There are several apologetics ministries that are not associated with the fundamentalist creationist movement in the United States. One of these is the Apologetics Research Society which has an interesting Web site at www.evidenceforchristianity.org. We have had a long association with this ministry and know its leaders quite well. We have reviewed a variety of their books and materials over the years, and this is one of their newest books and deals with the resurrection in a very different way.

Most books that deal with the resurrection come at the question on the basis of what can be quoted from people who wrote secular accounts at the time Jesus lived, or rely totally on scripture itself. This very short book comes at the question from the standpoint of how historical study is done. The first chapter is "The Evolution of the Discipline of Historiography." As a person not trained in this subject this was all new to me, but presented in a understandable way. Stanback follows that introduction with a discussion of the limitations and possibilities of historical research (chapter 2). He then discusses the evidence that the early Christians believed the body of Jesus was resurrected (not just His spirit), and the beliefs of the Jews and Greeks prior to that time of a resurrection.

The remainder of the book is a scholarly approach to debunking theories to explain the resurrection. The book is well documented, scholarly, and very honest and open without the arrogance and condescending attitude that works like this sometimes have. If you want a different approach to the validity of the resurrection, we recommend this book.

Back to Contents Does God Exist?, MayJun09.