Thursday's Notes
Thursday Night Worship
Speaker:
Walter Nusbaum
Worship Leader: Maple Street
Key Passage: I Corinthians 15:12-19
"The Resurrection"
I. Two Kinds of Faith
1. Matters of
Taste
-things you can't be wrong about; mere oopinion
-For instance, if Pepsi is better than CCoke; how can you prove
that statement?
2. Matters of
Fact/Truth
-things you can be wrong about
a. Applied Mathematics
b. Laws of Science
c. Logic
d. Historical events
II.
Is Religion a Matter of Taste or of Fact?
-if it is based upon a true historical foundation, it is
a fact
-Christianity is not a blind and irratioonal belief; it IS:
1. A reasonable faith
2. A historical faith
3. A true faith
III. Two Criteria For Proving A Historical Event
1. Explanatory scope--explain ALL the facts so that everything matches up
2. Explanatory power--ability to explain it--does it have the power to cause the event
-For instance, if you walk into your little son's room and there is a broken window and a baseball, you don't blame it on your two year-old son, because he does not have the power to throw a baseball through a window and not everything matches up. But if your son is 6, the answer is right under your nose.
IV.
What Theory Supports All of These Historical Facts?
1. Tomb of Jesus found empty
-would the Gospel invent WOMEN finding the tomb? In that
culture, women had no credibility as witnesses unless a man also
witnessed the event. Also, these weren't NORMAL women. They were
a demon-possessed former prostitute and the mother of the
"raised" man. Would YOU believe a case presented to you
by them? If the Gospel were fabricated, it would make Peter and
James and John find the tomb, not the women, so it's case is
obvious.
2. Appearances and Changed Lives of Disciples
-were the disciples hallucinating? Funnyy thing about
hallucinations...they are personal. The chances of 500+ people
seeing the same hallucination is IMPOSSIBLE!
-Paul didn't even love Jesus, but he saww Him
-James, brother of Jesus
a. couldn't see Christ as God--imagine if your brother came to
you claiming to be God. Would you believe him?
b. He was changed= "James, a BOND-SLAVE to Christ..."
Would you call yourself a bond-slave to your brother if He
weren't God?
c. He wrote the Apistle of James
d. He was the first Bishop of the Church at Jerusalem
3. Social Customs Changed
-No longer bound by Law
-No longer had to be atoned by sacrificees
-Sabbath day changed from Saturday to Suunday
-"Any man who hangs on a tree has ccurse of God upon
him." -Deuteronomy; Jews believe Jesus as God
Does the
Swoon Theory support all those facts? NO.
Does the Twin Theory support all those facts? NO.
ONLY THE RESURRECTION SUPPORTS ALL THOSE HISTORICAL FACTS.
All
mutually-exclusive beliefs do not all lead to Heaven
-John 14:6