Replies

Thanks for playing. :) This is one of those seemingly useless exercises that, IMHO, is useful to explore and learn from. And, of course, I'm gonna take the opposing side.

Only the Resurrection was both necessary AND sufficient for Christianity to exist.

Nope. Necessary only in "proof." Had God been incarnate and not claimed resurrection, or visible resurrection, Christianity would still exist. The trinity, the passion, the sacrifice, all there. Resurrection was mostly proof, and what do we hear about those who require miracles to believe?

If He had not risen, then He would have been rightfully exposed as a liar…

True, but for this exercise, I'm stipulating that if He wasn't going to resurrect, He wouldn't have said He was, hence no claim of resurrection, thus no liar.

But the only value that definition [Trinity] has owes itself completely to the Resurrection. If Christ does not rise, then there is no definition.

Sure there is, the Trinity still exists with or without the resurrection.

Now here's where you've got me thinking. The Ressurrection is proof, but also one thing more in Christianity: it describes/defines a great deal of Christian eschatology.

So I'm gonna concede a tad, it's more than just proof. Without the Resurrection, Christian eschatology would not be as clear - absent additional teaching or theology from other sources.

thanks for your reply.

FK: "Only the Resurrection was both necessary AND sufficient for Christianity to exist."

I disagree. I think that it is much more than only proof. The resurrection is one of the main points that distinguishes Christianity from all other religions. The tombs of Buddha, Mohamed, Confucius, Joseph Smith, etc., are all full. Only the tomb of Christ is empty.

Jesus claimed to be God. Had He not been resurrected then He would have allowed death to defeat Him, and everyone would have seen that. What kind of following do you think would have ensued if Christ did not rise? I don't think it would have been very great at all. And, if you rewrite all the scriptures that are dependent on the resurrection, including the point of eschatology that you mentioned, then what is left really isn't Christianity. It is some other faith. The resurrection is central to our faith, so without it, it ceases to be Christianity. It could not claim to be superior to any other made-up faith.