Summary
Title: The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond The Grave
Author: edited by Robert M. Price, Jeffery Jay Lowder
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 159102286X
Pro:
• Includes works not otherwise easily accessible to most people
• Provides a lot of food for thought
Con:
• Some articles are very academic and may be too much for a general audience
Description:
• Collection of recent critiques of the Christian belief that Jesus rose from the dead
• Provides interesting criticism from a number of different angles and approaches
Book Review
Just how likely is the resurrection? How reasonable is it to think that Jesus really rose from the dead and left behind an empty tomb? There are a lot of different directions from which a person can critique Christianity, but this particular doctrine may be among the most productive targets given its status in Christian theology. At the same time, though, it's an event that supposedly occurred a long time ago and with little to no evidence left behind, so it's an inherently difficult subject to address — no matter what one believes about it.
Not only are there are lot of different directions from which one can critique Christianity, but there are also a lot of different approaches one can take for critiquing the doctrine of the resurrection. Most of the critiques have appeared in academic, scholarly journals which simply aren't accessible to the average reader, but Robert M. Price and Jeffery Jay Lowder have brought together fifteen of the best critiques in a single, accessible book: The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond The Grave.
You won't find every possible point of criticism here, but you'll find quite a few providing a great deal to think about. What reason would there be for resurrecting Jesus? Does Christian theology really require a resurrection? Is a resurrection of Jesus initially probable or improbable? How should the various appearance stories in the New Testament be understood? Is there any solid evidence for the existence of an "Empty Tomb"? The authors of the articles collected here, all critics and skeptics, argue for negative answers to these questions.
There are, of course, rebuttals out there to these articles but those rebuttals do not decisively and unequivocally refute the articles' arguments. This means that even if the arguments are not entirely convincing, they should raise enough questions to force people to approach Christian doctrines with a bit more skepticism.
Given the origins of many of the articles, though, I doubt that some of the arguments will be clear to the average reader. There are some good pieces that should be understandable to most readers, but the rest are aimed more narrowly at an academic audience. Readers without important background information or experience may quickly become lost. This creates a very uneven tone that can be difficult to follow in a single sitting. Those with some knowledge, though, will have an easier time and find a great deal to help them not only think more critically about Jesus' alleged resurrection, but also to debate believers about the subject.
