WHERE WE ARE

In my upcoming book Thinking Critically about the Resurrection of Jesus, Volume 1: The Resuscitation of the Swoon Theory (hereafter: TCAR1), I show that various cases by different Christian apologists against the Swoon Theory fail. The Swoon Theory is the skeptical view that Jesus did not die on the cross but survived his crucifixion and then sometime later contacted some of his disciples who mistakenly inferred from this that God had raised Jesus from the dead.

In TCAR1, I show that the case against the Swoon Theory by Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli in their Handbook of Christian Apologetics (hereafter: HCA) fails. In TCAR1, I show that the case against the Swoon Theory by William Craig in his book The Son Rises (hereafter: TSR) fails. In TCAR1, I show that the case against the Swoon Theory by Gary Habermas and Michael Licona in their book The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus (hereafter: CRJ) fails. Finally, I also show in TCAR1 that the case against the Swoon Theory by Josh McDowell in his book The Resurrection Factor (hereafter: TRF) fails.

But McDowell’s book The Resurrection Factor was published in 1981, so it is quite possible that in the four decades that have elapsed since that book was published, McDowell could have improved and strengthened his case against the Swoon Theory.

THE MCDOWELLS’ 21ST-CENTURY CASE AGAINST THE SWOON THEORY

In 2009, Josh McDowell published a book co-authored with his son Sean McDowell called Evidence for the Resurrection (hereafter: EFR).  In that book, the McDowells make a case for the resurrection of Jesus, and they also make cases against various skeptical theories, including the Swoon Theory.

On pages 221 to 225 of EFR, the McDowells make a 21^st-century case against the Swoon Theory.  They present twelve objections against the Swoon Theory in those five pages. However, seven of those objections correspond to objections by Kreeft and Tacelli in HCA, and three of those objections correspond to objections by Craig in TSR or by Habermas and Licona in CRJ. See my article “A Case Against the Swoon Theory in the McDowells’ Evidence For the Resurrection” for my analysis of the number and content of the objections presented by the McDowells in their book EFR.

So, in my book TCAR1, I have already shown that ten of the twelve objections in EFR fail.  Thus, only the two new objections in EFR need to be carefully analyzed and evaluated:

• Jesus’ Last Words (EFR, p.223)
• Early Writers (EFR, p.224)

If these two new objections fail, then the 21st-century case by the McDowells against the Swoon Theory fails, because all twelve objections that constitute their case will have been shown to fail.

CAREFUL ANALYSIS OF THE JESUS’ LAST WORDS OBJECTION

Here is how the McDowells state the Jesus’ Last Words Objection:

Jesus said he was in the act of dying while on the cross: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). John renders that he “gave up his spirit” (John 19:30).
(EFR, p.223)

The main premise of this argument appears to be the first sentence:

1. Jesus said he was in the act of dying while on the cross.

This sentence is ambiguous because it is unclear whether the time reference applies to when Jesus was talking or to when Jesus was in the act of dying. I will rephrase it to eliminate this ambiguity (i.e. the time reference was to when Jesus was talking):

1a. At some point while Jesus was on the cross, Jesus said he was in the act of dying.

The next claim is that Jesus said some specific words:

2. Jesus said: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

In the context of claim (1a), it is implied that Jesus said these words in a particular period of time:

2a. At some point while Jesus was on the cross, Jesus said: “Father into your hands I commit my spirit.”

The second claim or premise is followed with this information:

3. (Luke 23:46)

The information in the parentheses following the alleged quote of Jesus refers to a specific verse in the Gospel of Luke. This verse from the Gospel of Luke is clearly being offered as EVIDENCE in support of premise (2a):

3a. According to the Gospel of Luke (specifically, verse 46 of Chapter 23), at some point while Jesus was on the cross, Jesus said: “Father into your hands I commit my spirit.”

The next sentence is a bit puzzling:

4. John renders that he “gave up his spirit”.

The relevance of this claim is not clear. It is also odd that the verb is “renders” as opposed to “states” or “asserts” or “claims”. The pronoun “he” should be replaced with its referent (i.e. Jesus) to make the meaning of this statement clear. Also, in context, it is implied that this event took place while Jesus was on the cross, so I will make that implication explicit.

4a. John claims that Jesus “gave up his spirit” and that Jesus did this at some point while Jesus was on the cross.

This is an improvement over premise (4), but the name “John” is ambiguous between two possible references: (a) John the disciple of Jesus, or (b) the Gospel of John. If we interpret (4a) as a reference to John the disciple of Jesus, then this argument will need to make a dubious assumption, namely that the author of the Gospel of John was John the disciple of Jesus. But there are good reasons to doubt that the Gospel of John was written by John the disciple of Jesus, so we should avoid interpretation (a) if possible. The argument has a better chance of success if we understand the term “John” to refer to the Gospel of John:

4b. The Gospel of John claims that Jesus “gave up his spirit” and that Jesus did this at some point while Jesus was on the cross.

Once again, this claim is followed by some additional information:

5. (John 19:30)

This information is intended to provide EVIDENCE in support of the previous claim or premise:

5a. According to the Gospel of John (specifically, verse 30 of chapter 19), Jesus “gave up his spirit”.

I believe the primary statement in this objection is premise (1a):

1a. At some point while Jesus was on the cross, Jesus said he was in the act of dying.

Strictly speaking, however, this claim is irrelevant. The Swoon Theory is NOT about what Jesus said or didn’t say when he was on the cross. The central claim of the Swoon Theory is that Jesus did not die while he was on the cross. Thus, it is clear that the McDowells have failed to explicitly state the conclusion of their argument. In order to clarify their argument, we need to state their intermediate conclusion explicitly:

A. Jesus died while he was on the cross.

The intermediate conclusion (A) supports the ultimate conclusion of this argument:

Jesus died while he was on the cross.

