The Resurrection: Did It Happen?

"Excuse Me, We're Giving Away Watchtow...What the HELL?"

From the Mailbag:

Do you believe that the resurrection really, literally, historically, factually happened?

How could you know whether the Resurrection "happened" as a literal, historical, matter of fact?

Ordinarily when we say that a thing is a "fact," we mean that any reasonable observer would have seen it as it's described and would subscribe to that description.

It seems to me the only line of evidence open to you is testimony, unless you've had some encounter with the Risen Christ.

On the plus side, the most emphatic fact-claim in the entire Bible is Paul's 500 witnesses to the Resurrection, "Most of whom are still alive though some have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:3-7).

On the negative side, all of them have fallen asleep.

On the plus side, many now still believe in the historical resurrection.

On the negative side, many now still believe in Santa Claus, the revelations to Mohamed and Joseph Smith, and the viability of President Sarah Palin.

On the plus side, there is freaky shit to be seen in the environs of belief in the historical resurrection.

On the negative side, there is freaky shit to be seen in Voodoo, Pai de Santo, and countless African religions.

So zeroing in on it, what you have is a story.

You do not have a fact.

Even if it happened, _you_ do not have a fact. You have a story.

But I might raise this point: if you have is a story, it is no more "not-fact" than it is "fact." 

Story lives in a different place from "fact.

So much so that an entire community was ready to join that story.