Careful Analysis of Objections to the Swoon Theory: Objection #5 (The Sickly Jesus Objection)
WHERE WE ARE
Careful argument evaluation is the heart and soul of critical thinking. But in order to do a careful evaluation of an argument, one must first have a clear understanding of the argument that is to be evaluated. Careful argument analysis is usually required in order to obtain a clear understanding of an argument, so having the knowledge, skills, and desire to do careful argument analysis is crucial to being a critical thinker.
I have carefully evaluated nine objections against the Swoon Theory, objections put forward by Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli in Chapter 8 of their Handbook of Christian Apologetics. I arrived at the conclusion that all nine objections FAIL, and thus that their case against the Swoon Theory FAILS, and their case for the resurrection of Jesus FAILS. But in order to be in a position to do this, I had to first do a careful argument analysis of each objection (each objection constitutes an argument against the Swoon Theory).
In this post I will walk through my process of careful argument analysis, step-by-step, showing how the sausage gets made. The process of careful argument analysis that I use here can be applied to almost any text or speech that contains an argument or arguments. This post will focus on Objection #5 against the Swoon Theory.
ANALYSIS OF OBJECTION #5
Objection #5 is the last of four objections that are based on passages from the Gospel of John:
OBJECTION #5: THE SICKLY JESUS OBJECTION
Here is Objection #5 by Kreeft and Tacelli against the Swoon Theory:
The post-resurrection appearances convinced the disciples, even “doubting Thomas,” that Jesus was gloriously alive (Jn 20:19-29). It is psychologically impossible for the disciples to have been so transformed and confident if Jesus had merely struggled out of a swoon, badly in need of a doctor. A half-dead, staggering sick man who has just had a narrow escape is not worshiped fearlessly as divine lord and conqueror of death.
(HCA, p. 183)
Kreeft and Tacelli say more about the alleged transformation of Jesus’ disciples when they discuss the Conspiracy Theory:
…Their [Jesus’ disciples’] sincerity is proved by their words and deeds. They preached a resurrected Christ and they lived a resurrected Christ. They willingly died for their “conspiracy.” Nothing proves sincerity like martyrdom.
The change in their lives from fear to faith, despair to confidence, confusion to certitude, runaway cowardice to steadfast boldness under threat and persecution, not only proves their sincerity but testifies to some powerful cause of it. Can a lie cause such a transformation?
(HCA, p. 185)
They [Jesus’ disciples] were hated, scorned, persecuted, excommunicated, imprisoned, tortured, exiled, crucified, boiled alive, roasted, beheaded, disemboweled and fed to lions…
(HCA, p. 186)
…the remarkable turnaround of the apostles from confused cowards to world-changing martyrs…
(HCA, p.197)
IDENTIFICATION STEPS
1. [The post-resurrection appearances convinced the disciples…that Jesus was gloriously alive]
2. [The post-resurrection appearances convinced even “doubting Thomas,” that Jesus was gloriously alive]
(Jn 20:19-29). – reference to a biblical passage as evidence for the previous historical claims
3. [According to the Gospel of John (Jn 20:19-29), claim (1) is true.]
4. [According to the Gospel of John (Jn 20:19-29), claim (2) is true.]
5. [It is psychologically impossible for the disciples to have been so transformed and confident if Jesus had merely struggled out of a swoon, badly in need of a doctor.]
6. [A half-dead, staggering sick man who has just had a narrow escape is not worshiped fearlessly as divine lord and conqueror of death.]
CLARIFICATION STEPS
1. [The post-resurrection appearances convinced the disciples…that Jesus was gloriously alive]
=>1a. On the weekend after Jesus had been crucified, ten of the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus (not including Thomas) each had an experience that the disciples believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus, and this convinced those ten disciples that God had raised Jesus from the dead and given Jesus an immortal body.
– I added specification of the timing (“On the weekend after Jesus had been crucified”) based on the comment in claim (6) that Jesus “just had a narrow escape” and based on the content of the passage from the Gospel of John referenced by Kreeft and Tacelli. The specification of the timing of appearances of the “risen” Jesus to his disciples is critical to this argument.
