but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect
Are you prepared to give a defense of your faith in light of the $2 million documentary that will air on the 4th of March produced by James Cameron? Are you ready to give anyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you in light of the apparent possibility that Jesus never rose from the grave as asserted by this television film? Will you be able to contribute to the discussion around the watercooler on Monday the 5th when the topic of statistical probabilities comes up? You better be. And if you are not, you better get prepared.
I just watched the Larry King segment with James Cameron, Al Mohler and others, and although this story (and the archaeological find) has been around since 1980 (for centuries, really), this subject is not going to go away without a fight. And you need to be able to give a reasonable defense of your faith. So, I have some suggestions for you, and for me.
First - Familiarize yourself with the topic. Know what is being proposed and presented in this documentary. The best way to do that is to make sure and watch it, or tape it and watch it later (it premiers Sunday, March 4th at 9pm). Here are some video clips to get you started:
The movie trailer for the documentary…
Cluster groups. You will hear this term a lot, especially in light of statistical probabilities. Here is Simcha Jacobovici (who put the film together along with James Cameron) attempting to explain the significance of the cluster group found in this tomb and the resulting statistics of the combination of names on the bone boxes:
This Discovery Channel page also contains video interviews of Simcha and James Cameron.
Second - Follow the lead of men such as James White and Al Mohler, and sites such as Pulpit Magazine. There is no need to reinvent the wheel on this stuff, and therefore there is nothing wrong with taking cues from those who are studied and learned and are solidly grounded in their faith and in the information they put forth. This is one of those times (and there are many) that I love being on James White’s side! The man knows his stuff. Read what he has to say about all of this, by checking his blog frequently for updates. The same goes for Dr. Mohler’s blog site.
Here is a comment from Dr. White’s latest entry on this:
Like dominos falling, all these arguments [against Christ], spanning hundreds of years have failed. They differ in hypothesis, and many with each other, proving they can’t make sense of the evidence they are evaluating. Now we’re going to get a chance again to tune to the Discovery Channel (home of such notable epics as “The Search for Bigfoot”) to see the same futile efforts. Scholars, philosophers, and historians failed to conquer Jesus and keep Him buried; now filmmakers will be shooting their cap guns at God. At the heart of this new documentary is a worldview positing a denial of sola scriptura.
(UPDATE)
Quote from Dr. Mohler from the Larry King Show CNN transcript:
KING: We are back. Dr. Mohler, what effect could this have on your church?
MOHLER: Well, Larry, the one true thing that we have to affirm here is that if it ever could be proved that Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead, if the resurrection was a fraud, then Christianity falls.
The problem with this kind of documentary, which is a commercial product, and as Bill Donohue rightly said, is just perfectly timed for is the season like so often is the case, is, you have to understand, any court of law, you can’t just call anything evidence. It has to be an evidence trail that makes sense. It has to be evidentiary material that fits the context. Nothing could ever prove, there’s no DNA, there’s nothing that could ever prove these bones are the bones of Jesus. It makes no sense.
KING: Haven’t millions of people over the years gone to their death for a belief?
MOHLER: But the point is here, they would have to go to their death for something they know was a lie. If they knew that the bones of Jesus were in this tomb, why would the very people who would be most likely know that be the ones who would give their lives? That’s the big question here.
Finally - Be willing to engage others on this subject. Do not shy away from the controversy, or be embarrassed to talk about this latest attack on the resurrected Christ. To do so may be no less than to admit being ashamed of Jesus and His words, which has dire consequences. Be prepared to fight the good fight.
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