Book Review: The Resurrection Fact

The Resurrection Fact attempts to deal with many of the philosophical and historical arguments against the resurrection. If you are new to the discussion, it will acquaint you with many of the arguments for the proponents (e.g. N. T. Wright, Gary Habermas, W. L. Craig, etc.) as well as many of the skeptics (Bart Ehrman, J. D. Crossan etc.). Having been relatively familiar with both sides, I found the book helpful in summarizing and giving evidence against skeptical arguments.

This format is helpful as you encounter skeptical arguments that typically draw on one of the works they consider, giving the reader a chance to brush up on a particular topic. One of the great strengths of this book, as opposed to others, is that it uses scholars across a wide range of disciplines: history, theology, philosophy and even law. Most books deal with one aspect, this one gives solid summaries of each.

Throughout the book they not only reveal the facts, as discernible by a historian, but deal with the underlying presuppositions of the skeptical in analyzing the facts. The case made for the resurrection I believe is compelling.

My critiques of the book are largely the same critiques given to books that are collections of essays: the varying quality/helpfulness between chapters and a tendency to have redundant information. Since the authors are dealing with a very specific subject, they will often repeat many of the facts and ideas previously discussed. To their credit though, I was pleasantly surprised it wasn’t more redundant.

I received a free copy of this book from Cross Focused Reviews in exchange for a free review. I was not required to write a good review.