Enjoy this video featuring New Testament historian Michael Licona on the topic:  Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus. Other resources by Mike Licona can be found at his website: www.risenjesus.com. Enjoy.

The resurrection of Jesus is a favorite topic for many Christian apologists and a popular subject of contention among New Testament scholars. With over 3,400 academic books and articles published on the fate of Jesus in the last 35 years alone, one might doubt that anything new could be said on the subject. However, early in his own investigation of the resurrection, Mike Licona observed that the vast literature on the fate of Jesus largely failed to consider issues of historical method and hermeneutics. While this deficiency has been addressed to some extent in recent work by N. T. Wright, James D. G. Dunn, and Dale Allison, Licona contends that something is still missing. “Almost without exception,” he notes, “the literature pertaining to Jesus’ resurrection has been written by biblical scholars and philosophers,”[1] and so far the outcome has been a remarkably wide variety of conclusions on the matter. Licona wonders if part of the problem is a failure to apply the methodology of historians who lie outside the community of biblical scholars. It is precisely this methodology that Licona seeks to identify and employ in his monumental 700-page tome The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach.

In partnership with The PowerPoint Apologist, Apologetics 315 is offering a series of 12 Free PowerPoint presentations, released monthly. These cover 12 essential topics in apologetics. These are free to download, modify, and use for your own apologetics presentations. (However, please retain the final two slides featuring the PowerPoint Apologist and Apologetics 315 resources.)

The eighth in the series looks at the case for the resurrection of Jesus and answers naturalistic alternative theories:
"Why Jesus?—The Resurrection of Jesus"
Download it here. Slideshare here.
Enjoy.

Imagine with me for a second if a respected scientist whose been widely published in scholarly journals, lectured at prestigious universities and served in a prestigious role for the National Institutes of Healthy for twenty-six years wrote a book on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thankfully we do not have to imagine this; we have such a book in Did Jesus Really Rise From The Dead A Surgeon-Scientist Examines the Evidence by Dr. Thomas A. Miller, MD.  In his book, Dr. Miller responds to the idea that many believe to be true that science is “all authorative”. This approach leaves many in and outside the science community doubting Jesus’s resurrection as a verifiable, historical event. Miller challenges the notion that modern medicine has disproved the possibility of the resurrection through a careful investigation of the evidence and evaluation of its reliability by demonstrating that science and religion are not incompatible. His approach is a compelling one that will help speak to people in the science community.

In this audio from the CrossExamined Radio show, Dr. Timothy McGrew presents five evidences that make a case for Jesus' resurrection. The brief outline of these can be found here. This is a great interview by Frank Turek, and more great content from McGrew. Be sure to visit the Library of Historical Apologetics as well. The CrossExamined podcast archive is here; subscribe to it in iTunes or RSS.

Full MP3 Audio here. (51min)
Enjoy.

This Easter Week, Credo House Ministries is presenting a new video each day on Ten Myths About the Resurrection, featuring Dr. Michael Licona. If you subscribe to their newsletter, they will send one to your inbox every day. Check out the Credo House Vimeo Channel for Mike Licona's presentation of all ten myths:

Myth 1: Contradictions in the Gospels
Myth 2: Pagan Parallels in the Mystery Religions
Myth 3: The Fraud Theory
Myth 4: Hallucinations
Myth 5: It's a Matter of Faith
Myth 6: Apparent Death Theory
Myth 7: It Was Merely Legend
Myth 8: Science Proves that Resurrections Cannot Occur
Myth 9: Not Enough Evidence
Myth 10: Lost Gospels

If you find this information helpful, you'll want to get the Case for the Resurrection of Jesus DVD with Mike Licona. This is a two-disc set with 8 sessions. An excellent small group resource!

"If all the evidence is weighed carefully and fairly, it is indeed justifiable, according to the canons of historical research, to conclude that the sepulcher of Joseph of Arimathea, in which Jesus was buried, was actually empty on the morning of the first Easter. And no shred of evidence has yet been discovered in literary sources, epigraphy, or archaeology that would disprove this statement."

- Historian Paul L. Maier

“The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the single greatest event in the history of the world. It is so foundational to Christianity that no one who denies it can be a true Christian. Without resurrection there is no Christian faith, no salvation, and no hope. ‘If there is no resurrection of the dead,’ Paul explains, ‘not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vaim’ (1 Cor 15:13-14). A person who believes in a Christ who was not raised believes in a powerless Christ, a dead Christ. If Christ did not rise from the dead, then no redemption was accomplished at the cross and ‘your faith is worthless,’ Paul goes on to say; ‘you are still in your sins’ (v. 17).”

—John MacArthur

The following transcript is from an Apologetics 315 interview with Michael Licona (the second of two). Original audio here. Transcript index here. If you enjoy transcripts, please consider supporting, which makes this possible.

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BA: Hello, this is Brian Auten from Apologetics 315. Today, I interview Mike Licona. [At the time of this interview] He is the Apologetics Coordinator at the North American Mission Board and Research Professor of New Testament at Southern Evangelical Seminary. I had the privilege of interviewing Mike in the past on Apologetics 315 and we talked about his book on the Resurrection with Gary Habermas, and we also touched on his goals in his new book that we’ll be talking about specifically today, which is The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach.

So Mike, welcome back and thanks for being with me.

ML: Thanks Brian. Appreciate you having me on and thanks for the great work you’re doing.

