WHERE WE ARE

We are in the process of analyzing and evaluating Objection #8 (Where Did Jesus Go?) by Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli against the Swoon Theory, from their Handbook of Christian Apologetics (hereafter: HCA). This is the final objection against the Swoon Theory by Kreeft and Tacelli that I will be critically examining. I have shown that all the other objections in HCA against the Swoon Theory have FAILED, so if Objection #8 also FAILS, then their attempt to refute the Swoon Theory will be a complete FAILURE.

In Part 40 of this series, I showed that a key premise of Objection #8 is clearly and obviously FALSE:

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.

This claim is FALSE because there are more than a dozen passages in the New Testament that describe alleged things that Jesus said and did after he was crucified and taken down from the cross.

Although it is tempting to immediately reject Objection #8 (Where Did Jesus Go?) on the grounds that a key premise of the argument constituting Objection #8 is clearly and obviously FALSE, it would be unfair and hasty to do so. It appears that there is a way to revise or modify the claim made by premise (1), so that the basic idea is preserved while getting around the various counterexamples to this claim from more than a dozen New Testament passages about alleged appearances and activities of the “risen” Jesus.

In this current post, I will attempt to revise premise (1) so that the basic idea is retained, and so that the modified claim is at least plausible and is NOT obviously FALSE.

QUALIFYING THE SCOPE OF THE KEY PREMISE (1)

In order for premise (1) to get around the New Testament passages that contradict it, we may explicitly introduce an exception to the universal scope of premise (1):

1a. There is absolutely no data, not even any false, fantastic, imagined data, about Jesus’ life after his crucifixion, other than some stories in the New Testament about alleged appearances of a living Jesus to some of his disciples that took place for a few weeks after Jesus was crucified, in any sources, friend or foe, at any time, early or late.

By explicitly allowing the New Testament passages as exceptions to the general rule, we can avoid the dozen or more counterexamples provided by various New Testament passages.

This reasonable attempt to modify premise (1) so that it becomes plausible, is not, however, entirely successful. There are at least four counterexamples to this revised version of premise (1).

FOUR COUNTEREXAMPLES TO PREMISE (1A)

Paul’s Conversion Experience

We don’t know the precise date of Paul’s conversion from Judaism to Christianity, but Paul persecuted Christians for some time before his conversion experience:

¹¹ For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin, ¹² for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹³ You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. ¹⁴ I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. ¹⁵ But when the one who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace was pleased ¹⁶ to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the gentiles, I did not confer with any human, ¹⁷ nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterward I returned to Damascus.

¹⁸ Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days, ¹⁹ but I did not see any other apostle except James the Lord’s brother. ²⁰ In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie! ²¹ Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, ²² and I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea that are in Christ; ²³ they only heard it said, “The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy.”

Galatians 1:11-23, New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Paul’s conversion took place after he had spent some time “violently persecuting the church of God and…trying to destroy it.” So, the Christian church had become established enough to draw Paul’s attention and for him to devote a significant amount of time and energy to persecuting Christian believers. This indicates that Paul’s conversion took place sometime AFTER the forty-day period in which Acts of the Apostles claims that various appearances of the “risen” Jesus to his disciples took place (Acts 1:3).

Paul’s conversion experience allegedly involved an appearance of the “risen” Jesus to Paul, somewhere near the city of Damascus (see Acts 9:1-22, 22:1-15, and 26:1-23). So, since Kreeft and Tacelli believe that these stories in Acts are stories about the words and actions of the “risen” Jesus, words and actions that took place AFTER the forty days of alleged appearances of Jesus to his disciples, they believe that there is some historical data about “Jesus’ life after his crucifixion” and AFTER the period of “a few weeks” in which alleged appearances of Jesus were experienced by some of his disciples. In other words, the three passages in Acts about Paul’s conversion experience are COUNTEREXAMPLES to premise (1a), and show that (1a) is FALSE.

The Visit of the “Risen” Jesus to America

In 1987, Ezra Taft Benson, then the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints (i.e. the Mormons), gave a sermon titled “The Savior’s Visit to America”. Here is a brief quote from that sermon:

Mormons believe that the Book of Mormon contains, among other things, the history of the Nephite civilization on the American continent. In 3 Nephi (in the Book of Mormon) there is an account of the visit of the “risen” Jesus to the Nephites. If the “risen” Jesus appeared to the people of the Nephite civilization on the American continent, then the Book of Mormon contains descriptions of the words and actions of Jesus that took place AFTER the crucifixion of Jesus in Jerusalem.

I myself believe that Joseph Smith was a con artist and that the Book of Mormon is nothing but a HOAX invented by Joseph Smith, and I’m sure that Kreeft and Tacelli would agree with me on those points. However, premise (1a) doesn’t discriminate between legitimate and credible historical sources and illegitimate and dubious ones:

1a. There is absolutely no data, not even any false, fantastic, imagined data, about Jesus’ life after his crucifixion, other than some stories in the New Testament about alleged appearances of a living Jesus to some of his disciples that took place for a few weeks after Jesus was crucified, in any sources, friend or foe, at any time, early or late.

