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How Easter Killed My Faith in Atheism
By Lee Strobel
quote:
Earlier this week, humorist Ricky Gervais presented his arguments for atheism and why he thought he was a better Christian than many Christians. In this follow-up essay, writer Lee Strobel offers his defense of Easter.


It was the worst news I could get as an atheist: my agnostic wife had decided to become a Christian. Two words shot through my mind. The first was an expletive; the second was “divorce.”

I thought she was going to turn into a self-righteous holy roller. But over the following months, I was intrigued by the positive changes in her character and values. Finally, I decided to take my journalism and legal training (I was legal editor of the Chicago Tribune) and systematically investigate whether there was any credibility to Christianity.

Maybe, I figured, I could extricate her from this cult.

I quickly determined that the alleged resurrection of Jesus was the key. Anyone can claim to be divine, but if Jesus backed up his claim by returning from the dead, then that was awfully good evidence he was telling the truth.

For nearly two years, I explored the minutia of the historical data on whether Easter was myth or reality. I didn’t merely accept the New Testament at face value; I was determined only to consider facts that were well-supported historically. As my investigation unfolded, my atheism began to buckle.

Was Jesus really executed? In my opinion, the evidence is so strong that even atheist historian Gerd Lüdemann said his death by crucifixion was “indisputable.”

Was Jesus’ tomb empty? Scholar William Lane Craig points out that its location was known to Christians and non-Christians alike. So if it hadn’t been empty, it would have been impossible for a movement founded on the resurrection to have exploded into existence in the same city where Jesus had been publicly executed just a few weeks before.

Besides, even Jesus’ opponents implicitly admitted the tomb was vacant by saying that his body had been stolen. But nobody had a motive for taking the body, especially the disciples. They wouldn’t have been willing to die brutal martyrs’ deaths if they knew this was all a lie.

Did anyone see Jesus alive again? I have identified at least eight ancient sources, both inside and outside the New Testament, that in my view confirm the apostles’ conviction that they encountered the resurrected Christ. Repeatedly, these sources stood strong when I tried to discredit them.

Could these encounters have been hallucinations? No way, experts told me. Hallucinations occur in individual brains, like dreams, yet, according to the Bible, Jesus appeared to groups of people on three different occasions – including 500 at once!

Was this some other sort of vision, perhaps prompted by the apostles’ grief over their leader’s execution? This wouldn’t explain the dramatic conversion of Saul, an opponent of Christians, or James, the once-skeptical half-brother of Jesus.

Neither was primed for a vision, yet each saw the risen Jesus and later died proclaiming he had appeared to him. Besides, if these were visions, the body would still have been in the tomb.

Was the resurrection simply the recasting of ancient mythology, akin to the fanciful tales of Osiris or Mithras? If you want to see a historian laugh out loud, bring up that kind of pop-culture nonsense.

One by one, my objections evaporated. I read books by skeptics, but their counter-arguments crumbled under the weight of the historical data. No wonder atheists so often come up short in scholarly debates over the resurrection.

In the end, after I had thoroughly investigated the matter, I reached an unexpected conclusion: it would actually take more faith to maintain my atheism than to become a follower of Jesus.

And that’s why I’m now celebrating my 30th Easter as a Christian. Not because of wishful thinking, the fear of death, or the need for a psychological crutch, but because of the facts.
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It's just a tad "Billish". So he "got religion". Every day someone "gets religion" and every day someone else "comes out" as an atheist, some of those being long time ministers. It's nothing we haven't heard or seen before. I wasn't trying to be ugly about it but thought it was more than what it was. Heck, bill spouts the same stuff day after day thread after thread. The only difference is bill says an atheist never believed. That's why I tell bill he's still a pagan, because you can't have it both ways. Either people can change their minds or they can't. This man didn't "prove" anything, as I say he just "got religion".
quote:
Originally posted by INVICTUS:
quote:
Originally posted by GOAHEADMAKEMYDAY:
easter has nothing to do with the resurrection of jesus...look into the origin of the holiday.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/easter1.htm

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Not even a good try, go sleep it off.


