"WHAT CAN WE BELIEVE?"

“Resurrection – Myth or Reality”?

“Jesus Seminar” scholar John Dominic Crossan, says he doubts the story of the empty tomb is historical. “I don’t think any of Jesus’ followers even knew where he was buried – if he was buried at all.” Paul does not mention an empty tomb. “That’s hard to understand if an empty tomb was supposed to be the bedrock historical fact of Easter.”

What do you think of Crossan’s remarks? Some people believe the evidence of the empty tomb to be absolutely essential for belief in the resurrection. Do you think the early disciples would have believed without an empty tomb? Can Christians today believe in the resurrection without an empty tomb? Why? Why not?

In his book, Resurrection – Myth or Reality? Bishop John Spong of the Episcopal Church says that the stories surrounding the resurrection – i.e. earthquakes, angels, empty tombs, apparitions that appear and disappear, rich men who make graves available, thieves who comment from their crosses of pain – these all are legends. He adds that the Biblical texts “proved to be quite untrustworthy if what we were seeking were objective facts and consistent details.” (p.235)

What do you think about Bishop Spong’s comments? Does belief in the resurrection rest on “objective facts” and non-legendary literary sources? If yes, how do we deal with Spong’s assertions? If no, upon what is belief in the resurrection dependent?

Some have suggested the resurrection was not an “objective” experience, but a “subjective” one. The resurrection did not take place “out there” in real history, but “in here” inside the mind and heart of the disciples. In this view it was not Jesus who was “raised from the dead” but the disciples. They “came alive” with what Jesus was trying to do.

What do you think of this view? Is an “objective” resurrection essential or necessary for the Christian faith? Is the “subjective” resurrection essential or necessary? What do you think? Why”