Program / Course 16: Historical Defense / Lesson 8.3
What you will learn
- List what a historical case for the resurrection can and cannot establish.
- Identify the points where the evidence is thin, contested or dependent on background beliefs.
- Write a closing statement that gives the conclusion at the right strength.
- Describe how to speak with people who weigh the same evidence differently.
The big idea
A historical case for the resurrection, however well made, has limits. It can support the conclusion that the earliest Christians sincerely claimed to have seen Jesus alive, that this claim is hard to explain by the usual natural theories, and that for those open to divine action the resurrection is a reasonable explanation. It cannot compel belief, prove the whole of Christian doctrine, or remove the dependence of the result on background beliefs. Saying so plainly is not a weakness. It is what makes an argument trustworthy, and it fits the Christian view that faith is more than the conclusion of an argument.
Key terms
- Limit
- A boundary on what an argument can show. Every argument has some.
- Epistemic humility
- A habit of holding conclusions with a strength that matches the evidence and being ready to revise them.
- Apologetics
- The reasoned defense of the faith. Good apologetics states the limits of its arguments.
- Assurance
- In Christian use, confidence in God’s promises, which is not the same as certainty about historical details.
- Falsifiability (in this context)
- The question of what evidence would count against a claim. A claim that nothing could count against is not well tested.
- Charity
- Interpreting those who disagree in the best reasonable light, a duty in argument and a Christian virtue.
Background
The course ends where honest inquiry should end: with a statement of what has been shown and what has not. In popular debate, the temptation is to claim more. Apologists may say the resurrection is proved beyond reasonable doubt. Skeptics may say that no educated person can believe it. Both overreach. The record of the careful scholars shows a wide range of reasonable positions.
This lesson draws together the limits met along the way, so that the student can write a closing statement that is accurate. It also considers the tone appropriate to the conversation. An argument that is honest about its limits is more likely to be heard, and more likely to be right.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: What the case can show
A well made case can show several things. Jesus was crucified under Pilate. His followers very soon proclaimed that God had raised him and said that he had appeared to them. This claim cannot easily be explained by deliberate fraud. The movement began in a place and time where the claim could be tested, and the disciples, along with Paul and James, changed in ways that need explanation. Natural alternatives such as vision and legend each face difficulties. For a person open to the existence of God, the resurrection is a credible and coherent explanation.
These are substantial results. Many scholars of different views accept most of them, though they differ about the last.
Step 2: What the case cannot show
It cannot show that no natural explanation is possible. It cannot show that a person who excludes miracles must accept it. It cannot establish what the risen body was like, or answer questions about how a resurrection would work. It cannot prove that Jesus is God the Son, that his death atones for sin, or that the church’s teaching is true, which are theological conclusions of the kind discussed in Lesson 1.4. And it cannot replace faith, which in all three major Christian traditions is a gift and a trust as well as a belief.
It also cannot be better than its sources. Where the sources are late, shaped or contested, the argument inherits their uncertainty.
Step 3: The weak and contested points
An honest summary lists the points where the case is most open to challenge. These include the empty tomb tradition, which is attested in the Gospels but not clearly in Paul; the group appearances, which rest on a single line in a creed and on shaped Gospel narratives; the claim that the disciples were unlikely to experience visions, which depends on contested psychology; the early date of the creed, which is an inference; and the evidence on the deaths of the apostles, which is thinner than often claimed.
It should also list the points where the case is strong: the death of Jesus, the early belief in his resurrection, the transformation of Paul, and the unusual form of the belief. Marking both kinds shows the reader that the writer is not hiding difficulties.
Step 4: Writing the closing statement
A closing statement has four parts. It states the conclusion in one sentence, with a degree of confidence. It names the steps on which the conclusion most depends. It names the strongest objections and says whether they have been answered. And it states what the conclusion does not claim.
For example, a student might write: on the evidence studied, the best explanation of the rise of the resurrection belief seems to be that something happened that convinced the disciples that Jesus was alive; whether that was a bodily resurrection depends partly on whether divine action is accepted as possible, and the conclusion is held with moderate confidence. Another student might write a different statement and be equally honest.
Step 5: Speaking with those who disagree
The way a case is presented matters. Several habits help. State the other side’s best argument before answering it. Admit where it has force. Ask what evidence would change the other person’s view and say what would change one’s own. Avoid mocking those who doubt, since the doubts of Thomas and the Eleven are in the Gospels themselves (John 20:25; Matthew 28:17). The apostle’s advice is to give a reason for the hope with meekness and fear (1 Peter 3:15).
A Christian may also recognize that argument is one of several ways in which people come to faith, and that for many, trust in a community, worship and the experience of prayer come first. The course does not deny these. It addresses the question of what can be said when the evidence of history is the topic. It does not claim that private study replaces the church’s worship or the sacraments.
- What exactly does my case show, and with what degree of confidence?
- Which steps of the case are weakest?
- What does my case not claim?
- What evidence would change my mind?
