Did the Resurrection Happen?: A Conversation with Gary Habermas and Antony Flew (Veritas Forum Books) [Paperback]

Gary R. Habermas (Author), Antony Flew (Author), David J. Baggett (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0830837183 | ISBN-13: 978-0830837182 | Publication Date: April 29, 2009

In 2004 philosopher Antony Flew, one of the world's most prominent atheists, publicly acknowledged that he had become persuaded of the existence of God. Not long before that, in 2003, Flew and Christian philosopher Gary Habermas debated at a Veritas Forum at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Habermas, perhaps the world's leading expert on the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus, made the case for rational belief on the basis of the reliability of the evidence. Flew argued for alternative understandings of the evidence presented. For two-and-a-half decades Flew and Habermas have been in friendly dialogue about the plausibility of the resurrection and the existence of God. This book presents the full content of their third and final debate, as well as transcripts of the Q & A session with the audience afterward. Also included are a 2004 conversation between Habermas and Flew shortly after Flew's much-publicized change of position, as well as editor David Baggett's assessment and analysis of the full history of Habermas and Flew's interactions. Here is your opportunity to listen in on a conversation with two of the greatest thinkers of our era about one of the most pivotal events in human history. Follow the evidence wherever it leads. And decide for yourself whether it's believable that a man could rise from the dead.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Lay readers could hardly ask for a better entrée to the resurrection as a philosophical issue. A beacon of enlightenment on its subject." (Booklist, May 15, 2009 )

"The conversation between Habermas and Flew has been a fascinating one at the highest levels of philosophical reflection. This book beautifully chronicles that dialogue in a way that is clear for those not versed in philosophy. The book will cause you to sit and ponder. That is a compliment enough, but more than that you will learn how two competing worldviews should interact with each other--and that is a real gift." (Darrell Bock, Dallas Theological Seminary )

"A lively conversation about the most important question in the history, and for the future, of the world. Habermas's compelling answers to Flew's questions awaken hope within me. The resurrection and vindication of Christ frees us from the fear of death, and for true life, now and forever. I wish this book for all of us, especially skeptics who are also thinkers." (Kelly Monroe Kullberg, author of Finding God Beyond Harvard: The Quest for Veritas, founder and director of project development, The Veritas Forum, and editor of Finding God at Harvard: Spiritual Journeys of Thinking Christians )

"David Baggett has skillfully edited an engaging and warm-hearted debate between Gary Habermas and Antony Flew, two of the world's foremost philosophers and thinkers, the former a Christian and apologist and the latter a well-known atheist who recently has embraced deism. Their debate centers on the very essence of Christian faith--the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is a great book. I recommend it enthusiastically." (Craig A. Evans, Ph.D., Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Acadia Divinity College )

"This book offers not only a lively exchange on Jesus' resurrection between Habermas and Flew. The section on Flew's pilgrimage to belief in God and the excellent analysis by Baggett help both round out the dialogue as well as provide much food for philosophical and theological thought. A superb resource on the resurrection!" (Paul Copan, professor and Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics, Palm Beach Atlantic University, West Palm Beach, Florida )

"This work brings together the chief contemporary defender of the resurrection and the foremost atheist of the 20th century. While the style is warm and conversational, this book is all meat and no fluff. Baggett's assessment of the debate alone is worth the price of the book. I highly recommend this to all who wish to defend the historical credibility of the resurrection of Jesus. The debate is a model of civility." (J. P. Moreland, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Talbot School of Theology, and coauthor of In Search of a Confident Faith )

"This book is a dialogue between the leading expert on Jesus' resurrection and the most influential atheist philosopher of the late twentieth century. No fluff. No insults. This is an intelligent and friendly exchange of ideas among two giants in their field who have arrived at radically different views of what happened to Jesus 2,000 years ago." (Michael R. Licona, director of apologetics, North American Mission Board )

"As a reader of Did the Resurrection Happen? A Conversation with Gary Habermas and Antony Flew, I experienced the rare pleasure of eavesdropping on a rigorous discussion between close friends. While they persist in their strong disagreement over a variety of substantive issues, Habermas and Flew never fail to argue with charity and humor. This posture gives the book a warm and congenial flavor. It is a great read for anyone interested in philosophy, in the resurrection or in how best to engage in significant debate." (Gregory E. Ganssle, Rivendell Institute, department of philosophy, Yale University )

