Cultural Perspectives

"We come down to the resurrection of Jesus. It's so petty; it's so trivial; it's so local; it's so earthbound; it’s so unworthy of the Universe."
(Prof Richard Dawkins ^†)

"Accounts of Jesus's resurrection and ascension are about as well documented as Jack and the Beanstalk."
(Prof Richard Dawkins ^‡)

"We should be open to the compelling historical research that has led a generation of scholars to the conclusion that Jesus' disciples were not only utterly convinced that they had seen the resurrected Jesus, but that this was their earliest message. No other hypothesis fits all the data." (Prof Gary Habermas)

"The resurrection of Jesus does in fact provide a sufficient explanation for the empty tomb and the meetings with Jesus. Having examined all the other possible hypotheses I've read about anywhere in the literature, I think it's also a necessary explanation."
(Bishop Tom Wright, Durham)

"I am very much impressed with Bishop Wright's approach, which is absolutely fresh. He presents the case for Christianity as something new for the first time. This is enormously important, especially in the United Kingdom, where the Christian religion has virtually disappeared. It is absolutely wonderful, absolutely radical, and very powerful."
(Prof Antony Flew)

Themes for Debates and Workshops

• Making Sense of the Resurrection
  (how and why it happened)
   
• Resurrection - Fact or Fiction?
  (the proofs and their significance)
   
• Resurrection and Cosmic Renewal
  (the first part of the old creation God remade - the dead body of Jesus!)
   
• The Undoing of Death
  (the basis of all future hope - personal, societal, cosmic)
   
• Resurrection and Future Eschatology
  (what kind of an event was this?)
   
• Resurrection - Re-creation?
  (the beginnings of a whole new world)
   
• Resurrection - Symbolic or Somatic
  (i.e. Bodily or Spiritual?)
   
• Who Emptied Christ's Tomb and Why? (dealing with false narratives and falsehoods)