Book Review: Raised with Christ by Adrian Warnock

Here are some more points (that were too much to share in Tweets along the way) that stood out to me from Adrian Warnock's book, Raised with Christ.

I appreciate how Warnock establishes that while Christianity requires faith to believe in the miraculous act of the resurrection, it is still a reasonable faith that also requires a softened heart and an alert mind at the same time. (ch. 2)
We use both to review the Biblical account of the resurrection and subsequent events.

In chapter 3, Warnock makes it clear how the examination of the evidence surrounding the resurrection naturally leads to certain conclusions. It is evident that the belief in resurrection was a part of true Christianity from the earliest moments, not a later addition. Since it was immediately proclaimed among the disciples and within the Gospels, it could have been just as quickly disproved if it had been false.

A great summary of the third chapter is Spurgeon's quote that demolishes the idea of lying disciples: "The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is one of the best attested facts on record." 

Warnock succinctly deals with the objections that the disciples or authorities may have stolen the body of Jesus, the disciples made up the resurrection story, the body was stolen, the disciples went to the wrong tomb, Jesus never actually died on the cross, the eyewitnesses were all hallucinating, etc. It also lists some of the extra-biblical references that support claims of a bodily resurrection, and makes me more intrigued by N.T. Wright's work on this subject.

After establishing an historical basis for the event of the resurrection, Warnock moves into the spiritual and practical implications of the resurrection throughout the rest of the book. One of his first tasks is to put emphasis on the idea that there needs to be attention given to both the Cross and the Resurrection, not one without the other. Warnock poses the question, Could it be that the resurrection has been neglected since its meaning is not nearly as controversial as other doctrines, like the meaning and effects of the death on the cross? From Warnock's writing, I learned that the term synecdoche refers to how the Bible may be talking about death and resurrection together sometimes when only seeming to refer to one or the other.

Overall, while I may not be 100% on board with every argument made in the book, I believe it achieved its primary purpose of re-focusing me on the power and effects of the resurrection. If this event really took place in miraculous fashion as proclaimed by followers of Jesus, then it truly does changes EVERYTHING!