Historical Writings that Documented the Resurrection?
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Is there a Logos resource that talks about historical documents, other than the Bible, that recorded the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus? I had an argument presented to me that basically said that other than the Bible, no other valid historical recordings of the same time period exists. I'm trying to find out if this is true. Thanks.
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Rick Hypes said:
Is there a Logos resource that talks about historical documents, other than the Bible, that recorded the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus? I had an argument presented to me that basically said that other than the Bible, no other valid historical recordings of the same time period exists. I'm trying to find out if this is true. Thanks.
Josephus Antiquities 18:63-64 (available in Logos) recounts the resurrection of Jesus, as do, I suppose, some of the psuedo-gospels (though I haven't studied them).
But this sidesteps another issue: what sorts of documents would survive 2 millenia? Since the origen of Christianity is accepted by all to be that of a small number of people, mostly peasants (and illiterate), one would not expect many writings by them, nor by others about the 'wild' claims of these people. So who else would be writing 'valid' historical writings about a part of the Roman Empire far away from anything historically significant to Rome. Certainly, the crucifixion of yet another Jewish peasant was not anything historically significant to a non-Christian. Who would write about it? Who but someone convinced of the resurrection would write about it, unless and until such a movement gained some momentum. As Paul said, Jesus crucifixion was a stumbling block to the Jews and his resurrection was foolishness to Greeks. So we wouldn't expect 'valid' writings contemporary to the events in question.
Further, this argument could also be used to discredit hundreds of other historical 'facts' that are only recorded on Egyptian inscriptions, or stela, etc. If independent confirmation is required to establish the historical veracity of facts, then we're going to have to do away with a lot of the material in textbooks about ancient history.
Nor can this argument be used to discredit the historical veracity of the accounts contained in it. If only one newspaper reports an event, it does not mean that the event did not happen. It only means that the event does not have more than one account of it's happening. We have four historical gospels, plus other independent accounts of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection in the Bible. This means multiple accounts by multiple authors of the same events, recounted in virtually the same way. Minor differences in their accounts suggests that these authors did not copy each other's notes, but recorded them as they remembered them - this is characteristic of eyewitness testimony, and uncharacteristic of a conspiracy to deceive (when facts are more likely to be recounted exactly the same, as if from one perspective).
Finally, we must admit that our faith does not rest on the standards of veracity established by skeptics, but on the assurance given us by God's Spirit. Those looking for reasons to question the Scriptures will find them. And only by God's Spirit are we able to understand and believe them. Pray for this person more than you argue/debate with him.
Just my thoughts here. I'm no apologist.
Help links: WIKI; Logos 6 FAQ. (Phil. 2:14, NIV)
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Rick Hypes said:
Is there a Logos resource that talks about historical documents, other than the Bible, that recorded the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus? I had an argument presented to me that basically said that other than the Bible, no other valid historical recordings of the same time period exists. I'm trying to find out if this is true. Thanks.
After I posted above, I remembered another way of looking for resources that may help. Any resource that has "Historical Jesus" in the title would probably give you more help than I just did. I have one such resource in my library by Gary Habermas called The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ (College Press, 1996).
Beware that these arguments are not usually persuasive for skeptics, since there is always the possibility of suggesting that these ancient documents were 'doctored' by Christians later.
Help links: WIKI; Logos 6 FAQ. (Phil. 2:14, NIV)
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Richard DeRuiter said:
Those looking for reasons to question the Scriptures will find them.
Thank you Richard. At the moment I really could not think of any valid arguments such as the ones you presented and will lock them away into my memory for the future. Concerning your above quote, that is what I told him in a round about way on another point that he made, the infamous "We can't trust the Bible because we have no way of telling if the writers were truthful". My reply was "Yes, I know, I have serious doubts whether or not Abraham Lincoln ever lived because all we have is written history".
I have found a pretty good resource on the internet that lists pagan and Jewish writings concerning Jesus and/or the resurrection.
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Materials from Modern Reformation magazine and the White Horse Inn have been requested several times as Logos resources but have not come to be as of yet. However, you might find this broadcast entitled, Corroborating Evidence, from the WHI to be of interest ...
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WhiteHorseInn/~3/_RrBlVXJ7VE/wi20100627.mp3
approx 32 min long
Instead of Artificial Intelligence, I prefer to continue to rely on Divine Intelligence instructing my Natural Dullness (Ps 32:8, John 16:13a)
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I found a few resource. Mind you, this is a difficult question to research in a large Logos library, it's one that I think Logos should think about as an example of how to pore over thousands of resources trying to find a unique relationship between common words like historical - Jesus - resurrection etc.!