(emphasis added)

Given that this claim does not discriminate between legitimate and credible sources and illegitimate and dubious sources, 3 Nephite in the Book of Mormon constitutes a COUNTEREXAMPLE to premise (1a). It shows that premise (1a) is FALSE.

The Tombs of Jesus in Japan and India

There is an alleged tomb of Jesus in India, and an alleged tomb of Jesus in Japan, as well as stories about Jesus visiting those countries as an adult. If Jesus is actually buried in Japan (or India), then Jesus visited that country AFTER he was crucified by Romans in Jerusalem (or after he was allegedly crucified). These two alleged tombs of Jesus and the accompanying stories about Jesus visiting those places constitute two more COUNTEREXAMPLES to premise (1a).

I myself do not believe that Jesus visited Japan or India, nor that Jesus died and was buried in either of those countries. I doubt that there is any credible historical evidence supporting these claims about Jesus being buried in those countries and about Jesus visiting those countries as an adult. I’m sure that Kreeft and Tacelli would share my skepticism about these claims and stories.

However, premise (1a) does NOT distinguish between credible and legitimate historical sources and dubious and illegitimate historical sources. So, even if the historical evidence for these claims and stories is very flimsy, the alleged tomb of Jesus in India and the alleged tomb of Jesus in Japan both constitute COUNTEREXAMPLES to premise (1a). These stories about Jesus visiting and dying in Japan and in India show that premise (1a) is FALSE.

REDUCING THE STRENGTH OF PREMISE (1A)

It seems clear at this point that this key premise is still too strong, and that is because it fails to distinguish between legitimate and credible historical sources and illegitimate and dubious historical sources. So, I am going to reduce the strength of premise (1a) so that alleged examples of claims and stories about the “risen” Jesus based on flimsy and dubious historical evidence will NOT constitute COUNTEREXAMPLES to this claim:

1b. There is absolutely no legitimate and credible historical data about Jesus’ life after his crucifixion, other than some stories in the New Testament about alleged appearances of a living Jesus to some of his disciples that took place for a few weeks after Jesus was crucified.

This eliminates at least three of the four above counterexamples. The only counterexample that might possibly remain is that of Paul’s conversion experience, as described in three passages in Acts. Kreeft and Tacelli would probably argue that those passages in Acts constitute legitimate and credible historical data about Jesus’ life after his crucifixion.

There are two problems with those passages from Acts as COUNTEREXAMPLES to premise (1b). First, Acts tells us that Jesus ascended up into heaven about 40 days after his crucifixion. Since Paul’s conversion experience was probably several months, if not a couple of years, after Jesus’ crucifixion, Jesus would presumably have to descend from heaven to meet Paul on the road to Damascus. This indicates that Jesus was NOT around on the Earth to do anything in the period after he ascended into heaven and before he descended from heaven to meet Paul.

Second, so far as we know, Paul never met the flesh-and-blood historical Jesus prior to the crucifixion. So, Paul was in no position to be able to IDENTIFY anyone as being Jesus on the road to Damascus. So, even if Jesus had survived crucifixion, and even if the flesh-and-blood Jesus met Paul on the Road to Damascus, Paul would have been UNABLE to identify that person as being Jesus. Even if Jesus persuaded Paul that he was indeed the crucified Jesus of Nazareth, we have no good reason to believe Paul’s claim that he met Jesus on the road to Damascus because Paul wouldn’t know Jesus from Adam.

Even if we accept the stories about Paul having a life-changing conversion experience on the road to Damascus, and even if we accept the claim that Paul believed he saw and spoke with the “risen” Jesus of Nazareth, we have no good reason to believe that Paul correctly identified some person on the road to Damascus as actually being Jesus of Nazareth. Thus, this example FAILS as a COUNTEREXAMPLE to premise (1b). Therefore, the three passages from Acts do NOT present credible historical data about Jesus doing or saying something after Jesus was crucified.

THE CORE ARGUMENT OF OBJECTION #8

Now that we have modified premise (1) by reducing its scope and by reducing its strength, we have come up with a version of that claim that is plausible and that is NOT obviously FALSE: premise (1b). But that was just one premise of the argument constituting Objection #8. So, now we need to spell out the CORE ARGUMENT of Objection #8. As with other objections by Kreeft and Tacelli, this objection can be understood as a reduction-to-absurdity argument, and such an argument can be put in the logical form of a modus tollens:

1. IF P, THEN Q.

2. Not Q.

THEREFORE:

3. Not P.

Here is a modus tollens argument using premise (1b):

B. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN there would be some legitimate and credible historical data about Jesus’ life after his crucifixion, other than some stories in the New Testament about alleged appearances of a living Jesus to some of his disciples that took place for a few weeks after Jesus was crucified.

1b. There is absolutely no legitimate and credible historical data about Jesus’ life after his crucifixion, other than some stories in the New Testament about alleged appearances of a living Jesus to some of his disciples that took place for a few weeks after Jesus was crucified.

THEREFORE:

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

THEREFORE:

A. The Swoon Theory is FALSE.

This is a reduction-to-absurdity argument which is the CORE ARGUMENT of Objection #8 (Where Did Jesus Go?). In the next post of this series, I will evaluate this argument.