Resurrection: Can the Bible be Trusted: Dr. James Tour (Transcript)

I am not a theologian. Sometimes that bothers my colleagues in the religion department. They’ve told me so. They’re concerned that sometimes young people, in fact often young people come to me for religious counseling and they can’t understand why. Because I’m not a theologian.

I’m not a philosopher. And so I can’t answer all sorts of deep questions about philosophy that you might have. I’m just a common man, I’m a scientist.

But are the Scriptures accessible to me? Are they accessible to the common person? Do you have to be a theologian? Do you have to be a philosopher in order to garner understanding from the Scriptures?

Well let’s look at the Scriptures tonight. Last year we had – at the same time last year we had Dr. Nabeel Qureshi spoke here. And that, his demonstration, his talk is on YouTube. And what he said is something that I just want to reflect on for a moment. I’m not going to reiterate all the proofs that he had for this.

But he said, WHAT DO ALL RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS FROM ALL RELIGIOUS BACKGROUNDS AGREE UPON? Is there something that religious scholars from whatever religious background, is there something that they agree upon?

It turns out there’s three things that they agree upon. One is that JESUS DIED BY CRUCIFIXION. Not that people thought that He died, but the evidence was there that Jesus died. The evidence is present that Jesus died. Look at the historical proofs. Jesus died by crucifixion. Some even suggest that this is the most solid fact of ancient history. This is what he covered. And this is all on YouTube from last year.

And the second thing is, the disciples of Jesus believed that JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD and that HE HAD APPEARED TO THEM. That’s what they believed. And so this is what, across faiths, whether they’re Muslim or whether they’re Buddhist, if they are scholars, academic scholars, they all agree that the historical evidence is there.

And the third thing is that certain unbelievers and even enemies of Jesus believed that JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD AND APPEARED TO THEM. For example, Paul and James — James, Jesus’s brother, was an unbeliever during Jesus’s lifetime. It wasn’t until after Jesus rose from the dead that James, His own brother, believed on Him. And Paul, of course, was a vehement enemy of Jesus. And then Jesus appeared to him.

So these three pieces of evidence are something that all scholars agree upon.

Okay, so INTRODUCTION TO THE RESURRECTION.

In Romans 10:9, it says that ‘if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.’

Now think about this for a moment. This is a high barrier. This is a high barrier. It says that we have to confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead to be saved. So being born into a home that is a Christian home doesn’t really mean that we are saved.

This salvation is based on this. It’s very specific. We have to confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that He’s been raised from the dead. That’s not my requirement. That’s the Scripture’s own requirement. A belief that He’s risen from the dead is part of what is needed for salvation. And the other is the confession that he’s Lord. That’s what the Scripture says.

It also says in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 1 through 4, ‘Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel, which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.’

If anything is underlined here, I did it. All right? The Greek isn’t underlined. They have other ways of stressing things. Unless you believed in vain. So in other words, there is a way to believe in vain.

‘For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.’

So he says, for I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received. This is the most important thing Paul is saying. This is the most important thing. What’s the most important thing? According to the Scriptures themselves, Paul says it’s this, ‘that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.’

Remember what we read in just the last verse. It says that we have to be able to confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that He’s risen from the dead. It doesn’t say that we have to believe in a man named Adam and a woman named Eve. It doesn’t even say that we need to believe in the virgin birth. You may want to believe in those. You may not. But that’s not what it requires for salvation.

One of the requirements for salvation is believing that He’s risen from the dead. And here he says, if we don’t, we can be believing in vain. It’s quite specific and quite clear, and he says it’s the most important thing. This is the most important thing.

And he continues in 1 Corinthians 15, 5 through 8, ‘and that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve. And after that, He appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James and then to all the apostles. And last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.’

So what he’s doing is he’s listing people’s specific names, and we’ll look more at this. He says He appeared to Cephas. So Cephas is the same as Peter. One of those names is in Greek and the other is in Aramaic. It’s the same name.

And then He appeared to the Twelve, the Twelve Apostles. Judas had already killed himself, but they had already, by this time, chosen Matthias. And after that, He appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time. Five hundred people saw Him at one time. Most of whom remain until now.

So Paul is saying, so this was written about 15 or 20 years after the resurrection, and he says some of those have gone on, some of those have fallen asleep. Fallen asleep is the New Testament way of saying the person has died, but they knew the Lord. Jesus spoke of the little girl. He says she is not dead, she is asleep. He spoke of Lazarus. He said he is asleep.

Those who died knowing the Lord, those who died in faith, it says Jesus just called them asleep. Here Paul is using the same terminology.

