“Should the evidence [for the Resurrection] be refuted somehow, the Christian faith would not be refuted. It would only mean that one could not prove historically that the Christian faith is true.”
—William Lane Craig, in the Preface of his book, The Son Rises
Gary: So if there were no evidence that the dead body of Jesus of Nazareth was reanimated/resurrected by the Hebrew god, Yahweh, in circa 33 CE, how would William Lane Craig (WLC) know that the Christian belief system is true?
Answer: his subjective feelings!
WLC continues in the preface of The Son Rises:
In considering the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus, it is important to avoid giving the impression that the Christian faith is based on the evidence for Jesus’ resurrection. The Christian faith is based on the event of the resurrection. It is not based on the evidence for the resurrection. The distinction is crucial. The Christian faith stands or falls on the event of the resurrection. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then Christianity is a myth, and we may as well forget it. But the Christian faith does not stand or fall on the evidence for the resurrection.
…In point of fact, we can know that Jesus rose from the dead wholly apart from a consideration of the historical evidence. The simplest Christian, who has neither the opportunity nor the wherewithal to conduct an historical investigation of Jesus’ resurrection, can know with assurance that Jesus is risen because God’s Spirit bears unmistakable witness to him that it is so.
Gary: You see, dear Reader, evidence is irrelevant. MAGIC is the key to true knowledge. And that magical knowledge can be yours if you choose to believe the Christian supernatural tales like a child, or as WLC says, a simpleton, without insisting on evidence.
But couldn’t this same theory of discerning Truth be used by any belief system with any group of “simpletons”: “Don’t worry about the evidence, Believer. Just trust our holy book to be true. Just trust your FEELINGS about our holy book and about our god (or gods). That is all the evidence you really need to know that WE are right, and everyone else is wrong.”
As a former evangelical Christian, I believe that William Lane Craig is dead wrong. Subjective feelings can fool you. Subjective feelings told the people of Jonestown to drink poisoned Kool-Aid. Subjective feelings told the people of Heaven’s Gate to commit suicide in their beds. Subjective feelings and subjective personal experiences are NOT reliable indicators of the truth, folks. Demand EVIDENCE. Always demand evidence for EVERY truth claim.
Escaping Christian Fundamentalism 
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