Is there any proof of Jesus Christ's resurrection? As far as Christian philosopher and historian Gary Habermas is concerned, the answer is "yes."
Speaking at the Southern Evangelical Seminary's annual National Conference on Christian Apologetics on Saturday, Habermas cited historical facts obtained by several scholars to prove Christ's resurrection, according to The Christian Post.
"Of what did earliest preaching consist before there was a single New Testament book? What did the earliest Christian preaching look like before any books were written?" Habermas asked.
He said oral testimonies are important as evidence of a historical event, and there are historical facts that even sceptics "allow," such as the minimal facts theory.
"Two arguments for what makes a minimal fact include only those historical data that are strongly evidenced by multiple independent lines of argumentation, and only those data which are accepted as historical by virtually all historical scholars," Habermas explained.
He also presented six pieces of evidence that support Christ's resurrection, which even sceptics themselves could not deny.
First, Jesus died by crucifixion. Second, His disciples witnessed the appearances of Jesus after His death. Third, the disciples were so transformed by what they experienced that they all expressed willingness to spread Jesus' message of salvation even if they had to sacrifice their own lives to do it. Fourth, James, the brother of Jesus, also saw Jesus appeared after His death. Fifth, Paul saw a similar appearance of Jesus and converted. Lastly, the message of His resurrection was proclaimed within one or two years from the date of His crucifixion.
Habernas noted that sceptics have expressed doubts on the miracles attributed to Jesus. They argue that there's no way history can prove a miracle. Habernas countered by saying, "What they're not telling you is... history can show you events occurred."
"Historians don't have any test called a miracle test," he added. When it comes to proving the resurrection, "naturalistic theories need to fail," Habernas said, adding that "naturalistic alternatives need to be destroyed."
Jesus already said His resurrection is a "divine action pattern" all by itself, said the apologist, adding that He remains unmatched compared to all other religious figures.