Then he appeared to James, that’s His brother. Then to all the Apostles, and last of all, to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. That’s Paul.

So this is what he says, the most important thing, and it’s critical for salvation. So what we’re talking about is the critical point for salvation: the resurrection from the dead.

1 Corinthians 15 verses 12 through 17 says, now Christ has preached that He’s been raised from the dead. How do some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain. Your faith also is in vain. Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses of God because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless, you are still in your sins.’

Think about that, how critical this point is. He says if we do not take hold of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our faith is not only in vain, it’s worthless. It’s worthless.

So the pattern in Scripture is clear. We can’t merely say, hey, I’m a Christian, I’m okay. The Scriptures clearly tell us that our faith is worthless and we’re still in our sins if Jesus Christ has not risen from the dead. That’s how critical this point is according to the Scriptures.

What I want to get at here is a PHYSICAL RESURRECTION. Did Jesus really die and rise physically? Was He raised physically from the dead or was this merely a spiritual resurrection?

So let’s look at this point. One day I had lunch with one of my colleagues from the religion department and I asked him whether he believed in the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is a common question that I ask faculty when I have lunch with them.

And he asked me, he said, ‘Physical resurrection? Oh, of course not, it was a spiritual resurrection.’

Let’s see what the Scriptures say, whether this was a physical resurrection. In John chapter 20, verses 24 and 25, it says, ‘But Thomas, one of the twelve called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.’

Okay, so one of the disciples’ names was Thomas. Jesus had appeared to the other disciples all at one time, but Thomas happened not to be there. Jesus had instructed multiple times for His disciples to go to Galilee. He told them that before He died, He had the angels deliver them that message after He died. They didn’t go to Galilee after multiple times being told to go to Galilee, and one of the reasons was because Thomas wasn’t on board with them. He was quite an influential apostle. And he says, ‘Look, I’m not going to believe this.’ He says, ‘Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.’

Now, does that sound to you like a man who’s trying to believe? Oh, I just have to believe that Jesus rose from the dead, I just have to believe. Does that sound to you like a man who’s just, Look, I don’t believe it?

Look, if you guys want to try to convince me, He’s got to appear to me. And I need to stick my finger into the hole in His hand where the nails were, and I need to put my hand into His side because Jesus was pierced in His side on the cross. And he says, I need to put my hand into His side. That’s a pretty big requirement. I mean, this is asking a lot.

So Thomas was not wanting to believe. It wasn’t like he psyched himself into this.

John 20 verses 26 through 29, ‘After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas went with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, He stood in their midst and He said, ‘Peace be to you!’ Shalom aleichem.

‘Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach here your finger, and see My hands, and reach here your hand and put it into My side, and do not be unbelieving but believing.’

And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Because you’ve seen Me, you’ve believed. Blessed are those who did not see, and yet believed.’

Thomas is with them. Jesus, it says, the doors were shut and He just came walking into their midst. He said, Peace be to you. He says, Thomas, come here, reach out your hand and stick your finger into the hole in my hand.

Thomas, come here. Calling him forward. Thomas is probably, it’s okay. No problem. He says, Wait a minute, I want you to take your hand and stick it right into the hole in My side. Put it in there, deeper. Feel around in there. Feel that heart beating in there? This is what he does with Him. This is a physical resurrection.

Yes, Jesus can walk through doors, but He’s physical. And we think it must have been so good to have seen Jesus so that we could believe in Him. Jesus said, Blessed are they who do not see and yet believed. We are more blessed in that we do not see and yet believe than those who have seen and believed. Our blessing is greater. Jesus said that.

Luke 24 verses 36 to 38, it says, ‘While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be to you.’ But they were startled and frightened, and they thought they were seeing a spirit. And He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?’

He’s calling them out on their doubts. What’s their doubt? They think that they are seeing a spirit, and He calls them out on this. He says, ‘Why do doubts arising in your heart? Why is this happening?’ They thought they were seeing a spirit, and so He wanted to put to rest this whole idea of a spiritual resurrection.

‘See My hands and My feet, that it is I. Touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.’ And when He said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.’ Look at this. He showed it to them, and they’re touching Him. This is the demonstration of the Lord. How much more explicit can the man be?

‘Now they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement…’ After all that, touching Him, they still couldn’t believe it. They still couldn’t believe it. He says, I’ve got to deal with this problem. So He said to them, ‘Have you got something here to eat?’ He asks them for something to eat.

‘And they gave Him a piece of broiled fish, and He took it and He ate it before them.’