2. [The post-resurrection appearances convinced even “doubting Thomas,” that Jesus was gloriously alive]
=>2a. On the second weekend after Jesus had been crucified, Jesus’ disciple Thomas had an experience that Thomas believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus, and this convinced Thomas that God had raised Jesus from the dead and given Jesus an immortal body.
3. [According to the Gospel of John (Jn 20:19-29), claim (1) is true.]
=>3a. According to the Gospel of John (Jn 20:19-29), on the weekend after Jesus had been crucified, ten of the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus (not including Thomas) each had an experience that the disciples believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus, and this convinced those ten disciples that God had raised Jesus from the dead and given Jesus an immortal body.
4. [According to the Gospel of John (Jn 20:19-29), claim (2) is true.]
=>4a. According to the Gospel of John (Jn 20:19-29), on the second weekend after Jesus had been crucified, Jesus’ disciple Thomas had an experience that Thomas believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus, and this convinced Thomas that God had raised Jesus from the dead and given Jesus an immortal body.
5. [It is psychologically impossible for the disciples to have been so transformed and confident if Jesus had merely struggled out of a swoon, badly in need of a doctor.]
=>5a. IF sometime after Jesus had been crucified, the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus each had experiences that they believed were experiences of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor, THEN it would have been psychologically impossible for the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus to have been transformed (sometime after Jesus had been crucified) from fearful doubting cowards into fearless and confident believers in Jesus as divine lord and as the resurrected conqueror of death. – The phrase “had merely struggled out of a swoon” has no clear implications in terms of what this would look like, so I have eliminated that phrase. The phrase “badly in need of a doctor” is a description that is similar to the phrase “A half-dead, staggering sickman” in the next sentence. Both phrases imply that Jesus would have appeared to be in bad condition. I have combined these two phrases in order to regularize the wording between claim (5) and claim (6), to make the logical connection between these claims more obvious.
6. [A half-dead, staggering sick man who has just had a narrow escape is not worshiped fearlessly as divine lord and conqueror of death.]
=>6a. IF sometime after Jesus had been crucified, the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus each had experiences that they believed were experiences of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor, THEN the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus would NOT have been transformed (sometime after Jesus had been crucified) from fearful doubting cowards into fearless and confident believers in Jesus as divine lord and as the resurrected conqueror of death.
FILL-IN STEPS
Kreeft and Tacelli again fail to state the conclusion of their argument:
A. The Swoon Theory is FALSE.
The use of passages from the Gospel of John to support historical claims (1) and (2), assumes the historical reliability of that Gospel:
B. The Gospel of John provides a reliable and accurate account of the life of Jesus, including alleged experiences of the risen Jesus had by the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus after Jesus’ crucifixion.
Premise (5a) is clearly providing support for premise (6a):
5a. IF sometime after Jesus had been crucified, the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus each had experiences that they believed were experiences of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor, THEN it would have been psychologically impossible for the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus to have been transformed (sometime after Jesus had been crucified) from fearful doubting cowards into brave and confident believers in Jesus as divine lord and as the resurrected conqueror of death.
THEREFORE:
6a. IF sometime after Jesus had been crucified, the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus each had experiences that they believed were experiences of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor, THEN the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus would NOT have been transformed (sometime after Jesus had been crucified) from fearful doubting cowards into fearless and confident believers in Jesus as divine lord and as the resurrected conqueror of death.
The problem is that the sub-conclusion (6a) says NOTHING about the Swoon Theory, but the intended conclusion (A) is about the Swoon Theory. So, we need to figure out the missing premises and inferences that Kreeft and Tacelli had in mind but failed to state explicitly.
There is an obvious inference that can be made from claim (6a), and we should go ahead and make that inference because it might well help us to see the unstated reasoning that leads to conclusion (A):
6a. IF sometime after Jesus had been crucified, the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus each had experiences that they believed were experiences of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor, THEN the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus would NOT have been transformed (sometime after Jesus had been crucified) from fearful doubting cowards into fearless and confident believers in Jesus as divine lord and as the resurrected conqueror of death.