Review

"This book is a dialogue between the leading expert on Jesus' resurrection and the most influential atheist philosopher of the late twentieth century. No fluff. No insults. This is an intelligent and friendly exchange of ideas among two giants in their field who have arrived at radically different views of what happened to Jesus 2,000 years ago."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 185 pages
• Publisher: IVP Books (April 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830837183
• ISBN-13: 978-0830837182
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #90,231 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Gary R. Habermas is Distinguished Research Professor and chair of the Department of Philosophy and Theology at Liberty University. He also teaches in the Ph.D. program in theology and apologetics at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. He earned the Ph.D. at Michigan State University and the M.A. from the University of Detroit. He has authored, coauthored, or edited thirty-six books and contributed more than sixty chapters or articles to other books. He has also written well over one hundred articles and reviews for journals and other publications. While his chief areas of research (and the topic of eighteen of his books) are issues related to Jesus' resurrection, he has also published frequently on the afterlife as well as the subjects of suffering and religious doubt. Visit his Web site (www.garyhabermas.com) to access some of his publications. Over the past fourteen years, he has often been a visiting or adjunct professor, having taught courses at some fifteen different graduate schools and seminaries in the United States and abroad. He and his wife, Eileen, have seven children and ten grandchildren, all of whom live in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good debate with a great analysis, May 25, 2009

By 

Mark Foreman (Lynchburg, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Did the Resurrection Happen?: A Conversation with Gary Habermas and Antony Flew (Veritas Forum Books) (Paperback)

This book covers the third and probably final debate between the (now former) atheist Antony Flew and Gary Habermas, the well-recognized expert on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. By this point in their relationship Habermas and Flew have become good friends and the debate possesses the atmosphere of a casual conversation between two colleagues.

Habermas presses the historical argument which Flew acknowledges is very strong. However, Flew is not convinced that the historical argument by itself is sufficient to argue for something as extraordinary as a resurrection and raises the point that it may still be more likely that an event like a mass hullucination may be the cause for the appearances than an actual resurrection. Habermas is in his prime and Flew is perhaps not at the top of his game in this exchange as is evident when they get to the closing statements.

The book also contains two chapters about Flews conversion to theism (not Christianity). One is a dialogue between Flew and Habermas that recounts his journey from atheism to theism. The other is review of Flew's book "There is a God" by Habermas. These are reprints from other sources but are a welcome addition to this volume rounding out the relationship between these two thinkers that is a model of what philosophical dialogue should be.

The real gem of the volume is Baggett's analysis of the debate and general argument for the resurrection. Baggett rightly divides the question into two parts: the historical evidence and the inferential issue. Baggett assesses that Habermas has successfully made the historical case, but that an inference to resurrection is another question. He points out that many non-believers may not find the historical case compelling due to worldview commitments. A Christian theist himself, Baggett is nevertheless fair and balanced in his analysis of the argument for the resurrection acknowledging its strengths and weaknesses. His essay is worth the price of the book itself.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Changing His Mind on God, but Not the Resurrection, October 6, 2009

By 

George P. Wood (Springfield, MO) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Did the Resurrection Happen?: A Conversation with Gary Habermas and Antony Flew (Veritas Forum Books) (Paperback)

"Did Jesus of Nazareth rise from the dead?"

In 2003, Gary Habermas and Antony Flew met at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, to debate that very question. Habermas is a Christian philosopher widely known for his evidentialist argument for the resurrection. Flew was an atheist philosopher, perhaps the most famous such philosopher in the 20th Century. In 2004, he announced to a somewhat stunned philosophical world that he had abandoned atheism for deism. He does not believe in the resurrection, however, nor in any religions based on personal revelation.

Habermas and Flew's 2003 debate was not their first. Their first debate occurred in 1985 and was published as Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?, edited by Terry L. Miethe. Their second occurred in 2000 and was published as Resurrected? An Atheist and Theist Dialogue, edited by John F. Ankerberg. Did the Resurrection Happen? contains a transcript of their 2003 debate and is edited by Christian philosopher David Baggett. Over the years since their first debate, Habermas and Flew have become friends, and that friendship no doubt explains the very cordial tone of their interactions at the 2003 event.

In addition to a transcript of the 2003 debate, Did the Resurrection Happen? includes the transcript of an interview of Flew by Habermas about the reasons why he abandoned atheism for deism. Despite the rise of an impressive philosophical defense of theism in the late twentieth century, Flew's "conversion," if that's the appropriate term, was driven by more scientific arguments: Big Bang cosmology, cosmological fine-tuning, and intelligent design. Some atheists disappointed at Flew's abandonment of them have claimed that he is an old man rooked into deism by friendly Christians. Flew simply claims to be following the evidence wherever it leads him.

Flew laid out the reasons for his change of mind in a 2007 book he co-authored with Roy Abraham Varghese, There Is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind. (Flew was not happy with the publisher's choice of a subtitle.) Habermas' review of that book is the third major component of Did the Resurrection Happen?

The fourth, longest, and most substantial component of the book is an essay by David Baggett, "Resurrection Matters: Assessing the Habermas Flew Discussion," which I'll come back to in a moment.

To be perfectly honest, I was underwhelmed by the Habermas/Flew debate. In my opinion, Habermas talked too much, and Flew conceded too much. At a few points, even the moderator seemed to jump in to make Flew's case for him. Habermas' interview of Flew was far more interesting to me, and I got a much better taste of how Flew's reasons about the evidence for God and against the resurrection by reading it.

Baggett's essay was worth the price of the book. In it, he explains the character of Habermas' argument for the resurrection. It is an abductive case, in which one makes an inference to the best possible explanation. Starting with certain historical facts that believers and skeptics might agree upon, Habermas reasons between competing explanations, ultimately inferring that the fact of the Christ's resurrection (which is controversial) makes best sense of the agreed-upon historical facts (which are non-controversial). Baggett goes on to outline various skeptical responses to Habermas (some of which Flew employs), as well as the underlying philosophical issues in debates over the resurrection. Throughout, he defends Habermas' argument and suggests that if Flew continues to follow the line of argument that led him to deism, he may very well land on Christian theism.

One more thing about this book. It is rare to see debaters change their minds because of a single debate, especially when those debaters are well-known advocates of contrary points of view. That's part of the reason why I was drawn to this book in the first place. Why did Flew changes his mind, at least on the question of God's existence, though not on the question of Christ's resurrection? The answer, according to Flew, is evidence. But I can't help but wonder the degree to which his friendship with Habermas also affected him.

Those who would convince others of their points of view would do well to remember that winning a person is at least as important as winning an argument.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required to Improve Your Christian Witness, July 22, 2009

By 

Hunter Baker "Hunter Baker" (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Did the Resurrection Happen?: A Conversation with Gary Habermas and Antony Flew (Veritas Forum Books) (Paperback)

If you want to be a witness for Jesus Christ, then I strongly, STRONGLY recommend you obtain a copy of Did the Resurrection Happen? from Intervarsity Press.


There are many things that could be said for this book, but I don't want to distract from the central issue. Our Christian faith is built on the resurrection of Christ, not on the age of the earth, not on a particular eschatology, not even on inerrancy. THE CHRISTIAN FAITH IS BUILT ON THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.

This book, Did the Resurrection Happen? says something I have felt for years now, but needed to hear someone else say it in order to announce it, myself:

Even if we take the New Testament as simply an ancient text with excellent credentials, which it surely is at a minimum, there is enough historical evidence to make a very strong case for the resurrection of Christ.

The point I'm trying to make which is made in the book is that the resurrection of Christ is the foundation of our faith. Don't waste your time battling with skeptics over ancillary issues. Take them directly to the resurrection of Christ. There is room for a very good discussion there and you will be standing on high ground. That conversation ends in one of three places:

The person decides he has an almost invincible belief.
The person develops substantially more thoughtfulness about Christianity than he ever had before and continues to reflect on the matter.
The person comes to a saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Read this book and become a better witness than you've ever been.