- Have I stated the best objections fairly?
- How would I speak to someone who weighs the evidence differently?
Examples
A modest conclusion
A student concludes: the evidence strongly supports that the disciples sincerely believed they had seen Jesus risen, and makes deliberate fraud unlikely. Whether the experiences were a bodily resurrection or visions is treated as open, with a lean toward the resurrection for reasons stated. The student says plainly that someone who excludes miracles will reasonably weigh it differently.
An overstated conclusion
A writer concludes: the resurrection is proved beyond any reasonable doubt, and anyone who disagrees is ignoring the evidence. The statement goes beyond the evidence, ignores respected scholars who disagree, and confuses historical probability with proof.
A conversation
A believer and a skeptic discuss the empty tomb. The believer admits that Paul does not mention it. The skeptic admits that the women’s role is hard to explain as invention. Each leaves with a clearer view of the other’s reasons. Neither has been converted, and both are better informed.
Different perspectives
Catholic
The Catholic tradition holds that reason can show that faith is credible, that miracles are signs of revelation, and that the assent of faith is nevertheless a free act moved by grace. Good argument serves faith but does not constitute it.
Orthodox
Orthodox theology is cautious about proofs and emphasizes the experience of the risen Christ in worship and in the life of the church. It would see the limits of historical argument as natural and not as a defect.
Protestant evidentialists
Evangelical scholars of this tradition value historical argument and tend to claim that the evidence is strong. The more careful among them state the limits and insist that the argument is cumulative and probabilistic.
Protestants who stress faith
Others in the Reformation tradition hold that saving faith is the work of the Holy Spirit through the word, and that argument at best clears the ground. They would see the limits of the case as a reminder not to put trust in it.
Skeptical and agnostic scholars
Many hold that the evidence shows sincere belief and an unexplained origin, but not more, and that history cannot decide the question. They ask believers to acknowledge the same limits and to avoid claiming proof.
Why it matters
Honesty about limits is a mark of good scholarship and of good character. It lets a student keep hold of what the evidence supports without claiming what it does not, and it makes it possible to talk with people of other views without contempt. It also protects faith from depending on any single argument.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: Admitting limits weakens the case.
Correction: It strengthens it. A reader trusts an argument that states its own weak points more than one that hides them.
Misunderstanding: If the case does not prove the resurrection, faith is unreasonable.
Correction: Few important beliefs are proved. A reasonable belief can rest on evidence that is strong but not compelling, together with trust.
Misunderstanding: If history cannot settle the question, then the question is meaningless.
Correction: The question is meaningful and important. History makes a contribution to it, and philosophy, theology and experience make others.
Misunderstanding: A skeptic who remains unconvinced is dishonest.
Correction: Many careful skeptics have studied the evidence. Differences in background belief explain much of the disagreement, and charity requires acknowledging this.
Knowledge check
What can a historical case for the resurrection reasonably claim?
It can claim that Jesus was crucified, that the earliest Christians sincerely claimed he had been raised and appeared to them, that deliberate fraud and several natural theories face serious difficulties, and that for those open to divine action the resurrection is a credible explanation. It should state its conclusion as a judgment of probability.
What can such a case not claim?
It cannot compel those who exclude miracles, prove Christian doctrines such as the divinity of Christ or atonement, explain the nature of the risen body, or go beyond the reliability of the sources. It also cannot replace faith, which the major Christian traditions treat as a gift and a trust as well as a belief.
Name two points where the case is most open to challenge.
Examples: the empty tomb, which Paul does not clearly mention; the group appearances, which rest on a line in a creed and shaped Gospel narratives; the early date of the creed, which is an inference; and the evidence for apostolic martyrdom, which is thinner than often said. Any two with reasons are correct.
What are the parts of a good closing statement?
A one-sentence conclusion with a degree of confidence, the steps on which it most depends, the strongest objections and whether they were answered, and a statement of what the conclusion does not claim. It should avoid language that claims proof and should be fair to those who disagree.
Think it through
- After this course, how has your confidence about the origins of Christianity changed, and why?
- Which limit stated here do you find most important?
- How could you tell the difference between humility and evasion?
- What would you say to a friend who wants certainty from history?
Independent assignment
The final case with its limits
In your own notebook, write 800 to 1,000 words: a final version of your case on the origin of the resurrection belief. Include your conclusion and confidence, the secure and contested facts, the strongest objection and your reply, and a paragraph headed Limits that says what the case does not show. Put the date on it and do not send it to anyone.
Further study
- N. T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God Read the conclusion and note where the author states the limits of his own argument.
- Blaise Pascal, Pensées Read for the view that reason and the heart both have a part in faith.
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Fallacies Use a final time to check the closing statement.
- Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation of the Word Read to see the difference between a historical and a theological reading of the resurrection.
- 1 Peter 3:15 Be ready always to give an answer with meekness and fear.
- John 20:25 Thomas asks for evidence.
- Mark 9:24 Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.