Answering Objections [Pt 1]

1 Peter 3:15

"...but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is within you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,..."

I am a fan of apologetics.   One of my favorite apologists ... nay... my favorite one is Dr. James White over at Alpha & Omega Ministries.  I am used to hearing 1Peter 3:15 every week on his twice-a-week show The Dividing Line.  Be ready to give a defense for why you have hope in Christ... but do so not with arrogance, but with respect and a gentle spirit.  This is something God has been working on in my life I think.  Before I get to that... something else should be mentioned in passing...

I think I am, more or less, past my "cage stage."  What is THAT, you ask?  A stage in every Calvinist's life, just after he becomes a Calvinist, when he is a very angry and bitter person, filled with arrogance, and a demeanor that wants to keep people from coming near him or her.  I will right about this topic more another day perhaps.  But often fresh Calvinists can be real jerks in how they deal with their Arminian brothers and sisters.  Being right doesn't give you license to be a jerk.  If anything, Calvinism should make you MORE gracious, since you more fully understand the wondrous undeserved grace of God.  In any case.... I'm really moving past that stage I think.

Back to apologetics.  Recently I have been in contact with a few non-Christians via email and facebook, one of whom I have never met.  I have had an opportunity to address some of their objections to Christianity.  Some of these objections are quite common.  That is not to say they are to be diminished in importance.  Common objections deserve respect and accuracy in reply, after all.  I hope I have been able to address some of these individual's concerns about the Bible and the Christian faith.  

The goal is not to argue them into Christianity.  How silly is that??  After all, how does one wish to argue a spiritually dead person into anything?  Only the Holy Spirit has the power to grant regeneration and repentance in the life of a rebel sinner.  The purpose is to try and answer objections so that, in the end, the gospel may be proclaimed with fervor.  It isn't for the purpose of winning an argument... but for exulting Jesus Christ as King and Savior.

For the next few posts, I will summarize some of these questions and post my responses.   May this be edifying to believers in providing these replies, and to the skeptic who seeks to have such questions answered.

Objection #1:  "Jesus was not resurrected because we KNOW that people do not raise from the dead."

Beginning with the natural law argument against Jesus’ resurrection (which is a boring place to start, because I would rather deal with the textual criticism stuff… it’s more fun for a Religious Studies person such as moi), in light of the Bible being consistent with itself, it would seem that a *physical, bodily* resurrection IS indeed possible.  True, this does not happen every day.  If it were an everyday occurrence, naturalistic materialists would certainly form a “scientific” and “rational” explanation that would not require God to be involved anyway.  But that isn’t really where I am going with this anyway.  If you consider the possibility that Genesis 1:1 is true – that God *did* create the heavens and the earth… and the myriad of other texts of God’s self-revelation that state that he is the sovereign Lord who sustains the world and does as he pleases… would that not at least *allow* for the possibility that Jesus could have risen from the dead?  If God created the world with a mere word… instantly… how difficult would it be for him to raise someone from the dead? 

I am aware I have written much about “possibility” and have not proven the resurrection at this point.  Saying resurrection COULD happen is NOT the same thing as saying it DID happen, and then staking my entire life (and even eternity perhaps) on that proposition.  Still, your statement was a definitive “people don’t rise from the dead” refusing to allow for the possibility.  My point was just that just because it doesn’t happen in nature doesn’t mean it is outside the realm of influence of a sovereign creator God.  Again, if Gen 1:1 is true, the rest of the Bible – with all of its supernatural and miraculous happenings: Red Sea parting, plagues, healings, rising to life the dead, and even the very act of regeneration/Salvation – kinda falls into place.

Furthermore, I would challenge the basis for which we "know that people don't raise from the dead."  Using the Bible as the authority, I would assert that we know people DO raise from the dead, as Jesus is the first fruit of this, and all believers will follow some day.   The reason the objector claims that we know it can't happen is because he or she is assuming a naturalistic materialist presupposition.  The naturalist has the presumption that miracles CAN'T happen based on their worldview of materialism, which precludes the existence of God, or at least a God who can be and is active in his creation.  As long as they operate unchallenged from this assumed worldview of naturalism the individual will always be able to look at the claims Scripture makes regarding things like the resurrection and say "nuh-uh! because science says no."

Jesus was raised from the dead.  His resurrection is proof that his propitiatory sacrifice on the cross was pleasing to God.  Death no longer had any claim on him.  Death was defeated at the cross.  The hope of the resurrection is one that truly exists for all who repent and trust in Christ's finished work to save.

... more to come...