Michael R. Licona

Michael R. Licona
Born	Michael R. Licona (1961-07-17) July 17, 1961 Baltimore, Maryland
Nationality	American
Education	BA (1983), MA (2000), PhD (2009)
Alma mater	University of Pretoria Liberty University
Employer	Houston Baptist University.
Spouse(s)	Debbie Licona
Children	2
Website	Risen Jesus

Michael R. 'Mike' Licona (born July 17, 1961) is an American New Testament scholar, Christian apologist and historian. He is Associate Professor in Theology at Houston Baptist University and the director of Risen Jesus, Inc. Licona specializes in the Resurrection of Jesus, and in the literary analysis of the Gospels as Greco-Roman biographies.

Interview with Brian Marshall at the Christian Student Fellowship at the University of Kentucky.

Licona's book looks at the resurrection of Jesus under the lens of modern historiography.

Dialogue with Dale Martin at St. Mary's University, 2012.

Licona and William Lane Craig in debate with Sakkie Spangenberg and Hansie Wolmerans. University of Pretoria, 2010.

Biography

Licona earned a BA degree in Music Performance (saxophone) and an MA degree in Religious Studies at Liberty University. He later completed his Ph.D. in New Testament Studies (University of Pretoria) which he completed "with distinction" and the highest mark as well as an M.A. in Religious Studies from Liberty University. He was the Apologetics Coordinator at the North American Mission Board (Southern Baptist Convention) through 2011. His book 'The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach' is considered one of the top authoritative treatments on the subject, having been endorsed by many prominent historians and New Testament scholars.

Licona has also lectured on more than 100 university campuses throughout North America and appeared on numerous television and radio programs, including Faith Under Fire. He appeared in the DVD version of The Case for Christ and was one of the scholars interviewed in Strobel’s book The Case for the Real Jesus. Licona also appears in a documentary film that was released February 2015 titled "Mining for God" which deals with how Christianity is often misrepresented and misunderstood in modern western culture.

Since 2012, Licona has served as associate professor of theology at Houston Baptist University. He lectures regularly on university campuses and has engaged in many public debates with figures such as Bart Ehrman, John Dominic Crossan, Matt Dillahunty, Shabir Ally, Larry Shapiro, Evan Fales, Dale Martin, Stephen Patterson, Richard Carrier, Dan Barker, Pieter Craffert, Elain Pagels, Yusuf Ismail, and others.

Views

Gospel studies

Like the majority of contemporary scholars, Licona views the Gospels as belonging to the genre of ancient biography and contends they are best interpreted with this in mind, since ancient biographies were written with slightly different rules than those used with modern biographies. Licona’s research focuses on identifying biographical devices employed by Plutarch and asking whether these can account for the differences one observes when comparing stories about Jesus that appear in two or more of the canonical Gospels.

Historical case for Jesus' resurrection

Licona’s doctoral research concerned investigating Jesus’s resurrection using the methodology of a historian. He states that almost all scholars writing on the subject of Jesus’s resurrection are biblical scholars and philosophers. And virtually none of them have any training in matters pertaining to the philosophy of history and the historical method of comparing hypotheses. So, Licona contributes a primer on these subjects and applies his findings to the question of whether Jesus had actually risen from the dead in his book The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. This volume is 718 pages in length and is documented with more than 2,000 footnotes.

Matthew 27 controversy

In a passage in his 2010 book, The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach, Licona questioned the literal interpretation of the story of the resurrection of the saints in Matthew 27, suggesting the possibility that it might be apocalyptic imagery. This led to evangelicals Norman Geisler and Albert Mohler accusing Licona of denying the full inerrancy of the Bible in general and the Gospel narratives in particular. Licona maintained that the interpretation he proposed had nothing to do with whether the Gospels are inerrant but was a matter of how to interpret it as Matthew had intended (i.e., hermeneutics). In the course of events, Licona resigned in 2011 from his position as research professor at Southern Evangelical Seminary and as apologetics coordinator for the North American Mission Board (NAMB). Other evangelical scholars such as William Lane Craig, J.P. Moreland, and Gary Habermas voiced their support for Licona by signing an open letter to Geisler. Michael Bird likewise supported Licona. The Southeastern Theological Review devoted their Summer 2012 issue to discussions on Licona's book (edited by Heath Thomas and Robert Stewart), including reviews by Gary Habermas, Timothy McGrew, and C. Behan McCullagh. It also included a virtual roundtable discussion with participants Heath Thomas, Michael Licona, Craig Blomberg, Paul Copan, Charles Quarles, Michael Kruger and Daniel Akin.

