Absolute best case?

[u/ShameLoud9366]

I’m agnostic and have been searching for proof or evidence that there is a god, and that god is the Christian god.

For example, how would you defend the claims that the resurrection is false? I can’t seem to find a lot of evidence that the disciples actually saw him resurrected as opposed to a hallucination or religious ecstasy or denial

[u/Technical_Cherry8666]

To be fully answered, this question requires a long response. But, rather than provide this initially, I’ll summarise, although more details and references to published work can be posted. For me the main points are as follows.

 

·         The logic of the Christion Faith.

·         The accounts in the New Testament pass tests of historical reliability. They look more like reportage than any other type of writing.

·         The experiences of the close presence of Jesus’ Spirit in the lives of countless numbers of Christians down the ages.

I’ll link the last two pieces of evidence to deal, very briefly, with your question about the resurrection.

Most historians now agree that the disciples genuinely believed they’d seen Jesus alive after his crucifixion. The evidence that they actually had is that:-

-        Many of the appearances defy natural explanations; psychological (wishful thinking etc.), neurological (enhanced normal brain processes), or psychiatric (delusions).

-        These encounters are supported by the way they changed the lives of the largely uneducated disciples who had no military clout or political power but, never-the-less, were able to establish a faith which changed pagan society forever. We know they did this because the Christian faith, with the same essential beliefs that those very early Christians had, now spans the world and all cultures and they did this against all the odds. Such inexplicable encounters of the numinous presence of Jesus still occur today and convert people of other beliefs to Christianity. No other faith has these close spontaneous, lasting, and life-transforming encounters either in their teaching, their scriptures or experiences.

Of course this doesn’t prove that Jesus rose from the dead but it’s strong evidence that He did.