Resurrection: Faith or Fact?: A Scholars' Debate Between a Skeptic and a Christian - Softcover

Craig L. Blomberg; Richard Carrier; Peter S. Williams Carl Stecher

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1634311744 ISBN 13: 9781634311748

Publisher: Pitchstone Publishing, 2019

Synopsis

Is there enough evidence to believe Jesus rose from the dead, or must such a judgment be based only on faith? Can the resurrection story be considered a fact of history, or should it be viewed as an ahistorical account? Two renowned professors, atheist Carl Stecher and Christian Craig Blomberg, engage in a groundbreaking new debate on these very questions. Other experts on the resurrection, atheist Richard Carrier and Christian Peter S. Williams, comment on the outcome. Presenting new approaches to these centuries-old questions and taking into account the latest scholarly research, Resurrection: Faith or Fact? is a must-have not only for all those following the resurrection question--but also for those skeptics and Christians alike who are interested in determining for themselves the truth behind this foundational doctrine of the Christian faith.

About this title

Review:

"In this debate on the central Christian doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus, the two chief scholars represented here, Craig Blomberg and Carl Stecher, speak capably and knowledgeably in favor of the major opposing positions. Additional respondents enhance the discussion. The opponents are nonetheless amicable and attempt to understand and make allowances for positions that are not their own, which always contributes to greater understanding. For those who appreciate dialogue as a means of clearing away poorly articulated views, this dialogue is a good place to either begin or for further study. Though I have always favored the resurrection position, the communication must continue for greater clarification and decision-making." --Gary R. Habermas, Distinguished Research Professor & Chair, Dept of Philosophy, Liberty University

"Debates on the resurrection of Jesus are basically ritual in nature: one hears the same old arguments again and again. I am not at all surprised to see apologists behaving like "eel wrigglers" (the Buddha's term for wily and evasive opponents), retreating behind ingenious harmonizations. Naturally: they are spin doctors for the dogma of an institution they serve. Nothing here militates against this fact. Carl Stecher does a fine job of exposing this, though he, more of a gentleman than I am, does not put it so bluntly. Surprisingly, though, the whole debate in conducted in the framework of eighteenth-century Protestant Rationalism, where both sides took for granted that the biblical events were largely accurate and only disputed whether a natural or supernatural explanation was better. D. F. Stauss blew both approaches out of the water in the nineteenth century. Still, it is worth doing what Stecher does, if only to show that the resurrection is implausible even on literalistic terms." --Robert M. Price,
Editor, Journal of Higher Criticism

About the Author:

Carl Stecher is a professor emeritus at Salem State University, a recipient of a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, and a frequently published voice on the topics of educational policy and religion. Craig L. Blomberg is Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary in Littleton, Colorado and author of 25 books. He holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. Richard Carrier is the author of Sense and Goodness without God, On the Historicity of Jesus, The Scientist in the Early Roman Empire, and many other publications. Peter S. Williams is an assistant professor at Gimlekollen School of Journalism and Communication, NLA University, Norway.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pitchstone Publishing
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1634311744
• ISBN 13: 9781634311748
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 280