The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus: Critical Summary

Introduction

The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus by Gary Habermas and Michael Licona is divided into four parts, each examining some aspect of the Resurrection of Christ. Part 1 examines the significance of the subject and why it matters. Part 2 explores the facts regarding the Resurrection and the evidence available to prove or disprove it. Part 3 examines the rebuttals and arguments of those who wish to deny the Resurrection. Part 4 explains the Resurrection by situating it within the larger context of God's plan and who Christ Himself believed Himself to be—a necessary addition in light of recent media such as The Last Temptation of Christ and other books and films that posit that Christ struggled with a sense of His own divinity or was not fully aware of His mission from the beginning.

Habermas and Licona make clear that Christ was always fully aware of who He was and what His mission was—from the time He stayed behind to teach the elders in the Temple as a child to the time He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane and undertook His Passion to expiate for the sins of mankind. This paper provides a critical summary of The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus by summarizing and evaluating the authors' arguments, interacting with the key points of the reading, and critically evaluating the positive and negative aspects of the work overall.

Summary of the Book

The book first provides the framework for the examination of the facts by setting out the case for why those facts matter in the first place. This is an important framework because it allows the discussion to move forward. If there is no groundwork or no understanding of why the facts need to be examined, the purpose becomes fruitless. The authors do well to lay this groundwork out first.

The authors then move on to examining the facts. They do this by discussing what they call a "quintet of facts"—or the 4+1 facts—which they argue prove the Resurrection.¹ These facts include evidence from historians, eyewitnesses, the Church itself, the Bible as a historical artifact, and the observation that no contrary evidence has ever been produced—only unverifiable claims. The facts are laid out effectively and convincingly. The authors then explore the counter-arguments, examining them fairly, before finally moving on to a fuller explanation of the Resurrection by examining the person of Christ and why it makes logical sense to believe in the Resurrection based on Christ's works prior to it and on the life of the Church afterward. The entire arc of the narrative, viewed from this vantage point, reveals a comprehensive, coherent, and consistent story. This is the most effective portion of the book in terms of illuminating the meaning of the subject.

Why the Book Matters

The authors claim that the subject—and the book itself—is significant to human history because the central thesis underlying the Resurrection is that all of mankind's hopes depend on this one event. If the Resurrection did not take place, then humanity has no hope, and it is very likely that God is dead, just as Nietzsche argued in the nineteenth century. If the Resurrection did take place, it means that the story of Christ is very real and that mankind must adhere to His teachings in order to attain Heaven.

The argument is a valid and critical one to put in context, especially for modern readers. It really does come down to an either/or choice: either Christ was God and did as the Church says He did, or He was not and all His teachings were fanciful and unrealistic, with His own death proving as much. If Christ rose from the dead, then everyone who doubted must be like Thomas—they must understand the reality and reform, because the way of the Cross is the way of Christ and following that way is all that matters in life. If Christ did not rise from the dead, then He was not God and may be dismissed as a liar and an idealist.

As the authors state in the preface, the point of the Resurrection is most essential when faith is treated as a matter of life and death. The authors ask, for example: "Is Christianity really true? Are there any good reasons to know which religion is true? Could it be that God does not really exist?" They note that these questions pose certain theological parameters, whether found to be true or false: "After all," they state, "if atheism is true, then why should we subject ourselves to the teachings of Jesus? Why should we insist on views that alienate others, especially the claim that Jesus is the only way to heaven?"² The authors do an adequately effective job of framing the significance of the subject for a modern reader.

Conclusion

The book by Habermas and Licona effectively addresses the subject of the Resurrection of Christ by getting to the heart of the evidence, the counter-arguments, and the big picture, and by showing why it matters from the ultimate either/or perspective. Either Christ rose from the dead and did as the tradition says He did, or He did not and was never God in the first place. The Resurrection is thus a point in history that must be considered fully and seriously in order for one to know how to live one's life.

The authors show that it must be considered from a historical point of view because it is a matter of history—because faith does rest on reason and does require the use of logic to arrive at the point of assent and the expression of faith in Christ. Every reader is, to some degree, like Thomas: Thomas wanted proof—physical, tangible proof that Christ had risen—and said he would not believe until he could place his finger in the wound and see that Christ was indeed alive. That is exactly what happened, and Thomas was converted. The doubts were removed because he was finally able to see the evidence for himself.

The evidence is still there—that is the argument the authors make. They make it convincingly by pointing to the history of the Church, which never could have survived so miraculously had it not been guided by God and motivated by the Resurrection. The authors are able to make this argument because they situate the Resurrection within the larger compass of history and show how lies are eventually exposed and how people who go to their deaths for a cause or an idea do so because they know it to be true.

Bibliography

Habermas, Gary, and Michael Licona. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregell, 2004.

¹ Gary Habermas and Michael Licona, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregell, 2004), 213.
² Habermas and Licona, The Case for the Resurrection, 7.
³ Habermas and Licona, The Case for the Resurrection, 68.
⁴ Habermas and Licona, The Case for the Resurrection, 94.
⁵ Habermas and Licona, The Case for the Resurrection, 94.