Also, I will say - the Bible is clear that Jesus revealed his risen self to his disciples (Acts 13-14 for one). He did that out of God's great respect for our free choice and the role of faith and grace in our lives. It's the same reasoning that God could force us to believe if he chose to, but he wont'. So given that God's gift of faith is what permits us to believe, you can't ever expect to prove anything about Jesus Christ to someone (even though we believe it to be true).
That said - here are a couple of references that speak to your question. Hope it helps!
Flavius Josephus
Next to the Bible in importance, the works of Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, AD 37–95, are the most authoritative ancient source for illuminating the people, places, and events recorded in the Old and New Testaments. He was born in Jerusalem only four years after Jesus’ crucifixion.
In his book Jewish Antiquities, 18:63, Josephus records: “About this time lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was the achiever of extraordinary deeds and was a teacher of those who accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. When he was indicted by the principal men among us and Pilate condemned him to be crucified, those who had come to love him originally did not cease to do so; for he appeared to them on the third day restored to life, as the prophets of the Deity had foretold these and countless other marvelous things about him. And the tribe of Christians, so named after him, has not disappeared to this day.”
Eighteen non-Christian sources can be traced back to the first century
Dr. G.R. Habermas has discovered that within 110 years of Christ’s crucifixion, eighteen non-Christian sources mention more than “one hundred facts, beliefs, and teachings from the life of Christ and early Christendom. These items, I might add, mention almost every major detail of Jesus’ life, including miracles, the Resurrection, and His claims to deity.”
Mark Water, Hard Questions About the Bible Made Easy, The Made Easy Series, 10-11 (Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd, 2000).
A Jewish archaeologistNelson Gluek has said, “It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference. Scores of archaeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or exact detail historical statements in the Bible.”
Mark Water, Hard Questions About the Bible Made Easy, The Made Easy Series, 10 (Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd, 2000).
For those who still think there should have been even more written about Jesus, New Testament scholar Craig Blomberg offers four reasons why that’s not a reasonable expectation: 1) the humble beginnings of Christianity; 2) the remote location of Palestine on the eastern frontiers of the Roman Empire; 3) the small percentage of the works of ancient Graeco-Roman historians that have survived (this could be due to loss, decay, destruction, or all of the above); and 4) the lack of attention paid by surviving historical documents to Jewish figures in general.36
Nevertheless, some skeptics still think there should be testimony from some of the 500 people who allegedly saw the risen Christ. Skeptic Farrell Till is one of them. During a debate on the Resurrection that I (Norm) had with him in 1994, Till demanded, “Trot out one of those 500 witnesses or give us something that they wrote, and we will accept that as reliable proof or evidence.”37
This is an unreasonable expectation, for a number of reasons. First, as we have already pointed out, first-century Palestine was an oral culture. Most people were illiterate and remembered and passed on information orally.
Second, how many of those predominately illiterate eyewitnesses would have written something even if they could write? Even today, with a much higher literacy rate and all the conveniences of modern writing and research tools, how many people do you know who have written a book or even an article on any subject? How many do you know who have written a book or article on a contemporary historical event, even a significant event like 9/11? Probably not many, and certainly fewer than one out of 500. (Has Farrell Till ever written an article on a major historical event he witnessed?)
Third, even if some of those 500 average people did write down what they saw, why would skeptics expect their testimony to survive for 2,000 years? The New Testament survives intact because of the thousands of manuscripts copied by scribes for a growing church over the centuries. Historical works from the major ancient historians such as Josephus, Tacitus, and Pliny survive on just a handful of copies, and those copies are hundreds of years from the originals. Why do the skeptics think anything is going to be written, much less survive, from an ancient group of illiterate Galilean peasants?38
Finally, we do know the names of many of the 500, and their testimony is written down in the New Testament. They include Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Paul, and James—plus nine who are named elsewhere as apostles (Matthew 10 and Acts 1).
So we shouldn’t expect more testimony than what we have about Jesus. And what we do have is more than enough to establish historicity.
Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek, I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, 247-48 (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2004).
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Rick Hypes said:
Is there a Logos resource that talks about historical documents, other than the Bible, that recorded the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus? I had an argument presented to me that basically said that other than the Bible, no other valid historical recordings of the same time period exists. I'm trying to find out if this is true. Thanks.
It is definitely worth checking out N.T. Wright's The Resurrection of the Son of God. This is a substantial and serious study and Wright spends a great deal of time examining extra-biblical and historical sources.
The downside is that it is only available in Logos as a set and it ain't cheap (though definitely worth having)...
