Chapter 13 – Resurrection
This week’s entry is from David Peters:
Keller makes his case for “The Reality of The Resurrection” in Chapter 13 of The Reason for God. I think he has some good points in the chapter but, on the whole, I found it largely lacking. He doesn’t make any logical argument that cannot also be applied to many of the world’s other religions. It is disappointing since, as he writes, “The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead.”
The tone of the chapter was set poorly for me in the beginning when Keller wrote: “The resurrection also puts a burden of proof on nonbelievers.” (What? You are arguing the affirmative, Keller!) He continues: ”It is not enough to simply believe Jesus did not rise from the dead. You must then come up with a historically feasible alternate explanation for the birth of the church.”
I don’t understand this reasoning at all. There are over 4,000 faiths in our world. Most of them claim to be the one true belief system and exclusive of all other belief systems. If I follow Keller’s logic then I, as a Christian, should come up with a historically feasible alternate explanation for the birth of each of these. And if I don’t feel that burden, then why should it be imposed on non-Christians? Keller never answers this question and continues building the rest of the chapter on what I believe to be a shaky foundation.
To be fair, Keller had his work cut out for him. When I was asked to write about another chapter, I picked this one because I wanted to read ”proof” of the resurrection and write about it. However, I am a skeptic by nature. I wish I could read what Keller wrote and say “You know, his logic is flawless and the case is airtight.” But I can’t.
I guess that is why it is called faith; why Jesus calls on me to believe. I can’t help but wonder if I just opened my eyes to a self-evident truth, then would I really love God?
The resurrection is real to me because I have a deep longing for a savior. I know that I cannot perform, that I am a sinner. Jesus came to Earth and lifted the veil shrouding God. He also broke the mold of karma, or deed-based, religions. Keller didn’t prove this. But I “trust” it.
On the good days.
3 responses so far
David I agree that this chapter was lacking. It just didn’t seem as strong as some of his other chapters. The thing about the resurrection that is remarkable to me, (maybe this was the point Keller was trying to make), is the profound change in the apostles after the resurrection. When Christ was arrested and tortured, the apostles scattered and denied Him. They were terrified for their lives. After seeing the resurrected Christ they became bold and outspoken in their beliefs and suddenly had no fear of dying for what they believed. In fact some did die for their belief in Jesus. To me, the only explaination for that change in behavior was actually seeing the risen Christ.
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I am glad that you wrote this post. I just read this chapter last night, and was severely struggling with not only the general lack in the arguements but one in particular.
He makes a case, presumably taken from NT Wright’s book on the ressurection, that the idea of individual ressurection (as opposed to the ressurection in the last days) is “inconceivable” to the Jewish mind at the time of Christ. I took that for what it was, trusting in the historical research he, or at least NT Wright had made. But then I picked up my bible and the first passage I read is Luke 9:7-9:
“Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was happening; and he was greatly perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen again”
This seems to be in direct contradiction to Keller’s arguement, or at least point.
If you dont mind, I would love to hear what you think on this. Am I missing something?
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Forgive my misspelling. *resurrection
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