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All (494) Scripture Commentary (79) Theology (26) Mike Winger (388) Pulpit (1)
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Fourth fact (V): Violence endured by the Apostles — dramatic transformation from hiding to dying for their message

Fourth point of the ALIVE acronym

apostles resurrection apostolic martyrdom
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Fifth fact (E): Enemies of Christ converted — specifically James the brother of Jesus and Paul the Apostle

Fifth point of the ALIVE acronym

James brother of Jesus resurrection Paul the Apostle James brother of Jesus
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

The resurrection best explains all five ALIVE facts; other explanations must account for all five

Transition from presenting evidence to evaluating alternate theories

resurrection inference to best explanation alternate theories
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Swoon theory: Jesus only appeared dead, was not actually dead, and recovered in the tomb

First alternate theory introduced

resurrection alternate theories swoon theory
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Twin theory: Jesus had a twin who was either crucified or who appeared after the crucifixion

Second alternate theory introduced

resurrection alternate theories twin theory
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Mass hallucination theory: the appearances of Jesus were mass hallucinations rather than physical encounters

Third alternate theory — described as the most popular among skeptics

resurrection Richard Carrier alternate theories
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Spiritual resurrection theory: Jesus rose spiritually but not bodily

Fourth alternate theory, associated with liberal scholars

resurrection alternate theories spiritual resurrection theory
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Wrong tomb theory: disciples went to the wrong tomb, found it empty, and triggered the resurrection belief

Fifth alternate theory introduced

resurrection empty tomb alternate theories
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Missing body theory: Jesus's body was never in the claimed tomb or went missing, explaining the empty tomb

Sixth alternate theory introduced

resurrection Bart Ehrman empty tomb
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Conspiracy theory: the disciples deliberately stole or fabricated the empty tomb story

Seventh alternate theory — described as the oldest, going back to first-century opponents of Christianity

resurrection alternate theories conspiracy theory (resurrection)
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Swoon theory refuted by facts A, I, and V: the description of crucifixion, the nature of post-resurrection appearances, and the disciples' bold willingness to die

Systematic refutation of the swoon theory using the ALIVE facts

resurrection crucifixion post-resurrection appearances
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Twin theory refuted by facts L, I, and E: empty tomb implies no second body; intimate companions would have known; family members converted

Systematic refutation of the twin theory using the ALIVE facts

James brother of Jesus resurrection empty tomb James brother of Jesus
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Mass hallucination theory refuted by fact I: hallucinations are individual, not shared; 1 Corinthians 15 cites 500 simultaneous witnesses

Systematic refutation of the mass hallucination theory

1 Corinthians 15 1 Corinthians 15 resurrection Richard Carrier
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Spiritual resurrection theory refuted by the meaning of the word 'resurrection' in first-century Jewish context — N.T. Wright's scholarship

Systematic refutation of the spiritual resurrection theory, citing N.T. Wright's work on Jewish meaning of resurrection

N.T. Wright resurrection spiritual resurrection theory
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Wrong tomb theory refuted by facts I, V, and E: independent appearances, violence endured, and enemy conversions cannot be explained by a navigational error

Systematic refutation of the wrong tomb theory

resurrection empty tomb wrong tomb theory
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Missing body and conspiracy theories both fail to explain facts I, V, and E; conspiracy adds knowingly dying for a lie

Systematic refutation of the missing body and conspiracy theories

resurrection apostolic martyrdom missing body theory
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

The resurrection is the one rational explanation that accounts for all five ALIVE facts

Conclusion of the evidence survey section

resurrection ALIVE acronym inference to best explanation
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

David Hume's argument: miracles are impossible, therefore no testimony can ever establish a miracle

Beginning of the skeptics section; examination of David Hume's philosophical objection

resurrection miracles David Hume
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Hume's single exception: he would only accept a miracle if it was the lesser of two competing miracle claims

Further detail on Hume's position from 'An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding'

miracles David Hume methodological naturalism
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Bart Ehrman's position: even if miracles happened, historians should not believe them

Examination of Bart Ehrman's approach to the resurrection

resurrection miracles Bart Ehrman
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

In his debate with William Lane Craig, Ehrman granted all five ALIVE facts but denied any historian can postulate miracles

Mike describes the Craig-Ehrman debate on the resurrection

resurrection miracles William Lane Craig
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

After the Craig debate, Ehrman changed position and now denies the burial — Mike argues this is ad hoc motivated reasoning

Mike's analysis of Ehrman's intellectual development post-debate

resurrection Bart Ehrman empty tomb
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Richard Carrier is a mythicist — he denies Jesus existed at all, a fringe position among credentialed scholars

Introduction to Richard Carrier's approach

resurrection Richard Carrier mythicism
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Carrier teaches that in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul describes events that occurred in outer space — a cosmic/celestial resurrection rather than an earthly one

Carrier's interpretation of the Pauline resurrection kerygma

1 Corinthians 15 1 Corinthians 15 resurrection Paul the Apostle
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Carrier's theory that the disciples were a mass gathering of schizophrenic individuals prone to shared hallucinations

Carrier's explanation for post-resurrection appearances

resurrection Richard Carrier post-resurrection appearances
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Carrier constructs a 'Frankenstein theory' drawing on ancient literature to claim Gospel narratives were plagiarized from myths

