From Chapter 6 – The Resurrection. © 2020 by Emory Lynn.
Apologetics for the resurrection of Jesus requires three things. First, the knowledge base must be limited. A large and comprehensive knowledge base piles problems on top of problems, as we’ve clearly seen. (Early orthodox Christians practiced an extreme form of knowledge base limiting that is not available to Christian apologists today—they censored or destroyed the writings they considered heretical. Modern apologists have benefited from the heavy-handed work done by their predecessors.) Second, the historical accuracy of the New Testament and particularly the Gospels must be assumed. This is an absolutely necessary assumption due to the absence of any extra-biblical evidence corroborating the resurrection. As we have already seen in so many important ways, the gospel evangelists repeatedly failed to earn this trust. Again and again they sacrificed historical accuracy for theological reasons. Third, where there are differing accounts regarding the resurrection of Jesus, they must be harmonized. This is reasonable at times but doesn’t work when accounts are unquestionably contradictory, which occurs all too often.
When you step back and take in the big picture, it’s apparent that the resurrection has additional credibility issues. The very reason for the crucifixion and resurrection was for the atonement of mankind’s sins and to provide a means of salvation for the faithful. Yet, as we’ll see in Chapter 15 (Afterlife), a large majority of the people in human history, people that numbered in the many billions, never had an opportunity to avail themselves of this salvation because they never even heard of Jesus.
We must not forget that Jesus was expected to return soon after his resurrection to usher in God’s kingdom. The New Testament is filled with this imminent apocalyptic expectation. There is no legitimate reason to conclude from the Bible that Jesus’ return would take at least two millennia to happen. Apologists routinely refer to 2 Peter 3:8 to explain why in the 21st century Jesus continues to be a no-show: “[O]ne day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” This verse is an apologetic excuse for why Jesus did not return while the disciples and apostles were still alive. The excuse is based on the wrong perspective of time. It would make no difference if a thousand years to us is just a day to God or a billion years to us is but a second to God. God’s clock is irrelevant; at least it is for a benevolent God. It’s the human timescale that is relevant to the very reason that Jesus was expected to return—to usher in a change to the world order, not the heavenly order. Since the alleged resurrection, Christians have been waiting and struggling against evil for about 80 generations with clocks that take 24 hours to equal one day and calendars that take 20 centuries to equal two millennia. This is the timescale that is relevant to the evil and the suffering and the waiting occurring here on Earth. This is the timescale that is relevant to the un-Godly problem the apocalypse is supposed to correct. Christian apologists and end-time prognosticators should quit hiding behind the one-day-is-with-the-Lord smokescreen.
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We finally have all the information needed to confidently draw a conclusion about Jesus’ resurrection. The most reasonable conclusion that can be drawn from the large and comprehensive knowledge base that we’ve carefully examined is that the resurrection is not the most plausible explanation for what happened to Jesus. In fact, the resurrection isn’t even close to being the most plausible explanation. The more one systematically and comprehensively researches Jesus’ resurrection, the more implausible it gets.
Apologists are fond of saying that Jesus’ resurrection is one of the most well-attested events in human history. In truth the resurrection is one of the most “mis-attested” events in human history. The resurrection of Jesus gets the stamp of approval only by faith, and faith doesn’t even begin to prove that Jesus arose from the dead and ascended to heaven.