C. The eleven remaining disciples of Jesus WERE transformed (sometime after Jesus had been crucified) from fearful doubting cowards into fearless and confident believers in Jesus as divine lord and as the resurrected conqueror of death.
THEREFORE:
D. It is NOT the case that sometime after Jesus had been crucified, the eleven remaining disciples each had experiences that they believed were experiences of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
With this sub-conclusion (D), we can form a modus tollens argument for the intended conclusion (A):
E. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN sometime after Jesus had been crucified, the eleven remaining disciples each had experiences that they believed were experiences of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
D. It is NOT the case that: sometime after Jesus had been crucified, the eleven remaining disciples each had experiences that they believed were experiences of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
THEREFORE:
A. The Swoon Theory is FALSE.
This unstated argument is the core argument of Objection #5. We have figured out the reasoning that Kreeft and Tacelli used to infer the key premise (D), but it is not yet clear how they would support the key premise (E). It seems likely that claims (1a) and (2a) are part of an argument in support of the key premise (E).
However, it is UNCLEAR how the claims (1a) and (2a) provide support for the key premise (E). Let’s focus on premise (1a) for now:
1a. On the weekend after Jesus had been crucified, ten of the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus (not including Thomas) each had an experience that the disciples believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus, and this convinced those ten disciples that God had raised Jesus from the dead and given Jesus an immortal body.
The specific timing mentioned here is crucial: “On the weekend after Jesus had been crucified”. Kreeft and Tacelli fail to emphasize this crucial point, but they do reference it in their original wording of premise (6):
A half-dead, staggering sick man who has just had a narrow escape is not worshiped fearlessly as divine lord and conqueror of death.
(HCA, p.183, emphasis added)
Jesus “just had a narrow escape” from death, meaning that Jesus was crucified on Friday, and his first appearance to ten out of the eleven remaining disciples took place that weekend, on Sunday evening. The timing of this appearance of Jesus is according to the passage that Kreeft and Tacelli referenced from the Gospel of John. The idea here is that if Jesus had been beaten, flogged, nailed to the cross, and stabbed with a spear in his side on Friday, then he would probably still be in pretty bad shape (“a half-dead, staggering sick man” who was “badly in need of a doctor”) two days later on Sunday, if he had somehow survived the crucifixion without any divine intervention.
According to the Swoon Theory, an appearance (or appearances) of Jesus to some of his disciples sometime after his crucifixion was what convinced his disciples that God had raised Jesus from the dead. According to the Gospel of John, and according to Kreeft and Tacelli, the first appearance of Jesus to ten (out of eleven) of his inner circle of disciples took place on the weekend following Jesus’ crucifixion.
So, the combination of this timing of the first appearance(s) of Jesus to his disciples along with the Swoon Theory implies that Jesus was in bad shape when he first appeared to ten of his eleven disciples:
1a. On the weekend after Jesus had been crucified, ten of the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus (not including Thomas) each had an experience that the disciples believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus, and this convinced those ten disciples that God had raised Jesus from the dead and given Jesus an immortal body.
F. IF the Swoon Theory is true and on the weekend after Jesus had been crucified, ten of the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus (not including Thomas) each had an experience that the disciples believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus, THEN on the weekend after Jesus had been crucified, ten of the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus (not including Thomas) each had an experience that the disciples believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus and Jesus would have appeared to those ten disciples to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
THEREFORE:
G. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN on the weekend after Jesus had been crucified, ten of the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus (not including Thomas) each had an experience that the disciples believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to those ten disciples to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
Conclusion (G) gets us most of the way to the key premise (E). We just need to formulate a similar argument concerning Jesus’ disciple Thomas:
2a. On the second weekend after Jesus had been crucified, Jesus’ disciple Thomas had an experience that Thomas believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus, and this convinced Thomas that God had raised Jesus from the dead and given Jesus an immortal body.
