Disproving Resurrection "Explanations"
From the day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, people have been attempting to make excuses to explain away this greatly attested fact of history. Some have been pathetically desperate to say that he never existed, but they have to find a minority of crackpot "historians" to support this conjecture. Others have come up with silly ideas, such as, "His disciples sole his body while we were sleeping" (Matt. 28.13). So tell me, how do you know what happened while you were sleeping, Buttercup?
Using basic logic, the false explanations of the absence of his body do not withstand scrutiny.
DefinitionsIt is eminently logical for you to continue reading "Using Popper's Falsfication Method to Disprove Resurrection Alternatives".
Sir Karl Popper, the late philosopher of science, devised a falsification criterion that can be used to disprove theories. It is derived from the modus tollens rule of inference, which is of one of these two forms:
Form 1
1) p⇒q
2) ¬q
∴ p
Form 2
1) p⇒¬q
2) q
∴ p
The falsification criterion devised by Karl Popper is an example of form 2 of the modus tollens. It is as follows:
1) Theory T predicts that O will not be observed.
2) O is observed.
∴ T is false.
Examples
Here are a couple examples that are used by the police to either prove or disprove one's innocence in a crime:
Proving Innocence
1) If suspect S is guilty of a murder, then he will not have an alibi for the time of the murder.
2) S has an alibi for the time of the murder.
∴ S is not guilty of the murder.
Proving Guilt
1) If person P was not involved in a crime, then he will not know any details that were not released to the public.
2) P knows a detail that was not released to the public.
∴ P was involved in the crime.
Disproving Resurrection Alternatives
For the last 2000 years, ever since Christianity began, anti-Christians have been looking for ways to explain away the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus by various means. It is important for us to be able to refute these alternative theories, as Christianity stands completely on the death and bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:14-18). Thankfully, as I will demonstrate, the alternative hypotheses that have been proposed can be disproved easily using the Popperian criterion. If you need a refresher on all the details of the Betrayal, Arrest, Trial, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus, they can be found in Matthew 26-28, Mark 14-16, Luke 22-24, and John 18-21.
