1. Resurrection Objections—White Horse Inn
Having established the minimal facts of the resurrection, how do we respond when people suggest alternative theories for explaining the missing body, the empty tomb, and Christ’s post-resurrection appearances? Did Jesus simply faint on the cross? Did the women go to the wrong tomb? Did the disciples make up the resurrection story, or did it grow and develop over the years? Was Jesus’s body simply stolen?
“The claim of the stolen body says that the disciples stole the body,” Doug Powell says. “It would have taken a conspiracy for them to come up with this story and then all held to it, even though we were being tortured, imprisoned, persecuted, and ultimately, all of them but one were martyred for it. And nobody broke—nobody broke. People die for lies, but they don’t die for lies that they make up.”
In this episode of White Horse Inn, Eric Landry, Justin Holcomb, Bob Hiller, and Doug Powell evaluate these common objections and more, helping you prepare for discussions around the table this Easter.
2. Can We Still Believe in the Resurrection?—Michael S. Horton
Is the Resurrection an outdated Christian myth? Is Christ risen in our hearts and theology alone, or can we point to and believe in a real, historical event?
Michael Horton writes, “To tackle the question of the Resurrection as a legitimate truth-claim, we must first determine the motive in asking the question. It is not difficult these days to find a theologian who will deny the Resurrection, stating that it is simply irreconcilable with the enlightened modern mind.”
Read his defense of a historical resurrection here.
3. Preaching the Resurrection Amidst the Mockery of the World—White Horse Inn
Hosts Michael Horton, Justin Holcomb, Walter Strickland, and Bob Hiller dive into Paul’s apologetic approach as he speaks to his pagan audience and how on Easter we will, like Paul, be mocked by some for preaching the resurrection of the dead, while others will want to hear more about its hope and promise.
“But precisely because [God] transcends time and space, he is present in every time and place. How do we know that? Because God became one of us—too much of a nearby God for comfort, so we put him on a cross. But the philosophers had absolutely no idea that, in fact, that act of shame and apparent defeat was the event through which God was reconciling the world to himself and his Son. And on the third day, he rose again as the beginning of the resurrection of the dead.”
Listen to the whole episode here.
4. The King Is Crowned: 10 Ways Jesus's Ascension Matters—Core Christianity Guide
The death and resurrection of Christ is only the beginning—Rondi Lauterbach walks readers through the importance of Christ’s ascension as we consider the ongoing work of a risen Christ.
“By God’s design, there were two shortcomings to the Old Testament system he had instituted,” writes Rondi Lauterbach. “‘But,’ the writer of Hebrews continues, getting us ready for the big reveal, ‘when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God’ (Heb.10:12).”
From his sitting at the right hand of God, to his sending his Spirit, to his reigning over sin and death, read the full Core Guide about the benefits of Christ’s ascension to you.
