Running head:: HISTORICITY OF JESUS RESSURECTION AND MIRACLES 1
Apologetics 220: Historicity of Jesus resurrection and the Credibility of His Miracles.
Student’s Name
Institution
HISTORICITY OF JESUS RESSURECTION AND MIRACLES 2
Apologetics 220: Historicity of Jesus Resurrection and the Credibility of His Miracles.
Miracles are a common belief, especially for spiritual people who have a strong faith and
are grounded in religious roots. Belief in miracles is widespread across the globe; for instance, 8
in 10 Americans admit to believing in miracles with an estimate of 19 per cent being non-
believers. Individual religious beliefs affect the ability of people to believe in miracles. However,
the entire concept of miracles can be confusing if one is spiritually weak, which is not to mean
that miracles do not exist (Blomberg, 2014). Now that you are more open to Christianity and
have a deeper understanding of what it entails, the concept of miracles will even be easier to
grasp. According to Theopedia: a comprehensive Christian website, a miracle refers to a
supernatural action or deed in time that suspends the normal nature operations implying that is a
unique expression of God's power intended to achieve a particular purpose. A consistent and firm
Christian acknowledges that God's power is regularly portrayed in the universal clockwork
operation. The Bible points out in (Hebrews 1:3) that the power of Christ holds everything
together, which means that everything exists because of Him. Therefore, humans ought to trust
the word and what it says, including believing in miracles. The critical factor to believing in
miracles is having faith in God, Christ and the word; otherwise, it becomes senseless even to
think that there was a son of God who came to the earth, performed miracles, spread the gospel
and resurrected to heaven. Therefore, regardless of miracles being naturally unusual like the
resurrection of Christ, for believers, followers and even non-Christians, faith is vital for miracles
to seem real and credible.
Different people view the historicity of Christ's resurrection with varying opinions with
some even questioning whether the events stipulated in the New Testament happened. However,
despite the doubts, the researchers have not presented concrete evidence that invalidates the
HISTORICITY OF JESUS RESSURECTION AND MIRACLES 3
miracles performed by Jesus or recorded in the Bible. Some like Lee Strobel, who was a reported
that strongly opposed the resurrection of Christ, published a book titled “The Case for Christ: A
Journalist’s Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus.” He admits to the existence and
resurrection of Jesus after he was unable to find enough evidence to refute Christ' presence. Also,
there exist many New Testament Greek Manuscripts that are older than any existing ancient
document (Strobel, 1998). These early manuscripts provide a clear picture of what the original
New Testament writings looked like and transfers the information of the occurrences of those
times, which included the miracles of Jesus like Him resurrecting from the dead. Another
evidence of Jesus resurrection, according to researchers, was the empty tomb in Jerusalem where
Jesus was buried after the crucifixion. For example, Dr Licona strongly argues that Jesus
resurrected from the dead since his enemies admitted that his body had been stolen which was
proof of his resurrection (Habermas & Licona, 2004). Also, the testimony given by the women
who visited the tomb in the morning and discovered that the body was not there. Usually, in the
Roman and Jewish society, women's statement was not considered much but the fact that it was
documented, shows that it took place. Therefore, looking at all these historical information, it is
no doubt that Jesus existed, was crucified and resurrected from the dead, but still, it requires faith
to believe the given evidence.
Although several people specializing in modern careers like science and philosophy
criticize the possibility and credibility of miracles, it is logical to acknowledge that there exists a
mysterious supernatural power and nobody can explain its origin. For instance, philosopher
David Hume argues that miracles violate the law of nature, which is not necessarily true.
(Chatraw & Allen, 2018). God showed His power through acts of nature in rare and unusual
ways that people could not expect. An example is when He used a natural phenomenon: wind to
HISTORICITY OF JESUS RESSURECTION AND MIRACLES 4
connect the Red Sea water back after rescuing the Israelites from the Egyptians who tortured and
misused them through slavery (Exodus 14:21). Nobody could doubt that the parting of the Red
Sea was a miracle since the timing of the occurrence was miraculous by itself. If God felt the
need to violate any form of nature, He is obliged and free to do that since the earth and
everything in it belongs to Him. It is not possible to violate something that you created. Hume’s
argument would apply if he provided an explanation of where the universe came from and the
owner of nature if not God (Geivett, & Habermas, 2014). Furthermore, the universe is so big that
nobody has an idea of how the entire universe looks like not even the scientist who travel to
explore space as they are places that humans cannot survive. The earth is not also the largest
planet implying that there exist other locations that humans are yet to discover which can only be
termed ad God's doing. It is essential to take caution on making assumptions that God needs to
suspend any law of nature to perform a miracle after all humans do have not even exhausted all
laws of nature themselves.
Some miracles in the Bible have natural causes that are common even in the present day
that maybe prompt non-believers to criticize miracles. For instance, the rainbow after Noah’s
flood according to science results from the refraction of light through which water falls from the
atmosphere, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by a volcano and the parting of the Red Sea
attributed to strong wind. Natural and scientific explanations should not be ways of discounting
God’s power and activity (Blomberg, 2014). The Bible portrays God as the Universe’ sustainer
who causes grass to grow, covers the sky with clouds, makes the earth rain among other
countless wondrous things and works in and through natural ways which are part of his
provision. These miracles happened at the appropriate time that demonstrated God’s power in
protecting and guiding his people. If miracles were not real, then there should be an explanation
HISTORICITY OF JESUS RESSURECTION AND MIRACLES 5
justifying the existence of nature and occurrences like landslides, rain, volcanos among others. It
is thus reasonable to give miracles credibility since they at least explain the things that science
and experts cannot answer.
Most people fail to believe in the life, resurrection and miracles of Jesus Christ because
they lack faith in the word of God. There exists adequate historical evidence that proves that
Jesus existed, performed miracles and even resurrected from the dead. For example, there are old
manuscripts that reflect the original writings of the actual day when Jesus existed. Also, women
and Jesus' enemies were witnesses of the empty tomb which adds to prove of his resurrection.
Although modern scientist and people in other professions like Humes disregard the credibility
of miracles, they fail to explain the origin of the universe and the supernatural power that
controls and created everything that exists which in turn invalidates their argument. For instance,
they might argue that some natural occurrences mentioned in the Bible lie rainbows and
volcanoes still happen today. However, the important thing is to understand who is behind these
natural happenings and the only reasonable and logic explanation is the power of God.
Therefore, in as much as the idea of miracles is uncommon, people should not hesitate to
acknowledge his existence and power since human beings must have a source. Having
unshakable faith is the only way for a person to deeply understand the power and the things of
God: for without faith it is difficult even to believe that there is a supernatural force that controls
the universe.
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References
Blomberg, C. L. (2014). Can We Still Believe the Bible?: An Evangelical Engagement with
Contemporary Questions. Brazos Press.
Chatraw, J., & Allen, M. D. (2018). Apologetics at the cross: An introduction for Christian
witness. Zondervan Academic.
Geivett, R. D., & Habermas, G. R. (Eds.). (2014). In Defense of Miracles: A Comprehensive
Case for God's Action in History. InterVarsity Press.
Habermas, G. R., & Licona, M. R. (2004). The case for the resurrection of Jesus. Kregel
Publications.
Strobel, L. (1998). The case for Christ: A journalist's personal investigation of the evidence for
Jesus. Zondervan.
The Holy Bible, King James Version. New York: American Bible Society: 1999; Bartleby.com,
2000. www.bartleby.com/108/.
