Customer Reviews

Resurrection The Capstone In The Arch Of Christianity

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Hanegraaff divides his book into 3 sections; defending Christ's physical resurrection, defending the certainty of heaven and hell, and tackling tough questions about what the resurrection will look like.

His defense of Christ's resurrection was disappointing. As a Christian, I came away from this section a little confused as to who Hanegraaff's intended audience was. His defense was at a very top level, and I found it incomplete. An informed skeptic could attack this defense by raising more detailed objections that Hanegraaff did not attempt to address, as well as raise objections on other fronts that Hanegraaff never gets into. While agreeing with what Hanegraaff presented in this section, I was anticipating a more detailed and comprehensive defense of Christ's resurrection. Because he didn't do that, I remain confused about the target audience. I found little in his defense to bolster the arguments of the seasoned Christian, or to undermine the arguments of the seasoned skeptic.

Section 2 was a little better than section 1, in my view. While I was still a bit disappointed by the top level nature of this section, Hanegraaff does present sound logic and firm Biblical basis to advance his arguments here, particularly in the area of eternal torment. While still lacking the kind of comprehensive treatment I had been hoping for, I found this section to contain more useful information than section 1.

Section 3 was better than section 1, but not as good as section 2, in my view. For better or worse, when scholars attempt to grapple with the issues that Hanegraaff tries to deal with in this section, an inevitable degree of speculation is in order. So while Hanegraaff tries to ground his views with Scripture (and does a pretty good job), I still walked away from that section feeling as if the answers to these issues won't truly be known until we get to the other side, because Scripture is not iron clad on many of these questions. Hanegraaff's views in this section may very well be right, but the reader should understand that because Scripture does not hit these issues head on, Hanegraaff's opinions are just that, opinions based on a certain degree of speculation.

Overall, I will consult this book on an occasional basis when presented with objections from skeptics. But I would not recommend that the Christian base their entire apologetic knowledge on this book, nor would I recommend this book to non Christians that I might witness to. The information contained in the book is good for as far as it goes. In my view, it did not go far enough, nor dig deep enough to be considered a top apologetic resource on this topic.

The book is geared toward answering difficult questions regarding Christ's resurrection and the afterlife.

In the first 64 pages Hanegraaff defends the resurrection of Christ with valid logic and a moderate amount of historical and archaeological evidence. For a more detailed account of the evidence concerning the resurrection of Christ I would recommend "A Case for Christ" by Lee Strobel or "Jesus- the Great Debate" by Dr. Grant R. Jeffrey.

The next 30 pages present a defense of an afterlife where souls live for eternity. I found this section to be groundbreaking- new and unique thought in an area not often covered.

The remainder of the book (186 pages) presents answers to questions about the afterlife. The questions are often asked and thought about, but I have not yet heard definitive answers as Hanegraaff gives here.

Overall it is good reading and a very enjoyable book. Critics and Christians alike may find Hanegraaff's book interesting at the least. I thought it was well worth my money. I highly recommend it.

When I was handed this book by a devout evangelical friend, I was a bit skeptical that he was doing so in an effort to "witness" me and my Catholic faith. Soon after getting into this, I realized that the subject matter at hand was instead something dear to both of us (and to all of us united in Christ). Since that time, I have become somewhat of an admirer of Hank Hannegraff. His sincerity and charity, even in points of disagreements, are true models of what the Church should look like.

That being said, there was almost nothing in this book that I disagreed with. As a matter of fact, it was literally FULL of positive citations from Catholic sources (Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas, several different works by Peter Kreeft, St. Augustine, St. Jerome, etc).

Theologically, he does an admirable job in offering his apology for the doctrine of the resurrection. On the theological side, I applaud him for emphasizing the importance this event has on the Christian faith. I hope that modernists and liberals take notice of the fact that if they reject this doctrine, they reject their entire faith, as Paul so clearly said. The reasons that Paul said this make total sense after reading this book.

Concerning historicity, the book is slightly weaker, though he does raise some very valid and thought provoking philosophical and probable arguments in favor of the resurrection. While not bound to convince well informed skeptics, it will serve as an excellent starting point for those skeptics who may be persuaded to dig a little deeper into the subject. For those who have already been bestowed with the gift of grace, it will serve to deepen their convictions, and grow in their walk with God.

The last section, the Q&A section, was well written, as one would expect from the "Bible Answer Man." He covers a lot of great questions, again basing some of his answers on one of my favorite Catholic writers, Peter Kreeft (the work that Hank often cites, "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Heaven, but Never Dreamed of Asking" is a very worthwhile and informative read.

The only part I "object" to was a very brief treatise on sotierology :) Other than that, I really enjoyed this book.

This book brings alive the truth and wonder of the resurrection, which is both essential Christian doctrine and indisputable fact of history. While the book reflects historic theology, it is refreshingly free of dense vocabulary and complicated polemics. Hanegraaff's trademark style combining clear prose and packets of memorable concepts will equip Christians to know what the Bible teaches about the resurrection and life after death and to trust God for our eternal life in His Son. It will also challenge non-believers to assent to one of the best-attested facts in all of human history.

Hank Hannegraff is president of the Christian Research Institute (CRI) and host of the popular "Bible Answer Man" program. He has written other books such as "Christianity In Crisis" (his first and greatist work) and the "The FACE that Demonstrates The Farce of Evolution" (another primer book). Hank's strength is his easy to read writing style which allows him to reach an audience who want to read a book either quickly or they are embarking a new subject.

