As someone that grew up in a Godless home I considered myself an atheist. There were several reasons for the appeal of being an atheist. One reason is that I lived in "my" own world and only "I" could rule the world in which I lived in. I could do whatever I wanted to do! I fully gave my life to Christ at the age of 19 after marrying my wife (of twenty years now) and only after her parents begged us to go to a revival that their church was having. As much as I loved the Lord and this new life that I was given, otherwise I probably wouldn't be alive today, I couldn't do enough research on the Bible or this Person Jesus. I went as far as taking online Bible courses to obtain an associates degree in Biblical Studies way before I felt the call into ministry. I just couldn't do enough research and study to learn more about this. I think this is normal for someone who was never exposed to the Christian faith. I am very cautious in telling people this part of my life however, I do express this with almost every atheist that I encounter. Why? Because I can find common ground and I know where they stand. In the almost twenty years that I have been a Christian I have had a lot of conversations with atheist and defended the faith. I love discussing the Bible with atheist and in many cases atheist know the Bible as much as we (Christians) know it, but there is no other topic that I love discussing more than the Person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He is the central theme of the Bible and without Him the Christian faith is meaningless.
Atheist will even say that Jesus was a great moral teacher as C.S Lewis said. Lewis also went on to say that we must make a choice about Him (Jesus). We either must believe what Jesus claims or disbelieve all of it. Christians get their morals from the Bible where as atheist believe that morals are relative. What is right for you may not be right for me. This is not the case in the Bible. The Truth stated in the Bible, even what it says about morals, are not relative. The Truth we read in the Bible (all of the Bible) must be believed as Truth as God intended. If the Truth about morals is true and if all other claims in the Bible is already known as truth then we must believe the truths of Jesus Christ. Not only can the claims of Jesus be believed in because "The Bible says it so, it must be so." Historical facts can also back up those Truths.
Historians have an abundance of information about the Romans, their lives, culture, and most importantly in this discussion their methods of execution; crucifixion. Crucifixion is known as one of the worse kind of execution. Crucifixion is the method in which Jesus was executed. The Bible says that Roman guards led Jesus to his place of execution, with the help of an innocent by-stander because He was beaten severely. Groothius says, "They (the Roman guards) had a vested interest in being accurate coroners." (1) If they weren't accurate they could have been the next ones on the cross. This method of execution caused asphyxiation. Jesus would have already been weak from the beatings along with the execution it would have been hard to escape death. The Bible also said that he was pierced in the side with a spear. No way to escape death.
The empty tomb is also another argument that is often argued. There are many claims that can be refuted about the empty tomb, but one argument that I often bring up is that women were the ones who found the empty tomb. The reason that I use this argument is to point to the way women are still treated in Middle Eastern countries; something that I have witnessed first hand. In Groothius' fourth point of the empty tomb he also states the same claim, "All four Gospel accounts mention that women beheld the empty tomb gives this story credibility, since the witness of women in that day was held in very low regard." (2)
The appearances of Jesus was seen by many after He resurrected. Besides the Sadducees, others believed in the resurrection, but did not believe in a physical resurrection as Jesus appeared. Again, women were also witnesses of His resurrection, but there is another who would give the most historical claim of Jesus' resurrection which would be the Apostle Paul. Knowing his background as a Pharisee and his tribulation during his ministry makes his claims of great credence. He made a great claim about the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 in which Groothius says that, "Paul's authorship of 1 Corinthians is never disputed, even by liberal scholars who question the authorship of some of the other epistles traditionally attributed to him." (3)
All of the disciples were stuck in hiding during the crucifixion except for the Apostle John. It is my belief that they were in hiding because they were terrified that what was happening to Jesus at the time would happen to them if they were found. This is also one of my favorite arguments. I have witnessed some of the strongest men buckle when confronted with fear. They will even go as far as abandoning a mission that they once believed in especially when faced with death. I believe that the disciples were at this point. It is even evident in the Scriptures when Peter denied Christ three times. Yet, they changed direction!
The only reason that men that are filled with hopelessness to carry on their mission is to be filled with hope again. That is exactly what happened when they saw the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. These men spent three years with Him and when they saw Him after His resurrection there was no denying Who He was. Thomas was filled with some skepticism and even asked to see the wounds. After all evidence has been shown, spending time with Jesus, and receiving further marching orders they were revived to hope again. They were so confident of their mission at this time that they would all be martyred except for John who was exiled.
There are naturalistic "theories" of the resurrection of Jesus. Those supposedly theories are that the disciples were deceived by hallucinations, that the early church created this Christian Conspiracy, and that there was a corpse heist. (4) These claims can be refuted by a logical argument such as the tomb was guarded by skilled Roman guards. Once again, those guards were Roman soldiers and had a lot to lose by allowing the body of Jesus to be taken. The hardest argument to refute would be that Christianity is a Christian Conspiracy. The reason this would be hard to argue against is that regardless of the evidence shown others can find a way to wiggle around the Truth. Though there is no plausible reason to create a religion such as this, atheist for example can argue that Christianity was formed to "control society". Another reason this is tough because Biblical Truths, historicity of the Bible, the founding fathers, and the delicate way that the Bible was formed is not widely taught. The best way to present this argument would be to discuss how the Christian faith was founded and the historicity of the claims that were presented.
Word Count: 1256
References:
1. Douglas Groothius, Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Truth, (Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter Varsity Press, 2011), Kindle Loc. 5866
2. Ibid., 5894.
3. Ibid., 5943
4. Ibid., 6019-6064
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