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Title: Jesus' Resurrection: Fact or Figment?: A Debate Between William Lane Craig and Gerd Ludemann by William Lane Craig, Ronald Tacelli, Paul Copan, Gerd Ludemann ISBN: 0-8308-1569-4 Publisher: InterVarsity Press Pub. Date: 01 December, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.12 (17 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Ludemann is pathetic: Can we get a better Atheist?
Comment: Sadly, the debate in this book is one-sided. It is not editorial bias or theological agenda, but due to Ludemann's pathetic job of arguing. After reading his opening statement, I knew that Craig had him.
Here is a list of Ludemann's errors:
AD FIDENTIA (attacking opponent's confidence in his position): "But I would like to ask my opponent whether he really thinks Jesus went to heaven." (40)
PRESUMPTUOUS (Knowing things only an omniscient being could know): "even the most respected scholars I know get cold feet when they talk about the resurrection of if they have to deal with the questions of whether Jesus' body rotted away." (41)
FACTUAL ERROR: There is not just one eye-witness in the NT (Mark), but also Matthew and John. Furthermore, Luke's account is scholarly (Luke 1:1-4)
FALSE HISTORICAL PARALLELISM and DISCARDED DIFERENTIA on the visions of Mary and the visions of Jesus.
RED HERRING 1: Accusations of Christianity being anti-Semitic. (FALLACY OF CONSEQUENCES)
RED HERRING 2: The discussion of Joseph of Arimathaea.
RED HERRING 3: Mary's perpetual virginity (Which is not Protestant, but Catholic dogma.)
UNDER-PRECISION (MEGATRIFEL): The phrase "empty tomb" not part of 1 Corinthians 15. The tomb is implicit: deal with it!
RAND'S RAZOR: Ludeman's hidden premise is that he disagrees with miracles. All of the above is merely smoke and mirrors.
And that is just his opening statement!
The one bothersome irrelevancy is the charge of anti-Semitism. Ludemann is German, so he is naturally sensitive to the issue. It is a "hot button" issue, but out of place in this debate on the Resurrection. The historical question at hand is whether or not the tomb was empty, and if it was, how do we account for it?
For whatever reason, Ludemann constantly brings up the charged issue of anti-Semitism, as if that settles the question. True, Christianity has been abused. The Great Schism, Protestant Reformation, and the Catholic Counter-Reformation prove an apostasy. However, that is not the pint of the debate. Ludeman wants Copan to discuss anti-Semitism at the expense of discussion the tomb. Copan wisely sticks to the stated purposed of the debate: "It's difficult to criticize a theory [Ludeman's] which hasn't been explained." (46)
Ludeman makes the critical mistake of the empricists: he expects his data to do all the talking. Most people in the "hard" sciences are feeble, or even ignore logic entirely; they expect the data to explain itself. They forget that there is a world of difference between raw data and processed information. As Sherlock Holmes said, "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact." (Boscomb Valley Mystery)
Rating: 4
Summary: Once Upon a Time in Palestine
Comment: Philosopher William Lane Craig has spilled a lot of ink over the topic of the (alleged) resurrection of Jesus. Craig argues that the best explanation for the apparent resurrection of Jesus is that God actually did raise Jesus from the dead. More recently, Craig has taken to defending his ideas in debate with liberal theologians who doubt that Jesus really was resurrected from the dead. This is the second book Paul Copan edits that records such a debate. In the first, *Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?*, Craig's sparring partner is John Dominic Crossan. While the first is a dud (Craig and Crossan largely talk past each other, and Craig repeatedly questions Crossan's rationality), but this second installment is much better. In *Jesus' Resurrection*, Craig and Gerd Ludeman do more to confront each others' positions directly.
Craig bases his belief in the resurrection on what he sees as four incontrovertible facts: (1) Jesus was buried, (2) Jesus' tomb was discovered empty, (3) Some people report having seen Jesus after his death, and (4) Jesus' followers preached the resurrection when they had every reason not to. Craig argues that the best explanation for these facts is that God did indeed raise Jesus from the dead. Ludeman argues instead that Jesus' followers had visions of the risen Jesus for psychological reasons.
