Uploaded March 2021 | Updated September 2026, 20 hours ago
“Any responsible historian, then, who seeks to give an account of the matter, must deal with these four independently established facts.” William Lane Craig has four non-negotiable, “established facts” that we apparently need to explain as non-believers.
(1) Jesus was buried by Joseph of Arimathea in the tomb.
(2) On the Sunday following his crucifixion, Jesus’ tomb was found empty by a group of his women followers.
(3) On different occasions and under various circumstances different individuals and groups of people experienced appearances of Jesus alive from the dead.
(4) The original disciples suddenly and sincerely came to believe that Jesus was risen from the dead despite their having every predisposition to the contrary.
All four of these claims are possible to dispute. In fact, they’re not that hard to cast doubt on. But does it even matter? These four facts don’t go a long way. If we grant all four of Craig’s facts for the sake of argument, a resurrection is probably not the best explanation.
Listen to the podcast on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/counter-apologetics/id1273573417?mt=2
https://linktr.ee/emersongreen
/ timestamps /
00:00 WLC's four minimal facts
00:48 One
05:56 Bad faith?
08:24 Two
12:30 The empty tomb
14:00 Three
17:25 Four
18:27 Who would die for a lie?
22:18 Four pointless claims
“Any responsible historian, then, who seeks to give an account of the matter, must deal with these four independently established facts.” William Lane Craig has four non-negotiable, “established facts” that we apparently need to explain as non-believers.
(1) Jesus was buried by Joseph of Arimathea in the tomb.
(2) On the Sunday following his crucifixion, Jesus’ tomb was found empty by a group of his women followers.
(3) On different occasions and under various circumstances different individuals and groups of people experienced appearances of Jesus alive from the dead.
(4) The original disciples suddenly and sincerely came to believe that Jesus was risen from the dead despite their having every predisposition to the contrary.
All four of these claims are possible to dispute. In fact, they’re not that hard to cast doubt on. But does it even matter? These four facts don’t go a long way. If we grant all four of Craig’s facts for the sake of argument, a resurrection is probably not the best explanation.
Listen to the podcast on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/counter-apologetics/id1273573417?mt=2
https://linktr.ee/emersongreen
/ timestamps /
00:00 WLC's four minimal facts
00:48 One
05:56 Bad faith?
08:24 Two
12:30 The empty tomb
14:00 Three
17:25 Four
18:27 Who would die for a lie?
22:18 Four pointless claims
