2023 #3
Twitter. There’s a part that’s good. There is a part that is bad, and there is a part that you wouldn’t believe. Twitter, along with other social media platforms can be used for good. But, there are a lot of things you can find on Twitter’s Christian circles that are not that good. Perhaps you have seen comments on social media that are contrary to the Christian worldview. I’d like to take a look at those statements and comments to see if we can give an answer
Why can’t we declare Yeshua an inspired sage that taught universal truths of love and grace to humanity (sic). Why do we have to add to it the myth of virgin birth & resurrection? The answer: some people need mythological superpowers to believe; rational teachings are not enough.
There are three separate statements in one tweet. Therefore, we should take them one at a time.
The last of the statements is,
The answer: some people need mythological superpowers to believe; rational teachings are not enough.
Here the original post engages in the psychology of those who believe in Jesus. Their belief is founded on the need for mythology and for superpowers to guide their lives. This section of the post commits the logical mistake known as the genetic fallacy. The genetic fallacy occurs when the argument or contention is evaluated solely on its origin rather than the claim itself. The idea that people may need to believe in Jesus is not material to the claims that were made about Jesus by the early church. The central teaching of the first apostles was that God raised Jesus from the dead (Acts 3:15, I Corinthians 15:1-8). The sermons delivered by the apostles were not claims that Jesus was a superpower, but that they had seen Him alive bodily after His death on the cross.
We also have to ask the question of which rational teachings are enough. Is it rational to believe that Jesus rose from the dead? We have early accounts from those who were eyewitnesses. Those sources inform us that Jesus really died on the cross and that the tomb in which He was buried was found to be empty by a group of His female followers. They also asserted that Jesus appeared to them bodily at different times and place to groups of different sizes. When examined, no alternate theory explains the facts better than the declaration that Jesus really rose from the dead.
The assertion that Jesus rose from the dead is indeed rational. It is this rational contention that allows us to place our faith in Jesus.
Mark Riser - Apologist 