Thoughtful Beliefs

Responses to the minimal facts

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Responses to the Minimal Facts

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Some responses to the minimal facts approach

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The scholars must be wrong

Figure 1. See nothing uncomfortable, Hear nothing uncomfortable
Figure 1. See nothing uncomfortable, Hear nothing uncomfortable

The Minimal Facts section provides a well-established, peer-reviewed understanding on key facts that can be applied directly to the question of Jesus’ claim. However, because one’s beliefs are an important personal choice, too often one’s emotional response overtakes the intellectual response. While the heart can bring the best joys into life, the head is what keeps one safe (and able to best enjoy the good stuff). So how did you respond emotionally, when confronted with the analysis in the previous article? Below are some interesting emotional responses I have observed.

Some have stood against the scholarship and disagreed with the 5 facts. The obvious question is: Why? Disagreeing with the established scholarship is fair, and sometimes warranted, but you better have very strong reasons or evidence to support your stance? Otherwise, you are appropriately labeled as a delusional believer, meaning you are fooling yourself into accepting a position that irrationally goes against the evidence, and most likely are standing on the wrong side of reality.

If you don’t have solid positive evidence that supports your position, and greater than the evidence the scholars used in coming to their conclusions about the minimal facts, then it says something serious about how you approach beliefs. Psychologically, some people, when not comfortable with some truth about reality, will often turn to defense mechanisms, or attempt to ignore the evidence, or simply take the easy road of negative shots at the claim they do not like, instead of doing the rational and honest thinking and following the evidence where it leads.

This is not a put-down, just reality, as all of us at some times deal with uncomfortable facts in irrational ways, or are standing on incorrect beliefs.

We probably all have examples with funny results, and some with harmful results. Nothing wrong with being wrong, but something seriously dangerous about being wrong and ignoring where the evidence leads on this issue.

If a friend or family member of yours was in an abusive relationship, but used the same defense mechanisms to claim: they can’t leave because, “I am already too invested in this relationship,” or “It is not that big of a deal, and I am comfortable where I am,” or “He will get better once we get married, it will work out somehow,” etc. What would you think of their approach and choice? Based on the facts and probability, your friend is heading into some very real and bad consequences. Your possible relationship with God is not the place to allow initial discomfort, defense mechanisms, or any distractions to keep you from standing on what is accurate and best for your life; as those consequences are beyond measure.

If you reject the Christian claim, but do not have a model that better fits the evidence, then it may benefit you unfathomably to evaluate where you stand and why.

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 What is the Evidence the Scholars Used?

That is a fair question, and one that is covered in Unpacking the Minimal Facts. But why did people ask this question? Does the person who asks the question have solid reasons to doubt the scholarship? Do they have compelling evidence for an alternative belief? Or, do they just not like where the evidence leads?

It is important to know why the person asks because it will show how capable the person is to honestly and correctly use the information in the discussion? If the person is honestly pursuing truth to reach the best choice in their beliefs, then it is important you provide the details they seek.

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Christians who say “Amen” to that – Not so fast

When I present at churches, often I will hear people agreeing with head nods, or a “That’s right” here or there. At that point I sometimes regret not starting with a nasty little trick my brother came up with when we first started presentations of this information.

Brett Kunkle has also done this, and you can find one of Brett’s examples on Vimeo. We would have the church leader introduce us as an atheist, who will explain why God does not exist, and then take questions from the church. What my brother and I have seen matches what Brett experienced, and is to be expected as Christians have dropped the ball as far as apologetics (reasoned arguments to support Christian beliefs). Schools removed serious discussion of God academically. Church leaders are so busy trying to help their members in all areas of life, and with all the busy-work of running the church, and would not have enough time to keep up with the research necessary. Parents are so busy too. The situation is understandable, but not acceptable, as bottom-line: the ball was dropped, and it shows.

