Jesus’ Resurrection Proved!
July 19th, 2007 by Sean
A prominent philosopher and theologian has spent several years investigating whether or not Jesus of Nazareth was actually raised from the dead. He did this from a historical perspective rather than based on faith. Dr. William Lane Craig was employed by the German government for two years to do this work. Since then he has held many debates with atheists, secular humanists, liberal Christians, and Muslims in an effort to see what his arguments are made of. From all the debates I’ve heard no one, no matter how well educated, has been able to refute his simple, clear evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. The implications of this are several:
- there must be a God if something as impossible/supernatural as an actual resurrection took place
- if God raised Jesus then that vindicates the words of Jesus as being approved by God
- if God has reached into the middle of history to resurrect, that is proof that God is able to perform the general resurrection at the end of the age (1 Cor 15.12-23)
- According to Paul and others, Jesus’ resurrection singles him out as the Son of Man who will come to judge the living and the dead (Acts 17.30-31)
listen to the lecture on resurrection
see a listing of debates
William Craig’s website
One of these debates I’ve listened to was outstanding. His opponent had absolutely nothing to stand on, and couldn’t touch a single argument Craig offered. I was especially surprised at Craig’s breadth and knowledge of his own opponent. At one point during the debate his opponent referenced another work without citing it. When Craig spoke next, he cited his opponent’s reference for him, and then gave multiple citations against the point, it was spectacular. I don’t have enough adjectives in my vocabulary to describe it.
Which debate was it JohnO?
The second link vs Avalos - http://www.cru.stuorg.iastate.edu/debate/Avalos-Craig%20Resurrection%20Debate.mp3
Personally, I enjoyed the debate vs. Frank Zindler more than the one against Hector Avalos.
http://www.bringyou.to/CraigZindlerDebate.mp3
Hi JohnO,
I listened to the Hector Avalos debate. Avalos didn’t really even address the subject. I think one of the questioners at the end of the debate summed it up when he asked: “Mr. Avalos, can you address the subject of the debate, which is the resurrection, without personal reference to Mr. Craig.” I started laughing when I heard that and so did the crowd. Avalos then said: “I’ll address the question if you ask me again respectfully.”
But unfortunately for Dr. Craig, I think Avalos was right about the phrase “τῇ μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων.” But that point doesn’t really affect the debate. It was just one of those side issues that Avalos brought up that didn’t have any much bearing on the issue at hand anyways.
I also listened to Craig debate a muslim. Too bad Craig was on the trinitarian side. He is a very well spoken intelligent man.
To hear another Muslim disprove the trinity in a debate using the bible check out:
http://www.answering-christianity.com/sami_trinity_debate_2.mp3
Warning #1 this is NOT a christian site. These Muslims deny the Crucifixion, etc…
Warning #2 the trinitarian gets very angry at the end of the debate and actually uses some bad language.
William Craig also debated a muslim named Jamal Badawi. It was a unique debate from what I believe because Dr. Craig spent his time showing that the New Testament documents are reliable and true over against the Qu’ran. At the same time Jamal Badawi spent a good portion of his time proving that the Christian Bible does not even teach that Jesus is God. So I was rooting for both sides.
click here to listen to it
hi Sean,
You wrote: William Craig also debated a muslim named Jamal Badawi… So I was rooting for both sides.
That’s the Craig debate I was referring to in my last post. I was “rooting for both sides” too. That’s a good way to put it.
Sean and others,
You’ve made some top-quality resources available here.
I really enjoyed hearing this stuff.
Thanks,
Alex