For this reason, "Resurrection" works. If someone is either trying to study this outstanding feat in history for the first time or learn more about their belief and how to defend it; this book is a great read and will give much food for thought without straining the brain. The book falls, however, in two aeras: (1) It is not a book for serious academic study. It gives quick easy tips to help one defend their belief against the average atheist or agnostic. The average Christian is ill prepared to defend his or her beliefs (so is the average unbeliever). But the serious skeptic can raise serious objections and therefore, one may want to delve into other works such as "Jesus Under Fire" and "When Skeptics Ask."

The biggest flaw of the book is when he deals with ideals such as cremation and sex. Much here is speculation and does not lend itself with a book which is trying to deal with facts of history. It is distracting in my view and this material could have been reserved for another book dealing with speculative issues.

All in all, the book is a nice and easy read. I wanted to give the book a higher rating because I admire Hank Hannegraff and I am a support of CRI. I enjoyed the material but felt more material should have been added in the realm of history and manuscript evidence. The book will be a great read for people who have never really studied the subject before, but for the serious student, it will be a liesure read and only a quick reference text.

At first glance, this book appears to cover a broad range of topics. But after reading the book cover to cover, I thought it was a wonderful discussion of the Christian biblical view of the resurrection of all people on the day of judgement. The first section of this book about the resurrection of Christ was informative as to addressing many of the attacks on Christ's resurrection that I was unaware of. True, it covers a broad range of attacks on the resurrection of Christ and doesn't go incredibly in deep detail (more than a couple pages) on any one discussion. However, I believe the reason for this is that it was written in a way for the common person to be able to read and understand without requiring a degree in theology to understand every discussion. If someone has more questions, they can simply consult the references listed in the book (Mr. Hanegraaff does the best job of referencing his sources over anyone else I have ever read), or just call the Christian Research Institute and get that information. I know they will be glad to provide it.

The true beauty of this book, in my opinion, lies in the second section, which addresses different aspects of the resurrection of all people and what life will be like after death for everyone. Despite growing up in church, I found that I knew very little regarding the biblical teachings on the resurrection, and I suspect this to be true for many people, whether they be a Christian or not. As a Christian, I was equipped so much better for having read this portion of the book. This book has affected me long since reading it by giving me a lasting impression of the importance of living our lives according to the hope and eternity that awaits us all after this life, and backing it up solidly with scripture.

I applaud this work by Mr. Hanegraaff and encourage everyone to read this book.

Hank Hannegraff brings a much needed refresher on the Resurrection, the single most important event in the historic Christian faith, arguably the most important event in the history of history. But he goes beyond just explaining and defending, as he brings practical application and a renewed sense of awe as we study the Scripture to see how God will redeem His creation.

Hank once again uses mnemonics to their full potential to aid in memorization and study. My only quirk with this book is that a few chapters are a bit brief and cursory, but this should only lead the diligent student to further study.

Resurrection by Hank Hanegraaff was a great book. This book is broken up into three sections. The first section is defending the resurrection of Christ. Most Christians do not realize the strong historical case that has been built as evidence of the resurrection. Hanegraaff discusses some of the more popular arguements or explinations for the resurrection of Jesus, such as the "Swoon Theory", the "Twin Theory" and the theory held by the Muslims. He goes on to explain by an actual physical resurrection is more plausible than any of the other theories presented.
Hanegraaff does a great job in presenting a solid case for the resurrection using alot of the same arguements that are used by Dr. William Lane Craig, Dr. Gary Habermas and Lee Strobel in some of their writings. He makes it simple and concise but still includes enough information for one to build their own case off of the information mentioned in the book.
After the case for the resurrection of Jesus has been built, Hanegraaff's book takes a bit of a turn. The second section of the book is dedicated to the resurrection of God's creation (more specifically, but not limited to, Humans). He covers how we can be certain that this life is not the only thing we have to look forward to and describes the comfort that one can take in this fact. Some of the details he mentions don't necessarily coincide with some of the more mainstream views of this topic but he provides great scriptual support for his views.
The third part of the book is dedicated to answering questions about the resurrection such as "Was Christ's physical body resurrected from the dead or did he raise an immaterial spirit?", "If heaven is perfect, won't it be perfectly boring?" and many others.
I don't really see eye to eye with some of Hanegraaff's theology, but from what I could see everything discussed in this book seemed to be in accordance with scripture. With all that being said about Hanegraaff, his books some how always seem to have a huge influence in my Christian walk and has strengthend my faith and my peace in my faith an enormous amount.
I recommend this book to all Christians. To those who are not believers and are looking more for a book that lays out an exauhstive case for the resurrection then I don't think this is the book for you and I think there are others out there that can better fit your need. Great book overall!

I highly recommend this book. A thorough explanation of the resurrection and what happens to the world as we know it. Hank Hanegraaff's writing style is enjoyable and very intelligent.

a wonderful dissertation over the reality of resurrection. very well written in Hank's characteristic style, he adds mnemonics to help you remember the evidence. since resurrection is the cornerstone of Christianity this book should be a pleasure to all mainstream Christians, regardless of denomination. i highly recommend it because once you read it you will be able to defend the main point that makes Christianity unique, Jesus resurrection. After you accept this fact then the validity and authority of scripture becomes clear.