IF Jesus died while he was on the cross, THEN the Swoon Theory is false.

THEREFORE:

The Swoon Theory is false.

Now we can sketch out a significant part of the logic of this argument:

3a. According to the Gospel of Luke (specifically, verse 46 of Chapter 23), at some point while Jesus was on the cross, Jesus said: “Father into your hands I commit my spirit.”

THEREFORE:

2a. At some point while Jesus was on the cross, Jesus said: “Father into your hands I commit my spirit.”

THEREFORE:

1a. At some point while Jesus was on the cross, Jesus said he was in the act of dying.

THEREFORE:

A. Jesus died while he was on the cross.

It is also clear that premise (5a) is a reason given in support of premise (4b):

5a. According to the Gospel of John (specifically, verse 30 of chapter 19), Jesus “gave up his spirit”.

THEREFORE:

4b. The Gospel of John claims that Jesus “gave up his spirit” and that Jesus did this at some point while Jesus was on the cross.

What is not clear is how premise (4b) is relevant to this objection. It might be the case that (4b) is a separate reason in support of the conclusion (A). But it might be the case that (4b) is intended as additional support for premise (2a).

I am inclined to the latter interpretation because the McDowells assigned a single number to these sentences, indicating that they constitute a single argument rather than two different reasons or arguments for the same conclusion, and also because of the odd choice of the word “renders” in claim (4), which indicates that the author of the Gospel of John engaged in some interpretation of this event, as opposed to making a straightforward factual claim. That leaves open the possibility that the author of the Gospel of John was interpreting the words of Jesus (which had been straightforwardly reported in the Gospel of Luke) as meaning or implying that Jesus “gave up his spirit”. Note that both premise (2a) and premise (4b) talk about Jesus’ “spirit”, which suggests a logical connection between these two premises.

Therefore, the most likely interpretation of the relevance of premise (4b) is that it is given as additional support for premise (2a).

I think that the alleged claim the Gospel of John that Jesus gave up his spirit while on the cross is thought by the McDowells to be evidence that provides additional support for premise (2a).

There are obvious problems of INVALID inferences in the argument as sketched out above. Premise (2a) does NOT follow logically from premise (3a). The McDowells are clearly assuming that the Gospel of Luke provides an accurate and reliable historical account of the passion of Jesus. In order for this argument to be logical, we need to make that assumption explicit and add it to the statement of their argument:

B. The Gospel of Luke provides an accurate and reliable historical account of the trials and crucifixion of Jesus.

Other inferences in this argument are also logically INVALID inferences, and also require the addition of further assumptions or premises to make the logic of the argument VALID:

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1a. At some point while Jesus was on the cross, Jesus said he was in the act of dying.

C. IF at some point while Jesus was on the cross, Jesus said he was in the act of dying, THEN Jesus died while he was on the cross.

THEREFORE:

A. Jesus died while he was on the cross.

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2a. At some point while Jesus was on the cross, Jesus said: “Father into your hands I commit my spirit.”

D. IF at some point while Jesus was on the cross, Jesus said: “Father into your hands I commit my spirit.”, THEN at some point while Jesus was on the cross, Jesus said he was in the act of dying.

THEREFORE:

1a. At some point while Jesus was on the cross, Jesus said he was in the act of dying.

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Also, Premise (4b) does not follow logically from premise (5a), because (5a) does not specify that the event in question took place while Jesus was on the cross. But with the addition of a reasonable assumption, this inference would work:

5a. According to the Gospel of John (specifically, verse 30 of chapter 19), Jesus “gave up his spirit”.

E. The context of verse 30 in Chapter 19 of the Gospel of John clearly implies that the events described in verse 30 took place at some point while Jesus was on the cross.

THEREFORE:

4b. The Gospel of John claims that Jesus “gave up his spirit” and that Jesus did this at some point while Jesus was on the cross.

Given the above clarifications of the explicit claims in this objection by the McDowells, and given the clarification of making the conclusion of the argument explicit, and given the above clarifications of the various inferences and unstated assumptions of their argument, we can now represent the clarified argument in an argument diagram:

EXPLICITLY STATED CLAIMS/PREMISES

1a. At some point while Jesus was on the cross, Jesus said he was in the act of dying.

2a. At some point while Jesus was on the cross, Jesus said: “Father into your hands I commit my spirit.”

3a. According to the Gospel of Luke (specifically, verse 46 of Chapter 23), at some point while Jesus was on the cross, Jesus said: “Father into your hands I commit my spirit.”

4b. The Gospel of John claims that Jesus “gave up his spirit” and that Jesus did this at some point while Jesus was on the cross.

5a. According to the Gospel of John (specifically, verse 30 of chapter 19), Jesus “gave up his spirit”.

UNSTATED CLAIMS/ASSUMPTIONS

A. Jesus died while he was on the cross.

B. The Gospel of Luke provides an accurate and reliable historical account of the trials and crucifixion of Jesus.

C. IF at some point while Jesus was on the cross, Jesus said he was in the act of dying, THEN Jesus died while he was on the cross.

D. IF at some point while Jesus was on the cross, Jesus said: “Father into your hands I commit my spirit.”, THEN at some point while Jesus was on the cross, Jesus said he was in the act of dying.

E. The context of verse 30 in Chapter 19 of the Gospel of John clearly implies that the events described in verse 30 took place at some point while Jesus was on the cross.

F. IF Jesus died while he was on the cross, THEN the Swoon Theory is false.

G. The Swoon Theory is false.