IN ATTACKING THE existence of God, many atheists have attacked the biblical account of the resurrection…

The Apostle Paul himself said the resurrection itself is central to the truth of Christianity. He wrote:

“But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. ( 1 Corinthians 15:13-16 ESV).

The most certain proof for anything is eyewitness testimony. In criminal trials, a conviction is almost certain if eyewitness testimony is given. While it is true that people alive today have never seen anyone raised from the dead, it is most certainly true that the resurrection of Christ has been seen by many.

In the same chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul wrote the eyewitnesses to Christ in his resurrected body numbered more than just himself and the other apostles.

“… that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me,” ( 1 Corinthians 15:4-8 ESV).

The eyewitness of Paul is of great importance because when he saw the resurrected Savior, he was 100 percent opposed to Christ. At the time Jesus appeared to Saul in Acts 9, the future apostle was traveling from town to town putting Christians in prison and killing some of them.

But, Saul saw Jesus alive after he himself knew Christ was dead. The eyewitness account was repeated to Roman rulers. Paul appeared before Felix and Festus, Roman governors, and to Herod Agrippa, one of the Idumean kings (Acts 24-26).

Eyewitness testimony does not lose its truthfulness over time. One cannot discount the testimony of so many just because one does not want to believe it. If one looks at the objective testimony of the hundreds of witnesses of Jesus in his resurrected body, one must admit God does exist and that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God. John Henson at: http://www.forthright.net/christian_evidences/cases_for_the_resurrection.html

” Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time” (1 Corinthians 15:8).

Mike Benson