Compelling Evidence of Certain Truth

Paul wrote these words of encouragement to Timothy in the book of 1st Timothy, chapter 3:
14These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly;15but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.16And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.
Our living Lord is the head of the church of the living God, the body of Christ.  He came to earth as a man, was crucified as the perfect sacrifice for our sins, and is risen from the dead, and we can declare that we serve a Savior who is alive and working in the hearts and through the lives of His people.  He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and we're told that He is making intercession for us.  He has promised His Holy Spirit, who works to direct and strengthen us.  We have compelling evidence of the certainty of these facts, and He desires to teach us His truth and to express it as we are willing to communicate it.

We have compelling evidence for the truth of the Scriptures - the story of Jesus has been corroborated, and the truth of His crucifixion and resurrection is expressed in the lives of His followers.  Consider the words of 1st Corinthians 15:
3For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,4and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,5and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.6After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.7After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.8Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

It's one of those age-old mysteries that has been the source of speculation for years and years.  And, an author who describes himself as an "armchair detective" has released a book about the true identity of the perpetrator of a string of murders in Great Britain.   He was known as Jack the Ripper.

British website, The Independent, reports that author Russell Edwards believes he has identified the Victorian murderer for the first time after more than 120 years of mystery.  He claims that based on DNA tests, the murderer was a 23-year-old Polish immigrant called Aaron Kosminski.

He said Kosminski, who died in an asylum, was “definitely, categorically and absolutely” the man behind the grisly killing spree in 1888 in Whitechapel.

Police had identified Kosminski as a suspect, Edwards said, but never had enough evidence to bring him to trial.  He claims to have the only piece of forensic evidence, a shawl that one of the victims was allegedly wearing that night.

But, the inventor of the DNA process says "not so fast." Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys described it as an "interesting but remarkable claim that needs to be subjected to peer review, with detailed analysis of the provenance of the shawl and the nature of the claimed DNA match with the perpetrator's descendants and its power of discrimination; no actual evidence has yet been provided".

So, with the release of this book, the debate about the true identity of this notorious murderer will go on.

I began to think about this purportedly new evidence in this case.  And, I thought about the overwhelming evidence to support the historical fact of Jesus and His resurrection.   Dr. Gary Habermas, who spoke in Montgomery several years ago, has crafted the minimal facts approach to processing the evidence of the crucifixion and the resurrection. 

Tim Chaffey includes a summary of the work of Dr. Habermas in this area in a piece on the Answers in Genesis website.  He says that:

Since 1975, Resurrection expert Dr. Gary Habermas has catalogued over 3,400 academic works on the fate of Jesus, from conservative, critical, and skeptical scholars in English, German, and French. A skeptic may be tempted to accuse Habermas of only using material from scholars in his own camp, but his research has actually been skewed to favor the most skeptical positions.

Chaffey reports that out of the 3400 works studied, Habermas points out that the majority of writers accept 12 events as historical fact,16 including the facts that Jesus was crucified and buried, there was an empty tomb, and more.

Chaffey writes that, "if we compare the alternative theories of what happened to the body of Jesus with these 12 facts, we quickly see that none of these views can even come close to matching the evidence." Habermas has reduced the list of 12 to just the top five facts in an approach he calls the minimal facts approach. Each of these minimal facts must meet two criteria: (1) the data are strongly evidenced, and (2) the data are granted by virtually all scholars on the subject, even the skeptical ones. The minimal facts are:

1. Jesus died by crucifixion.
2. His disciples believed that He rose and appeared to them.
3. The church persecutor Paul was suddenly changed.
4. The skeptic James, brother of Jesus, was suddenly changed.
5. The tomb was empty.17

And, it's the evidence of the empty tomb that makes a tremendous difference for us today.  Because, it means for us that our Lord is risen.  And, there is evidence that He changes lives - because He is risen, we are raised up with Him.   No, His body wasn't stolen from that tomb that Easter morning, He appeared to people who could testify to His identity.   He met with His disciples, and He continues to meet with those who call upon His name and who have followed Him into salvation. 

And the reality of the risen Lord and the evidence for us provides us with a compelling case in order to defend our faith.   We can tell the story of what happened on the cross that day and relate the significance of the empty tomb.  We have that evidence from the life of Jesus, and...we have the evidence of what Christ has done in our lives - and we can share the story of what He has done in us.