The “Minimal Facts” Approach to the New Testament

How do you respond to a skeptic who asserts that Jesus never existed, or if He did, He certainly never rose from the dead?

Dr. Gary Habermas created an approach to help those skeptics at least be willing to consider that there is reliable historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus.  He dubbed it the “Minimal Facts” approach.

Dr. Habermas developed this method while doing research for his Ph.D. at Michigan State University.  He noticed that there are five facts about the resurrection that Biblical scholars (including Atheists and Agnostics) accept as true:

  1. Jesus died.
  2. His disciples believed they saw the risen Jesus.
  3. James the skeptical brother also believed.
  4. Paul the persecutor also believed.
  5. Jesus’s tomb was empty.

I urge you to invest just under an hour to watch him lay out the approach and how he derived it.  I think he is a very entertaining and enlightening presenter!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMGLPR5X8MM Part 1 of 2 (29:57)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RISjr29gpaQ Part 2 of 2 (24:07)

Gary Habermas is the Distinguished Professor of Apologetics and Philosophy and chairman, Department of Philosophy and Theology, at Liberty University.

 

Published by

Michael S. Oswald, Chartered

Hi! I’m Michael Oswald. I am a business guy who also happens to be a lawyer. I love living in Boise, Idaho! I’ve also had the pleasure of living in Silicon Valley, Colorado Springs, Austin, and Orange County, CA. I started this blog so business owners and senior execs could find actionable guidance on common legal issues. Titles of posts I have previously written include: “The Managerial Overtime Exemption, and How to Keep It,” “Using a Sales Contract that speeds up Getting to Yes,” and “Tone at the Top is Vital for Preventing Sexual Harassment!” I provide a wide range of business-savvy legal services to small and medium companies and nonprofits. I am also certified to teach Real Estate Law by the Idaho Real Estate Commission. My favorite thing to do for a business is to take their standard sales contract and strip it down from an unintelligible 20-page monstrosity to a concise, 3-page doc that is easy for their customers to understand and to sign! I have experience in a number of industries, including Real Estate, Construction, Defense, and Technology (Hardware, Software and E-Commerce). I look forward to collaborating with you!

One thought on “The “Minimal Facts” Approach to the New Testament”

Leave a comment