Beck W. David - Raised on the Third Day: Defending the Historicity of the Resurrection of Jesus

Defending the Historicity of the Resurrection of Jesus

RAISED

ON THE

THIRD DAY

W. David Beck & Michael R. Licona, Editors

Essays in Honor of Dr. Gary R. Habermas

Raised on the Third Day: Defending the Historicity of the Resurrection of Jesus

Copyright 2020 W. David Beck & Michael R. Licona

Lexham Press, 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225

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Print ISBN 9781683594321

Digital ISBN 9781683594338

Library of Congress Control Number 2020945451

Lexham Editorial: Elliot Ritzema, Matthew Boffey, Erin Mangum, Abby Salinger

Cover Design: Lydia Dahl

CONTENTS

Michael R. Licona and W. David Beck

Robert B. Stewart

J. P. Moreland

Mark W. Foreman

Craig J. Hazen

Francis J. Beckwith

William Lane Craig

David Baggett

W. David Beck

Craig A. Evans

Dale C. Allison, Jr.

Sean McDowell

Barrie M. Schwortz

Beth M. Sheppard

Darrell L. Bock

Benjamin C. F. Shaw

Michael R. Licona

Alex McFarland

Frank Turek

Michael R. Licona and W. David Beck

T his volume was a labor of love to honor our colleague and friend Gary Habermas. His accomplishments in apologetics, especially his work on the resurrection of Jesus, puts him at the very top of his field. That alone warrants a book in his honor. But additionally, Gary has always seen his scholarship as a means of ministering to others. The crowd that will surround him in heaven to thank him for his help dealing with their doubts and puzzlements through letters and email is inestimable.

However, first and foremost, Gary is our good friend, and that is what motivates us most. So we begin with brief personal reflections from the two editors.

Licona

In fall 1985, during my final semester of graduate school, something happened that I never anticipated: I began questioning the truth of the Christian faith. Until that point, my faith had been strong. I had a passion to know God and a love for exegeting the Greek New Testament. I had little concern at that time for the matters of higher criticism. In my mind, the Bible is Gods holy word. So I did not concern myself with those whose views about the Bible differed from my own. As a result, I had done just enough to squeak out a B in Introduction to the New Testament. That turned out to be a huge mistake.

Toward the end of my final semester, a number of issues began to shake my faith. I was doing my degree at Liberty University, and although there were some stellar faculty members in the theology department at the time, I suppose I felt a bit embarrassed to voice the questions that were troubling me. One of my roommates, an Australian named Jeff Jack who was in the process of earning a masters degree in Christian apologetics, suggested that I speak with his professor, Gary Habermas. Until that time, I had no interest in apologetics. But I decided to pay Professor Habermas a visit.

I had never taken a course with him, since he taught in the philosophy department. Still, he welcomed me when I knocked on his office door and asked to speak with him. I found him approachable and authentic. That would be our first of countless discussions that have occurred over more than thirty years. Professor Habermas was exactly what I needed. He allowed me to share my concerns and ask any question. He listened. He understood. And he provided reasonable answers. I doubt whether I would be a follower of Jesus today had it not been for Professor Habermas.

Since that first meeting, we have become friends, very close friends, as close as any family member. Other than my wife Debbie, I do not have a closer or better friend than Gary. He and his wonderful wife, Eileen, have been spending a week with our family every year for more than two decades. Debbie and I love them dearly. My two children, Allie and Zach, know him as Uncle Gary, as does our son-in-law, Nick.

I could never repay Gary for the time he invested in me. This book is offered as a small demonstration of my respect, appreciation, and love for him.

Beck

I first met Gary at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Philosophical Society (EPS) in 1979. He read a paper on Averroes that piqued my medievalist attention. We talked afterward and I immediately knew we shared common interests and would be friends. A year later I was allowed to hire him, and he was at Liberty starting our MA in Apologetics. Our wives became good friends, as did our kids who are around the same ages.

Forty years later, I am pleased and proud to call Gary my best friend. I admire his incredible memory for facts, his dogged determination to get the evidence for every detail of an argument, his willingness to talk through difficult personal and family matters, and his great example in ministry.

Gary and I have attended EPS most of the forty years since then, always insisting on sharing a hotel room. We are both very late night owls and not early risers. As a result, we have spent countless hours discussing, well, whatever. There are a number of issues on which we disagree, which only makes our friendship more enjoyable. He remains an unrepentant Cartesian dualist, which effects numerous philosophical issues. I have tried my best, Lord! These arguments have been going on for most of those forty years, and they have served to deepen our friendship.

We have always lived near each other, shared lunch, gone to (or skipped) faculty meetings together, and shared each others burdens. Between our two large families, someone always needs prayer, and I can always count on my good friend to share those needs. Thank you, Gary.

When Mike brought up the idea of a Festschrift, I was eager to join in. This was a meaningful and joyous work in dedication to one of Gods best.

T he occasion of this Festschrift came to me as a genuine surprise. During the initial call from the editors, Dave Beck and Mike Licona, I was informed that the secret had stayed secure for more than one year, without so much as a guess or even a hint on my part. This was no small feat considering that the editors and authors are good friends with whom I quite frequently cross paths. But no slips occurred! The result was completely unexpected and I was overwhelmed. To simply say that I am humbled and grateful to be in this position would be a vast understatement.