Craig certainly comes off better in the debate. Craig is a brilliant debater (even though he tends to blithely appeal to scholarly consensus, and is by no means above declaring his opponents irrational or prejudiced against him), and Ludeman is not. Not surprising--one would expect a philosopher to be a better debater than a historian. Because of this, many will conclude that Craig comes away the victor, as having demonstrated his case.
However, when one gets to the responses to the debate by four excellent scholars that one gets to see the gaps in Craig's arguments. (Craig himself does an excellent job of making the gaps in Ludeman's arguments apparent.) In particular, Michael Goulder's piece develops an idea similar to Ludeman's in a way that is far more sophisticated than Ludeman's view.
In the end, as with most debates, the issue ends unresolved. Craig is surely right that Ludeman's theory does not explain (or explain away) facts (1) and (2), and does not do especially well at explaining facts (3) and (4). But Ludeman's hypothesis is not the only, and I doubt even the most plausible, naturalist alternative. And Craig never really considers the possibility that (1)-(4) are not well-established facts at all. Only for Jesus' crucifixion do we have any references from non-interested sources. In his debate with Crossan, who denies that (1) and (2) are facts at all, Craig's only response is to claim that Crossan's position is not that of most Bible scholars, as if mere consensus determined truth. It is too bad that Crossan did not take Craig to task when he had the chance.
In short, while Craig does a good job of confounding Ludeman's arguments, he does not do so admirably when his own views are called into question, generally responding with blatant appeals to consensus and personal attacks. (As an aside, I take especial offense at the claim he makes in nearly all his apologetic works that his opponents deny his view because their philosophical commitments prejudice their evaluation of the evidence, while refusing to acknowledge the possibility that his belief in miracles has prejudiced HIS reading of the evidence. Sometimes I feel that Criag doth protest too much.) Yet for all that, Craig is undoubtedly a brilliant thinker who takes his task seriously and approaches it accordingly. His arguments cannot be ignored. And neither can the arguments of his opponents, which in their own writings (not in the context of a debate) are presented with much more force.
*Jesus' Resurrection* will not resolve the issues, but it does an excellent job of showing what the issues are. This is certainly not the place to finish an examination into the (alleged) resurrection, but it is a great place to start. With patience and care, one can get a lot out of this book, whatever one's religious persuasion happens to be.
Rating: 5
Summary: Creates reasonable doubt
Comment: This is an excellent format to get to the essence of the matter about Jesus Resurrection being literal and physical or a myth. I think that everyone did a good job in the book. Depending on your viewpoint coming in, you will probably grasp onto different elements. It is my opinion that when absolute truth claims are made ,that the burden of proof remains with the parties making these claims. After reading this book, it really seems that there is a reasonable doubt concerning the resurrection of Jesus. If you really want to examine this crucial event for Christianity in more detail then this book is an excellent way to do that.
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Title: The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ by Gary R. Habermas ISBN: 0899007325 Publisher: College Press Publishing Company Pub. Date: 01 June, 1996 List Price(USD): $13.99 |
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Title: The Historical Reliability of the Gospels by Craig L. Blomberg ISBN: 0877849927 Publisher: InterVarsity Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 1987 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?: A Debate Between William Lane Craig and John Dominic Crossan by Paul Copan, John Dominic Crossan, William F. Buckley, William Lane Craig ISBN: 0801021758 Publisher: Baker Academic Pub. Date: 01 November, 1998 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Jesus Under Fire by Michael J. Wilkins, James Porter Moreland ISBN: 0310211395 Publisher: Zondervan Publishing Company Pub. Date: 17 July, 1996 List Price(USD): $14.99 |
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Title: The Son Rises by William Lane Craig ISBN: 1579104649 Publisher: Wipf & Stock Publishers Pub. Date: June, 2001 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
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