WHERE WE ARE

Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli claim to have proved the resurrection of Jesus in Chapter 8 of their Handbook of Christian Apologetics (hereafter: HCA). Their case for the resurrection of Jesus is based on refuting four skeptical theories. One of the skeptical theories that they claim to have refuted is the Swoon Theory. The Swoon Theory claims that Jesus did not actually die on the cross and that sometime after Jesus was removed from the cross, he visited some of his disciples, and those disciples became convinced by this experience that God had raised Jesus from the dead.

Kreeft and Tacelli put forward nine objections against the Swoon Theory:

So far in this series of posts, I have shown that six of those objections FAIL:

• Objection #2: Break their Legs
• Objection #3: Blood and Water
• Objection #4 Winding Sheets & Entombment
• Objection #5: Sickly Jesus
• Objection #6: Who Overpowered the Guards?
• Objection #7: Who Moved the Stone?

If it turns out that all nine objections FAIL, then their case for the resurrection of Jesus will also FAIL, because their case requires that they refute all four of the skeptical theories that they discuss, including the Swoon Theory.

In this current post, I will present my careful analysis of the argument that constitutes Objection #9 (Swoon Theory Implies False Theories).

OBJECTION #9: SWOON THEORY IMPLIES FALSE THEORIES

Kreeft and Tacelli’s presentation of Objection #9 argues that the Swoon Theory is false because it implies other theories that are FALSE:

Most simply, the swoon theory necessarily turns into the conspiracy theory or the hallucination theory, for the disciples testified that Jesus did not swoon but really died and really rose.

(HCA, p.184)

THE STATED PREMISES OF OBJECTION #9

1a. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN either (a) the Conspiracy Theory is true or (b) the Hallucination Theory is true.

2a. The eleven remaining disciples of Jesus testified that Jesus did not faint while Jesus was on the cross.

3a. The eleven remaining disciples of Jesus testified that Jesus really died while he was on the cross and that Jesus really came back to life sometime after he was taken down from the cross.

THE UNSTATED ASSUMPTIONS/PREMISES OF OBJECTION #9

A. The Swoon Theory is FALSE.

B. It is NOT the case that either (a) the Conspiracy Theory is true or (b) the Hallucination Theory is true.

C. It is NOT the case that the Conspiracy Theory is true.

D. It is NOT the case that the Hallucination Theory is true.

E. Kreeft and Tacelli have refuted the Conspiracy Theory (in Chapter 8 of HCA).

F. Kreeft and Tacelli have refuted the Hallucination Theory (in Chapter 8 of HCA).

G. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN Jesus fainted while Jesus was on the cross, and Jesus did NOT die while he was on the cross, and Jesus did NOT come back to life sometime after he was taken down from the cross.

H. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus testified to three false claims: that Jesus did NOT faint while he was on the cross, that Jesus really died while he was on the cross, and that Jesus came back to life sometime after he was taken down from the cross.

I. IF the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus testified to three false claims: that Jesus did NOT faint while he was on the cross, that Jesus really died while he was on the cross, and that Jesus came back to life sometime after he was taken down from the cross, THEN either (a) the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus were DECEIVERS who lied to others about the alleged resurrection of Jesus, or (b) the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus were themselves DECEIVED into sincerely but mistakenly believing that Jesus had risen from the dead.

J. IF the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus were DECEIVERS who lied to others about the alleged resurrection of Jesus, THEN the Conspiracy Theory is true.

K. IF the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus were themselves DECEIVED into sincerely but mistakenly believing that Jesus had risen from the dead, THEN the Hallucination Theory is true.

In the next post of this series, I will begin to carefully evaluate Objection #9 (Swoon Theory Implies False Theories).