Daniel Peterson, a professor of Arabic, teaches during an Education Week class on historical evidence for the Resurrection of Christ.
PROVO, Utah (Aug. 22, 2014)—Arabic professor Daniel Peterson is not only an expert on Arabic and the Middle East, but he devotes a large portion of his studies to the gospel and its history. At an Education Week class series on the campus of Brigham Young University, Peterson presented on his research, making a historical case for Christ’s resurrection.
“For a lot of people, the question of the resurrection is a general superstition,” Peterson said. Many people argue that the rising of Christ is symbolical rather than physical. “I’m arguing for a literal resurrection from the grave.”
Throughout the week-long series, Peterson outlined various evidences that argue in behalf of a Christ literally rising from the grave.
Peterson said that from the four gospels, we learn: “Having been crucified, Jesus was buried in a tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea. On the Sunday after his crucifixion, Jesus’ tomb was found empty by a group of female disciples. People saw Jesus seemingly alive. The original disciples were transformed by the idea that Jesus raised from the dead.”
For each of these prepositions, Peterson explained their significance to the Resurrection.
“Some people argue that people from that time were just naïve people. But even then, people knew that people died and stayed dead. They saw death—they knew death. That’s why they were so excited by the Resurrection,” Peterson said.
Peterson spoke on the collective witness of the original 12 disciples. He said that if there wasn’t anything to the story of the Resurrection, the movement would have died.
“What is the likelihood that these lowly fisherman, etc., would have walked around the then-known world if it weren’t true and worth it? The early twelve demonstrated by their lives that they had met with the risen Jesus,” Peterson said. “Why didn’t this movement fail like so many others? Because they knew their leader rose again.”
He also spoke on the neglected witness of Paul. Peterson said that Paul is a completely independent witness of Jesus. He didn’t have the scriptures—he had to have learned from what others told him. Peterson explained that before his conversion, Paul was not friendly to the disciples. Then when he went to preach the gospel in Rome, like Peter, he was killed by Nero’s command. “They probably knew their outcome, and they went, not fearing, because they knew that Christ was resurrected.”
Peterson also spoke of the Restoration of the gospel and its witnesses. Aside from Joseph Smith’s First Vision, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris are testaments for the Book of Mormon, which is a testament of the resurrected Savior. “The Book of Mormon is an independent witness of Christ’s resurrection,” Peterson said.
Peterson also spoke about others who testified of personal experiences with the resurrected Savior, including George Q. Cannon, Lorenzo Snow, Joseph F. Smith, Orson F. Whitney, George F. Richards, David B Haight, Spencer W. Kimball, and many others.
“Is there a reason to believe in the resurrection of Christ?” Peterson asked. “Yes, even as a history…You have to decide: Do I believe this or not? There’s not enough evidence to convince you, but there’s enough to make it plausible.”
For more information on this lecture series, contact Daniel Peterson.
—Stephanie Bahr Bentley BA English ’14