NOW WHY WOULD THEY GIVE HIM FISH? Because Jesus loved fish. He was always multiplying fish. This is what He did. So they’re thinking, ‘Give Him some fish. If it’s Jesus, He’ll love it.’ Jesus loved fish. So they gave Him a piece of fish, and He took it and he ate it. He said, Good fish. He’s showing them this is a physical resurrection.

Now I asked you, ‘Have you ever seen a spirit eat?’ Has anyone here ever seen a spirit eat? No. Spirits don’t eat. They don’t eat. He showed them that He’s physical. This is a physical resurrection. THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST IS PHYSICAL. That’s the testimony of Scripture.

Now I’m going to give you a little bit of BACKGROUND ON MY FAMILY.

So this is me, Jim. My wife is Shireen. I have a daughter, Ambreen, Sabrina, Josiah, and Ben. So I’ve got these four kids.

Now what I’m going to teach you to do is to learn to think logically when you read. Because this is what happens. We solve some nonlinear differential equation, and we’re just using all this brain power to solve this thing. Then what we do is we take out our brain and we put it here and we go to read the Bible. This is what people do. They remove their brain when they go to read the Bible. And they say, this book makes no sense.

So first of all, we’re going to try to understand what statements are and what they’re not. Okay.

So this is just fictitious. Shireen, Jim, and the children left the campsite and hiked up a mountain. All right? It’s just a statement. Upon reaching the mountaintop, Jim saw a dragon in a lake. It’s just a statement. When the Tours came back to Houston from the campsite, they told others about the dragon they had seen on the mountaintop.

Did Ambreen hike up the mountain? We don’t know. She may have. Shireen, Jim, and their children. It could have been just Shireen, Jim, Sabrina, and Josiah hiked up the mountain. We have no idea whether Ambreen went up the mountain or not from that statement. Am I right? We don’t know from the statements that are there whether she went up the mountain or not.

Did the Tours go together up the mountain? We have no idea. People don’t necessarily go together. The example in my home is that when we would go as a family to the airport, we would get to security together. And I would get to the gate before anybody else. The kids would go one way. My wife would go. They had to buy coffee and buy something else. And later on they get there. So just because you leave at the same time doesn’t mean you get there at the same time.

When we got more than one car in my family, we were really blessed because we used to go to church together as a family. Everybody had to go in the same car. And sometimes I’d be in the driveway just honking the horn. And I don’t know why my wife would just come out so upset all the time.

When we got two cars, ever since we got two cars, we’ve been driving separately to church. And everybody’s happy, just fine. We sit right next to each other in the same pew. But we did not leave at the same time. So just because you go someplace doesn’t mean you leave at the same time, right?

Did Shireen ever see the dragon? We don’t know. We know that Jim saw a dragon. We know that the Tours came back and told others about the dragon they had seen. Maybe just Jim and Ben saw a dragon. We don’t know from that statement.

Did Shireen ever tell others about the dragon? We have no idea. How many dragons did Jim see while on the mountaintop? We have no idea. I saw one in a lake. Maybe I saw 17 in a tree. No, really, this is just looking at the text. We’re looking at the text. So that’s the backdrop.

Now we understand the things that we can claim and the things that we can’t claim by reading a passage, right?

Okay, now we’ve got our brains put back in. Let’s look at the Scriptures.

SOME RECORDS OF THE RESURRECTION THAT RAISE QUESTIONS.

Matthew 28:1 says, ‘Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.’

So two women are mentioned: Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. There are several Marys mentioned in the Gospels. Mary Magdalene, the one from whom seven demons had been cast out, and another Mary. We’re not told which one other than her — and one of the other Marys. And that’s it. Two women are mentioned.

So Luke 24:10 says, ‘Now there were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; and also other women with them were telling these things to the apostles.’

So mentioned by name are Mary Joanna and Mary the mother of James. Three women plus others. How many others? We have no idea.

IS THERE SOME CONFLICT BETWEEN THESE TWO STATEMENTS?

Not at all. This statement mentioned two of the women. This statement mentioned three of the women and said there were others as well. There’s no conflict between these because this first statement in 28:1 didn’t exclude the possibility of others. This is normally just looking at a text and understanding what it says.

When you tell a story, say you’re telling a story of something that happened in the college over lunch, do you name everybody who was at that table when you’re telling the story to somebody, or do you just mention the key people of interest to the story?

Mark 16:1 says, ‘When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, brought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him.’

So that’s in Mark 16:1. Three women are mentioned by name. It doesn’t exclude the possibility that there’s other women.

Luke 24:10: ‘Now there were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and also other women with them were telling these things to the apostles.’

