Historical Resurrection of Christ? NT Wright responds (HD)

(HD) Transcript: "The resurrection of Jesus took everybody by surprise. The disciples werent expecting it. They knew perfectly well, that if you followed someone who you thought was the Messiah, and he got killed, then that was it. We know at least a dozen other Messianic or prophetic movements, within a hundred years on either side of Jesus, they routinely ended with the death of the founder. And if the movement wanted to continue, they didnt say, oh hes been raised from the dead. They said, lets find his brother or cousin who can carry on this movement. You can see how those Jewish groups did that. This one did it differently. They had James the brother of Jesus, as this great leader of the early church, but nobody said, James is the Messiah. They said, Jesus is the Messiah. Why? Hes dead. They got him, didnt you realize they crucified... No. He was raised from the dead. The only way you can explain, why Christianity began, and why it took the very precise shape it was, is lets say it cautiously, first - they really did believe He was bodily raised from the dead. And then if you take the second question, why would they believe that? You can go through all the theories, that they found themselves forgiven. They had a fresh sense of the presence of God. That this was cognitive dissonance, etc. Then you bring all those theories to the actual facts that we know on the ground in the first century. . .they just dont fit. The only way you can explain the rise of the early Christian belief that Jesus was raised, is that there really was an empty tomb. They really did meet Jesus again, in a transformed body. And the thing makes sense. Of course, when I wrote a big book on this, my philosopher tutor from Oxford who was an atheist read it and he said, great book. You really make the argument. I simply choose to believe that there must be some other explanation even though I dont know what it was. I said, fine. Thats as far as I can take you. I cant bully you into saying, therefore you must believe. Because to do that requires a change of world view. But, once you change the world view, and say, maybe there really is a creator God. Maybe this creator God, really is sorting out this sad old world at last. Then, everything else makes sense in a way that it doesnt with any other possibility."

[GoodyBob]

Good points Phillip. I've studied Jesus the Christ for decades from historicity to teachings. He is for real. The ancient Jews were famous for memorizing & passing on info accurately for generations(no ipads then). There's over 50 non-Biblical records of Him even by His enemies. With each new find, archaeology ALWAYS supports the Gospels/Jesus. We learn who God really is thru Jesus. God is the being/energy of light/love/pureness in a quantum physics type dimension & is inter-dimensional also...

[marctesio]

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

[budekins]

Can't help but like this video. The resurrection explains why James the brother of Jesus became the head of the Jerusalem church and also why he was executed by stoning around AD 62 on orders of the Jewish High Priest.

[GoodyBob]

We're free spirits to seek goodness or permit darkness/separation of Him. It's like if you're told, if you stick your hand in a fire you'll get burned every time. You have the mental control to touch the fire or not. Most near-death-exper. say they were in a tunnel of love & radiant light with Jesus in the center, while others went to tormented scenes. Many say we're here to learn to love w/compassion for all, & w/control. As Jesus mainly taught= love of God & each other is the greatest of ALL.

[dustinbank]

Even a "good" law, like the US has, is possible of breaking. Why should a perfect law be impossible to break. The only thing impossible, I should think, would be to not break it. He gave us choice to remain in Him (God being the one with the capacity to keep the law, we cannot keep it on our own), or to go out on our own. This free will allows for a great many wonderful things, but also terrible things, such as sin.

[stephjh]

@lizazoon Why was this not the subject of the disputes in the early century's AD?

[ak]

@Stefatropolis The thing with Jesus is that, as Rt. Rev. Wright mentions, Jesus was not replaced with a 'relative' leader, but rather he is actually resurrected in his own body (transformed one). Therefore, it is quite different from any other 'messianic' stories. It is in fact unique.

[yasmeenmaymaharaj-webb]

Just out of curiosity, is this book that's mentioned in the vid publicly available? Anyone got any clues on what it's called?

[Shelama]

At 4 or 5 years old you're already emotionally committed and invested in the idea of a God who loved you so much that he died for you, and that waves of tears and emotions are reliable guides.

As a child, before you can critically read or think, you're already fantastically entrenched emotionally and psychologically in a story that, unknown to you at the time, is supposedly rooted in Yahweh and Torah and the entire Tanakh and, as a child, that's instilled into mind and self and bowel.

[pamelaeddowes]

Thank you so much for you information you are helping me learn for a class right now.

[dustinbank]

In this country we have the great privilege of electing people to a position of authority; however that is not the case elsewhere and democracy does not create authority. Even a king has authority to execute, whether he is morally right or wrong is another matter entirely. The God of the universe is not only above us in the order or being, but also, more perfect in judgement, if simply by the merit that He created all that we know and even the idea of judgement.Remember, He created ALL things.

[dustinbank]

The semantics of faith is important, so that we're talking about the same thing. Very briefly (as this could be an essay), Faith in Christianity (by some opinions) is both the virtue of keeping your faith (e.g. what I mentioned before, holding firm to what you have analyzed and determined with good reason to be true) and also, the faith in Christ and that what he has done on the cross is enough for your salvation.

[dustinbank]

It's important to note, any faith worth a bag of beans is not a faith despite any evidence or against reason. It is belief in what you know to be true and hope in the unseen.

[dustinbank]

I understand what you're saying, however, I'm not sure I understand the last comment about Paul. One thing that always stumps me is how Paul...

[brandynne]

Being born again through Jesus Christ is a real experience and compliant to the written word of God, and you know absolutely you are saved and going to heaven, whereas before you did not have the knowledge of salvation.

[dustinbank]

If we are left to mere speculation about God, then this may be true. However, if God has revealed himself to us, then he has explained to us in human terms (to the extent that we can comprehend) who He is. In that sense, he has drawn clear boundaries or descriptions of his nature and character in scripture for us. This is the claim of Christianity though, I cannot account for other faith claims.

[dustinbank]

Phillip, this statement doesn't hold water, or I don't fully understand it. You'll either have to let it go or flesh it out for me.

[dustinbank]

I am by no means an expert on Mormonism, but many of the things I've learned about their beliefs didn't make sense to me either, so I can certainly appreciate that. Also, I'm not sure I'm familiar with the case against Christianity by way of Judaism and the Old Testament, could you possibly explain it for me?

[VoiceOfModeration]

I liked how this was presented, but I had a bad experience with a Bishop and ever since have been skiddish about organized religion..its hard for me not to get sad over all this stuff..and this one's proud, not able to apologize etc. Anyone got any suggestions?

[dustinbank]

Also, to your point of autocratic rulers, I couldn't agree more. When humans try to command the power and authority of God themselves, it is indeed a terrible thing. Every human (and every other creature for that matter) is under the authority of God. Trying to have ultimate authority over life and death, as God, is case and point of the destruction that can happen when you try to remove yourself from God's authority.