Our friend Caleb Jackson is doing important research on miracles, modern appearances of Christ & other related topics. He is also in the process of writing a book discussing such topics. He was kind enough to write a layout of the argument from the modern appearances for me to share here:
“Many skeptics argue that if Jesus really rose from the dead, we should expect that He would appear to more people around the world to give independent confirmation of his resurrection. Paul is apparently the only hostile witness that we have, and so critics point out that it is surprising that Jesus only appeared to one enemy out of thousands. Such arguments were addressed in multiple posts several years ago, although one may find the current rebuttals on the site just a bit too convenient for the Christian.
In response, I would ask the skeptic, “Who said He didn’t appear to more people?” I am currently developing an argument for the resurrection (which will eventually be published into a book) that, if true, wounds not only this objection, but in fact hampers any current naturalistic objection to the resurrection. The Recrudesce Argument for the resurrection (the name being derived from a term that means “to recur”) argues that the resurrection of Christ is not just an event backed by historical evidence, but is a continuing reality that is routinely evidenced in our current world. Millions of people around the world are claiming to see Jesus in dreams and visions, which convert them to the point of being willing to endure intense persecution. This itself is not inherently miraculous, for people have visions and dreams for various reasons. However, it is amazing when one considers that many of these visionaries are prior enemies of Christianity (basically modern-day versions of Saul of Tarsus) like members of Isis. This phenomenon is surprisingly prevalent, with a survey by Fuller Theological Seminary's School of World Mission estimating that around a quarter of Muslim converts to Christianity were influenced in part by dreams of Jesus. In Hindu countries like Nepal, Pentacostal churches are growing at a rapid rate, with the main driving force to these conversions being miraculous healings and dreams of Jesus. This is a phenomenon that was actually mentioned by the Church Father Origen (Cont. Cel. 1.46),
“Many have been converted to Christianity as if against their will, some sort of spirit having suddenly transformed their minds from a hatred of the doctrine to a readiness to die in its defense, and having appeared to them either in a waking vision or a dream of the night. Many such instances have we known, which, if we were to commit to writing, although they were seen and witnessed by ourselves, we should afford great occasion for ridicule to unbelievers.”
Other elements can be mentioned that make these visions not just incredible, but miraculous:
Often these dreams or appearances will have veridical elements that make psychological explanations unlikely. Non-Christians will sometimes be told in the vision to go to a specific town and look for a person with a detailed description; upon finding the person in the town, they will discover that the person happens to be a missionary and/or Chrisitan (cf. Acts 10: 1-8). Such encounters with missionaries have even been caught on film. Jesus will often recite Bible verses to people who have previously never read a Bible, quoting Scriptures that they would not discover until later. In one incredible case, a missionary reported that he had met a Muslim man that dreamed of Jesus every day for a month, writing down what Christ dictated to him in in the dream. When the missionary asked the Muslim what he had written, the visionary showed him his notebook; the Muslim man had transcribed the entire Gospel of John, despite never reading the Bible!
A very interesting point of note is the consistency of the reports. With sightings of things like alien abductions, Marian apparitions, NDEs, etc. the accounts by witnesses almost always vary greatly in detail, especially across cultures. However, Jesus’s appearance remains largely the same: whether He is appearing to Christians, Hindus, Jews, Buddhists, or Muslims, He is almost always seen wearing a white robe and covered in a great light. Such similarity not only rules out purely subjective experiences, but often goes directly against cultural expectation; Muslims for example believe that Jesus is supposed to be wearing yellow/saffron while in heaven, which is stated repeatedly in the Hadith. It is then astounding that they all happen to see Him wearing white instead of yellow when He appears to them in conversion dreams.
Along with appearances of Jesus, the presence of the risen Christ can be seen through impossible miracles. Many impossible miracles (blindness, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, gastroparesis, amputations) have been healed in the name of Jesus, and have been medically documented. Others like the healing of Duane Miller’s voice have been caught on video. Craig Keener’s book on the subject documents hundreds if not thousands of cases of modern-day miracles.
A final but important note is the persecution encountered by so many of these converts. Many who convert to Christianity because they had a dream or witnessed a miracle are rejected by their families and persecuted by the government, especially in many Hindu and Muslim-majority populations. Such persecution does not prove the truth of the claim, but supports the sincerity of the claimants.
The Recrudesce Argument for the resurrection takes all of these factors and combines it with the historical evidence for the resurrection. Even if a naturalist attempted to explain away the empty tomb or the appearances to the 12 disciples, any secular hypothesis will become strained in additionally explaining the subsequent miracles and veridical dreams that complement the historical evidence. Once fully developed, the Recrudesce Argument has the potential to be a ground-making methodology in resurrection apologetics, and when combined with a historical formulation (Minimal Facts, Maximal Facts, etc.), the probability for the resurrection becomes not only high, but arguably inevitable.”