Iv


fine. the you explain why the death and ressurection of the lord christ, son of god born of woman, the savior of mankind, is celebrated with bunnies delivering painted chicken eggs, candy, and woven baskets filled with multi colored grass and lots of little fuzzy baby ducks?

what does the salvation of mankind have to do with creme filled chocolate eggs...

.. then again.. maybe if we could spread those cadbury eggs all over the world, it would cause widespead world peace due to sudden happiness... because it's hard to be pissed off when eating a cadbury creme egg..

ok.. nevermind. jesus came to earth to die so we could have cadbury eggs and that would cause the spread of world peace... i'll buy that. it makes just as much sense as the friggin ducks and bunnies and being saved by a risen zombie.
quote:
fine. the you explain why the death and ressurection of the lord christ, son of god born of woman, the savior of mankind, is celebrated with bunnies delivering painted chicken eggs, candy, and woven baskets filled with multi colored grass and lots of little fuzzy baby ducks?


LOL!
You know, I detest the Commercial Easter Tradition. SUre, I will buy the stupid chocolate bunny, because my kids would be devastated if I didn't, but I do not believe the Easter Bunny exists in other countries...
Its lame.. it's trite, and I hate it.
Who needs a cadbury egg when you have the Gift of our Lord Jesus Christ?
I will admit though, the peeps? Keep 'em coming.
quote:
Originally posted by vplee123:
quote:
fine. the you explain why the death and ressurection of the lord christ, son of god born of woman, the savior of mankind, is celebrated with bunnies delivering painted chicken eggs, candy, and woven baskets filled with multi colored grass and lots of little fuzzy baby ducks?


LOL!
You know, I detest the Commercial Easter Tradition. SUre, I will buy the stupid chocolate bunny, because my kids would be devastated if I didn't, but I do not believe the Easter Bunny exists in other countries...
Its lame.. it's trite, and I hate it.
Who needs a cadbury egg when you have the Gift of our Lord Jesus Christ?
I will admit though, the peeps? Keep 'em coming.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Yeah, the commercialism is the hardest thing for me to accept about
the years most holy day.


.
quote:
Originally posted by vplee123:
quote:
fine. the you explain why the death and ressurection of the lord christ, son of god born of woman, the savior of mankind, is celebrated with bunnies delivering painted chicken eggs, candy, and woven baskets filled with multi colored grass and lots of little fuzzy baby ducks?


LOL!
You know, I detest the Commercial Easter Tradition. SUre, I will buy the stupid chocolate bunny, because my kids would be devastated if I didn't, but I do not believe the Easter Bunny exists in other countries...
Its lame.. it's trite, and I hate it.
Who needs a cadbury egg when you have the Gift of our Lord Jesus Christ?
I will admit though, the peeps? Keep 'em coming.


DOH.. i forgot about the peeps.


heh.. nah, my only point is that inv seemed to be saying that easter was never anything before it was used by the christians.. when the pagan spring fertility celebrations were areound for thousands of years before He was born.

i have no problem with christians co-opting the spring rite and useing it to celebrate easter.. any more than i mind saturnalia being taken over and used for christmas...
after all, those celebrations were probably something else before they were the fertility rites and saturnalia as well. in another 1000 years, they'll be something else. we evolve holidays all the time.. look at president's day - when i was in school we noted both washington and lincoln seperatly... now we've co-opted another day and tossed all 44 or so of them in together.

but i guess we can include peeps in the cadbury creme egg peace accord... but only the pink or yellow ones.. the others are sacriledge.
quote:
Originally posted by b50m:
Can you show where he is wrong?


b50, strobel uses the bible to back up his facts about the bible. when he is uncertain about a fact, he goes into great detail on how smart scholar "X" is then allows the scholar to use the bible to back up the bible.

despite stroble's claims, there are almost no extra-biblical references to the existence of jeusus despite the incredible detail the roman's kept during that time. the only vanishingly few references come from sources that many "scholars" claim were entered in the record well after the fact.

belief in Jesus is 100% faith based. i personally claim "i don't know." he may have existed or ma not have. if he existed, he almost certainly did not suffer for three days on a cross, die, then inherit a universe. that is beyond fairy tale and anyone who believes that is simply deluded.

strobel simply found a way to make a few million off of the gullibility of the christian faith who will latch onto just about anything to "prove" their faith.
quote:
Originally posted by vplee123:
quote:
fine. the you explain why the death and ressurection of the lord christ, son of god born of woman, the savior of mankind, is celebrated with bunnies delivering painted chicken eggs, candy, and woven baskets filled with multi colored grass and lots of little fuzzy baby ducks?


