Round 1 - From Brady

Proposition: Given the evidence, the only rational position is that Jesus rose from the dead.

Since I will be taking the ‘Pro’ position on our proposition, it only seems right that I should start out by explaining what it means to say, “Given the evidence, the only rational position is that Jesus rose from the dead.”

The Term “rational” seems to be at the heart of the sentence, let’s look at it first. By “rational” we usually mean a position that has been examined in light of deductive and/or inductive logic and has conformed to these ways of thinking. The NT claims to be documents relating historical events. The resurrection of Jesus is one of the events the NT discusses. History is an inductive discipline. So, in our case, the methodology we use will be a methodology that deals with historical events based upon inductive principles.

Now, evidence needs to be evaluated both for quality and quantity. We usually process the evidence through some sort of criteria to determine if it is of sufficient quality to be of value to our investigation. Next, we need a baseline by which to judge the quantity of evidence to see if there is sufficient quality evidence to affirm the position.

So, what we mean by our proposition is this: When we take the evidence for the reliability of the NT and the resurrection of Jesus and filter them through an objective, inductive, historical methodology there is more than sufficient quality and quantity of evidence remaining to justify the affirmation that Jesus rose from the dead.

What I mean by the term “only” in our proposition is that the conclusion of the argument leaves only one justifiable position based on the evidence. Any other position must go contrary to the evidence, and is, by definition, not rational. It is the rational man, we say, that goes with the evidence and not against it.