As we continue examining the 'minimal facts' accepted by virtually every scholar as historical evidence for the resurrection, we now consider the sudden conversions of Paul and James.
Paul's conversion
Before his conversion, Paul was not one who simply doubted the claims of Jesus and his followers. Paul, also known as Saul of Tarsus, had been persecuting the church violently, arresting Christians to have them sent to prison and executed (Acts 8:3, 26:10, Gal. 1:13). He approved of and attended the execution of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Paul was not just a skeptic—he was an aggressive enemy of the church who did everything in his power to wipe out Christians and their teachings from existence.
The context of Paul’s conversion experience was his journey to Damascus with letters in hand giving him permission from the high priest to round up any Christians he found there so he could take them back to Jerusalem to be imprisoned (Acts 9:1-2). It was on this journey that Paul encountered the risen Christ, and was profoundly and forever changed. He was completely transformed from a persecutor of the church to a staunch defender of the Christian faith. He suddenly gave up his highly-respected position as a Jewish leader and went on missionary journeys to spread the gospel. He gave up a life of prestige and power for a life of poverty and suffering. He was imprisoned, whipped, beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, and faced with various perils on land and at sea (2 Cor. 11:16-33). Yet, he endured these hardships (he was able to “do all things through Christ” – Phil 4:13) and remained willing to suffer for the sake of the gospel even as he made the ultimate sacrifice and was martyred for his faith.
James' conversion
James, the half-brother of Jesus, had been a strict follower of the Jewish law. During Jesus’ earthly ministry, James and his other brothers were skeptics who thought Jesus had gone mad (Mark 3:21, John 7:5). Since ancient Jews believed that anyone who was crucified was cursed, James would have viewed the crucifixion as more evidence against Jesus being the promised Messiah. Additionally, Jews of that time who believed in the resurrection of the dead believed the righteous would be resurrected at the end of all things (Dan. 12:2-3). They did not expect that anyone would be resurrected before then. (Ancient Jewish beliefs aside, I think it would be difficult for anyone to believe a sibling’s claim to be the Messiah!)
Yet, after the resurrection had been reported, James was identified as a leader of the church in Jerusalem, which was the center of ancient Christianity (Acts 15:12-21, Gal. 1:19, Gal. 2:9). What could explain this conversion from skeptic to church leader, especially considering the ancient Jewish beliefs regarding crucifixion and resurrection? The best explanation seems to be James’ encounter with the risen Christ, which is recorded in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians: “Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles” (1Cor. 15:7).
Close encounters
Paul and James were both former Jews who became leaders of the early Christian church and staunch defenders of the Christian faith. While it’s not unusual for someone to convert from one set of religious beliefs to another, this is typically the result of having heard and believed the message of that religion from a secondary source. Paul and James were both converted by their own personal experience of encountering Christ raised from the dead! It is little wonder that they refused to recant their convictions, even under threat of death. They had first-hand knowledge that the resurrection really happened!
(Interesting note: No other founder of a major world religion is believed to have been raised from the dead. This, in addition to the substantial amounts of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus, is part of what sets Christianity apart from other religions.)
Next, we will consider arguments for the empty tomb as historical evidence for the resurrection. (This is part 4 in a series on evidence for the resurrection. If you missed the first installments in this series, you can read them here, here, and here.)
Recommended resources:
The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, Gary R. Habermas and Michael R. Licona
Cold-Case Christianity, J. Warner Wallace
I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek
Commentaires