By R.L. Wilson: One of the hardest things for many people to accept is that Jesus actually rose from the dead, and that hundreds of people claim they saw Him afterward. While some have attempted to pass these sightings off as mere hallucinations, Drs. John Ankerberg and John Weldon offer the following reasons why we should accept the eyewitness testimony we find in the New Testament.[1] What does In Christ Alone mean?
1) Many disciples and all of the apostles testified that they were eyewitnesses of Jesus’ resurrection
The Oxford American Dictionary defines a witness as “a person who gives evidence in court” or “a person who is present at an event in order to testify to the fact that it took place.” According to this, a witness is not giving hearsay, he is giving “something that serves as evidence.” It is not opinion or conjecture or anything less than evidence personally and carefully attested to by one who saw it. As far as Jesus Christ rising from the dead is concerned, the method required to confirm it is not extraordinary. A dead man who came to life could give the very same evidence of his being alive as any living person could. So the witnesses only need to be able to distinguish a dead man from a living man. How difficult is this? Is there anyone who would doubt their ability to distinguish a living man from a dead one?
In their early preaching, all the apostles repeatedly stressed the eyewitness nature of the resurrection to both Jew and Gentile, believer and skeptic alike:
This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses (Acts 2:32).
The one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses (Acts 3:15).
The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death… and we are witnesses of these things (Acts 5:30,32).
The apostle John stressed that, “He who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true” (John 19:35). He also wrote, “This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true” (John 21:24).
The apostle Peter emphasizes that, “For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Peter 1:16).
1) Many disciples and all of the apostles testified that they were eyewitnesses of Jesus’ resurrection
The Oxford American Dictionary defines a witness as “a person who gives evidence in court” or “a person who is present at an event in order to testify to the fact that it took place.” According to this, a witness is not giving hearsay, he is giving “something that serves as evidence.” It is not opinion or conjecture or anything less than evidence personally and carefully attested to by one who saw it. As far as Jesus Christ rising from the dead is concerned, the method required to confirm it is not extraordinary. A dead man who came to life could give the very same evidence of his being alive as any living person could. So the witnesses only need to be able to distinguish a dead man from a living man. How difficult is this? Is there anyone who would doubt their ability to distinguish a living man from a dead one?
In their early preaching, all the apostles repeatedly stressed the eyewitness nature of the resurrection to both Jew and Gentile, believer and skeptic alike:
This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses (Acts 2:32).
The one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses (Acts 3:15).
The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death… and we are witnesses of these things (Acts 5:30,32).
The apostle John stressed that, “He who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true” (John 19:35). He also wrote, “This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true” (John 21:24).
The apostle Peter emphasizes that, “For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Peter 1:16).
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