The Skeptical Case for the Resurrection

The Skeptical Case for The Resurrection of Jesus from Nazareth 

Preface:

I want to warn anyone reading this book that what I am going to present, may challenge those who have faith and some of my arguments, taken by skeptics to use against believers in attempts to shake their religious convictions. If you are not prepared to question the foundations of your beliefs, my writings are not for you as it is not my desire for you to abandon Christianity, however I do hope if you choose to continue you will read until the end. My purpose in writing this is for a very specific type of mind, one that is constantly questioning what they think about the world around them, that needs a satisfactory answer to the problems that plague their mind, whose need to understand the world around them is insatiable and to whom surface level answers are never enough, as they seek to reduce everything to its constituent parts. If this is you, then I invite you to continue on as we attempt to answer if we should take Jesus of Nazareth seriously. I will be offering naturalistic explanations for spiritual phenomena found in the gospels, through the lens of modern findings in neuroscience (to the best of my ability as a non-expert), that may cast doubt on the reality of religious experience. I want to point out that I do understand the limitations of my educational background and I make no pretensions to be anything other than what I truly am. I will undoubtedly rely on the experts at various points throughout this endeavor, however I believe my strength will be my relatability to anyone who is deeply interested in this question.  Those who constantly weed through the arguments, hearing out two well thought out cases from both sides of the debate and working through whom they believe to be most convincing while constructing arguments of their own will certainly be able to find some enjoyment thinking through the issues with me. 

Imagine a scenario where you have a brain tumor and two well respected neurosurgeons in their field, offer very two very different approaches for your treatment. It would ultimately be up to you to decide which treatment is best for you, despite your limited knowledge on the topic (assuming you are not a neurosurgeon of course) as you think through the arguments presented by minds more knowledgeable than you are. My perspective on writing this book will be of the patient or of the audience member coming home after watching a William Lane Craig and Bart Erhman debate to think through the arguments. I take the role of the friend helping you work through which surgery is best or the person sitting next to you in the debate, in the after discussion telling you who I thought was more  and interested in your pushback as we search for the truth together. I will criticize both sides in an attempt to arrive at the truth of the question, “Did God Raise Jesus of Nazareth from the Dead?” It is my joy to have you be apart of this journey .