Certain things appear to be unbelievable…

“Everything that can be invented has been invented.” ~ Charles H. Duell, U.S. Patent Office director, 1899

“Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote.” ~ Grover Cleveland, 1905

“There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom.” ~ Robert Millikan, Nobel Prize winner in physics, 1923

“Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.” ~ Lord Kelvin, president of the Royal Society, 1895

“The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty.” ~ The Michigan banker who advised Henry Ford’s lawyer not to invest in Ford’s new motor car company

“There is no precedent for anything that happens, until it happens. And then there is.” ~ Anne Hesh

“Who would ever have thought that a Galilean carpenter would come to be regarded by millions as the human being most like God ever to have walked this planet?” ~ Angela Tilby, BBC Documentary writer

“That Jesus’ followers had resurrection experiences is, in my judgment, a fact. What the reality was that gave rise to the experiences I do not know.” ~ E. P. Sanders, said to be America’s foremost first century historian

“Quite what transpired on that third day after the crucifixion is of course a complex problem. Nevertheless, it is a matter of historical record that something happened – and that this changed the course of world history like no other event before or since.” ~ Markus Bockmuehl, The Cambridge Companion To Jesus

“If the thing happened, it was the central event in the history of the earth.” ~ C.S. Lewis

“Our old history ends with the cross; our new history begins with the resurrection.” ~ Watchman Nee

“If all the evidence is weighed carefully and fairly, it is indeed justifiable, according to the canons of historical research, to conclude that the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, in which Jesus was buried, was actually empty on the morning of the first Easter.” ~ Dr. Paul Maier, First Century Historian

“If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” ~ 1 Corinthians 15:17, NRSV

“I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” ~ John 10:9, NASB

“POSITIVE EVIDENCE FROM A HOSTILE SOURCE”

Maybe the body was stolen…

Maybe he survived…

Maybe the appearances were hallucinations…

Maybe they experienced his spirit, on his way to heaven…

Maybe he was never crucified…

“They denied the truth and uttered a monstrous falsehood against Mary. They declared: ‘We have put to death the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the apostle of God.’ They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but he was made to resemble another for them. They did not slay him.” ~ The Qur’an, Sura 4:157

IF A MESSIANIC LEADER WAS KILLED, HIS FOLLOWERS HAD TWO CHOICES: HIS FOLLOWERS HAD TWO CHOICES: a) Give up the revolution. b) Find a new Messiah.

“But dead people just don’t come back to life!”

“Let us be clear: the fact that all other dead people stay dead is part of the Christian case, not evidence against it.” ~ N.T. Wright, First Century Historian

“Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. "He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him.” ~ Hosea 6:1-2, NASB

“Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely. For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.” ~ Psalm 16:9-10, NASB

“Easter is the only festival that looks in two directions at the same time: back into history to fathom what happened in the week that changed the world, and forward into the future with the assurance that people who die will live again.” ~ Dr. Paul Maier, First Century Historian

“He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” ~ Colossians 1:13, NRSV

“He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.” ~ Colossians 2:15, NRSV