When explaining the resurrection of Jesus, it is important to keep to the “minimal facts approach” by looking at some important facts. The first fact is that Jesus died by crucifixion. This highly evidenced occurrence has kept with the minimal facts approach because it is so widely attested. Not only was the crucifixion recorded in the four gospel accounts as well as a “number of non-Christian sources” (Habermas & Licona, 2004, p. 49).Lucian of Samosata, Mara Bar-Serapion and the central text of Rabbinic Judaism, the Talmud, all illustrate the death of Jesus. A “highly critical scholar of the Jesus Seminar, John Dominic Crossan, writes, “That he was crucified is as sure as anything historical can ever be” (Habermas & Licona, 2004, p. 49). While the crucifixion of Jesus is the beginning of explain the minimal facts, the more important fact is that Jesus’ disciples believed that he rose and appeared to them.…
always watching and ready to fall in behind a king, sword in hand. Many of the other Jews, while…
7. What does the Sanhedrin tell the guards to say happened to the body of Jesus when they…
Before 70 CE Jews lived together in Judea with self autonomy. Jews worshipped god in their temple and they were very focused on rituals. Additionally, in this time period there was a lot of diversity in beliefs and many different sects. However, things began to change when Jews began to revolt against Rome. The Roman’s violent actions toward the Jews and the Jews not wanting to give up leads to the development of Rabbinic Judaism.…
In Ancient Greece religion was a tool used for many different reasons, whether it was to explain the creation of the universe or to explain the occurrences of nature. Religion was a very important aspect of Greek society and culture and through ritualistic practises it allows communities to unify in a common goal to please the Gods. Among the many emperors and tyrants of Athens, it was Pisistratus that allowed religion and religious rituals to flourish in Athens. His sons, Hippias and Hipparchus, had followed in his footsteps to continue ruling Athens but they had lacked to charisma and vision that Pisistratus had. In this…
The ephors were treated with the highest respect both while around the street and at meetings or court. They didn’t have to stand when the kings entered the room because of the importance of their powers and the holy role they earned throughout their functions. Didn’t have to answer to anybody. Had the right to decide which members of the army did, and did not, go to war.…
Jesus calls upon Matthew to have dinner with him and they dine together with his disciples and other sinners. When the Pharisees see this they question the disciples because it is known if one dines with a sinner, they also become impure. I found this quite interesting because I always thought religion was centered on love, however, the Pharisees seemed to have a lot of hatred against others. When Jesus heard them he stated that he was there to help those who were sick become well. From this story, Matthew’s audience learns that everyone is worth…
From a religious standpoint, embalming was practiced mainly by the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans because they believed that embalming and burial were the preparation steps for the soul’s journey to the underworld (Rostad). Jews and most Christians did not practice embalming; they believed it to be destruction of what God created. From this view embalming was not to preserve the body but prepare it for the afterlife. The second reason for embalming is that it disinfects and kills bacteria still living on the corpse to prevent disease and pathogens from finding their ways to new hosts (Rostad). Without this step critical disease, like those in third-world countries, would continue to spread and kill off those who are still…
The Jewish community was concerned with the division between the people who followed Jesus and those who saw him as subversive to the Jewish tradition.…
At the onset of Jesus’ ministry, people recognized His message as one being authoritative. He preached the kingdom of God with a conviction and focus unknown before His arrival. Many Jewish religious leaders during the time of Jesus’ ministry had their own interpretations of scripture, but Jesus’ message confronted and exposed the falsehood of the Jewish leaders; and the despised Him for it. The Jewish leaders tried on many occasions to expose Jesus’ message as one of falsehood, but when they tried; His message of truth always prevailed.…
During the time when Jesus Christ walked the Earth, the nation of Israel was under Roman rule and leadership was hand-picked by the Romans. Herod the Great was king during the birth of Jesus and is mentioned in Matthew chapter 2. In this chapter is where we are introduced to the Magi who follow a star that lead them to Christ. These Magi are more commonly known as the wise men that came from the east. The book of Matthew is clearly centered around Christ as King.…
beginning. There are no stages yet, just a place to think and reflect, all you can…
Just as universal as birth, death is an inevitable fate that has threatened mankind for their entire existence. Countless philosophers, authors, scholars, religions, and theorists have grappled with the greatly debated topic of the afterlife. N. J. Richardson eloquently described this struggles as the, “beliefs about what happened to a person at the point of death and afterwards were never fixed and always remained a subject for debate” (Adams). Contributing influential opinions on the afterlife, the Greek and Hebrew cultures have wrestled with many concepts in order to arrive at a rough understanding of their individual views of life after death. These two dominant cultures have what appears to be a drastically different stance upon the time…
The Pharisees believed that they were chosen by God to lead the people of Israel. Because they were “God’s agents”, their teachings were to be obeyed. To act against them is to act against God, to challenge their authority is to urge Israel to abandon…
The “minimal facts approach” to the resurrection question is an approach that focuses on the lowest common denominator of agreed upon facts. For the most part, all facts presented within this approach meet two criteria: “they are well evidenced and nearly every scholar accepts them” (Habermas & Licona, 2004, p. 44). This approach only considers strongly attested historical data. So strongly in fact, that they are almost universally granted by nearly every scholar, both the skeptical and believing. The basic premise of this approach follows the presentation of five facts. Acceptance is almost universal for the first four facts whereas the fifth fact, although it has a preponderance of evidence in its favor, does not enjoy the same consensus.…