Three women and others, but Salome is not mentioned by name. None of these statements conflict with one another. You see what I mean? People read these accounts and they say, oh, the Bible just doesn’t make sense, it conflicts with itself. It does not.

It does not. Take the brain, put it back in, and you just read it, and it makes sense.

John 20, verse 1: ‘Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb.’

Is that any problem with Matthew 28, verse 1? No, because it never says whether they left together. It was just recording that these two women happened to have gone to the grave. No problem with this. Just because they may have even started at the same time together, but walked at different paces.

I mean, this is the story of my life and my marriage. We walked at different paces, right? Just got back in the airport last night, yes, because she’s wearing high heels, that’s right. And I walk for a little while, I stop, I wait, catches up, walk, and then she’s gone, I stop, I wait. So people walk at different paces. This is normal. There’s no problem with this. There’s no controversy here.

Further questions.

Matthew 28, verse 5 and 6 says, ‘The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He’s not here, for He’s risen.’’

Mark 16:5-6 says, ‘Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, ‘Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who’s been crucified. He has risen. He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.’

So here it says, the angel. It never says there weren’t — there may have been seven other angels, but he’s just mentioning the angel that said to her, do not be afraid.

Here it says there was a young man sitting at the right, so it describes a little bit more about an angel wearing a white robe, and he said some other things. Was it the same as this angel? Maybe, maybe not. We don’t know. Maybe there were, one angel said one thing and another angel said another. We don’t know. But there’s no conflict between these two.

Luke 24, verse 4 and 6, ‘And while they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, ‘Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen.’

So here it says two men. Here it says a young man. Here it says the angel. But it didn’t exclude the possibility of other angels. Not at all. There’s no problem. This is just different people writing about the same account that occurred.

Again, further ones, Matthew 28, verse 7 and 8: ‘Go quickly, tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead, and behold, He is going ahead of you to Galilee.’ Remember I told you the angels told, go ahead? ‘There you will see Him; behold, I have told you.’ And they (the women) left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report to all the disciples.’

Here it says the women and they, meaning the women in this context, left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report this to the disciples.

Mark 16, verse 7 and 8, ‘But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He’s going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’ They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them. And they (again, meaning the women) said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.’

Look at that. Here it says they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid, and here they ran to report to the disciples.

Which women are they talking about? There are some women that said nothing to anyone, these particular women. There are other women that ran and reported things to the disciples. This happens.

Here’s the way you can corroborate all four Gospel accounts. There are many ways to corroborate it. This is just one way.

Women set out for the grave to anoint Jesus’ body with spices. There are several women, including Mary Magdalene, Salome, Joanna, Mary, the mother of James, and one or more. So there’s greater than or equal to five women. Mary proceeds faster than the others and arrives at the grave before the others. She sees the stone rolled away, Jesus’ body missing. She sees no angels, no Jesus. She immediately turns and runs to report this to Peter and John. While Mary is away getting Peter and John, the other women arrive at the tomb. The other women arriving now at the tomb see the stone rolled away, and the angels telling them that Jesus is risen from the dead, terrified they flee and they become scattered as they run. It makes sense.

I mean, if you see angels and you are terrified, and you’re a group of women, are you going to hold hands and just skip back down into town? Well, everybody’s running. It’s hazy out. It says that it was just beginning to dawn. There’s trees in the way. You can’t hold hands. You’re all running, scattering in different directions.

Sometime during the women’s, not including Mary’s flight, they become divided, and Jesus appears to more than one of them, but not all of them. He comforts those to whom He appears, and He tells them to tell the brethren, which they do.

The other women who were fleeing and not present at this appearing of Jesus continue to run away and out of fear tell no one about their sighting, i.e. the moved stone and the angels of the tomb. While the other women are in flight from the tomb, John and Peter arrive with Mary, likely running near them, probably behind John and Peter.

The Scriptures say that they ran to the tomb. John got there first. He was looking in. Peter came up behind him and just went into the tomb first. I’m assuming that Mary was running behind them, but I understand in this day and age to assume that a woman doesn’t run as fast as a man is not right. I mean, there are tracked folks in here and women that will run any man into the ground who’s not on track themselves, so I understand that.

But back then, you know, women had big skirts or something. It slowed them down. Peter and John see the grave closed, but see no angels and no Jesus. John leaves for home believing, while Peter leaves for home in amazement. Mary is left standing at the tomb without John and Peter. Mary sees and hears angels, and then she sees Jesus, first thinking Him to be the gardener until He calls her name.