H. IF the first appearance of Jesus to his disciple Thomas (after Jesus’ crucifixion) took place on the second weekend after Jesus had been crucified and the Swoon Theory is true, THEN Jesus would have appeared to Thomas to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
THEREFORE:
I. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN on the second weekend after Jesus had been crucified, Jesus’ disciple Thomas had an experience that Thomas believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to Thomas to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
The combination of sub-conclusions (G) and (I) will get us to the key premise (E):
G. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN on the weekend after Jesus had been crucified, ten of the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus (not including Thomas) each had an experience that the disciples believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to those ten disciples to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
I. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN on the second weekend after Jesus had been crucified, Jesus’ disciple Thomas had an experience that Thomas believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to Thomas to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
THEREFORE:
E. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN sometime after Jesus had been crucified, the eleven remaining disciples each had experiences that they believed were experiences of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to those disciples to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
E. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN sometime after Jesus had been crucified, the eleven remaining disciples each had experiences that they believed were experiences of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
D. It is NOT the case that: sometime after Jesus had been crucified, the eleven remaining disciples each had experiences that they believed were experiences of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
THEREFORE:
A. The Swoon Theory is FALSE.
5a. IF sometime after Jesus had been crucified, the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus each had experiences that they believed were experiences of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor, THEN it would have been psychologically impossible for the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus to have been transformed (sometime after Jesus had been crucified) from fearful doubting cowards into brave and confident believers in Jesus as divine lord and as the resurrected conqueror of death.
THEREFORE:
6a. IF sometime after Jesus had been crucified, the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus each had experiences that they believed were experiences of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor, THEN the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus would NOT have been transformed (sometime after Jesus had been crucified) from fearful doubting cowards into fearless and confident believers in Jesus as divine lord and as the resurrected conqueror of death.
C. The eleven remaining disciples of Jesus were transformed (sometime after Jesus had been crucified) from fearful doubting cowards into fearless and confident believers in Jesus as divine lord and as the resurrected conqueror of death.
THEREFORE:
D. It is NOT the case that sometime after Jesus had been crucified, the eleven remaining disciples each had experiences that they believed were experiences of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
G. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN on the weekend after Jesus had been crucified, ten of the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus (not including Thomas) each had an experience that the disciples believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to those ten disciples to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
I. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN on the second weekend after Jesus had been crucified, Jesus’ disciple Thomas had an experience that Thomas believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to Thomas to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
THEREFORE:
E. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN sometime after Jesus had been crucified, the eleven remaining disciples each had experiences that they believed were experiences of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to those disciples to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
3a. According to the Gospel of John (Jn 20:19-29), on the weekend after Jesus had been crucified, ten of the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus (not including Thomas) each had an experience that the disciples believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus, and this convinced those ten disciples that God had raised Jesus from the dead and given Jesus an immortal body.
B. The Gospel of John provides a reliable and accurate account of the life of Jesus, including alleged experiences of the risen Jesus had by the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus after Jesus’ crucifixion.
THEREFORE:
1a. On the weekend after Jesus had been crucified, ten of the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus (not including Thomas) each had an experience that the disciples believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus, and this convinced those ten disciples that God had raised Jesus from the dead and given Jesus an immortal body.
F. IF the Swoon Theory is true and on the weekend after Jesus had been crucified, ten of the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus (not including Thomas) each had an experience that the disciples believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus, THEN on the weekend after Jesus had been crucified, ten of the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus (not including Thomas) each had an experience that the disciples believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus and Jesus would have appeared to those ten disciples to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
THEREFORE:
G. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN on the weekend after Jesus had been crucified, ten of the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus (not including Thomas) each had an experience that the disciples believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to those ten disciples to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
4a. According to the Gospel of John (Jn 20:19-29), on the second weekend after Jesus had been crucified, Jesus’ disciple Thomas had an experience that Thomas believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus, and this convinced Thomas that God had raised Jesus from the dead and given Jesus an immortal body.
B. The Gospel of John provides a reliable and accurate account of the life of Jesus, including alleged experiences of the risen Jesus had by the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus after Jesus’ crucifixion.
THEREFORE:
2a. On the second weekend after Jesus had been crucified, Jesus’ disciple Thomas had an experience that Thomas believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus, and this convinced Thomas that God had raised Jesus from the dead and given Jesus an immortal body.
