Day Six - Not The Facts

After watching the video, engage the following information:

I know it seems counter-productive to avoid researching things when you are having religious doubt. If you are a factual doubter, this can be very helpful. If you are an emotional doubter (which is the vast majority of doubters), it will cause more anxiety and pain because the "what ifs" will just keep coming. This being said, there is one fact we want to lean on for sure (and even investigate - if it is edifying): the resurrection of Jesus Christ! Paul said this in 1 Corinthians 15:14: "If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain." What he is saying is: "If the resurrection is true, it's all true!

Do this exercise:
When you start having the "what if" kind of questions, instead of trying to figure out all of the right answers to them, tell yourself this: "If the resurrection is true, it's all true. Even if I can't answer all of these questions right now, it is okay. There are good answers. I am just not in a spot where I can engage them right now. But I know the resurrection is true, and that fact alone makes all of these other questions insignificant."

The Minimal Facts of the Resurrection - the overwhelming evidence of the bodily resurrection of Christ:
This methodology was developed by our mentor, Dr. Gary Habermas. His research has changed a generation of scholarship and is so important to you having a foundational thought that you can anchor your faith in when having anxiety from religious doubt. It even helps with factual doubters because of the evidence and the claim of Paul (if it's true, everything is true).

What are the Minimal Facts of the Resurrection (MFR)?

It is an argument for the resurrection of Christ using historical data that scholars agree are facts of history. There are two basic criteria for a historical fact to be a MFR:

1. There has to be multiple-attested, more than adequate scholarly evidence with critically ascertained, independent lines of argumentation.
2. The vast majority of critical, contemporary scholars in critical fields has to acknowledge the historicity of the event (regardless of worldview or opinion of the Bible).

There are twelve MFR, but the three most significant are:

1. Jesus died due to the process of crucifixion
2. Very soon afterwards, Jesus' disciples had experiences they believed were the appearances of the resurrected Jesus (not vision or hallucinations but actual experiences).
3. Just a few years later (at the most), Saul of Tarsus also experienced what he thought was a post-resurrection appearance of the risen Jesus.

What do we do with this data? Well...it has to be explained by something, and the best possible explanation, by far, is that Jesus rose bodily from the dead. Dr. Habermas and Mike Licona have written a book that discusses this in depth. The Case for the Resurrection


Reflect:
I want you to think about how important it is that you embrace the resurrection as the core event of your faith. Because it is true, these other questions can take a back seat until you are ready to deal with them. If you are an emotional doubter (and most of you are), make the decision to stop researching yourself to death trying to find "the answer" that is going to cure your pain. It is not going to happen. This being said, focusing on the resurrection can bring much needed peace, and I would even argue it is "the answer" that you need the most!
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