After seeing and hearing and clinging to Jesus, she runs to tell the disciples that she’s seen Him. Mary’s seeing of Jesus occurred moments before His appearance in number six to the other women. That is one of many ways that you can take all of these passages and put it together. Say, this is too convoluted. It is not.

My pastor and I, this is 25 years ago, where we saw a man confess to a crime. The man then recounted his confession, and the case went to court, and I heard my pastor testify of what this man said in his confession. And when I heard my pastor testify, I was thinking, you old man, you’ve forgotten. That’s not exactly what he said. I remembered it quite differently. In essence, it was the same, but it was not exactly the same.

If the resurrection account had been fabricated, there would never have been an account over four Gospels like this. Such an account argues against its fabrication, and we’ll see in detail why.

They would have waited, first of all, they would have waited a prudent amount of time, like a hundred plus years before publishing the account. Such is the form of legends to ensure that all witnesses have died. Whenever you have a legend, they wait for everybody who could have been a witness, and they wait for them to die. It’s generally more than a hundred years after something happens that legends occur.

The early origin of the resurrection argues against its fabrication. This is on that Sunday, on the day of resurrection, they started to propagate this story. This is not the story of legends. This is not how it’s done. If the resurrection had been fabricated, they would have published the account far from the venue of its occurrence. They would have published the account in Rome. They would have published it in Syria, at least up in the Galilee, not in Jerusalem.

You don’t publish a legend in the place where it actually occurred. The resurrection account, being in Jerusalem, argues against its fabrication. If the resurrection account had been fabricated, they would have been more selective with the choice of witnesses. More selective.

1 Corinthians 15:8, it says, He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve, and after that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but have fallen asleep. And then He appeared to James and to all the apostles. And last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.

He lists names. If this had been fabricated, you don’t list names. You say, He appeared to a bunch of people, don’t worry about it, just trust me, trust me. Bunch of people. No. He lists the names. If this had been fabricated, you don’t list names. You don’t give that type of evidence.

HALLUCINATIONS ARE NOT SHARED. There were five hundred people saw Jesus at one time. Hallucinations are not shared. Yes, a person can have a hallucination, but not five hundred at one time, because hallucinations are not shared.

They would have been more selective with the choice of witnesses. In John 19, verse 38 and 39, it says, ‘After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight.’

If you want evidence, if you want evidence, you don’t say, ask Chief Justice Roberts. I mean, these are specific names of specific people. And extra biblical sources tell us what happened to these two men. Both of them underwent great persecution and lost their entire fortunes. Both of them were on the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin had seventy men that were one-third Pharisee, two-thirds Sadducees, plus the high priest. Both of these men were on the Sanhedrin. Both of them were evidence to these things, and they lost everything because of their ultimate testimony. He wouldn’t have named them. They wouldn’t have named them specifically if they were making this up. Both were on the Sanhedrin.

The account listing the names of the witnesses argues against this fabrication. If the resurrection account had been fabricated, Mary never would have been identified as the first to see Jesus. It never would have said Mary was the first to see Jesus. It clearly says in John chapter 20, verse 18, Mary Magdalene came announcing to the disciples, I have seen the Lord, and that she said these, and that he had said these things to her.

Now, after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons.

But if you look in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 5 and 6, he says He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve, and after that he appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time.

How come in 1 Corinthians he doesn’t list that He appeared to Mary? Because in 1 Corinthians he doesn’t say He appeared first to Mary, he just said He appeared to Cephas, because the woman’s testimony meant nothing by Roman law… or in Israel, the woman’s testimony meant nothing, that’s back then, get over it. It has nothing to do with what’s today. But her testimony meant nothing… So in 1 Corinthians, when he is giving a legal argument, he doesn’t even mention Mary’s name.

So why would the Scriptures record Mary as being the one to see Him first? Because that’s the way it happened. They record it this way because that’s the way it happened. Mary was the first to see Jesus, risen from the dead.

If this were made up, they never would have listed Mary. Why list Mary? That’s like saying, ask the family dog what the burglar looked like. Testimony means nothing. They would not list the family dog as being evidence, the first piece of evidence to identify the criminal. This is exactly what they would not have done, that Mary is listed as the one for seeing Him first, argues against this being fabricated.

The account listing Mary as the first witness argues overwhelmingly against this fabrication.

If the resurrection account had been fabricated, there would have been supernatural displays at the moment of Jesus coming out of the tomb. You would say, oh, when He rose from the tomb, that’s just right, that He came out and just, ah, I’m here, and just spun around and sparks flying out. That’s the part you would embellish more than anything when He came out of the tomb.

