Two New Objections Against the Swoon Theory by the McDowells – Part 2: Careful Analysis of the Early Writers Objection

Bradley Bowen | April 18, 2025

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 a skeptical theory that claims Jesus did not die on the cross, and that sometime after Jesus was removed from the cross, he met with some of his disciples and they mistakenly inferred from this that God had raised Jesus from the dead.

In TCAR1, I show that the case made by Josh McDowell against the Swoon Theory in his book The Resurrection Factor (hereafter: TRF) fails. However, it is possible that in the decades since TRF was published, McDowell might have improved and strengthened his case against the Swoon Theory. I am now in the process of investigating whether that happened by carefully analyzing and evaluating a more recent case against the Swoon Theory in book co-authored by Josh McDowell and his son Sean McDowell called Evidence for the Resurrection (hereafter: EFR), which was published in 2009.

Seven out of the twelve objections in this 21st-century case by the McDowells against the Swoon Theory correspond to objections presented by Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli in their Handbook of Christian Apologetics (hereafter: HCA). Thus, when I showed in TCAR1 that all of the objections against the Swoon Theory in HCA fail, that also showed that seven of the objections in the 21st-century case by the McDowells against the Swoon Theory fail.

Three more of the twelve objections in the 21st-century case by the McDowells against the Swoon Theory correspond to objections presented by William Craig in his book The Son Rises (hereafter: TSR) and/or by Gary Habermas and Michael Licona in their book The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus (hereafter: CRJ). Thus, when I showed in TCAR1 that all of the objections against the Swoon Theory in TSR and in CRJ fail, I also showed that those three more objections in the 21st-century case by the McDowells against the Swoon Theory fail.

Therefore, there are only two new or unique objections in the 21st-century case by the McDowells in their book EFR that we need to carefully analyze and evaluate:

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

If I show that 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 new case will have been shown to fail.

I did a careful analysis of the Jesus’ Last Words Objection in Part 1 of this series.

CAREFUL ANALYSIS OF THE EARLY WRITERS OBJECTION

Here is how the McDowells state the Early Writers Objection:

(9) Non-Christian historians from the first and second centuries, such as Tacitus and Josephus, recorded the death of Jesus of Nazareth. (10) The earliest Christian writers after the time of Christ, such as Polycarp and Ignatius, verify his death by crucifixion on the cross as well. (EFR, p. 224)

The McDowells number these as being two separate points, but I think the two points are very similar, so I consider these points to be just one objection.

First, the immediate conclusion of the argument is not stated explicitly, but is clearly the same as the Jesus’ Last Words Objection:

A. Jesus died while he was on the cross.

The ultimate conclusion, however, is about the Swoon Theory, so the final inference of the argument goes like this:

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.

The first claim of the argument is fairly clear as it stands:

1. Non-Christian historians from the first and second centuries recorded the death of Jesus of Nazareth.

Two examples are given to support this claim:

2. Tacitus recorded the death of Jesus of Nazareth.

3. Josephus recorded the death of Jesus of Nazareth.

There are a couple of unstated assumptions that the McDowells need to be able to infer premise (1) from premises (2) and (3):

B. Tacitus was a non-Christian historian from the first and/or second century who wrote about the death of Jesus of Nazareth.

C. Josephus was a non-Christian historian from the first and/or second century who wrote about the death of Jesus of Nazareth.

The next claim is also fairly clear as it stands:

4. The earliest Christian writers after the time of Christ verify his death by crucifixion on the cross.

The word “verify” is misleading because it suggests that these Christian writers carefully investigated this issue, but the intended claim is not that strong. The claim the McDowells intend here is just that these Christian writers assert the death of Jesus by crucifixion on the cross. How these writers came to that conclusion is not discussed by the McDowells. We also need to replace the term “his” with the intended referent of that term:

4a. The earliest Christian writers after the time of Christ asserted that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified and died while on the cross.

Again, two examples are given to support claim (4a):

5. Polycarp asserted that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified and died while on the cross.

6. Ignatius asserted that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified and died while on the cross.

Two more unstated assumptions are needed in order for the McDowells to be able to infer premise (4a) from premises (5) and (6):

D. Polycarp was one of the earliest Christian writers after the time of Christ who wrote about the death of Jesus of Nazareth.

E. Ignatius was one of the earliest Christian writers after the time of Christ who wrote about the death of Jesus of Nazareth.

In various objections against the Swoon Theory, Gospel passages are quoted as evidence against the Swoon Theory. When I clarify those objections, I point out that quoting from a Gospel as EVIDENCE for some historical claim requires that one make an assumption about the historical accuracy and reliability of that Gospel. For example, I made the following assumption explicit in clarifying the Jesus’ Last Words Objection by the McDowells:

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

The McDowells are making similar assumptions in their Early Writers Objection against the Swoon Theory:

F. Tacitus provides us with accurate and reliable historical information about Jesus of Nazareth.

G. Josephus provides us with accurate and reliable historical information about Jesus of Nazareth.

H. Polycarp provides us with accurate and reliable historical information about Jesus of Nazareth.

I. Ignatius provides us with accurate and reliable historical information about Jesus of Nazareth.

These assumptions support more general assumptions of a similar nature:

J. Non-Christian historians who wrote about the death of Jesus of Nazareth provide us with accurate and reliable historical information about Jesus of Nazareth.

K. The earliest Christian writers after the time of Christ who wrote about the death of Jesus of Nazareth provide us with accurate and reliable historical information about Jesus of Nazareth.

Now that I have clarified the inferences and the unstated assumptions in the Early Writers Objection by the McDowells, their argument can be clearly presented in an argument diagram: