The Resurrection of God Incarnate 1st Edition

This is a delightful book as to evidence of the plan of God in the person of Jesus. The author develops a logical step by step argument as the the basics of orthodox Christianity. Many of his insights regarding the evidence of the resurrection of Jesus were new and refreshing. Within my limited abilities of logic, I find his arguments compelling. I personally would take a different stance as to the authenticity of the whole of Scripture yet I am willing to give the author that latitude due to the processes he offers. Well worth ones time.

Who knew there were still brilliant, articulate, theologins in jolly old England? I suppose all professional philosophers and theologins know the works of Richard Swinburne, but since I am an amature apologist, I was not one of them. As I read various books on the historical proofs of the life of Jesus Christ from various authors, I kept noticing that everyone used Swinburne as a reference, so I decided to buy his book on the Incarnation of God on earth to see what it was all about. Swinburne is brilliant, and this book is a testament to his clear thinking, extensive research, and ability to articulate to the novice and experienced theologin alike the extensive evidence concerning the life and resurrection of Christ. Swinburn lays out the historical evidence in a manner that would be acceptable by any prosecuting attorney trying to prove the case, and the case is proven. I am so thankful that he wrote this book, and that I happened to stuble onto it. I think I bought a used copy, but I will keep it as a key piece of my arsenal as an apologist concering the historical proof of the Incarnate God. I recommend this book to the religious, or the skeptic. Also, to the novice or the advanced student of theology.

Swinburne looks at the a priori and a posteriori arguments for the Resurrection of Jesus against the background evidence of natural theology and concludes that on the total evidence the Resurrection Hypothesis is on balance an inference the best explanation from the established facts about Jesus and the early Church. An original, rigorous and persuasive apologia.

Unique, brief, and interesting.

Well written book

Just as described. Thanks

This book is a challenging but very rewarding read. I say it is challenging because Swinburne is careful to nuance what he says...so much so that the text can become choppy and bit tedious to read at times. It was for this lack in readability that I deducted a star. Setting that aside though the book's thesis is genuinely novel and will give fresh insight to those who are familiar with the case that Habermas, Licona, Craig and others have constructed. What sets Swinburne's book apart from these others is that he argues for the Resurrection of Jesus using Bayes Theorem, whereas the others use Inference to the Best Explanation.In brief, here is his case... Swinburne reflects on what reasons God would have to become incarnate if He does exist. He lays out three reasons, 1) to provide atonement, 2) to identify with our suffering, and 3) to provide information (about how to live) and encouragement. He then argues that if God did become incarnate we would expect such a person to have certain "marks" which would include 1) living a perfect life that provides healing, 2) teach deep moral and theological truths, 3) show himself to believe that He is God Incarnate, 4) teach that his life provides atonement for our sins, and 5) found a church which continues his teaching and work. These five marks, Swinburne calls the "prior requirements" for a person who is potentially God Incarnate. However, there could be a candidate that met all five prior requirements and yet was not God Incarnate. So Swinburne says that there would need to be a super miracle performed by God on this individual that would serve as God's "signature" verifying the "prophet." This is the "posterior requirement." Swinburne then argues on historical grounds that Jesus uniquely satisfied both the prior and posterior requirements, whereas no other "prophet" or religious founder has in any comparable way.The Bayesian calculation is confined to the Appendix, and of that Appendix pages 210-215 lay out the most crucial part... the formal Bayesian argument of the entire book. As a layman new to Bayes Theorem, this was challenging. But I took it very slowly and found that it made great sense.Swinburne's case is strong. Very strong. Even if you don't agree with him in the end, you will be enriched by thinking about this topic from a very different perspective.

I just read Professor Swinburne's book on the Resurrection. For the most part it is a really good book. In fact I would give it ****1/2 (out of ******), but I don't seem to have that option. It's not as good as N.T. Wright's book on the subject, which is an absolutely wonderful (but long) book. Swineburne's much shorter book makes a very compelling case for traditional view of the Resurrection of Jesus from a philosophical and historical point of view. The philosophical view was really interesting because I have not seen anyone do that before. There were a few times I was skeptical of his conclusions but for the most part I thought his conclusions were really well argued. He also defended the belief in the Incarnation from a philosophical viewpoint, which I have not seen done before either. I highly recommend the book. This is also the first time I've ever read anything by Swinburne. I hope to read more his work in the future.