BA: Well, Mike, when I received your most recent book and had a look at it, I knew I wanted to talk to you about it some more. It’s entitled The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach and in it you’re applying the historical method to assessing the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. Now, this is a big book, 718 pages, this is no small afternoon read! But I should note though, it’s dense but you know, the reading isn’t a plow! It’s organised and it’s clear. I have to admit I haven’t read every page just yet but I was, like, wow, this really flows well and it’s really laid out well so my first impression would be that, although it’s a big book, it’s not going to kill the average reader but - we’ll get into the content in a few minutes - but this represents a lot of your work for the last...I don’t want to ask you how many years this has taken you to create this work and tell me what this book, as a project, represents for you.

The following transcript is from an Apologetics 315 interview with Michael Licona (the first of two). Original audio here. Transcript index here. If you enjoy transcripts, please consider supporting, which makes this possible.

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BA: Hello, this is Brian Auten of Apologetics 315. Today, I’m speaking with Michael Licona. Mike has a PhD in New Testament Studies at the University of Pretoria and an MA in Religious Studies from Liberty University. He is a frequent speaker on University campuses, churches, Christian groups, and retreats. He frequently debates and has appeared as a guest on numerous radio and television programs. He is also the author of a number of books, including Paul Meets Muhammad, Cross Examined, Behold I Stand at the Door and Knock, and a book that I think that every Christian should read, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, which he co-authored with Gary Habermas.
Now the purpose of today’s interview is to learn a little bit more about Mike, his apologetics ministry, and find out some of the things he is working on and overall just to gain insights from him and his experience.

So thanks for speaking with me today, Mike.

ML: Well, thanks Brian. Good to be on your show. I really believe in the ministry you’re doing and it is a pleasure to be on here with you.

This lecture by Peter J. Williams was given at the Lanier Theological Library in Houston, TX on April 7th 2012 titled: Things Which Ought To Be Better Known About The Resurrection Of Jesus. More by Peter J. Wiliams here. Enjoy.

In this audio, Michael Licona (Houston Baptist University) and Dale Martin (Yale University) dialogue on the topic of “Did Jesus rise physically from the dead?” This dialogue was held at St. Mary’s University’s McNally Theatre Auditorium on October 18th. Hosted by Religion Soup. YouTube video is here.

Full Dialogue MP3 Audio here (2 hr)
Enjoy.

Resurrection iWitness by Doug Powell is a book on the resurrection like no other. First, its dimensions make it a foot tall and ten inches wide. This is like a one-inch thick coffee table book, containing 32 pages chock-full of color graphics and text on the resurrection of Jesus. Powell's background as a graphic designer and Christian apologist combine to make this into a very engaging interactive book—practically every page has fold-out notes, maps, diagrams, and other pieces of evidence that build the historical case for the resurrection of Jesus. Here's a video demo.

This is exactly the kind of format that can be appealing and engaging for those not particularly turned on by the idea of text-dense, academic works of apologetics. And this was the experience with this book in my own "field-testing"—it was laid on the desk and nothing was said about it. But it was soon picked up, "wowed over", paged through, and the comments were along the lines of, "this is a great book!"

So if you are looking for a visually engaging way to learn, interact, or share the historical case for the resurrection of Jesus, you might consider Doug Powell's Resurrection iWitness. Truly unique. (And there's even an iPad app version!)

Apologetics 315 is giving a copy away: OLLIE was the winner! Congrats!

In this lecture, entitled The Resurrection of Jesus, Dr. Timothy McGrew present a case for the resurrection of Jesus based upon five facts found in the Gospels. He evaluated other competing hypotheses, showing that the resurrection alone accounts for all the historical data. This is about 45 minutes of content followed by fifteen minutes of Q&A. PowerPoint file is here. Handout PDF here. Visit the Library of Historical Apologetics. This is the sixth part of a series—part 1 here; part 2 here; part 3 here.

Full MP3 Audio here. (1hr 30min)
Video on YouTube here.
Enjoy.

In May 2010, William Lane Craig and Michael Licona debated Sakkie Spangenberg and Hansie Wolmarans on the resurrection of Jesus at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. The topic of the debate: How Should We Understand the Resurrection Narratives? Video of the debate can be found at Licona's Vimeo channel here. Audio below has been boosted to improve quality somewhat. Craig's debate recap here and here.

Full Debate MP3 Audio here. (1hr 21min)
Enjoy.
Check out the William Lane Craig audio debate feed here for more.

"If the defeated and depressed group of disciples overnight could change into a victorious movement of faith, based only on autosuggestion or self-deception—without a fundamental faith experience—then this would be a much greater miracle than the resurrection itself."

- Pinchas Lapide, The Resurrection of Jesus: A Jewish Perspective, p. 126.

On January 11, 2012, Mike Licona debated agnostic Shane Puckett on the topic "Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?" Shane was ranked #32 in the world as a collegiate debater in 2000 and has trained 3 national debate champions. The debate was held at the First Baptist Church of West Monroe. Original video can be found here on vimeo. Includes Q&A.

Full Debate MP3 Audio here (1hr 45min)
Enjoy.

Resurrection scholars Gary Habermas and Michael Licona have popularized an approach for arguing for the resurrection of Jesus Christ using a small number of facts that are almost universally accepted by scholars specializing in the relevant historical fields. (See The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus) In this audio (from the Berretta blog and Say Hello to My Little Friend podcast) Christian philosopher Glenn Peoples presents the minimal facts approach in a clear and thorough manner.

Full MP3 Audio here. (64 min)

Enjoy.

You may also enjoy this interview with Glenn Peoples.