Case for the Resurrection of Jesus Book Review Essay Example for Free

Case for the Resurrection of Jesus Book Review Essay Case for the Resurrection of Jesus By Gary R. Habermas, Michael R. Licona Zerrrouk (pen name) The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, was written by Gary R. Habermas, and co-authored by Michael R. Licona. Haberma is a distinguished professor, and the chairman of Philosophy and Theology at Liberty University, in Virginia. Habermas, using a minimal amount of facts, gives a provoking argument for the historicity of the Jesus Christ’s resurrection. This book was not meant as a 100% sure way of proving the historicity of Jesus’ resurrection, as Haberma even admits, there is no way to prove for sure that it actually happened, but based on the information that he has compiled, he believes that it is completely and entirely probable. Habermas starts out this book by bring to light five historical facts that will accomplish his goal to provide provoking proof for the historicity of Jesus’ resurrection. First, he states the fact that Jesus died on the cross by crucifixion; secondly, that the disciples believed that Jesus had risen from the dead and had appeared before them as a bodily figure; thirdly, that Paul, as a former persecutor of Christians, was converted when he bet Jesus Christ; fourthly, that James was also converted in the same way that Paul was; and lastly, that the tomb was empty (although there were some theologians who have challenged this last point as an historical fact, therefore, not considered to be necessarily widely accepted as the other four points). With these five facts, Habermas includes a wealth of scholarly research to back up his main thesis and argument. In my general opinion, I found the second-last chapter of this book to be the most interesting. In a neutral and non-argumentative fashion, Habermas has focused this chapter on giving insight, for teaching Christians how to engage non-believers on the topic of Jesus’ resurrection. He includes how, as Christians, we must be Christ-like in our approach towards non-believers; by talking through love, humility, truth, and passion; and that we must avoid being argumentative in our approach, or else we lose the audience that we are trying to minister to by creating conflict. I found this book to be very useful for many different things. This has an excellent source to use in Christian apologetics and evangelism, by using Habermas’ non-conflict approach. He has articulated a very clear and resourceful account of Jesus’ resurrection, without pushing too much facts upon the reader so that he would not lose their attention, or automatically have them conclude that Jesus was never resurrected; therefore, he avoided very eschatological sourcing and arguments. He stuck to this focus from the beginning of the book, and he carried on with it throughout the entirety. Lastly, this book is an excellent source for people who do not acknowledge the Bible as an authoritative piece of writing.