WHERE WE ARE

Objection #8 against the Swoon Theory as presented by Kreeft and Tacelli FAILS, even if we repair their embarrassing blunder of asserting a key premise that is obviously false by replacing their premise (1) with the much more plausible premise (1b). The argument for Objection #8 still FAILS, because it requires premise (B), and premise (B) is DUBIOUS, because the sub-argument they give for premise (B) is too UNCLEAR to provide any significant support for (B).

Nevertheless, we can give Objection #8 a second chance by substituting a better sub-argument for (B) from the Christian apologist Josh McDowell. In Evidence that Demands a Verdict (revised edition, published 1979) McDowell quotes from The Resurrection of Our Lord (1927), a book by William Milligan. As I indicated in Part 42 of this series, the quote from Milligan suggests an argument in support of premise (B):

3. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN either (a) after surviving his crucifixion Jesus continued for the rest of his life to help his disciples to create, organize, and lead the first Christian churches, or (b) Jesus was a self-centered and uncaring person who after surviving his crucifixion ignored the struggles of his disciples to create, organize, and lead the first Christian churches by retiring to some solitary retreat unknown even to the most attached of his disciples.

D. Jesus was NOT a self-centered and uncaring person who after surviving his crucifixion would ignore the struggles of his disciples to create, organize, and lead the first Christian churches by retiring to some solitary retreat unknown even to the most attached of his disciples.

THEREFORE:

E. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN after surviving his crucifixion Jesus would have continued for the rest of his life to help his disciples to create, organize, and lead the first Christian churches.

F. IF after surviving his crucifixion Jesus continued for the rest of his life to help his disciples to create, organize, and lead the first Christian churches, 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.

THEREFORE:

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.

In Evidence that Demands a Verdict, McDowell’s quote from William Milligan (on page 237) provides an argument in support of the key premise (B) in Objection #8 (Where Did Jesus Go?). Unlike the UNCLEAR argument given by Kreeft and Tacelli, this argument seems clear enough to be rationally evaluated.

EVALUATION OF PREMISE (F)

Premise (F) is FALSE, and that makes this sub-argument in support of the key premise (B) UNSOUND. Because this sub-argument is UNSOUND, we should reject it, which leaves us with no good reason to believe that (B) is true. Thus, (B) remains DUBIOUS, and Objection #8 FAILS.

Premise (F) is FALSE for a couple of reasons. First, it is quite possible that Jesus only lived for a week or a few weeks after his crucifixion and that during that last week (or last few weeks) he “continued to help his disciples to create, organize, and lead the first Christian churches”. In that case, the antecedent of premise (F) would be true, but the consequent might well be FALSE. The little bit of help that Jesus provided to his disciples in one week (or in a few weeks) might not have been enough to ensure that those words and actions of Jesus from after his crucifixion would be discussed and documented for posterity.

Jesus might have either died from an infection in one or more of his wounds, or he might have died from some common disease because of being in a weakened physical state after being crucified. Also, Jesus could have been discovered and killed by a Jew who was loyal or sympathetic to the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem who wanted Jesus to be killed, or Jesus could have been discovered and killed by a Roman who was loyal or sympathetic to Pilate who had ordered Jesus to be executed as an enemy of Rome. It is also possible that Jesus died of an injury or illness completely unrelated to his crucifixion.

A second problem with (F) is that even if Jesus had continued for many months to help his disciples to create, organize, and lead the first Christian churches, Jesus might well have stayed in hiding and kept a very low profile. A Jesus who survived crucifixion would have a strong motivation to avoid being discovered, arrested, and crucified a second time. A Jesus who cared about the well-being of his disciples would also have a strong motivation to keep a low profile and to keep his continued contacts with his disciples a secret.

If Jesus openly met with his disciples, or if word got out that Jesus was continuing to meet with his disciples, that would put his disciples in serious jeopardy of being arrested and crucified themselves. Thus, it seems likely that if Jesus had survived for a couple of months (or for several months) after his crucifixion, that he kept his contacts with his disciples brief, infrequent, and secret in order to minimize the risk to himself and to his disciples of being arrested and crucified. This would have significantly limited the opportunities for Jesus to talk with his disciples and for others to become aware of these contacts between Jesus and his disciples, making it unlikely that those events would be historically documented.