Carrier's literary dependence argument for the Gospel narratives

Gospel origins Richard Carrier ad hoc reasoning
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Dan Barker: former Christian musician now affiliated with Freedom From Religion Foundation, who debates and speaks against Christianity

Introduction of Dan Barker

Dan Barker Freedom From Religion Foundation deconversion
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Dan Barker's four reasons to reject the resurrection: problem of history, possible natural explanations, internal Bible contradictions, legendary growth

Overview of Barker's case against the resurrection

resurrection Dan Barker methodological naturalism
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Barker's 'problem of history': miracles cannot be established from historical evidence — same Humean presupposition as Ehrman

Mike analyzes Barker's first objection

miracles Dan Barker historical method
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Barker won't commit to a specific natural explanation because none can withstand scrutiny

Analysis of Barker's second objection — 'possible natural explanations'

resurrection Dan Barker alternate theories
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Barker's internal contradictions objection is a red herring — the five historical facts don't depend on biblical inerrancy

Mike's critique of Barker's third objection

resurrection Dan Barker historical method
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Barker's legendary growth argument cherry-picks data — each Gospel sometimes has more miraculous content, sometimes less

Mike's critique of Barker's fourth objection

Markan priority Gospel origins resurrection Dan Barker
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Matt Dillahunty's debate strategy: avoid taking a position, only attack others' positions; leans toward mythicism

Introduction and analysis of Matt Dillahunty's approach

resurrection Matt Dillahunty mythicism
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Dillahunty refuses to name an alternate explanation for the five facts; retreats to 'I don't know' as an elite epistemic position

Mike's critique of Dillahunty's evasiveness in debate

resurrection Matt Dillahunty intellectual evasion
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Dillahunty says he cannot think of any evidence that would convince him the resurrection happened — Mike calls this blind faith skepticism

Dillahunty's response to what evidence would change his mind

resurrection Matt Dillahunty methodological naturalism
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Sam Harris: no evidence — including multiple contemporaneous eyewitnesses — would be sufficient to establish the resurrection

Examination of Sam Harris's position on miracle claims

resurrection miracles Sam Harris
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Core pattern across all skeptics: a priori rejection of the resurrection regardless of evidence — Mike calls this blind faith

Synthesis and conclusion of the skeptics analysis section

resurrection apologetics methodological naturalism
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Response to 'you can't use the Bible': the Bible is actually 66 documents by multiple authors over hundreds of years and is treated as historical documents by secular historians

Common objection addressed — that the resurrection case is circular because it relies on the Bible

New Testament resurrection historical method
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

The 'they're just Christians' dismissal commits the genetic fallacy — disqualifying scholars by association with their conclusions

Response to Richard Carrier's dismissal of pro-resurrection scholars as biased Christians

resurrection William Lane Craig Richard Carrier
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Apologetics is not 'hijacking history' — the historical facts preexist apologetic use; it is skeptics who abuse historical disciplines

Response to the charge that Christian apologists are inappropriately co-opting history

resurrection apologetics Richard Carrier
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Denying evidence for Jesus requires denying historical methodology used to establish other historical events

The logical consistency argument for accepting historical evidence for Jesus

resurrection historical method historical Jesus
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Comparison to other miracle claims fails because they don't have equivalent evidence — not all miracle claims are equal

Response to the tu quoque objection: 'You don't believe in other miracle workers, why believe in Jesus?'

resurrection evidential standards miracle claims comparison
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Comparing Jesus's resurrection to Harry Potter is intellectually incoherent — a category error that reveals the accuser as a caricature

Response to an atheist who told Mike he should believe in Harry Potter if he believes the Bible

resurrection Harry Potter comparison category error
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Response to question about Flat Earth claims from a biblical perspective — Mike is still working through material before addressing it

Q&A section — response to Jeffrey McDowell's question about a promised Flat Earth video

Flat Earth biblical cosmology
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

'Easy believism' — intellectual assent alone does not save; genuine faith produces transformation and works

Q&A — response to JD Wolfe's question about 'easy believism'

salvation Holy Spirit easy believism
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

The word 'apostle' has two meanings in Scripture: one who walked with Jesus, and the broader sense of a sent-out missionary

Q&A — response to George Cook's question about which apostles met Jesus in person

apostolos the Twelve New Testament
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

1 Corinthians 15:3-7 is the earliest resurrection record — within five years of the crucifixion and agreed upon by over 90% of scholars

Q&A — response to George Cook's question about the earliest scriptural record of the resurrection

1 Corinthians 15 James brother of Jesus Cephas/Peter 1 Corinthians 15 resurrection
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Five years is not enough time for legendary development — the 500-witness claim makes legendary embellishment implausible

Mike's argument against legendary development theory using the early dating of 1 Corinthians 15

1 Corinthians 15 1 Corinthians 15 resurrection legendary growth
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Recommended resource: Mike Licona's book on the historical method and resurrection evidence

Q&A — responding to 'twisted wrench' who wants physical signs today

resurrection historical method Mike Licona
Mike Winger idea 2018-03-28

Why unbelievers reject the resurrection: sin, pride, bias, desires — caution against over-generalizing

Q&A — response to George Cook's question about why unbelievers are 'blind'

apologetics spiritual blindness unbelief
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