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Case for the Resurrection of Jesus Book Review

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Case for the Resurrection of Jesus Book Review
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

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