Conclusion

In dialogue with Brian Robinette and Jürgen Moltmann, the chapter asks what kind of apologetics is appropriate to the subject matter of Jesus’ Resurrection. It argues that Jesus’ Resurrection does have “external grounds” for its truth. It can be considered credible even without supernatural faith. Yet, even if non-believers can reasonably affirm that Jesus’ Resurrection happened, such knowledge becomes truly living and powerful within the whole worldview of faith, what Lonergan calls the “horizon of love.” Behind this approach to theological apologetics stands the masterwork of John Henry Newman. In his Grammar of Assent, Newman remarks that certitude in historical matters comes from “the cumulation of probabilities, independent of each other, arising out of the nature and circumstances of the particular case which is under review.” This book provides such an accumulation of probabilities, which Newman deems to be sufficient (through what he calls the “illative sense”) for certitude.