And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it, and His appearance was like lightning and His clothing as white as snow, and the guards shook for fear of Him and became like dead men. And I put in the word fainted, they became like dead men.

Nobody saw Him walk out of the grave. If you were fabricating a resurrection, that’s the thing that you’d write the most about. The guards didn’t see Him because they were out. They became like dead men. None of the disciples were there. Nobody saw Him rise from the dead. That is exactly the point that you would embellish the most. The account reporting no witnesses to the moment of His leaving the tomb argues against its fabrication.

The religious leaders and guards would not have had to invent a story to cover up the resurrection. It says in Matthew 28 verses 11 through 15, ‘Now while they were on their way, some of the guards came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers and said, you are to say, his disciples came by night and stole them away while we were asleep. And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble. And they took the money and did as they had been instructed, and this story was widely spread among the Jews and is to this day.’

And even till today, that story is propagated.

So what happened was the guards who were guarding that tomb and were unable to keep that Roman seal over the tomb from being broken, all of a sudden they wake up from their fainting spell and the stone is rolled away, Jesus is gone, the body is gone, and they are scared because they are going to have to give their lives for what has happened. So they don’t go to see Pilate, the governor. They go to see the Jewish leaders. And it says his disciples, and they said — they gave the soldiers a large sum of money and they said, you are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’

Just say you all fell asleep and his disciples came and took him. So they took the money and they went away.

The problem with that is this. IF ASLEEP, HOW DID THEY KNOW WHO TOOK THE BODY? The religious leaders and guards inventing and propagating such a story argues against the fabrication of the resurrection account. They had to think up a story really quickly. So they thought up a story which makes absolutely no sense.

The story is, ‘His disciples came and took Him while we were asleep.’ But if you’re asleep, how do you know it was His disciples? You’re asleep. You don’t know who took the body. That’s what happens when you try to make up a story and make up a story really quickly. You get it all wrong. It gets all mixed up. Things just don’t work for you. Things just don’t work.

The four gospel accounts would have been more duplicative in their testimony of the events. Precise overlap in the accounting of the events speaks of collusion. We read four gospel accounts of things that happened in the resurrection. If these guys were making it up, what would they do? Okay, okay.

What are you writing? Okay. We’ve got to keep our stories the same, you know? I had an event once occurred. I was giving an organic chemistry exam, and these are given in the evenings, and everybody has to take the exam on that evening. But if people are traveling on a university program with something, I allow them to… I say, you’ve still got to take the exam on that same night. But I give the exam in an envelope, and this is what I did. I put two copies of the exam, and there were two students in the class that were going on this trip with a professor, and I gave the professor the two exams in an envelope. I said, give it to them on such and such a night at 7 p.m., let them go to their rooms, each to their individual rooms, and come back two hours later, give you the exam. He said, I’ll do it. He came back. He gave me the two exams, and usually I don’t grade the exams in a big class. I give it to the student graders, and they grade it.

But I thought by the time I tracked down the students, let me just grade these. It won’t take me too long. So I graded one of the exams, and then I started grading the other one. I thought, wow, I just saw the same wrong answer on that one. Then I started comparing them.

Now within organic chemistry, there’s one right answer, and there’s a million wrong answers. When the wrong answers are the same, there’s a big problem. And not only were the wrong answers the same, the molecules were drawn at exactly the same angle until the molecules are freely rotating in space. They could be drawn at any angle, but they were all the same. That was enough for me to know that there had been collusion.

And I just took the two exams, and I gave them to the Honors Council, and it was enough for them to know that there was collusion. And one got suspended for a semester, the other one for a year, because the one for the year was less cooperative with the committee.

But precise overlap of events speaks to collusion. The resurrection account reporting events as a complementary set of records rather than a duplicative set argues against its fabrication. You say you want it to be more the same. More the same speaks of collusion.

Now there’s certain people that know this. Chuck is here. Chuck is the former district attorney. Chuck, what happens if two accounts of a crime, two accounts of an event are exactly the same?

What? You know who did it. If the two accounts are the same, you know who did it. If the two accounts are the same, if they’re duplicative, you know who did it.

So judges know this, and prosecutors know this, lawyers know this, juries don’t know this though. If accounts are the same, it means that they’re duplicative. So this is exactly the way it should be. If the resurrection account had been fabricated, the apostles would be shown in a far more favorable light and not as being timid and unbelieving. When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it.

So here Mary comes and they report it to the disciples, and they don’t believe it. They refuse to believe it. Now if you’re writing this account, you’d go, why Mary should that surprise you? He told us He would rise from the dead. Obviously that would happen.