Evangelicalism

In the course of the controversy over the raised saints in the Gospel of Matthew, Evangelicals such as Norman Geisler and Albert Mohler have questioned whether Licona is moving away from his evangelical views and is headed in a similar path traveled by the agnostic New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman. Licona’s approach seems to provide fodder for his critics. While asserting his belief in the divine authority of the Bible and even its inerrancy, he claims he cannot presuppose these beliefs while engaged in historical research. He also claims the doctrine of biblical inerrancy is not a doctrine fundamental to the Christian faith. In a radio exchange with Bart Ehrman, Licona said that if Jesus actually rose from the dead, Christianity is true even if it were also true that some things in the Bible were not. Licona noted what he saw as several problems with the argument for inerrancy provided by Norman Geisler.

Personal life

Licona is married to Debbie and has two children; a daughter Allie and a son Zach. Licona's son-in-law Nick Peters is a Christian apologist who blogs on a regular basis and has a weekly podcast called Deeper Waters.

Professional Debates and dialogues

• Nielsen, Jesper Tang (November 9, 2018), Are the Gospels Historically Reliable?, University of Copenhagen.
• Larsen, Kasper Bro (November 7, 2018), Are the Gospels Historically Reliable?, Aarhus University.
• Crossan, John Dominic (Jesus Seminar) (October 24, 2018), Who is the Historical Jesus?, Kennesaw State University.
• Shapiro, Larry (atheist) (February 22, 2018), Did Jesus Rise From the Dead?, University of Findlay.
• Ehrman, Bart (atheist) (February 21, 2018), Are the Gospels Historically Reliable?, Kennesaw State University.
• Friesen, Courtney (January 29, 2018), Are Christian Claims Verifiable & Does It Matter?, University of Arizona (Tuscon).
• Shapiro, Larry (atheist) (February 26, 2017), Resurrected or Reimagined?, Ohio State University.
• Dillahunty, Matt (atheist) (February 25, 2017), Did Jesus Rise From the Dead?, Austin Baptist Church (Austin, TX ).
• McCormick, Matthew (atheist) (September 14, 2016), Jesus' Resurrection: History or Mistake?, Sacramento State University.
• Ally, Shabir (Muslim) (April 1, 2016), Jesus: Resurrected or Rescued?, University of Tennessee Chattanooga.
• Ehrman, Bart (atheist) (2016), Are the Gospels Historically Reliable Accounts of Jesus., The Best Schools.org.
• Fales, Evan (atheist) (2014-06-24), Can historians investigate miracle claims?, St. Paul, MN: University of St. Thomas, and Did Jesus rise from the dead?.
• Martin, Dale (October 19, 2012), Did Jesus Think He was Divine?, Acadia Divinity College.
• Martin, Dale (October 18, 2012), Did Jesus Rise Physically from the Dead?, Saint Mary's University.
• Cavin, Greg (Jul 2012), Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?, Antioch Church.
• Puckett, Shane (Agnostic) (Jan 2012), Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?, West Monroe Baptist Church.
• Ismail, Yusuf (Muslim) (Sep 2011), What was the 1st century fate of Jesus, ZA: University of Potchefstroom.
• Piennar, Abel (Sep 2011), Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?, ZA: University of Pretoria
• Wolmarans, Hansi and, Spangenbergi, Sakki (2010), 2 on 2 debate with William Lane Craig, ZA: University of Pretoria
• Craffert, Peter (May 2010), Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?, ZA: University of Johannesburg
• Patterson, Stephen (Jesus Seminar) (Mar 2010), Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?, Florida State University.
• Carrier, Richard (Atheist) (Feb 2010), Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?, Washburn University.
• Ehrman, Bart (Agnostic) (April 2009), Can Historians Prove that Jesus Rose from the Dead?, Southern Evangelical Seminary.
• Ehrman, Bart (Agnostic) (February 2008), Can Historians Prove that Jesus Rose from the Dead?, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
• Ataie, Ali (Muslim) (November 2006), What was the First Century Fate of Jesus?, University of California (Davis)
• Yothment, Steve (Atheist) (March 2006), Resolution: God Created Man, University of Georgia
• Pagels, Elaine (April 2005), Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?, Ron Insana Show
• Pagels, Elaine (Feb 2005), "The Gospel of Thomas", Faith Under Fire
• Ally, Shabir (Muslim) (Nov2004),"Who was Jesus: Divine or Prophet?", Faith Under Fire
• Carrier, Richard(Apr2004), Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?,UCLA
• Ally, Shabir (Muslim) (Mar2004),Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?, Regent University
• Barker, Dan (Atheist) (Apr2003),Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?, Madison: The University of Wisconsin

External links

• Mike Licona's website
• Interview with Unbelievable Interview on “Unbelievable” where Michael Licona and Richard Burridge discuss Plutarch’s Lives and how they relate to understanding the Gospels.