WHERE WE ARE

In Chapter 8 of their Handbook of Christian Apologetics (hereafter: HCA), Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli attempt to prove that God raised Jesus from the dead. Their case consists mainly of attempts to refute some skeptical theories about the alleged resurrection of Jesus. One of those skeptical theories is the Swoon Theory. Kreeft and Tacelli raise nine objections against the Swoon Theory in order to try to show that this skeptical theory is FALSE:

However, in the previous 38 posts in this series, I have shown that eight of their nine objections against the Swoon Theory FAIL. If all nine of their objections FAIL, then their attempt to refute the Swoon Theory FAILS and that means that their case for the resurrection of Jesus also FAILS.

At this point, the only hope for success of the case by Kreeft and Tacelli for the resurrection of Jesus is that Objection #8 (Where Did Jesus Go?) turns out to be a strong and solid objection against the Swoon Theory. Since all of the other objections have FAILED because they were invalid or unsound or based on dubious premises or weak inferences, it seems unlikely that this one last objection will be successful. But we won’t know for sure until we carefully analyze and evaluate Objection #8.

In this current post, I will present my careful analysis of the argument that constitutes Objection #8 against the Swoon Theory.

ANALYSIS OF THE CORE ARGUMENT FOR OBJECTION #8

Here is Objection #8 (Where Did Jesus Go?) as presented by Kreeft and Tacelli:

If Jesus awoke from a swoon, where did he go? Think this through: you have a living body to deal with now, not a dead one. Why did it disappear? There is absolutely no data, not even any false, fantastic, imagined data, about Jesus’ life after his crucifixion, in any sources, friend or foe, at any time, early or late. A man like that, with a past like that, would have left traces.  

(HCA, p. 184)

I take it that the heart of this argument is contained in the fourth sentence of the above passage:

1. There is absolutely no data, not even any false, fantastic, imagined data, about Jesus’ life after his crucifixion, in any sources, friend or foe, at any time, early or late.

The CORE ARGUMENT of Objection #8 appears to be a reduction-to-absurdity argument:

B. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN there would be some historical data about Jesus’ life after his crucifixion in some sources.

1. There is absolutely no data, not even any false, fantastic, imagined data, about Jesus’ life after his crucifixion, in any sources, friend or foe, at any time, early or late.

THEREFORE:

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

THEREFORE:

A. The Swoon Theory is false.

In the next post of this series, I will begin to evaluate this CORE argument for Objection #8 (Where Did Jesus Go?).