Also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles, but the words appear to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. Nobody would write themselves into a bad light if they were making the thing up. The exposed weaknesses of the apostles argues against the resurrection’s fabrication. So portraying oneself in a favorable light.

Here is an account from Scripture in Acts 22, verses 24 through 29, it says, ‘The commander ordered him to be brought, that’s Paul, into the barracks, stating that he would be examined by scourging so that he might find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way. But when they stretched him out with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and uncondemned? When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and told him, saying, what are you about to do? For this man is a Roman. The commander came and said to him, tell me, are you a Roman? And he said, yes. Therefore those who were about to examine him immediately let him go, and the commander also was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman because he had put him in chains.’

So this commander takes Paul, puts him in chains, and is going to have him scourged without trial, which you weren’t allowed to do to a Roman citizen. You could do it to anybody else, but not a Roman citizen. He finds out that Paul is a Roman citizen, and the guy who was going to do the scourging goes to the commander and says, what are you about to do? And the commander says, oh my goodness, what have I done?

So the commander now is writing an account to the governor about what happened. Here’s the commander’s account of just what transpired here.

‘Claudius Lysias, to the most excellent governor Felix, greetings. When this man was arrested by the Jews and was about to be slain by them, I came up to them with troops and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman. And wanting to ascertain the charges for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their Council. And I found him to be accused over questions about their law, but under no accusations deserving death or imprisonment. When I was informed that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, also instructing his accusers to bring charges against him before you.’

He rode himself into a good light. I do the same thing. I’m giving an account of a story in an email. I’m not going to give all the stuff that I did wrong. I mean, I just give it a bare essentials, you know? I wanted to labor all the other things. That’s normal. People don’t write themselves in their bad light. That it shows the disciples as being timid and running and being afraid. It shows that this is not made up.

This has the signs of being something that’s true. If the resurrection account had been fabricated, there would have been omens and curses and threats proclaimed against those who sought to investigate.

Peter proclaimed in Acts 2:32, this Jesus God raised up again to which we are all witnesses. The same proclamation came in Acts 3:15, 5:32, and 10:39. He’s saying, go, investigate it. Investigate it. If you make something up, you know what you do? You say, don’t, don’t. If you doubt this, oh, your eyes will fall out of your head if you try to investigate this or your firstborn will die. Just trust God. Don’t look at this.

The New Testament invites investigation, invites it. It says, come on, bring it on. There is no problem. You have doubts here. Examine the Scriptures. Examine it to see if it be true. No other faith does this. There would be omens surrounding this. They would say, hey, we’ve got to keep people from investigating this resurrection thing that we’re saying. And they’d put all these omens around it. No omens. They’d say, come on, investigate it. Here’s the people that saw. Here they are by name.

That the disciples invite inquiry through witness and that there are no omens listed for searching out the account argues against the resurrection’s fabrication. It would never have been preached as an essential element of the new faith. Because a lofty requirement is too difficult for a new religious expression.

If the resurrection account had been fabricated, they never would have said, you have to believe in a physical resurrection in order to be saved.

What would they say? They would say, Jesus loved the little children. Just believe in His love. If you’re trying to make up a religion, if you’re trying to make up a religion, you don’t put before it such a high obstacle. How can any thinking man or woman believe in a physical resurrection? And yet that’s the obstacle that they put before people.

And I’ll tell you, it happens that many people believe this because God has put this truth within the hearts of men and women. But that is the barrier. If it were not true, they never would have made this a requirement. If they’re just trying to build up some new religion, you don’t put the barrier so high, that argues against this being a fabrication.

Romans 10:9 says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

That’s the requirement. You have to believe that He’s risen from the dead.

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless, you’re still in your sins. Without the resurrection, our faith is worthless. That belief in the resurrection was made a requirement for entry into this new faith, it speaks to the resurrection’s authenticity.

If the resurrection account had been fabricated, THE APOSTLES UPON FACING DEATH WOULD HAVE RECOUNTED THEIR TESTIMONY.

Now, many are willing to suffer and die for what they believe to be true. Many people here would suffer and die for what you believe to be true.

But our case is different than their case: We suffer and die for what we believe to be true. They suffered and died for what they knew to be true. Nobody suffers and dies for what they know to be a lie.

If you look at the accounts, the extra biblical accounts of how these men died, some of them were filleted. They were splayed out and they were filleted alive. Their skin was peeled off them while they were alive. Others were boiled in oil. You would think if this were made up, they’re heating up the oil. And the apostle would be like, hey guys, psych, April Fools, let me show you the body.

