Why did Christianity begin, and why did it take the shape it did? To answer this question – which any historian must face – renowned New Testament scholar N.T. Wright focuses on the key points: what precisely happened at Easter? What did the early Christians mean when they said that Jesus of Nazareth had been raised from the dead? What can be said today about his belief?

This book, third is Wright’s series Christian Origins and the Question of God, sketches a map of ancient beliefs about life after death, in both the Greco-Roman and Jewish worlds. It then highlights the fact that the early Christians’ belief about the afterlife belonged firmly on the Jewish spectrum, while introducing several new mutations and sharper definitions. This, together with other features of early Christianity, forces the historian to read the Easter narratives in the gospels, not simply as late rationalizations of early Christian spirituality, but as accounts of two actual events: the empty tomb of Jesus and his “appearances.”

How do we explain these phenomena? The early Christians’ answer was that Jesus had indeed been bodily raised from the dead; that was why they hailed him as the messianic “son of God.” No modern historian has come up with a more convincing explanation. Facing this question, we are confronted to this day with the most central issues of the Christian worldview and theology.

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Jesus truly is alive today. But compared to his atoning death, Jesus’ resurrection sparks relatively little discussion in the church. Inadvertently,we can become so focused on the good news that Christ died for our sins, that we almost forget he was “raised for our justification” (Romans 4:25).

In Raised with Christ, author Adrian Warnock exhorts Christians not to neglect the resurrection in their teaching and experience. Warnock takes his cue from Acts, where every recorded sermon focuses on Jesus’ resurrection. He stresses that Christians who faithfully proclaim both the death and the bodily resurrection of Jesus, and live out the implications of that message in vibrant,grace-filled churches, will be enabled to reach a world that lives in death’s dark shadow.

The power of the risen Christ is active in every true Christian, transforming our lives. Raised with Christ will help you discover afresh the massive implications of the empty tomb. Jesus’ resurrection really has changed everything.

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Habermas, who has written several apologetic works on the resurrection, and Licona, a speaker and budding New Testament scholar who was once Habermas’s student, offer a comprehensive and far-reaching argument for the historical veracity of Christ’s resurrection. In fact, at times it is too far-reaching, as when the authors digress into refutations of Mormonism, alien activity and Elvis sightings; this book would be much improved if it had been trimmed by about a third. Many evangelicals will appreciate the authors’ broad evidentiary claims and marshalling of historical, theological, archaeological, biomedical and literary data to support their belief in the resurrection. Yet despite its strong content, the book is poorly written, and is organized in a workmanlike outline format that seems more appropriate for a seminary lecture than a seamless book. A closing chapter offers practical tips for evangelical Christians who wish to share their faith with others.

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Blogs:

• The Disturbing Fact of the Resurrection (This is written by a Roman Catholic scholar.  His writing on the resurrection is really helpful but be discerning as not everything on the site will be in alignment with Frontline’s doctrinal beliefs.)

Files:

• All-Team Notes: Resurrection

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• All-Team: Practical Implications of the Resurrection

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“When I first opened his On the Incarnation I soon discovered by a very simple test that I was reading a masterpiece….Only a master mind could, in the fourth century, have written so deeply on such a subject with such classical simplicity.”
—C. S. Lewis

During the fourth century, controversy raged in the church regarding the nature of Jesus Christ. On one side were the Arians, led by the Bishop Arius, who argued that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were materially separate from one another. They believed that Jesus had been created out of “non–existence” and thus was not on the same level of divinity as God the Father. In response, Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, wrote On the Incarnation, a staunch defense of the full divinity and full humanity of Christ. In simple language and with Scripture as a guide, he argued for the eternal nature of the Trinity and that Jesus Christ is not a creation of God the Father but has existed from the very beginning. Athanasius celebrates the redeeming work that came forth through the God–man, Jesus Christ, and His eternal existence and essential unity with the Father.

Ultimately, Athanasius was exiled five times by four different Roman emperors due to his defense of the Trinity, but he remained faithful to his beliefs. Today, On the Incarnation is often included on lists of books every Christian should read.

“The greatest man of his age and one of the greatest religious leaders of any age, Athanasius of Alexandria rendered services to the Church the value of which can scarcely be exaggerated, for he defended the faith against almost overwhelming odds and emerged triumphant.”
—Alban Butler
Author, Butler’s Lives of the Saints

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The birth of Jesus stands as a pivotal moment in the history of the world, marking a dramatic turning point in God’s plan to redeem creation from sin and death. Much to the world’s surprise, redemption had arrived…in the form of a lowly baby.

Aimed at stirring your affections for Jesus, this meditative book will lead you on a step-by-step journey through the Gospels’ birth narratives, clearing away common misconceptions, making messianic connections, and setting the stage for Jesus’s later life and ministry.

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Blogs:

• Marriage and Singleness: A Third Way
• Not That Different: Two Generations and the Single Life

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