Is Easter Unbelievable?
Is Easter Unbelievable? by Rebecca McLaughlin
Rebecca McLaughlin has written a helpful little book on the death and resurrection of Jesus in which she takes the best insights about the credibility of the Easter story and blends them together in a short and easy to read format that is enormously encouraging for Christians and highly thought provoking for those exploring the faith. For, like it or not, Jesus is difficult to ignore. As she writes, ‘Jesus never wrote a book, raised an army, or ruled a realm. And yet he has become, by any measure, the most influential person who has ever lived.’
A Book That Meets You Where You Are
McLaughlin seeks to answer four questions in the book:
● Is Jesus’ Life Historical?
● Is Jesus’ Death Ethical?
● Is Jesus’ Resurrection Credible?
● Is Jesus’ Offer Desirable?
I particularly appreciated her answer to the first question about the weight of the historical evidence for the life, death and resurrection of Jesus:
‘If you think there’s some historical doubt as to whether Jesus of Nazareth ever really walked the earth, you’re not alone. One 2015 survey found that 40% of adults in the UK either didn’t think Jesus was a real, historical person or weren’t sure. But the evidence for Jesus’ life is unmistakable. As the famously skeptical New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman puts it, “The reality is that whatever else you may think about Jesus, he certainly did exist.” This view is no minority report. As Ehrman explains, it’s “held by virtually every expert on the planet.”
Why the Gospel Accounts are Trustworthy
McLaughlin’s use of the lives of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bono as analogies to help us understand the reliability of the gospel accounts and the eyewitness evidence which underpins them is particularly helpful:
‘I’m writing this in 2022 - 54 years after the assassination of civil rights activist, Rev. Dr Martin Luther King Jr. If, instead of this book, I was writing a biography of King, I could consult with many of his close associates. If I said to them, “Of course, you can’t possibly remember what Martin said to you in the days before he died,” they’d look at me like I was crazy. How could they not remember his speeches, and the private conversations they’d had with him, and the terrible day he was murdered? These moments changed their lives, and they’ve been talking about their hero ever since. Likewise, the four New Testament biographies of Jesus were all written well within the lifetimes of eyewitnesses…when the Gospel authors give us names in their narratives, they’re often pointing us to the eyewitnesses whose memories they’re capturing. It’s not like you or me being asked to remember random things we overheard decades ago. It’s more like the crew that travels with U2 being asked to remember the words of Bono’s early songs and the crazy things he did on the road.’
A Faith-Strengthening Read for Easter
I could go on but you should probably just read it for yourself instead.
Read it to remind yourself of the central importance of the death and resurrection of Jesus for you.
Read it to sharpen your mind, strengthen your faith and to equip you to have better conversations with friends, family, neighbours and colleagues about Jesus.
Oh and why not tuck into a Creme Egg too while you’re at it.
Is Easter Unbelievable? - Contents:
