The Top 10 Shocking Things Christians Don't Know About the Bible.... NUMBER 9

OK, so I'm sorry about not posting yesterday, we had a lot going on here at the church... I'm sure you'll forgive me.

The number 9 shocking thing that Christians don't know about the Bible according to David Stockin is as follows:

9. There is no resurrection of Jesus in the Bible

OK, now this one just makes me laugh. He's really reaching for anything at this point. He states the following:

There is absolutely no resurrection narrative found anywhere in the four canonical Gospels. Nowhere in the New Testament is there a description of Jesus coming back to life. Sorry to disappoint you, but all of the "He is Risen" stickers are just wrong. "He has Disappeared" would be more accurate.

There is no more important event for a Christian's faith than the resurrection of Christ. Paul sums it up this way...

... if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain." 1 Corinthians 15:14

And so, when Stockin attacks the historicity (you're welcome Kelly Russell) of the resurrection, then he not only attacks the validity of scripture, but our faith as well.

So let's put to the test Stockin's claim using the criteria that he uses. First, he argues that there is no resurrection account in the four canonical gospels. Second, he says that nowhere in the New Testament is there a description of Jesus coming back to life.

The Four Gospels

Matthew 28:1-20

Two women approach the tomb, there is an earthquake, and an angel rolls the stone away. The guards freeze with fear and the report that Jesus is alive is given along with a command to tell the other disciples. As they are leaving, they SEE Jesus, and actually TOOK HOLD of his feet. Later, after the guards muster up a lie about the disciples taking the body, the eleven disciples see Jesus again just before he ascends into heaven

Mark 16:1-8

Three women approach the tomb, an angel rolled the stone away and told them that Jesus was alive.

Luke 24:1-53

Some followers (4 women) of Jesus approach the tomb and find it empty, it is reported to them by two angels that Jesus is alive. They quickly returned and told the disciples but no one believes them. Peter goes and sees the empty tomb.

Then Jesus WALKS and TALKS with two disciples on the road to Emmaus.

Then Jesus APPEARS to the disciples, they TOUCH him and he EATS with them

They they watched as he ascended into heaven

John 20:1-21:25

John devotes two chapters to the resurrection of Christ.

As with the other gospels, it is women who first see the empty tomb.

Peter and John then run and find Jesus is not in the tomb.

Jesus then appears to a weeping Mary in the garden.

Jesus then appears to 10 disciples in a room with locked doors, but Thomas doesn't believe.

So Jesus appears to the 10 and Thomas and they TOUCH him.

Later in the account he appears to 7 disciples while they are fishing. He eats with them and has extended discussions with Peter and John.

In conclusion... each of the four gospels contains an account of the resurrection of Christ, and all but Mark record post resurrection appearances of Christ which describe Jesus touching, eating and teaching the disciples.

The Rest of the New Testament

Where to start? Because the New Testament says so much about the resurrection of Christ, for simplicity we will simply refer to 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 which discusses the post-resurrection appearances of Christ.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born , he appeared also to me.

So, according to Paul, Jesus not only was raised from the dead, but he appeared to over 500 different people over a period of 40 days, and then appeared to Paul at some point following his resurrection (see Acts 9). This is not what we would expect to hear in Jesus were simply "missing." He wasn't "missing," he was alive, and people saw him, touched him, ate with him, and walked with him.

But do you want to know what is really cool? 1 Corinthians 15:6 tells us that most of the people that had seen the risen Lord were still alive. That meant that when Paul wrote this, the people in Corinth could have traveled to Jerusalem and met these people.

Not only that, but in Acts 2, Peter stands up and preaches that Jesus had been crucified and that he rose from the dead. Thousands of people hear this first sermon of Peter's at Pentecost. The whole event occurs less than 2 months after the crucifixion of Christ and not one person is recorded as pointing out the absurdity of Peter's belief in the resurrection. Not one person points to his tomb or his body. Instead, we see thousands of people who place their faith in a risen Lord.

And by the way, these people that saw Jesus after his resurrection believed it so strongly, that they all lost their lives in some of the most horrendous ways possible

As we continue to work our way through the claims of David Stockin, we will see that in some cases, he has a valid argument based on how he defines certain words, or on how he words his statements. But in this case, he is just plain wrong.