Books #17 and #18 for 2023
Both these books have a similar subject matter, so I'll review them together.
Is Easter Unbelievable?: Four Questions Everyone Should Ask About the Resurrection Story by Rebecca McLaughlin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I got given this one as a freebie, and enjoyed this. It's not the first book that I've read that has taken historical evidence, and evidence from the eyewitness accounts in the Bible, to give evidence that Jesus' resurrection was no fake, but it came up with some ideas I'd never thought of.
At one point, Rebecca McLaughlin mentions the Romans as "key witnesses" to what happened, which seems surprising, but points to the evidence that the Romans proved the Jesus died on the cross, disspelling any possible claims that He may have simply fainted.
I liked her explanations as to why the Gospels differ from each other, comparing the writers to witnesses about to give evidence in court. She argues that if they had given identical accounts, it would suggest that they were more likely to have agreed on what to say together. This shows that the Gospels were written from the point of view of individuals who witnessed different aspects of Jesus' life, and remembered different occurrences from the same events.
It was an encouraging read, and a good one for anyone looking into the Easter story.
View all my reviews
The Case for Easter Bible Study Guide: Investigating the Evidence for the Resurrection by Lee Strobel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I read Lee Strobel's "The Case for Christ" many years ago, all about how the author set out to disprove who the Bible claims Jesus was, and ended up believing it all to be true and becoming Christian.
This is a sort of spin-off book, aimed specifically at the evidence behind the key message of Christianity: The Resurrection.
This book is quite heavy with detail, as Strobel talks of the enquiries he made to various experts about ways in which Jesus' resurrection could have been faked, starting with the possibility that He wasn't really dead. The novel goes into great detail about the realities of what Jesus went through, including the torture He suffered before the Cross.
When the Roman soldiers whipped prisoners, they would give 39 lashes as a standard, but would usually add an indeterminate number of extra ones, depending on the solider's mood. The lashes were so bad that they could result in prisoners' spines and internal organs being exposed, meaning that some wouldn't have even survived to end up on the crucifix. Just the act of nailing a prisoner's hands to the cross would have been agonising (the pain experienced gave rise to the word "excruciating", meaning "from the Cross"). The expert in this book leaves Strobel with no doubt that Jesus did die on the Cross.
The evidence from the number of people who saw Jesus after the resurrection also seems very conclusive, although my favourite point that Strobel raised involved how many of the apostles were martyred would suggest that they wouldn't pretend Jesus was resurrected when He wasn't. No one would martyr themselves for a lie.
View all my reviews
That first book was effectively a recommendation from church, so I'm going to include it in the 2023 ljbookbingo challenge.
Is Easter Unbelievable?: Four Questions Everyone Should Ask About the Resurrection Story by Rebecca McLaughlin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I got given this one as a freebie, and enjoyed this. It's not the first book that I've read that has taken historical evidence, and evidence from the eyewitness accounts in the Bible, to give evidence that Jesus' resurrection was no fake, but it came up with some ideas I'd never thought of.
At one point, Rebecca McLaughlin mentions the Romans as "key witnesses" to what happened, which seems surprising, but points to the evidence that the Romans proved the Jesus died on the cross, disspelling any possible claims that He may have simply fainted.
I liked her explanations as to why the Gospels differ from each other, comparing the writers to witnesses about to give evidence in court. She argues that if they had given identical accounts, it would suggest that they were more likely to have agreed on what to say together. This shows that the Gospels were written from the point of view of individuals who witnessed different aspects of Jesus' life, and remembered different occurrences from the same events.
It was an encouraging read, and a good one for anyone looking into the Easter story.
View all my reviews
The Case for Easter Bible Study Guide: Investigating the Evidence for the Resurrection by Lee Strobel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I read Lee Strobel's "The Case for Christ" many years ago, all about how the author set out to disprove who the Bible claims Jesus was, and ended up believing it all to be true and becoming Christian.
This is a sort of spin-off book, aimed specifically at the evidence behind the key message of Christianity: The Resurrection.
This book is quite heavy with detail, as Strobel talks of the enquiries he made to various experts about ways in which Jesus' resurrection could have been faked, starting with the possibility that He wasn't really dead. The novel goes into great detail about the realities of what Jesus went through, including the torture He suffered before the Cross.
When the Roman soldiers whipped prisoners, they would give 39 lashes as a standard, but would usually add an indeterminate number of extra ones, depending on the solider's mood. The lashes were so bad that they could result in prisoners' spines and internal organs being exposed, meaning that some wouldn't have even survived to end up on the crucifix. Just the act of nailing a prisoner's hands to the cross would have been agonising (the pain experienced gave rise to the word "excruciating", meaning "from the Cross"). The expert in this book leaves Strobel with no doubt that Jesus did die on the Cross.
The evidence from the number of people who saw Jesus after the resurrection also seems very conclusive, although my favourite point that Strobel raised involved how many of the apostles were martyred would suggest that they wouldn't pretend Jesus was resurrected when He wasn't. No one would martyr themselves for a lie.
View all my reviews
That first book was effectively a recommendation from church, so I'm going to include it in the 2023 ljbookbingo challenge.