The Hope That We Have
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.
— 1 Peter 3:15
Reasons to Believe’s (RTB) mission focuses on science apologetics—demonstrating the agreement between the natural world and Christian scripture. So, it’s no surprise that our resources and interviews generally center on scientific discoveries or the book of Genesis.
But, at its core, RTB’s mission is about hope. The reason we strive to help people see the connections between science and Scripture is to help point them to the truth of the gospel. We illuminate reasons to believe in the Bible’s trustworthiness because we want others to share in the hope that we have.
What is this hope? God has acted sovereignly to bridge the gap that separates people from Himself. Jesus Christ suffered and died in the place of sinners, thus satisfying the Father’s just wrath against human sin, and effecting true reconciliation between God and mankind for those who believe—and then He rose from the dead. He conquered sin, death, and all the powers of Satan. By the grace extended to humanity through Christ’s death and resurrection, we can share in His victory over the grave.
RTB theologian and philosopher Kenneth Samples describes the resurrection as Christianity’s most dangerous idea. It is a claim unique to the Christian faith. He writes, “Jesus’ being raised to new life three days after His execution pumps the heart of the Christian gospel (doctrine), and is Christianity’s central supporting fact (apologetics). The truth of Christianity uniquely stands or falls on Christ’s resurrection.”
As Christians around the world prepare to celebrate Good Friday and anticipate Easter Sunday, we invite you to investigate the resurrection of Christ via the following RTB resources.
Podcasts
Kenneth Samples breaks down Christianity’s resurrection doctrine into bite-sized conversations on his Straight Thinking podcast.
- “Resurrection: What’s the Story?”
- “Resurrection: Defining the Term”
- “Resurrection: What’s the Historical Evidence?”
- “Resurrection: Criteria for Judging Good Explanatory Hypotheses”
- “Resurrection: Critical Evaluation of Naturalistic Explanations, Part 1”
- “Resurrection: Critical Evaluation of Naturalistic Explanations, Part 2”
- “Resurrection: Critical Evaluation of Naturalistic Explanations, Part 3”
- “Resurrection: Humanity’s Greatest Hope”
- “Death and Resurrection”
Videos
Biochemist Fazale Rana interviews theologian Travis Campbell about 10 undisputed facts about Jesus.
Articles
In articles originally featured in our Reasons newsletter, Kenneth Samples tackles six alternative explanations for what happened following Jesus’ death on the cross
- Did Jesus’ disciples steal his body and create a resurrection hoax?
- Did Jesus’ followers visit the wrong tomb?
- Did Jesus merely appear dead and resuscitate later?
- Did someone (say, an unknown twin) impersonate Jesus after His death?
- Did Mary Magdalene and the other disciples suffer a grief-induced hallucination?
- Is the resurrection story just a myth?
RTB Scholars
RTB’s mission is to spread the Christian Gospel by demonstrating that sound reason and scientific research—including the very latest discoveries—consistently support, rather than erode, confidence in the truth of the Bible and faith in the personal, transcendent God revealed in both Scripture and nature.