What Really Happened to Jesus: A Historical Approach to the Resurrection

Rating:
Summary: Critical Thinking Gives Way to Preference
Review: On page 130, Mr. Ludemann sums up his conclusions this way, "At the same time this means that the assumption of a resurrection of Jesus is completely unnecessary as a presupposition to explain these phenomena (i.e. the post-mortem appearances of Jesus). A consistent modern view MUST say farewell to the resurrection of Jesus as a historical event." MUST? Do you notice the shift from possibility to necessity? He makes the case, at least in his own mind, that Jesus's post-mortem appearances could be explained as the self-induced hallucinations of the so-called eyewitnesses. But then he declares that since this is a possibility it is therefore a necessity! Surely there is another possibility, that Jesus did rise from the dead just as the Bible claims. So, what logic forces us to conclude the former? The logic is simply Mr. Ludemann's preference that it be that way. This kind of "reasoning" is like that segment of the scientific community that declares, "If God did not exist, then man, in order to deal with his mortality, would invent Him. Since this is a possibility, then it must be a reality. Therefore, there is no God." Such lapses in logic indicate obvious bias and not an objective search for truth. It would be reasonable to conclude, therefore, that the rest of the work suffers from the same kind of bias. For these reasons I would not recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Why a Bodily, Fleshy Resurrection of Jesus Is a Legend
Review: This book is designed to be a more popular version of Ludemann's 1994 volume, THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS: HISTORY, EXPERIENCE, AND THEOLOGY. Ludemann presents the same arguments as he did in his 1994 volume, but in a much easier-to-read format. I use WHAT REALLY HAPPENED... as a companion to the 1994 volume.

Just as was the case in his 1994 volume, Ludemann argues that a strictly historical investigation of the New Testament texts does not support apologetic claims: Jesus may not have received an honorable burial, the empty tomb story is legendary, the appearance stories are embellished, etc. Ludemann concluded that "We can no longer take the statements about the resurrection of Jesus literally" (p. 134) and that "the tomb of Jesus was not empty, but full, and his body did not disappear, but rotted away" (p. 135). But Ludemann also concluded that a person could consistently accept the results of his devastating historical investigation and yet remain a Christian. Interestingly, it appears that Ludemann no longer holds this view and, indeed, no longer even claims to be a Christian. (See the introduction to the North American edition of Ludemann's GREAT DECEPTION.)

Like the 1994 book, my only complaint about WHAT REALLY HAPPENED... is the lack of a bibliography and detailed indices (e.g., NT verses, subject, author).

Rating:
Summary: Cutting away the myth
Review: This is an enlightening book by Luedemann. One criticism I have hears leveled against the book is that the events as reconstructed by Luedemann are insufficent to account for the rise of Christianity. But the question that this book provoked in my mind is how have most Christians come to thier faith? By having objective visions of the resurrected Jesus or through an internal, existensial decision? In any event a excellant read reflecting the thoughts of modern New Testament scholarship.