BEATING A DEAD HORSE?
I probably come across to many people as a person who likes to beat a dead horse. I'm not satisfied with finding just one serious problem with an argument presented by a Christian apologist. I always try to find two or three (or more) serious problems with arguments given in support of a basic Christian belief. I almost always do manage to find two or three (or more) serious problems with such arguments.
Another way to look at this, however, is in terms of that common element in many horror movies, where the monster has just been defeated or knocked down, and the people the monster had been chasing are immediately relieved and then turn their backs on the monster, who is lying on the ground near them. People are always IDIOTS in horror movies, and they usually fail to put a stake through the vampire's heart, or to cut off the head of the evil creature, or to light the body of Jason on fire to burn him to a crackly crisp.
I don't want to be like the FOOLS in horror movies, so when I knock down an argument by a Christian apologist, I try to also pound a stake through the heart of the argument, and cut off its head, and then douse it in gasoline, and light it on fire. This may seem to others like I'm "beating a dead horse", but I consider this to be just a reasonable way of ensuring that the threat will not raise its ugly head ever again.
RELEVANT HISTORICAL FACTS NOT INCLUDED BY CRAIG
Here are some other relevant facts that are not included in Craig's three key historical facts:
1. People who were crucified by the Romans would usually hang on the cross for at least two or three days before dying.
2. The authors of the Gospels believed that Jesus was removed from the cross after hanging on the cross for less than half of a day (i.e., for somewhere between 2 hours and 10 hours).
3. Three friends of the Jewish historian Josephus were crucified, and hung on crosses for a few hours and then were removed from their crosses while they were still alive. Two of the crucified people died hours or days later while under the care of a physician, but one survived and recovered.
4. There are a number of different medical theories about how Roman crucifixion caused people to die; we don't actually know how Roman crucifixion caused death.
5. Victims of Roman crucifixion were usually burried in mass graves and were not permitted to have an honorable burial.
6. The authors of the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Matthew believed that the first appearances of the allegedly risen Jesus to his male disciples took place in Galilee about a week or more after Jesus was crucified.
7. The authors of the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John believed that the first appearances of the allegedly risen Jesus to his male disciples took place in Jerusalem about 48 hours after Jesus had been crucified and buried.
8. Jesus was a sexist, who worshipped and obeyed Jehovah, the sexist god of the Israelites.
9. Jesus worshipped and obeyed Jehovah, the genocidal god of the Israelites, who (according to Moses) commanded the massive slaughter of men, women, children, and babies of the inhabitants of Palestine.
10. Jesus worshipped and obeyed Jehovah, the god of the Israelites who (according to Moses) commanded the theft of land from the inhabitants of Palestine.
11. Jesus worshipped and obeyed Jehovah, the god of the Israelites who (according to Moses) demanded that they practice slavery.
12. Jesus believed and taught that the end of the world would take place sometime in his generation (i.e., within a few decades of his death).
13. Jesus believed that mental illness and physical disabilities were often caused by demons.
In my view, these are all established historical facts that are relevant to Jesus' final fate. Yet NOT ONE of these historical facts is included in Craig's three historical claims, and NOT ONE of these historical facts is included in the twelve historical claims that Gary Habermas focuses upon in his latest case for the resurrection of Jesus.14. Jesus believed that Adam and Eve were the first humans to exist, and that Adam and Eve lived a few thousand years before his time.
The first seven historical facts above are obviously relevant to Jesus' final fate. However, some people might question the relevance of the last seven historical facts in the above list.
Those other facts are relevant to Jesus' final fate, because they provide evidence that Jesus was a morally and intellectually flawed human being, and thus NOT the Son of God, NOT God incarnate, and that the beliefs and values of Jesus did NOT come from clear communication between God (who is all-knowing and perfectly good, by definition) and Jesus.
If Jesus was a morally and intellectually flawed human, and thus Jesus was NOT the Son of God and NOT God incarnate, then it would have been a great deception by God to have raised Jesus from the dead, because such a miracle, as Christian apologists themselves assert, would be an indication from God that Jesus was a true prophet, the Messiah, and the Son of God or God incarnate (assuming Jesus had claimed be the Son of God or God incarnate). God, if God exists, is all-knowing and perfectly good, so God would not ever perform a miracle that would cause a great deception.
Therefore, historical facts that provide evidence for the claim that Jesus was a morally and intellectually flawed human are historical facts that are relevant to Jesus' final fate.
Why is it that NONE of the fourteen historical facts above are included in Craig's three key facts? Why is it that NONE of the fourteen historical facts above are included in the list of twelve key facts referenced by Habermas in his most recent case for the resurrection of Jesus?
It seems fairly obvious that the reason why Craig and Habermas don't consider these to be key historical facts is that these facts tend to run against the conclusion that they firmly believe and that they are trying to promote.
In short, none of the above fourteen historical facts are included in Craig's three key facts because his selection of historical facts was influenced by confirmation bias. The same reason explains why none of the above facts are included in the twelve key facts focused on by Habermas.
CONCLUSION
In Part 4 of this series, I pointed out a problem with Craig's core argument that I believe means his case for the resurrection of Jesus is Dead On Arrival.
Specifically, we have no good reason to believe that Craig's three key historical facts are a good or accurate representation of the larger body of established historical facts that are relevant to Jesus' final fate.
Therefore, the final inference of his core argument from premise (5a) to the conclusion (8) is a weak and dubious inference, because it is based on a very questionable assumption:
5a. The preferred explanation for Craig's three key historical claims concerning Jesus' final fate ought to be the resurrection hypothesis (i.e., God raised Jesus from the dead).
THEREFORE:
8. The best explanation of the established historical facts that are relevant to Jesus' final fate is the resurrection hypothesis (i.e., God raised Jesus from the dead).
Now it is no longer a mere possibility that Craig's selection of just three historical facts was influenced by confirmation bias. I have provided more than a dozen established historical facts that are relevant to Jesus' final fate, and NONE of those facts were included in Craig's three key historical claims or facts.
This evidence indicates that Craig's selection of his three key historical claims was significantly influenced by confirmation bias, and that Craig's three key facts are NOT a good and accurate representation of the full set of established historical facts that are relevant to Jesus' final fate.
Therefore:
Craig's case for the resurrection of Jesus is indeed Dead On Arrival.
Nevertheless, I will continue my effort to put a stake through the heart of Craig's core argument, and to cut off the head of his argument, and then to douse it in gasoline and light it on fire, in order to burn it to a crackly crisp.
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