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Tuesday, May 12, 2020

The Resurrection narratives are overrated

There's a sense in which Christian apologists overemphasize the importance of the Resurrection accounts. They can get so deep into the weeds of what each one says and defending them that they overlook the value of the argument from silence. 

The Resurrection is a presupposition of NT Christianity. In NT Christology, one theological function of the Resurrection is to vindicate the divine mission of Christ. One reason the Father raises Jesus is to provide a public demonstration of his approval for the claims and ministry of Jesus. If he left him in the grave, that would imply that Jesus was a false messiah. 

Even if a NT writer doesn't mention the Resurrection, he takes that for granted. He wouldn't be a Christian otherwise. He wouldn't be worshiping a dead messiah. So even NT writings that don't mention the Resurrection are still indirect evidence for the Resurrection because the writer wouldn't be a Christian in the first place unless he believed in the Resurrection. 

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