I had seen plenty of dead bodies as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, but I never saw anyone come back to life. That's why I was a skeptic about Easter - until my agnostic wife's conversion to Christianity prompted me to spend two years investigating the historical evidence for Jesus' resurrection.
What I encountered turned me from atheism to faith - and what I've learned since then has only cemented that decision:
First, there's persuasive evidence Jesus was executed. In addition to multiple early reports in the ancient records that make up the New Testament, we also have confirmation outside the Bible. Atheist historian Gerd Lüdemann called Jesus' death by crucifixion "indisputable."
Second, there are resurrection accounts that date back so early they can't merely be legendary. A.N. Sherwin-White of Oxford said the passage of two generations was not even enough time for legend to grow up in the ancient world and wipe out a solid core of historical truth.
Yet we have a creed of the early church (recorded in 1 Corinthians 15:3ff) that confirms Jesus died for our sins, was buried, rose and appeared to named eyewitnesses, including skeptics. This creed dates back to within a few years of Jesus' death - and therefore its underlying beliefs go back even further. It's like a historical news flash!Concluded historian James D. G. Dunn: "This tradition, we can be entirely confident, was formulated as tradition within months of Jesus' death." To me, this devastates the claim that the resurrection is simply a legend.
Read the rest of the interview at BibleGateway.com!
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