So, whether Jesus survived only for a short time (a week or a few weeks) after his crucifixion, or for a longer time (a couple of months or several months), and if Jesus “continued to help his disciples to create, organize, and lead the first Christian churches,” there is a good chance that he had brief, infrequent, and secret contacts with his disciples that were NOT historically documented. Thus, premise (F) is FALSE and the McDowell/Milligan sub-argument for the key premise (B) is UNSOUND and should be rejected. Therefore, Objection #8 against the Swoon Theory FAILS.

THE SUB-ARGUMENT FOR PREMISE (E)

I believe that premise (E) is also FALSE. However, the McDowell/Milligan argument above contains a sub-argument for premise (E). So, we should examine that sub-argument before determining whether (E) is true or false. Here, again, is the sub-argument for (E):

3. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN either (a) after surviving his crucifixion Jesus continued for the rest of his life to help his disciples to create, organize, and lead the first Christian churches, or (b) Jesus was a self-centered and uncaring person who after surviving his crucifixion ignored the struggles of his disciples to create, organize, and lead the first Christian churches by retiring to some solitary retreat unknown even to the most attached of his disciples.

D. Jesus was NOT a self-centered and uncaring person who after surviving his crucifixion would ignore the struggles of his disciples to create, organize, and lead the first Christian churches by retiring to some solitary retreat unknown even to the most attached of his disciples.

THEREFORE:

E. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN after surviving his crucifixion Jesus would have continued for the rest of his life to help his disciples to create, organize, and lead the first Christian churches.

Premise (3) is FALSE. Thus, this sub-argument for premise (E) is UNSOUND and should be rejected. Thus, we have no good reason to believe that (E) is true, and we may reasonably conclude that premise (E) is DUBIOUS. Therefore, we now have a second good reason to reject the McDowell/Milligan sub-argument for premise (B), and a second good reason to conclude that Objection #8 against the Swoon Theory FAILS.

Premise (3) is FALSE because it presents a FALSE DILEMMA. There are other possibilities besides the two that are mentioned. There are other possibilities between the extremes of Jesus helping his disciples for the rest of his life and Jesus completely ignoring his disciples for the rest of his life:

• After meeting with some of his disciples a few times for a couple of weeks soon after his crucifixion, Jesus stopped contacting his disciples and went into hiding for the rest of his life in order to avoid being discovered, arrested, and crucified again.
• After meeting with some of his disciples a few times for a couple of weeks soon after his crucifixion, Jesus stopped contacting his disciples and went into hiding for the rest of his life in order to minimize the risk to his disciples of them being arrested and crucified.
• Jesus helped his disciples for one month, and then decided they needed to learn how to be leaders of the first Christian churches without his assistance, and so he went into hiding for the rest of his life.
• Jesus helped his disciples for two months, and then decided they needed to learn how to be leaders of the first Christian churches without his assistance, and so he went into hiding for the rest of his life.
• Jesus helped his disciples for one month, and then decided that his contacts with his disciples put himself at serious risk of being discovered, arrested, and crucified again, and so he went into hiding for the rest of his life.
• Jesus helped his disciples for two months, and then decided that his contacts with his disciples put himself at serious risk of being discovered, arrested, and crucified again, and so he went into hiding for the rest of his life.
• Jesus helped his disciples for one month, and then decided that his contacts with his disciples put his disciples at serious risk of being arrested and crucified, and so he went into hiding for the rest of his life.
• Jesus helped his disciples for two months, and then decided that his contacts with his disciples put his disciples at serious risk of being arrested and crucified, and so he went into hiding for the rest of his life.

Because there are several other possibilities besides the two extremes described in premise (3), the sub-argument for premise (E) that is based on premise (3) commits the FALSE DILEMMA FALLACY. Premise (3) is FALSE, and thus the sub-argument for (E) is UNSOUND, and we should reject the McDowell/Milligan argument for (E).

