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Friday 15 October 2010

1 Corinthians 15:5-7 - resurrection appearances

The fact that Jesus was raised from the dead is indeed a fact. He appeared to various witnesses, to individuals, to small groups, and to large groups. Many of these people were still alive. At the time there were many people who would have benefited from being able to prove that Jesus did rise from the dead: the Jewish religious leaders, and the Roman authorities among them. None of them could do so. Moreover, the people who claimed to have seen him were alive, and could be asked. 
Now we need to face the fact that the resurrection is an unusual event, and the resurrection of Christ is different from that of Lazarus and others. For Lazarus died of something else later, Jesus rose, never to die again. So we should not be surprised that people initially doubt the resurrection saying such things just don't happen. This is a reasonable reaction. But there is a large amount of evidence to support the resurrection. In fact it is one of the best attested events from ancient history. Then there is also the question of the church itself. Why on earth, and how on earth, did the church get going in the first place if Jesus was not raised? 
It still takes faith to believe the resurrection, but we are not believing in a fairy story, but in an extremely well-attested historical event. There are many excellent books on the subject, a recent one that is very good is "Raised with Christ" by Adrian Warnock.

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