LOL!
You know, I detest the Commercial Easter Tradition. SUre, I will buy the stupid chocolate bunny, because my kids would be devastated if I didn't, but I do not believe the Easter Bunny exists in other countries...
Its lame.. it's trite, and I hate it.
Who needs a cadbury egg when you have the Gift of our Lord Jesus Christ?
I will admit though, the peeps? Keep 'em coming.


And peeps are so fun to decorate with.... they look so happy....

I have a weakness for the bunny shape sweetarts too...

I can't wait for the Jesus movies to start airing on Easter weekend.
quote:
anyone who believes that is simply deluded.



I believe it! With all my heart and soul. And I would defend and profess that Truth till the day I die.



no one said one can't be happy with her delusions.

Do you really believe in the concept of Original Sin? And, if so, do you believe in the literal Adam and Eve?

If you don't believe in the literal Adam and Eve, then why believe in Original Sin?

Anyone who can see a newborn baby and believe that that lovely little bundle deserves to burn in hell at that very time confuses me.

nsns
quote:
Passion is the sickest, most violent movie I have ever been displeasured to watch. I could not make it through it.


That's my fear, that I won't be able to make it through it.
But I believe that it truly did go down that way, which makes it all the more upsetting.
What He endured, the unspeakable, for us to have Life. I am not worthy.......
here is a list of people who actually did die for us so that we may have better lives: http://www.history.army.mil/moh.html

read the stories of any one of these individuals and ask yourself who is more worthy of praise; the american soldier of a fictional character?

here is just one, chosen completely at random:

cCLEERY, FINNIS D.

Rank and organization: platoon Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 1st Battalion, 6th U.S. Infantry. place and date: Quang Tin province, Republic of Vietnam, 14 May 1968. Entered service at: San Angelo, Tex. Born: 25 December 1927, Stephenville, Tex. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. P/Sgt. McCleery, U.S. Army, distinguished himself while serving as platoon leader of the 1st platoon of Company A. A combined force was assigned the mission of assaulting a reinforced company of North Vietnamese Army regulars, well entrenched on Hill 352, 17 miles west of Tam Ky. As P/Sgt. McCleery led his men up the hill and across an open area to close with the enemy, his platoon and other friendly elements were pinned down by tremendously heavy fire coming from the fortified enemy positions. Realizing the severe damage that the enemy could inflict on the combined force in the event that their attack was completely halted, P/Sgt. McCleery rose from his sheltered position and began a 1-man assault on the bunker complex. With extraordinary courage, he moved across 60 meters of open ground as bullets struck all around him and rockets and grenades literally exploded at his feet. As he came within 30 meters of the key enemy bunker, P/Sgt. McCleery began firing furiously from the hip and throwing hand grenades. At this point in his assault, he was painfully wounded by shrapnel, but, with complete disregard for his wound, he continued his advance on the key bunker and killed all of its occupants. Having successfully and single-handedly breached the enemy perimeter, he climbed to the top of the bunker he had just captured and, in full view of the enemy, shouted encouragement to his men to follow his assault. As the friendly forces moved forward, P/Sgt. McCleery began a lateral assault on the enemy bunker line. He continued to expose himself to the intense enemy fire as he moved from bunker to bunker, destroying each in turn. He was wounded a second time by shrapnel as he destroyed and routed the enemy from the hill. P/Sgt. McCleery is personally credited with eliminating several key enemy positions and inspiring the assault that resulted in gaining control of Hill 352. His extraordinary heroism at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, was in keeping with the highest standards of the military service, and reflects great credit on him, the Americal Division, and the U.S. Army.

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