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I don't have anyhting to add, but wonder if someone would like to contribute a Reading List on the resources mentioned? The title might be: Jesus: Extra-Biblical Evidence or something like that.
Edit: I forgot. How about Gary Habermas: The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ, available in Logos?
http://www.logos.com/ebooks/details/hstjesus
I haven't used it in awhile so can't recall the evidence he cites for the crucifixion and resurrection.
Pastor, North Park Baptist Church
Bridgeport, CT USA
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Mark A. Smith said:
but wonder if someone would like to contribute a Reading List on the resources mentioned?
That would be really cool!
Thanks again to everyone. It will take me a few hours to go through all of the material cited (if I have it) and am sure I'll come across some awesome stuff to dig deeper with [Y]
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Dominick, your post is great. Thanks.
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In your basic search engine try < resurrection NEAR historical>. If you have many resources then I would recommend searching by collection, starting with your Bible dictionaries and journals, if you have them.
Mission: To serve God as He desires.
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Dominick Sela said:
For those who still think there should have been even more written about Jesus, New Testament scholar Craig Blomberg offers four reasons why that’s not a reasonable expectation: 1) the humble beginnings of Christianity; 2) the remote location of Palestine on the eastern frontiers of the Roman Empire; 3) the small percentage of the works of ancient Graeco-Roman historians that have survived (this could be due to loss, decay, destruction, or all of the above); and 4) the lack of attention paid by surviving historical documents to Jewish figures in general.
The Blomberg reference above is to his book, The Historical Reliability of the Gospels, which is not available in Logos. HOWEVER, he has a chapter in his book Jesus and the Gospels (which is in Logos) called "The Historical Trustworthiness of the Gospels" and, in it, discusses both Archeology and Other Ancient Sources: logosres:jesusgosp;ref=Page.p_363;off=786
MacBook Pro (2019), ThinkPad E540
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Richard DeRuiter said:
Finally, we must admit that our faith does not rest on the standards of veracity established by skeptics,
If we are dealing with the modern "skeptics" we will find they do not accept anything attributed to Josephus as reliable. They claim it has been tainted by church historians, re-writing it in a favorable light.
There are a couple new collections in Pre-Pub that will be of importance to studies of Josephus:
Brill Josephus and History Collection (2 Vols.) http://www.logos.com/products/prepub/details/6833
Brill Josephus and the Bible Collection (4 Vols.) http://www.logos.com/products/prepub/details/6878The writings of Josephus are not part of any canon that I am aware and do have apparent historical inaccuracies. I ran across one such error this week documented in the Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century BC (only available in the Portfolio Edition) where Josephus later errs concerning Darius II and Darius III.
So no matter how many "unbiased facts" are lined up, some people just refuse to believe.
Logos 7 Collectors Edition
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For those who believe no evidence is necessary, for those who disbelieve, no evidence is sufficient.
Mission: To serve God as He desires.
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Mark A. Smith said:
I don't have anyhting to add, but wonder if someone would like to contribute a Reading List on the resources mentioned? The title might be: Jesus: Extra-Biblical Evidence or something like that.
Added : http://topics.logos.com/Jesus$3a_Extra-Biblical_Evidence
Everyone feel free to add reading links.
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Praiser said:
Great start.
Can we add non-Logos resources cited above or are we limited to just Logos-available resources?
Pastor, North Park Baptist Church
Bridgeport, CT USA
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Mark A. Smith said:
Can we add non-Logos resources cited above or are we limited to just Logos-available resources?
It is fine to included general publications ... we might not want to list items that are available ONLY on Accordance[:D] - we have to draw the line somewhere.
Thank you Praiser for getting this list going.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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MJ. Smith said:Mark A. Smith said:
Can we add non-Logos resources cited above or are we limited to just Logos-available resources?
It is fine to included general publications ... we might not want to list items that are available ONLY on Accordance
- we have to draw the line somewhere.
Thank you Praiser for getting this list going.
Glad to help out...
There are some of the books listed above that I do not have in my library, so those who have them will have to add the links. Easily done by opening the resource to the page or heading the information is on and selecting the "copy as" location to "RL" then just do a "CTRL+ALT+C" to copy the location and open and edit the article within http://topics.logos.com/Jesus$3a_Extra-Biblical_Evidence or what ever topic you want to add the resource to.
Please be sure the current "book" screen represents what you want the book to open to....because what you see is in your open resource is what others will open to when they use the link that you paste.
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MJ. Smith said:
we might not want to list items that are available ONLY on Accordance
Only if you add a link. [;)]
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Many years ago I have been helped very much by the book of Josh McDowell, Resurrection Factor.
