The Plausibility of Jesus' Rising from the Dead Licona vs. Shapiro

In this episode of the Risen Jesus podcast, we join Dr. Licona at Ohio State University for his 2017 resurrection debate with philosopher Dr. Lawrence Shapiro. Dr. Licona argues that believing that Jesus rose from the dead is justifiable and that Dr. Shapiro’s arguments to the contrary fail as they present a flawed view of the gospels, do not consider evidence from New Testament scholarship, and neglect the most substantial proof available, Paul’s writings. Dr. Shapiro disagrees that the details of the New Testament are essential to this question, asserting that the postulation that Jesus came back to life is no better an explanation for the reports of his post-death appearances than any other hypothesis. Furthermore, he states that even if we grant these appearances occurred, the various theories are not independently verifiable, so we have no justification for believing one over the others.