Search — Theology Explorer

Acts 15 1 Corinthians 15 James the brother of Jesus Acts 15 1 Corinthians 15 James the brother of Jesus

James the brother of Jesus as the leader of the Jerusalem church; Acts 15 and 1 Corinthians 15 as key evidence for his role and resurrection witness

Transition to James as the third focal figure

1 Corinthians 15:3-8 James the brother of Jesus Paul the Apostle 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 Peter the Apostle

1 Corinthians 15 early creed: dating, content, and the list of resurrection witnesses including Peter, James, Paul, and the 500

Establishing the early creed as the foundational evidence for resurrection appearances

James the brother of Jesus argument from silence Paul the Apostle Justin Martyr

Absence of any recantation tradition for Peter, James, or Paul — an argument from silence that is evidentially significant given second-century apologetic engagement

The negative evidence: no source anywhere suggests any of these eyewitnesses recanted

James the brother of Jesus resurrection Paul the Apostle apostle sincerity

Conclusion: Peter, Paul, and James were sincerely convinced they had seen Jesus alive — the conspiracy/lying hypothesis is eliminated by the evidence

Summary conclusion of the main argument

resurrection eyewitness testimony apostle sincerity

Response to the objection "9/11 bombers were also sincere" — the distinction between sincere indoctrinated believers and sincere eyewitnesses

Q&A style engagement with the most common objection to the sincerity argument

faith trust belief without evidence

Twitter poll on the definition of faith: Christian vs. non-Christian results

Opening segment introducing the topic

Why Mike gave only two poll options and why "trust" is the appropriate generic definition of faith

Explaining poll methodology

faith trust allegiance

faith evidence for Christianity belief without evidence

Non-Christians define faith as "belief without evidence" because they assume Christians have no evidence

Analyzing the poll divide

faith belief without evidence biblical definition of faith

Some Christians erroneously voted for "belief without evidence" — Mike argues this view is unbiblical

Accounting for anomalies in poll results

poll methodology atheist activism

Poll manipulation: atheists voted fraudulently as Christians to skew results; example of Jen admitting it

Discussing poll integrity

Billy Graham faith evidence

Randall Haynes: a Christian confused by poll wording who voted "belief without evidence" but actually agrees faith involves evidence

Examining individual poll respondents

faith belief without evidence double standard in faith definitions

Non-believer "Snoopit" acknowledges double standard: uses "trust" for human faith but "belief without evidence" for Christian faith

Examining skeptic responses to the poll

belief without evidence Richard Dawkins atheist rhetoric on faith

Mike attributes the pejorative definition of faith among atheists to a deliberate campaign, specifically naming Richard Dawkins

Analyzing origin of atheist definition of faith

Street Epistemology The Elephant in the Brain faith as loyalty signal

Reed (Street Epistemology YouTuber) argues that "belief without evidence" functions as a costly loyalty signal within religious in-groups

Examining another atheist's social-psychological theory of faith

apologetics philosophical arguments for God anti-supernaturalism

Atheist responses to evidence for God ultimately reduce to anti-supernaturalism

Meta-observation about atheist argumentation

former Christian atheists faith as denial of evidence

Charles Moss (former Christian) defines faith as active denial of observation to preserve belief

Examining former Christians' definitions of faith

Hebrews 11:1 Hebrews 11:1 former Christian atheists faith as hope vs. evidence

Greg Mater (former Christian) incorrectly cited Hebrews 11:1 as a definition of faith rather than a description

Examining a former Christian's use of Hebrews 11:1

forgiveness of sins paralytic lowered through roof faith grounded in evidence

Jesus healed the paralytic to provide evidence for his authority to forgive sins — faith is evidence-based

Biblical example of evidence-based faith

Matt Dillahunty evidence for the resurrection God of the gaps

JD Flier defines faith as "belief in an ever-receding pocket of scientific ignorance" — the God-of-the-gaps argument

Examining another atheist definition of faith

Matt Dillahunty resurrection of Jesus inference to the best explanation

Upcoming debate with Matt Dillahunty on whether belief in the resurrection is reasonable; science is not the only method of knowing

Announcing the Dillahunty debate and defending historical methodology

A Manual for Creating Atheists Peter Boghossian Street Epistemology

Peter Boghossian's "A Manual for Creating Atheists" teaches that "I believe in God" secretly means "I pretend to know things I don't know"

Critique of Boghossian's framing of religious belief

Matt Dillahunty definition of faith faith as excuse

Matt Dillahunty's shifting definitions of faith: "excuse without good reason," "believing things you know aren't true," and "belief with evidence"

Critique of Dillahunty's inconsistency on faith

early church persecution destroying the temple accusation dialogue between Christians and atheists

Historical parallel: early church marginalized by accusation that Jesus wanted to destroy the temple — same dynamic as "faith is irrational" accusation today

Historical analogy for communication breakdown

Tim McGrew Peter Boghossian Christian vs. non-Christian definitions of faith

Tim McGrew vs. Boghossian debate and a Facebook poll showing the same Christian/non-Christian split on the definition of faith

Corroborating evidence for poll results from an independent debate

evangelism faith evidence for Christianity

The definitional divide on faith is a communication barrier to evangelism — Christians must clarify they have evidence

