Essay Example on Christianity Debate: Jonathan vs Alex - The Resurrection

In Cosmic Skeptic's Is Christianity True debate, Jonathan, a clergy and Alex, an atheist, argues to prove the validity of their beliefs and specifically if the resurrection is an actual occurrence. Jonathan, who is a Christian, uses evidence from the bible and historical publications to prove the death of Jesus Christ, His resurrection, and the birth of Christianity as a religion. On the other hand, Alex employs counterarguments based on his thoughts and those of other atheists who refute the resurrection of Jesus. Although many of the arguments outlined by Alex appears logical, he fails to provide credible evidence that makes his reasoning misguided, leaving Jonathan the best debater in the discussion.

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Scholars have deliberated on the authenticity of Christianity, and it has emerged that it the religion that can be proven from a historical, biblical, and empirical viewpoint. The audience of this debate might be aware of this element, despite being Christians or not. Jonathan takes advantage of the range of available evidence to prove his argument. He uses logos, appeals to logic and reasoning; hence, his position as the best debater. The audience is offered clear hard facts that demonstrate that Jesus resurrected from the dead. According to Jonathan, over 500 individuals bear testimony to the resurrection of Jesus (Cosmic Skeptic). The witnesses are not only ordinary people, but the list includes people who were influential during the time. Besides, Jonathan offers the accounts from the Gospel books, which are publications by real people who were part of Jesus life throughout his mission until death. The Gospel books were written a few years after the death of Christ hence higher probability of accuracy in the information published within their text is high.

Alex argument, on the other hand, is that of the standard liberals that cast uncertainties on the legitimacy of the New Testament books. Since the publication of the book occurred several years after the life of Christ, they are subject to significant embellishments about the resurrection. As years passed, there is a possibility that the followers of Christ included fictitious events like His resurrection to make Christianity more attractive to probable converts (Cosmic Skeptic). Perceptibly, the longer the interval between written record and the event, the higher the possibility of myth being added into the story.

Alex makes a critical error in logic with this argument and has his interconnectedness backward as he suggests that a story written several years after an event cannot be accurate. He fails to consider the factors that amount to the illegitimacy of a story written many years after. His argument is so common that it is easy to assume it is true. There is no concrete evidence with his assertion hence hard to believe. Part of the dissolution is to support his standpoint. This argument is the classic attempt to manipulate logic by using the fallacy of hasty generalization. In other words, Alex is trying to jump into conclusion based upon insufficient evidence or unrepresentative sample.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Jonathan's argument was logical, clearly executed, and he consistently cited evidence from his sources. On the other hand, Alex failed to establish his case as he relied on generalized facts. Jonathan is more convincing in his argument as his materials are credible works. Alex makes arguments that appear convincing though generalization makes his point weak. Perhaps facts would make his arguments more persuasive.

Works Cited

"Debate: Is Christianity True? Cosmic Skeptic vs Jonathan McLatchie." Cosmic Skeptic.12 May 2019. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woqy13ZkeqM. Accessed 18 May 2019.