The Logic of the Resurrection – Part 3
The logic of the resurrection apologetic goes roughly like this:
NOTE: This does not represent Swinburne’s case for the resurrection. It is a rough representation of a case for the resurrection that follows the general logic laid out by Swinburne (constituting a three-legged stool).
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KEY TO DIAGRAM
(DOC) Jesus died on the cross on the same day he was crucified.
(JAW) Jesus was alive and walking around (unassisted) about 48 hours after he was crucified.
(GTE) The God of traditional theism exists.
(GPR) God, if God exists, has purposes P1, P2, etc. that are relevant to whether God would be likely to raise someone from the dead.
(JRD) Jesus rose from the dead.
(RAW) Jesus performed the right actions and spoke the right words making him a person with characteristics C1, C2, etc.
(GLR) God would be likely to raise someone from the dead who had characteristics C1, C2, etc.
(GRJ) God raised Jesus from the dead.
(JCD) Jesus claimed to be the divine Son of God.
(JSG) Jesus is the divine Son of God.
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The three legs required for a complete case for the resurrection are represented in the argument at the heart of the above diagram:
(JRD) constitutes the Posterior Historical Evidence part of the case.
(RAW) constitutes the Prior Historical Evidence part of the case.
(GLR) constitutes the General Background Evidence part of the case.