Practical application of the poll findings

faith and knowledge epistemology of faith trust and allegiance

Shannon's question: if faith is trust with evidence, isn't it knowledge? Mike argues knowledge and faith can coexist

Q&A on the epistemology of faith

Romans 1:18-32 Romans 1:20 atheism Romans 1:18-32 cosmological argument

Romans 1:18-32 describes two divine judgments on those who suppress the evidence for God: sin and a debased mind

Q&A: Monica Poole asks how Street Epistemology relates to Romans 1

personal testimony experiential evidence for faith conversion experience

Mike's personal conversion testimony: depression before faith, joy and relationship with God after — and subsequent evidential verification

Q&A: Benjamin Acompo (skeptic) asks what evidence a 12-year-old Mike had at conversion beyond feelings

Mike Winger idea 2019-04-24

Q&A: Handling unreliable sources and fact-checking in a Wikipedia age — do your diligence, own mistakes, and nuance statements to match the strength of evidence

Final audience question about fact-checking and epistemic responsibility

Romans 7 biblical interpretation apologetics methodology fact-checking

Apologetics Resurrection of Jesus Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence

Introduction: The slogan "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" as a reason people reject the resurrection

Mike opens by framing the entire talk around evaluating this popular skeptical slogan, which he says is the primary reason many people reject the resurrection of Christ.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence Carl Sagan Cosmos (TV show)

Origin of the slogan: Carl Sagan coined "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence"

Mike traces the historical origin of the slogan before critiquing it.

William Lane Craig Resurrection of Jesus Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens applied the slogan to God and the resurrection in debates with William Lane Craig

After explaining Sagan's origin, Mike describes how the slogan was weaponized in atheist apologetics.

David Hume Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence Miracles

David Hume as possible earlier source of the idea behind the slogan

Mike traces the philosophical lineage of the slogan back to the 18th century.

Apologetics Resurrection of Jesus Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence

How the slogan functions in practice: a rhetorical device to dismiss evidence without engaging it

Mike describes the actual real-world usage pattern he has encountered when presenting evidence for Christianity.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence Definition of extraordinary

Mike Twitter-polled atheists to understand how they define the terms in the slogan

Rather than strawmanning skeptics, Mike sought direct input from atheists on his Twitter following to understand how they define "extraordinary."

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence Gullibility vs. denial Epistemology

Personal sympathy for the slogan: the desire not to be gullible

Mike acknowledges the psychological appeal of the slogan before dismantling it.

Apologetics Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence

Overview: Five problems with the slogan

Mike previews his structured five-point critique of the slogan.

Circular reasoning Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence Self-defeating argument

Problem 1: The slogan is self-defeating — it does not meet its own standard

First of five critiques of the slogan.

Equivocation fallacy Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence Definition of extraordinary

Problem 2: No clear definition of what "extraordinary" means — equivocation fallacy

Second of five critiques.

Resurrection of Jesus Definition of extraordinary Prior probability

Twitter respondents define "extraordinary claim" as low prior probability

Part of Mike's data-gathering from Twitter atheists about how they define the slogan's terms.

Equivocation fallacy Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence Epistemology

Twitter respondents cannot define "extraordinary evidence" — shifting, subjective standard

Part of the data-gathering from Twitter, illustrating the definitional problem with the slogan.

Apologetics Resurrection of Jesus Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence

Mike asks Twitter: what specific historical evidence for the resurrection would count as "extraordinary"?

Mike probes the practical application of the slogan to the resurrection specifically.

Resurrection of Jesus Eyewitness testimony Historical evidence

Twitter response 1: Jesus appearing across the globe with stories from all nations as required evidence

First Twitter respondent's example of what extraordinary evidence for the resurrection would look like.

1 Corinthians 1 Corinthians Paul the Apostle Resurrection of Jesus

Twitter response 2: Eyewitness testimony from various continents, plus written testimony from Pilate or Sanhedrin

Second respondent's examples of extraordinary resurrection evidence.

Bart Ehrman Resurrection of Jesus Biblical manuscripts

Twitter response 3: Want documented accounts with originals protected — which is what we have

Third respondent's example of extraordinary evidence.

Biblical manuscripts Textual criticism New Testament reliability

Textual criticism: the discipline that traces copies back to originals and why we can trust the transmission

Brief explanation of how we verify the integrity of the New Testament text.

Resurrection of Jesus Historical evidence Prophecy

Twitter response 4: Bible found on the moon, photos from 2000 years ago, predictions — absurd demands

Fourth respondent's example of extraordinary evidence — illustrating how the slogan leads to unreasonable expectations.

1 Corinthians 15 1 Corinthians 15 Resurrection of Jesus Early creed

Twitter response 5: Contemporary writings of life, death, resurrection with originals — we have near-contemporary documents, especially 1 Corinthians 15

Fifth respondent example; Mike pivots to addressing 1 Corinthians 15 as key early evidence.

Resurrection of Jesus Historical evidence Unreasonable skepticism

Twitter response 5 continued: demands 12 angels, 12 prophets, 12 languages simultaneously — unreasonable historical expectation

The same respondent adds a preferred but unreasonable standard.