The Greatest Apologetic Argument for Christianity Being True Is That of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
It is debatable as to the benefit of Christian apologetics in convincing someone to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is not to say that there are no viable reasons to believe in the God of the Bible. What it does mean is that there is a depth to the spiritual deadness of an unbeliever which may not be able to respond to logical arguments for Christianity. The Bible makes it clear that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Rom. 1:16). This must never be forgotten. Paul also made it clear that when he went to visit the Corinthians, he desired to share Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Whether someone may be “convinced” to turn to Christ through reason is not the subject of this article. What is sure is that the believer in Christ can be encouraged through the wealth of intelligent arguments for the Christian faith, especially in a day-and-age in which the church is being assaulted.
The greatest apologetic argument for Christianity being true is that of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christianity is not a dumb man’s religion – There are many good reasons as to why the Christian believes what he believes. There is much to cover in a short amount of time, so why don’t we get started.
The crucifixion of Christ
If one were to say that Christ rose from the dead and defeated death, surely, if this was true, Christ must be exactly Who He made Himself out to be. It has been said that, in regards to Christ, a person only has three options: either Christ was a lunatic, He was a liar, or He is Lord. We must make our choice; there are no other options. If someone were to say that Jesus never existed, the one who said such a thing would find himself among the intellectually ignorant.
Therefore, the question is not, “Did Jesus ever exist?” The question must be, “Who is Jesus?” If Jesus did not rise from the dead, He would be a lunatic for doing what He did and for saying that He would rise from the dead. If Christ did not rise from the dead, He would be a liar if He told people that He would rise from the dead but instead it never really happened. However, He if, after being crucified, He rose from the dead just as He said He would, then He is Lord.
But was Jesus actually crucified? Can the Christian believe this? That Christ was crucified is an established historical fact that is widely held among historians of all belief systems. Basically, the only group of historians who have an issue with the crucifixion of Christ are the Muslims. This is based on the fact that the Quran tells them that Jesus was not crucified or slain, but rather that Jesus was simply made to appear as though He was killed.
The reality is that the facts point toward Jesus as being a real Person Who was crucified around 2000 years ago. Four books (the Gospels) of the Bible attest to this fact. Outside of Scripture, there are at least five separate accounts that attest to the death of Jesus, and four of those accounts say that He died by way of crucifixion. This information can be found in the writings of Josephus, Tacitus, Mara-Bar-Serapion, Lucian of Samosata, and the Jewish Talmud. Thus, the crucifixion of Christ is widely attested to and is an established historical fact.
But if the crucifixion of Christ is a historical fact, why is it that people do not believe in the Christ of the Bible? One of the reasons is that just because someone has been crucified, this does not mean that anything miraculous needed to have taken place. Even the Bible attests to two thieves being crucified with Jesus. However, the Christian believes that something miraculous happened on that cross. This is the divide.
So how can we know if something miraculous happened on the cross? One way that we can know for sure can be found in the resurrection of Christ. If Jesus rose from the dead, then something miraculous happened on the cross. Jesus is Who He says He is, He truly was crucified for the sins of man, and the Father accepted the Son’s sacrifice, which was evidenced by Christ’s being vindicated and raised from the dead.
But how can we know that Christ has been raised?
The disciples
One way that we can know that Christ has been raised is based upon the testimony of the disciples. These men believed that Christ rose from the grave. We can know this because they not only claimed that Christ rose from the dead, but also died for their belief.
In the books of Acts, 1 and 2 Peter, the Gospel accounts, and in writings from the early church fathers such as Polycarp, the disciples either claimed that Christ has risen or are recorded as having claimed that Christ has risen.
To bolster the claim that the disciples believed Christ had risen, one need only to look at their lives. All of the disciples except for John died a martyr’s death. Thus, they believed unto death what they claimed. Why would they do such a thing if they did not believe it?
Jewish beliefs did not include the Messiah’s coming to die. The thought was that the Messiah would come and deliver the Jewish people from Roman rule. The Jew also did not believe that anyone would rise from the dead until the end times – thus, they were not expecting to witness a resurrection at some intermediary point. Therefore, the disciples were not primed to believe Jesus would rise from the dead. Instead, this would have gone against what they believed to be true. Nothing short of the resurrection of Christ could have convinced them otherwise.
Paul
The conversion of Paul is also something that should be noted and that is recognized by historians. Paul was a persecutor of the church and a highly zealous Jew. One must ask himself, “Why would Paul have turned to Christ?” He was a Jew that did not believe in a dying Messiah or a rising Messiah. It must have been because the resurrected Christ appeared to him.
James
James was Jesus’ brother. He was also a skeptic. He did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah while Jesus was alive on earth. Why would James later believe that Jesus was the Messiah, after Jesus’ death, and become the leader of the church in Jerusalem? The logical thought is that James would have seen the crucifixion of Christ coming. He was a Jew just like the ones who were yelling, “Crucify.” The only good answer for what happened to James is that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead, and James believed.
The empty tomb
The empty tomb can be proven in three ways. First, it must be recognized that Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem. He was also buried in Jerusalem. In addition, He is said to have been raised in Jerusalem, and the church started in Jerusalem. The fact that the church started in Jerusalem is important. The message that started the church was that Jesus had risen. Why would people in Jerusalem believe that Jesus had risen if His tomb was still occupied?
The second reason is that it was recorded that women saw the empty tomb first. For the 1st century Jew, this fact would have hindered the message rather than helped it. The testimony of a woman during that time was not deemed credible. For this reason, it can be known that the writers of the Gospels were not trying to create a story that would have been believable. Rather, the facts were recorded just as they happened.
Finally, the testimony of both the Jews and the Romans was that the disciples stole the body of Jesus. As a result, they must have believed that the tomb was empty. But it is absolutely absurd that the disciples would have stolen the body, then shortly afterward went out and died for what they knew was a lie.
Conclusion
When someone takes note of the fact that Jesus died on a cross and sees all of the other historical facts that transpired afterward, he must ask himself, “What is the best way to account for the events?” The only good answer is the resurrection of Christ.
Final prayer
Father, I thank You for the resurrection of Christ and for revealing Christ to me in this way. I thank You for what the resurrection of Christ means to me. One day, I will also rise and be with You. Father, draw me close to You and keep me there. In Jesus’ name, Amen.