Albert Mohler has two great back-to-back posts on the importance to Christian faith of the literal, physical resurrection of Jesus. He cites both a Jewish rabbi and a secular historian to make his point. Although some people would claim that it doesn’t matter to Christian faith whether or not Jesus actually rose from the dead, the Bible says differently, and both of these writers agree.

Rabbi Marc Gellman: “I know many Christian clergy who have told me that the main truth of Christianity for them is to love as Jesus loved and that no archeological discovery can change that spiritual lesson. I love these folks but, as an outsider, I just don’t agree that decisive refutation of Jesus’ resurrection would have no effect on Christian faith. Unlike Judaism and Islam and Hinduism and even Buddhism, which are built on God’s teachings, Christianity is built both on God’s teachings as well as on an historical event proving a transcendental miracle.”

Gellman continues: “The divide separating Christians from non-Christians is not between those who think loving all people is good and those who think loving all people is bad. The real divide is between those who believe that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day as proof that he was indeed the Messiah sent by God, and those who do not believe this article of faith and this audacious historical claim.”

And here is historian A. N. Wilson weighing in on the supposed find of Jesus’ lost tomb: “Long ago, Paul the Apostle wrote to his friends in Corinth that if Christ did not rise from the dead, their faith was in vain. No doubt, if Cameron’s find were proved to be authentic, it would destroy the Christian religion. The Pope could shut up shop. The Church of England could be absorbed by the National Trust as just a collection of medieval buildings. Unbelievers in the resurrection would feel that their scepticism had been justified and the vast majority of Christian believers, who profess their faith in Christ risen from the dead, would be compelled to admit their faith had been based on a mistake.”

Make no mistake about it. Without the resurrection of Jesus, there is no true Christian faith.

“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day . . . If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4,14)

You can read Mohler’s two commentaries here:

• Rabbi Gellman Gets It — The Resurrection Really Matters
• A. N. Wilson Gets It Too — No Resurrection, No Christianity

The Lost Tomb television special on the Discovery Channel reached four million viewers, and the accompanying book is now number six on the New York Times nonfiction best seller list. Unfortunately, unless these viewers and readers look elsewhere for information, they are only getting one side of a story. I have been following this story since it broke on February 26 and believe that it provides an excellent case study in bias.

Here are five ways to ensure bias in any presentation:

1. Decide on your conclusion at the beginning rather than at the end of your investigation.
2. Select only the evidence that supports your conclusion. Discard any evidence that contradicts your conclusion.
3. Choose your experts accordingly. Ask them leading questions. Present only those portions of their answers that support your conclusion.
4. Manipulate any numbers or statistics to bolster your case.
5. Work in isolation. Do not submit your work for peer review. Present your conclusions publicly before other knowledgeable people have had the opportunity to examine and challenge the evidence at hand.

It would seem that the makers of The Lost Tomb special are guilty in all five of these areas. But rather than turning the guns on them today, let’s take this list and apply it to ourselves. How often are we guilty of introducing bias in any of these ways?

Updated 3/17/2007: I encourage you to visit Dr. Andreas Köstenberger’s blog, Biblical Foundations, for more (and better) insights on this topic.

“The Lost Tomb of Jesus” aired on the Discovery Channel a week ago Sunday amid great publicity and debate. Produced by Oscar-winning director James Cameron and directed by Simcha Jacobovici, the film-makers made the bold claim that they had discovered the lost tomb of Jesus. The thesis of the film has received nothing but ridicule from reputable scholars, and even some of the scholars represented in the film have publicly distanced themselves from the film’s conclusions.

One of the film’s central claims focused on the inscription, “mariamenoumara,” found on one of the ossuaries (bone-containers) in the tomb. The film makers claimed that this inscription could only refer to Mary Magdalene, and they then used this claim to further claim that this tomb contained the remains of Jesus, Mary Magdalene and their son Jude, as well as other members of Jesus’ family.

Well, the film lost even more ground today now that scholars are getting a closer look at the inscription. Stephen Pfann, a textual scholar and the president of the University of the Holy Land, makes a convincing case that the inscription should read “mariamekaimara,” which would translate into two common names – Mary and Martha. This removes one of the central claims of the film leaving its other claims to flounder. You can see some neat color-coded examples of the inscription for yourself here. This will apparently be on the news tonight and tomorrow.

Updated 3/17/2007: More information continues to come in on the inscription. The most recent scholars weighing in seem to lean toward the two name theory, but there is still a question as to whether these were two different women buried in the ossuary or a single woman who went by two names. See Dr. Darrell Bock’s blog here for more information.

Here is a classic quote from Billy Graham that bears repeating in light of the recent “Jesus Tomb” special:

“There is more evidence that Jesus rose from the dead than there is that Julius Caesar ever lived or Alexander the Great died at the age of 33. It is strange that historians accept thousands of facts for which they can produce only shreds of evidence. But in the face of overwhelming evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ they cast a skeptical eye and hold intellectual doubts. The trouble with those people is that they do not want to believe.” – Billy Graham, Peace with God

HT: Minister’s ToolBox