but that is a large undertaking so give me time. You must admit, though, that you are dismissing something which you are assuming rather than something you have studied. Also, can you give me your reference for saying there is more evidence for the Book of Mormon than there is for the Bible?

You ask re: the Gospels, "Why would you put your faith in something so flimsy?" is a question you're asking based on your assumptions not your scholarship. My reasons will be forthcoming.

RE: the miracles of the other people you have mentioned, I don't know whether they are real or not. The Bible actually indicates that others outside of Christ can, did, will perform miracles. Matthew 24.24 says, "For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great miraculous signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God's chosen ones." So their miracle-making is not a big deal to me. My faith in Christ is not based ONLY on the resurrection and the miracles. That said, none of the people you have mentioned claim to be the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham that through one of Abraham's lineage "all the nations of the world will be blessed" (Genesis 12.3). None of the people you have mentioned claim that one day all people will be gathered before them and pass judgment on them. None of them claim the authority to forgive the sins of the world. The miracles of Jesus, Jeff, are only part of the case for Jesus.

Re: your criticism of the evidence for the resurrection being scant, you are diffusing my argument before I've even given it. It's like we're in a court room. You continue to stand and say, "Objection!" but you haven't yet heard all my case. So...sit down and be patient. I deserve my turn.

Re: me starting over. Jeff, you have given me no reason to start over. There is nothing about your worldview or life or the life of those you esteem that would make me want to give up Christianity. When I seek to love God and others, I find the greatest joy. When I don't, I find sorrow. Why would I want to choose sorrow. In addition, I have a church filled with scientists who know far more than you do about its discipline and they all think you're wrong. Even more so, I have encountered scholars whom you have not encountered, who have done the hard work of studying the ancient texts and in so doing have become believers. They witness to me as well that my joy is well-founded.

You remind me of the type of people C. S. Lewis spoke of. He recalls encountering the great writers and artists of history and being able to appreciate their brilliance, but their brilliance was always a bit hollow when compared to great writers and artists of faith. I agree you can still "love, experience joy and sadness, seek answers to hard questions" without being a Christian, but the lives of atheists I know compared to the Christians I know and esteem always seem a shadow of what they could be in comparison.

While you may not be impressed with the scholars I have brought to your attention (my fault in not well presenting them probably), former atheist now deist Antony Flew is. In an article written by a former student who sat down with Flew to discuss the transformation of his worldview to an acknowledgment of a Creator, Flew believes Habermas, with whom he has debated, has made "the most impressive case for Christian theism on the basis of the New Testament writings." When asked, "Who amazes you the most of the defenders of Christian theism?" Flew replied: "I would have to put Alvin Plantinga pretty high." Flew also said of Richard Swinburne (I've mentioned Swinburne, haven't I?), the Oxford philosophy of religion professor, "There is really no competition to him." And while he yet has not acquiesced to Jesus as Lord, Flew wrote in the journal Philosophia Christi: "The evidence for the Resurrection is better than for claimed miracles in any other religion." And he has added the case for an empty tomb is "considerably better than I thought previously."

I hope you see, Jeff, that the scholars whom I reference are not head-in-the-sand academics with no respect outside of Christianity. Very smart people have discovered what I have discovered, and we see no reason to start over.

Further reading:
Thinking Straighter: Why the world's most famous atheist now believes in God
Authority of the Bible
There Is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind by Antony Flew

The New Testament Documents--Are They Reliable?