Hello Larry, thanks for taking the time to respond.

You said:

“The problem with your argument is your assumption that the Bible account must be true.”

For the purposes of this article — no, I don’t.

Personally, of course, I regard the Bible to be true, and I’m happy to argue for it.

But for the purposes of this article, we don’t need that assumption.

That’s why I quote primarily from NON-Christians, those who have no personal motivation to say anything is true, if it isn’t.

We build on what non-Christians agree is historically certain.

From that basis, we can build a solid case that the Resurrection indeed occurred.

You said:

“We don't have 500 people who saw the risen Christ; we have someone saying there were 500 people. These are not the same claim. It would be like me saying that dozens of people witnessed the ghost of George Washington in my college dorm. You'd be perfectly within your rights to ask who they were and if anyone other than me recorded this momentous event.”

We know who dozens of them are, by name.

Paul gives quite an extensive list, of which the 500 are only part:

1 Corinthians 15:3-8

“[3] For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, [4] that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, [5] and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. [6] Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. [7] Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. [8] Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.”

In this list, we have:

- Peter/Cephas
- The other 11 disciples, all of whom we know
- James, Jesus’ brother, who became a leader in the church in Jerusalem before being killed for his faith
- The Apostles, the early church leaders, many of whom are named in the Epistles
- Paul himself

From the Gospel accounts, we can add:

- Mary, who saw Jesus first
- The two leaders on the road to Emmaus (who, to be fair, are likely included in the Apostles, above)
- All those assembled with the disciples in Acts 1

By a comfortable margin, we can identify dozens by name and reputation.

Recall, as well, that Christianity was still a small, interconnected world, at this point. Even as they’re expanding all around the Empire, each city had one main church. It wasn’t hard to track someone down. These are not 500 hiding in obscurity, but 500 who it would be impossible to miss as you’re walking in the nascent Christianity community.

You said:

“The inescapable fact is that no contemporary record of Jesus' resurrection exists.”

The only people to try to pass this off as a “fact” are those who have already decided to reject the Gospels’ and Epistles’ testimony, rejecting every ounce of historical and archaeological evidence.

The REAL inescapable fact is that the entirety of our historical and archaeological evidence regards the Gospels and Epistles as eye-witness testimony, written down by contemporaries who saw it all happen.

Multiple ancient historians record who wrote the Gospels, when, and why, and they all agree it was Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Every manuscript we’ve ever found (with an intact title page) always attributes the Gospels to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John — there has never been an anonymous manuscript that lacks the author attribution on the title page.

Every mention in the ancient historians and church fathers attributes the Gospels to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

We even have an unbroken chain of eye-witness testimony.

John the Apostle wrote his Gospel. He had a beloved student named Polycarp. Polycarp had a good friend named Papias. Papias sat under John’s teaching, alongside Polycarp. Papias records John’s testimony that Matthew wrote Matthew and Mark wrote down Peter’s eye-witness testimony before a high-ranking audience in Rome. Eusebius copied Papias’ record to preserve it, which passed down to us.

Many have tried to attack this chain of testimony, yet so far, all I’ve seen in these attacks is speculation. And speculation is a weak weapon against a solid written record of eye-witness testimony.

You said:

“Even back then, a dead man coming back to life would have been a major event worthy of recording, especially if the man was a condemned criminal and leader of a popular movement.”

It was, and it was.

That’s why four separate writers wrote detailed biographies of Him.

That’s why the largest religious movement in history spawned from Him.

That’s why church leaders wrote letters back and forth to churches, helping them follow Jesus’ teaching, and live like Him.

That’s why we’re still talking about Him today.

That’s why more copies were made of the documents talking about this risen Savior than any other biography of the ancient world.

You said:

“One question is why, if Jesus did in fact come back to life, why he hasn't periodically showed up to shore up the faithful and clarify misunderstandings among his followers? Surely the dispute between Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox, and the countless Protestant sects is deserving of a visit from the founder. This would also make it far more difficult for people to maintain doubt. Instead, we're asked to accept an account from a 2000 year old collection of stories, many others of which are logically, historically, and scientifically impossible. Just because the Harry Potter books take place in England, which is a real country, that doesn't mean Albus Dumbledore and Voldemort were real people.”

Ah yes, the Harry Potter argument.

The problem is that there is no comparison, here.

J.K. Rowling presents it as a work of fiction from the start. Everyone knows it’s fiction. No one is writing books claiming to have met Harry in person.

Instead, we have dozens of church leaders writing about Jesus and giving their lives in persecution to testify to the truth of their claims about Jesus.

There is no one today who is giving their life for the claim that Harry Potter is true.

And as for Jesus interacting with us today — I know this will sound crazy to you, but you asked, so I’ll answer.

Jesus does speak today. All the time.

My day job is pastoral counseling. I help people heal. Not by giving advice or trying to fix their problems. All I do is lead them to Jesus. Jesus speaks directly to them, every time.

I’ve seen people healed from depression in an hour. I’ve seen persistent anxiety dispelled in minutes. I’ve watched people awash in anger for 40 years set free, enjoying peace and mental calm for the first time in their lives. I’ve seen people healed physically — the dead raised, the deaf hearing, the blind healed, broken bodies mended.

These are not one-off events.

They happen so regularly, and with such consistently, that it’s literally my day job.

I don’t expect you to believe me. If you’ve never experienced it yourself, you’d have no basis on which to assign it to reality.

But you can experience it, if you want.

I’ve led several atheists through the same process I use to bring people to Jesus. Most of them aren’t atheists anymore.

I’m happy to extend the same invitation to you.