Also very good book (and much more recent) is Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ.
Would be great to have more of those books (Strobel, McDowell) in Logos.
Bohuslav
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Strobel's The Case for the Real Jesus, Mcdowell's Evidence for the Resurrection both fairly new, are written with the historical aspect in mind.
Logos 10 - OpenSuse Tumbleweed, Windows 11, Android 16 & Android 14
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I really enjoyed reading New Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell too, which covers this question as well. I would buy that in a heartbeat if it was in Logos format.
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I agree with Dominic as well - New Evidence is very good there is also a condensed version with some updates of that called Evidence for Christianity - Chapter 7 in that gets into the Resurrection.
Logos 10 - OpenSuse Tumbleweed, Windows 11, Android 16 & Android 14
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Bohuslav Wojnar said:
Many years ago I have been helped very much by the book of Josh McDowell, Resurrection Factor.
Also very good book (and much more recent) is Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ.
Would be great to have more of those books (Strobel, McDowell) in Logos.
Yes to both authors.
I found another book in Pre-Pub:: "The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ" that is part of this collection:
Kirsopp Lake New Testament Backgrounds Collection (5 Vols.) http://www.logos.com/products/prepub/details/6402But it does not seem near as helpful as N.T. Wright's "The Resurrection of the Son of God" that is part of this collection:
Christian Origins and the Question of God Series, by N. T. Wright (Vols. 1–3) http://www.logos.com/products/details/5223Logos 7 Collectors Edition
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And another Logos resource:
Jesus' Resurrection: Fact or Figment? http://www.logos.com/products/details/2968
This one seems like a fast read but it is on sale and you can read it tonight!
Logos 7 Collectors Edition
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A couple of other texts that might be of interest:
Who moved the stone? by Frank Morrison -- I found a complete copy on line, but
am not sure if it is a legal copyTrial of the Witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus by Thomas Sherlock -- a free
copy this is available for Kindle. Since this is an older work, you may find other
copies as well.Neither of these are available in LOGOS.
Blessings,
FloydPastor-Patrick.blogspot.com
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Matthew C Jones said:
Yes to both authors.
I found another book in Pre-Pub:: "The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ" that is part of this collection:
Kirsopp Lake New Testament Backgrounds Collection (5 Vols.) http://www.logos.com/products/prepub/details/6402But it does not seem near as helpful as N.T. Wright's "The Resurrection of the Son of God" that is part of this collection:
Christian Origins and the Question of God Series, by N. T. Wright (Vols. 1–3) http://www.logos.com/products/details/5223Thank you for mentioning these 2 books Matthew. The first one might be very interesting, although quite dated (1907). In this kind of subject I tend to look for some more recent books.
I have the "Christian Origin" collection and I like to read N.T. Write very much. I am just finishing his book "Judas and the Gospel of Jesus: Have We Missed the Truth about Christianity?" (It is on the free-preview in the iPhone Logos right now, by the way). Fascinating reading.
I just looked through his "The Resurrection of the Son of God" book and it looks it will also be very interesting one. It is however more theological book IMHO on the resurrection, not so much focused on the historical extra-biblical witness for the resurrection, although he has one chapter dedicated to that subject also... and he is historian, so he can't avoid the subject anyway [:)]
Bohuslav
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Bohuslav Wojnar said:
The first one might be very interesting, although quite dated (1907). In this kind of subject I tend to look for some more recent books.
I did some further checking on the first title. You can access a full view on G00gle B--ks and read for yourself. It seems to be based wholly on internal documentary evidence. I doubt it is useful to quote from it if you are speaking with anyone who rejects the Bible completely. I do think it may be useful to share with people to show a cohesiveness of the resurrection message. There is one negative G00gle B--ks review of it.
The original request of this thread is a difficult one to fulfill. Although the Bible records quite a number of witnesses to the resurrected Christ, their testimonies don't seem to be recorded elsewhere and the witnesses are all gone now. It would be a wonderful discovery to find such extra-Biblical documentation. But as has been said so eloquently above:
Lynden Williams said:
For those who believe no evidence is necessary, for those who disbelieve, no evidence is sufficient.Logos 7 Collectors Edition
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Bohuslav Wojnar said:
Many years ago I have been helped very much by the book of Josh McDowell, Resurrection Factor.
Also very good book (and much more recent) is Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ.
Would be great to have more of those books (Strobel, McDowell) in Logos.
Several McDowell titles are available in Logos format from Nelson eBible
http://www.nelsonministryservices.com/nms/dept.asp?dept%5Fid=725
Evidence for Christianity compiles his years of research and is only $16.99.
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