That means we may reasonably conclude that premise (E) is DUBIOUS and this gives us a second good reason to reject the McDowell/Milligan sub-argument for the key premise (B). Therefore, it is clear that the McDowell/Milligan sub-argument for (B) FAILS, just like the sub-argument by Kreeft and Tacelli for premise (B) FAILED.

EVALUATION OF PREMISE (E)

Because the sub-argument for (E) is UNSOUND, we may reasonably conclude that premise (E) is DUBIOUS. However, I believe that (E) is not merely DUBIOUS, but that it is FALSE. Here again is premise (E):

E. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN after surviving his crucifixion Jesus would have continued for the rest of his life to help his disciples to create, organize, and lead the first Christian churches.

I have already indicated some reasons why the Swoon Theory could be TRUE and yet that Jesus might well NOT continue “for the rest of his life to help his disciples create, organize, and lead the first Christian churches.” Jesus might have stopped contacting his disciples in order to avoid being discovered, arrested, and crucified again. Jesus might have stopped contacting his disciples in order to minimize the risk to his disciples that they would be arrested and crucified.

Jesus might have stopped contacting his disciples to help them to become independent leaders of the first Christian churches, to be able to be leaders without needing his continued help and advice. Parents and teachers usually strive to help their children and students to become more independent, so that one day their children or their students will be able to function well without needing continued help and advice from their parents and teachers. The word “disciple” means “student”. Jesus was a teacher of his followers, and he probably wanted his students/disciples to learn how to become independent of his continued help and advice.

For these reasons, premise (E) is FALSE. Thus, the McDowell/Milligan sub-argument for premise (B) is clearly UNSOUND and should be rejected.

EVALUATION OF THE KEY PREMISE (B)

I have shown that the sub-arguments for the key premise (B) by Kreeft and Tacelli and by McDowell and Milligan FAIL to provide a good reason to believe that premise (B) is true. Because there is no good reason to believe that premise (B) is true, we may reasonably conclude that the key premise (B) is DUBIOUS and that Objection #8 against the Swoon Theory FAILS.

However, I believe that (B) is not merely DUBIOUS but that it is FALSE. Here, again, is premise (B):

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.

If Jesus only survived for one week or for just a few weeks after his crucifixion, then we would not expect there to be any “legitimate and credible historical data about Jesus’ life after his crucifixion” beyond the stories we find “in the New Testament about alleged appearances of a living Jesus to some of his disciples” that took place soon after Jesus was crucified. If Jesus survived for one week or a few weeks after his crucifixion that does NOT prove or imply that Jesus continued to survive for several months or years after his crucifixion. If Jesus only survived for one week or for just a few weeks, then there is a very good chance that there would be no “legitimate and credible historical data about Jesus’ life after his crucifixion” beyond the stories we find “in the New Testament about alleged appearances of a living Jesus to some of his disciples” that took place soon after Jesus was crucified.

As I argued concerning premise (3), there are good reasons for why Jesus might have gone into hiding and limited his contacts with his disciples after surviving his crucifixion and good reasons for why Jesus might have tried to keep those contacts with his disciples a secret.

But the if Jesus survived for only one week or for just a few weeks after his crucifixion, and if Jesus went into hiding and tried to keep his contacts with his disciples a secret, then there is a good chance that there were be no “legitimate and credible historical data about Jesus’ life after his crucifixion” beyond the stories we find “in the New Testament about alleged appearances of a living Jesus to some of his disciples” that took place soon after Jesus was crucified. On this plausible scenario, the Swoon Theory would be TRUE. Because there are plausible scenarios in which the Swoon Theory would be TRUE and yet the consequent of premise (B) would be FALSE, we may conclude that premise (B) is FALSE.

EVALUATION OF OBJECTION #8 (WHERE DID JESUS GO?)

For the above reasons, the key premise (B) is FALSE. Thus, the core argument of Objection #8 is UNSOUND and should be rejected. Therefore, Objection #8 against the Swoon Theory FAILS.

CONCLUSIONS

Because all nine of Kreeft and Tacelli’s objections against the Swoon Theory FAIL, their case against the Swoon Theory is a complete FAILURE. Since their case for the resurrection of Jesus depends on their attempt to refute the Swoon Theory, their case for the resurrection of Jesus also FAILS.