If Christ Is Not Risen

A Look at Some Evidence for Jesus and the Resurrection

Part 2

1 Cor 15:12-19

Review Last lesson looked at some external evidence for the

life, death, and resurrection of Jesus No historical documents of the 1st or 2nd century tried

to deny His life or death Several, including Jewish and Roman historians as well

as other writers, mention his death under Pilate at the hands of the Jews

Some even mention He ws crucified We also looked at writings that supported the notable

events of His death The 3 hours of darkness and the earthquake

A Greek historian, Phlegon, mentions both in relationship to the period AD 29-33

A Roman historian, Thallus, mentions only the darkness

A look at maps

Earthquake and Darkness in Bithynia

Darkness in Rome

Manuscripts Of course, the overwhelming majority of what we

know about Jesus is found in the New Testament These are the writings of men who experienced the

events first-hand or had access to the witnesses Some want to dismiss their writing because we don't

have the original writings (autographs) What we have are copies of the originals or copies of

copies Is that a reasonable basis for ignoring those

manuscripts? Actually we have almost no original autographs of any

ancient writing

Manuscript Evidence for Ancient Writings

Author Written Earliest Copy # of Original lang mnscrpts

Caesar 50 BC AD 900 10

Tacitus AD 100 AD 900 14

Livy AD 10 AD 300 35

Thucydides 400 BC AD 900 8

Suetonius AD 120 AD 950 8

Plato 350 BC AD 900 7

Homer 800 BC 400 BC 643

New Tstmnt AD 45-96 AD 125 24,000+

Comparing the 643 manuscripts, the Homer manuscripts have 95% agreement

Comparing the 24,000+ manuscripts, the New Testament manuscripts have 99.5% agreement

Internal evidence Luke 1:1-4

Luke claimed to be an accurate historian Sir William Ramsay, Scottish archaeologist, held 9

doctorates and 3 Oxford fellowships He set out to prove that Luke was a “hopelessly

inaccurate” historian and writer After decades of research, digs, and travel, he wrote:

“Further study . . . showed that the book could bear the most minute scrutiny as an authority for the facts of the Aegean world, and that it was written with such judgment, skill, art and perception of truth as to be a model of historical statement …. I set out to look for truth on the borderland where Greece and Asia meet, and found it there [in Acts]. You may press the words of Luke in a degree beyond any other historian's and they stand the keenest scrutiny and the hardest treatment...” .'

Internal evidence 1 John 1:1-4

John says what he wrote were things he knew first-hand -- seen heard and touched

2 Pet 1:12-21

Wrote so they would have a reminder of his personal eyewitness to Jesus' life

Including hearing the voice of the Father Wrote because he knew he would soon die Also reminded them of another set of proofs – the

prophecies of the Messiah/Christ.'

Prophetic evidence More than 300 prophecies of the Messiah/Christ

Luke 24:44 Jesus claimed to have fulfilled ALL of them

Mathematician, Peter W. Stoner, in Science Speaks calculated the chance of one man fulfilling just 8 prophecies by random chance Birthplace, tribe, lineage, means of death, place of burial,

etc The odds?

1 in 1 x 1017 = 100,000,000,000,000,000 1 in 100 quadrillion

100 quadrillion? Stoner explained the odds this way

Take 100 quadrillion silver dollars Mark one of them and mix the whole pile Lay out the silver dollars each touching the next

It would cover the entire state of Texas Two feet deep

Now ask a blind man to randomly find the marked silver dollar with only 1 guess

And that is only 8 prophecies For the over 300 specific prophecies?

1 in 84 x 10123 (84 followed by 123 zeros)

Prophecies fulfilled Born of a virgin (Isa 7:14; Mt 1:23) Descended from Abraham (Gen 12:3; Acts 3:25)

Descended from Judah (Gen 49:10; Mt 1:1-18) Descended from David (2 Sam 7:12; Mt 1:6)

Born in Bethlehem (Mic 5:2; Mt 2:1) Prophet like Moses (Dt 18:15-19; Acts 3:22-23) Not answering charges (Is 53:7; Mt 27:12-14) Crucified (Ps 22; Is 53; Mt 27) No broken bones (Ps 34:20; Jn 19:36) Burial with the rich (Is 53:9; Mt 27:57-60)

Internal evidence and Logic 1 Cor 15:3-8

There were witnesses, more than 500 Including Paul himself

1 Cor 15:12-19 If Christ was not risen, then the 500+ witnesses were

all liars (v15) Since these 500+ were willing to die (some already

had died like James) for what they believed If Christ wasn't risen, they must have all been crazy and

to be pitied (v19) Paul affirms he would not die for a lie (1 Cor 15:30-32)

It doesn't make sense, it is illogical, to believe 500+ people were all crazy liars about the exact same thing

Conclusion Jesus Christ lived and died

Isa 53:2-12 Acts 8:30-35

Philip began with the prophecy and explained to him about Jesus

How He died for the sins of man as the prophecy said How He rose again according to the prophecy

Acts 8:36-39 And the eunuch knew what he needed to do to take

advantage of Christ's sacrifice Do you?