H. IF the first appearance of Jesus to his disciple Thomas (after Jesus’ crucifixion) took place on the second weekend after Jesus had been crucified and the Swoon Theory is true, THEN Jesus would have appeared to Thomas to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
THEREFORE:
I. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN on the second weekend after Jesus had been crucified, Jesus’ disciple Thomas had an experience that Thomas believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to Thomas to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
THE STATED PREMISES OF OBJECTION #5
1a. On the weekend after Jesus had been crucified, ten of the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus (not including Thomas) each had an experience that the disciples believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus, and this convinced those ten disciples that God had raised Jesus from the dead and given Jesus an immortal body.
2a. On the second weekend after Jesus had been crucified, Jesus’ disciple Thomas had an experience that Thomas believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus, and this convinced Thomas that God had raised Jesus from the dead and given Jesus an immortal body.
3a. According to the Gospel of John (Jn 20:19-29), on the weekend after Jesus had been crucified, ten of the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus (not including Thomas) each had an experience that the disciples believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus, and this convinced those ten disciples that God had raised Jesus from the dead and given Jesus an immortal body.
4a. According to the Gospel of John (Jn 20:19-29), on the second weekend after Jesus had been crucified, Jesus’ disciple Thomas had an experience that Thomas believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus, and this convinced Thomas that God had raised Jesus from the dead and given Jesus an immortal body.
5a. IF sometime after Jesus had been crucified, the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus each had experiences that they believed were experiences of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor, THEN it would have been psychologically impossible for the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus to have been transformed (sometime after Jesus had been crucified) by experiences that they believed were experiences of seeing a living and embodied Jesus, changing them from fearful doubting cowards into brave and confident believers in Jesus as the divine lord and as the resurrected conqueror of death and into men who boldly preached the resurrection of Jesus.
6a. IF sometime after Jesus had been crucified, the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus each had experiences that they believed were experiences of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor, THEN the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus would NOT have been transformed (sometime after Jesus had been crucified) by experiences that they believed were experiences of seeing a living and embodied Jesus, changing them from fearful doubting cowards into brave and confident believers in Jesus as the divine lord and as the resurrected conqueror of death and into men who boldly preached the resurrection of Jesus.
THE UNSTATED ASSUMPTIONS/PREMISES OF OBJECTION #5
A. The Swoon Theory is FALSE.
B. The Gospel of John provides a reliable and accurate account of the life of Jesus, including alleged experiences of the risen Jesus had by the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus after Jesus’ crucifixion.
C. The eleven remaining disciples of Jesus were transformed (sometime after Jesus had been crucified) by experiences that they believed were experiences of seeing a living and embodied Jesus, changing them from fearful doubting cowards into brave and confident believers in Jesus as the divine lord and as the resurrected conqueror of death, and into men who boldly preached the resurrection of Jesus.
D. It is NOT the case that sometime after Jesus had been crucified, the eleven remaining disciples each had experiences that they believed were experiences of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
E. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN sometime after Jesus had been crucified, the eleven remaining disciples each had experiences that they believed were experiences of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to those disciples to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
F. IF the Swoon Theory is true and on the weekend after Jesus had been crucified, ten of the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus (not including Thomas) each had an experience that the disciples believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus, THEN on the weekend after Jesus had been crucified, ten of the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus (not including Thomas) each had an experience that the disciples believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to those ten disciples to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
G. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN on the weekend after Jesus had been crucified, ten of the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus (not including Thomas) each had an experience that the disciples believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to those ten disciples to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
H. IF the Swoon Theory is true and on the second weekend after Jesus had been crucified, Jesus’ disciple Thomas had an experience that Thomas believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus, THEN on the second weekend after Jesus had been crucified, Jesus’ disciple Thomas had an experience that Thomas believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to Thomas to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
I. IF the Swoon Theory is true, THEN on the second weekend after Jesus had been crucified, Jesus’ disciple Thomas had an experience that Thomas believed was an experience of seeing a living and physically embodied Jesus in which Jesus appeared to Thomas to be a half-dead, staggering sick man who was badly in need of a doctor.
EVALUATION OF OBJECTION #5
For my careful evaluation of Objection #5, see these blog posts on The Secular Frontier: