Part 3: Master Question Reference — Quick Deploy

The following questions are organized for rapid deployment in conversation. They are designed to be used in sequence or individually, depending on where the conversation goes. Each question is labeled with its tactical function.

Opening Probes (Use First — Clarify and Disarm)

Definition probe: forces precision —

“What do you mean when you say the resurrection is a myth?”

Source probe: surfaces the basis of their belief —

“What sources are you working from when you say that?”

Reasoning probe: shifts burden of proof —
“How did you come to that conclusion?”

Criteria probe: reveals whether they have an open standard —
“What would it take for you to change your mind about this?”

Knowledge probe: gentle, not combative —
“How much do you actually know about the historical case for the resurrection?”

Steering Questions (Use Mid-Conversation — Navigate)

Sincere belief vs. fabrication —

“You said the disciples were just true believers — but is there a difference between dying for what you believe and dying for what you know is a lie you invented?”

Time collapse: destroys legend hypothesis —
“If the resurrection is legendary, how do you account for the 1 Corinthians 15 creed being dated within two years of the event by even hostile scholars?”

Enemy concession: decisive —
“The enemy concession argument says that Matthew 28 records the Jewish authorities admitting the tomb was empty. What’s your explanation for why they said ‘the disciples stole the body’ instead of ‘the tomb was never empty’?”

Group appearance: destroys hallucination theory —
“Five hundred people claimed to have seen Jesus simultaneously. Can you name another case in history of 500 people sharing the same hallucination?”

Enemy conversions: hardest to dismiss —
“James and Paul were not disciples — they were opponents. What explains their conversion?”

Criterion of embarrassment —
“If the Gospel writers were fabricating, why did they include women as the first witnesses, knowing it would hurt their credibility in that culture?”

Burden of silence argument —
“Roman and Jewish authorities had every reason to produce Jesus’s body to end the movement. Why didn’t they?”

Cumulative case question —
“What’s the simplest explanation for all the following simultaneously: empty tomb, multiple appearances, enemy conversions, disciple transformation, movement explosion in Jerusalem?”

Closing Steers (Use to Land — Give Them Something to Think About)

• “I’m not asking you to believe it right now. I’m just asking: have you ever actually looked at the historical case? Would you be willing to?”

• “Here’s what puzzles me about alternative theories: each one can maybe explain one or two of the facts. But the resurrection explains all of them naturally. What’s your alternative that handles the cumulative case?”

• “Koukl says the goal is to put a stone in their shoe — not to win. I’m not trying to argue you into anything. But is there anything in what we talked about today that you want to think more about?”

• “If the resurrection is true — and I recognize that’s a big ‘if’ for you — what would that mean for how you think about everything else? Is that a question worth sitting with?”