All of these men went to their death and John to banishment. Nobody suffers and dies for what they know to be a lie. That the apostles were tortured and killed for their testimony of the resurrection supports the resurrection’s authenticity. We die for what we believe to be true. They die for what they know to be true. That’s the difference. That’s the difference.

Okay, so what we’ve heard about is the account from the Scripture.

Let’s look at a HISTORIAN SPEAKING. You’ve been hearing a scientist speaking. Let’s look at a historian.

One of the greatest historians of the 20th century was Will Durant. He wrote the story of civilization. In volume three, it covers Caesar and Christ. So he writes this huge series, the story of civilization. It’s a huge, like eight volume series. It’s like an Encyclopedia, which means that you can download the whole thing in a millisecond now.

And you say, ‘Will Durant must be a Christian.’ Well, here’s what he says of himself. I’m still an agnostic with pantheistic overtones. But he is an expert historian.

SO WHAT DOES AN EXPERT HISTORIAN HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE ACCOUNTS OF THE GOSPELS?

What does he say? Commenting on the gospels, he says, ‘The contradictions are of minutia, not substance. In essentials, the synoptic gospels agree remarkably well and form a consistent portrait of Christ. In the enthusiasm of its discoveries, the higher criticism has applied to the New Testament tests of authenticity so severe that by them a hundred ancient worthies, for example, Hammurabi, David, Socrates, would fade into legend.’

So what he says is the New Testament has been put through such rigor, if any other classical document had been put through such rigor, it would have faded into legend. Nothing has withstood the attack like the gospels. This is what he has to say about the gospels.

He goes on. ‘Despite the prejudices and theological preconceptions of the evangelists, meaning the disciples, they record many incidents that mere inventors would have concealed. The competition of the apostles for high places in the kingdom, their flight after Jesus’ arrest, Peter’s denial, the failure of Christ to work miracles in Galilee, the references of some auditors to his possible insanity, his early uncertainty to his mission, his confessions of ignorance as to the future, his moments of bitterness, his despairing cry on the cross. No one reading these scenes can doubt the reality of the figure behind them.’

That’s Will Durant. That’s an expert historian. That’s what he has to say. But he’s not done.

‘That a few simple men should in one generation have invented so powerful and appealing a personality, so loft an ethic, and so inspiring a vision of human brotherhood would be a miracle far more incredible than any recorded in the gospel. After two centuries of higher criticism, the outlines of the life, character, and teaching of Christ remain reasonably clear and constitute the most fascinating feature of the history of Western man.’

This is what a man writes who looks at this purely as a historian, not as a Christian, but as a historian. The outcome, what about us?

Since the resurrection is indeed true, how should it change our lives? HOW DOES IT CHANGE OUR LIVES?

If this is true, is our faith in vain because we don’t grasp this? This is what the Scripture says. The accounts of the gospel are so perfect in exactly the way they should be for an account that has not been made up, an account that has not been fabricated. And you look at this and you say, what about me?

Have I confessed that Jesus is Lord and do I believe that He has risen from the dead? That is the requirement for salvation.

I’m going to pray. And so if that’s not something you like, that’s fine. Just bear with me for a couple of minutes. But I’m going to pray.

Let’s pray.

Father, I thank You so much for the truth of the gospel. I know of no better word that I could have proclaimed here than the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. I thank You, Father, for the truth of Your word. Evidence upon evidence of the authenticity of the gospel accounts, the scriptural resurrection of Jesus Christ, the physical resurrection bodily, how He Himself put to rest that this is just a spirit, that He is flesh and blood and bones. Father, I pray that You would work in the hearts of these fine people, work in their hearts, that they would one day be able to say that indeed Jesus Christ is Lord and He has risen from the dead. For the glory of Jesus and in His name. Amen.

For Further Reading:

The Historical Evidence for Jesus’ Resurrection That Even Skeptics Believe: Gary Habermas (Transcript)

Why I am a Christian: John Lennox (Transcript)

James Tour: The Mystery of the Origin of Life (Transcript)

Jesus Christ & Nanotechnology: James Tour (Transcript)

Related Posts

• How Is Forensic Evidence Manipulated In A Post-Truth World? – Robert Trafford (Transcript)
• How Archaeologists Find The Truth (And You Can, Too): Trevor Wallace (Transcript)
• Why Do People Want To Be Anonymous Online? – Lewis Nitschinsk (Transcript)
• The Hidden Cost of the Green Transition’s Mineral Rush: Galina Angarova (Transcript)
• Noam Chomsky: The History and Hypocrisy of the War on Terror (Transcript)