A later paper will display the cost, as countless stories amass of Christians who are, as Frank Turek notes, talked out of their belief, because they were never talked into it (given sound reasons exposing opposing beliefs and supporting the biblical model). Not only were our attacks against Christian beliefs rarely answered soundly, but when we ask why they believed that Jesus was resurrected and verified his claims, the responses were typically similar to what those who reject Christianity also do: bring up a slew of shallow negative criticisms to the beliefs they are opposed to, as opposed to strong positive support for their point. Posing as one who rejects Christ’s claim not only makes the audience experience how emotional one can become when their prefered beliefs are challenged (Christians are people and are certainly vulnerable to the same bad responses as any other person, but should remember they have a Model who calls for and expects better), but also highlights the need for a better apologetic, or better reasons to support why they believe in the biblical claim, which their own Bible calls for.1 The Bible also states no to simply trust what some speaker or leader tells them, but to test and examine what is said.2 It’s a problem when people who claim they believe in Jesus to fail to have looked into and have answers for criticisms of their beliefs,3 nor have solid reasons to support their belief.

Those people believe for emotional reasons, maybe because they were raised that way, or some other faulty reason, and would therefore believe something else if born elsewhere, or in a different circumstance. Those in the church cannot sit passively, not really searching for the best explanation concerning Jesus, and selectively ignoring or dismissing what they don’t like, and only taking in and saying “Amen” to something like the Minimal Facts, which does support what they want to hear. Such an approach to beliefs is as weak and unstable, especially when life hits you with something serious, as those who do not believe in Jesus using the same emotional filter and lack of rational thought.

References
1 1 Peter 3:15 states “always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope (trust in Jesus) that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence”
2 1 Thessalonians 5:21 “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good”
3 1 Corinthians 10:4-5 “
4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God”. Why would God equip us to put down faulty arguments if he didn’t expect us to use that equipment (reasons).[/fusion_text][fusion_text]

That is the Point!

An example of someone avoiding facts they find uncomfortable was displayed by an atheist in a debate. This radio contributor and speaker at universities across the U.S. and Canada, claimed resurrections are not part of our experience, therefore, the one the Christians’ claim likely did not occur.

That is a claim, but with what evidence? Hopefully the university audience realized that he simply attempted to avoid dealing with all the evidence presented that he did not like, and based his belief against the resurrection on an error in logic known as begging the question, which is a type of circular reasoning whereby a person makes up their mind before (or purposefully without) taking in the available evidence.

The objection sounded good on a shallow level, because resurrections are not part of our normal experience – but that is the point. Jesus provided a checkable event unlike any other in all history, something that could not be accomplished naturally by any person, in order to validate his supernatural claims.

If you do a study of the biblical accounts, miracles are clustered around certain individuals in the Bible to establish the authority of their message. It is meant to be an act beyond man’s ability, or natural experience, to confirm God’s message.

And the point was made clearly: Jesus was accused by both Jewish (in the Talmud) and Greek (by the critic Celsus) historical sources of using magic or sorcery to accomplish the acts. This, by the way, is very strong testimony these events occurred as even enemy testimony admits it, because the critics could not explain these things away.

Furthermore, the atheist’s argument is also narrow-sighted as it ignores the background knowledge we now have that includes an entire universe created out of nothing (probably the greatest miracle), which has also been found to exhibit exquisite fine-tuning, and for a God who can accomplish those things, raising Jesus from the dead is simple in comparison. It’s like asking a person, who could build a car from scratch, if they could change the oil. More is given in the article Miracles: People’s Miraculous Misunderstandings.

In addition, in our background experience we do not have claims like the Easter claim, which come with this level of evidence. A checkable claim like a resurrection ruins a religion if not true, it doesn’t kick start that belief system all the way to having to be persecuted brutally & outlawed in Rome itself, just 19 years later!

After presenting the minimal facts noted above to the president of the atheist club at U.C. Berkeley, and how those facts were established, I asked her what she believed is the best explanation of what happened? She said, Jesus was only in a coma, then his followers hallucinated all his appearances afterward. She chose to stand on the Coma + Hallucination Theory.

Now if you know anything medically about what Jesus experienced, or understand how hallucinations work, you may be wondering why anyone would believe such a ridiculous theory, much less two bad theories combined? On the contrary, it was at that point I knew that she actually did really look into, and did understand the evidence involved; because if you do not want to accept that Jesus was who he claimed to be, then her theory is probably the next most likely option! We will look into each of the options next.

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