Be sure to watch all the videos in this post in order to understand my summary of issues. I have just quickly typed up the issues and hope to work on the details more later.
Issues:
“heavenly vision” – Acts 26:19 – background of the Jewish idea of “the heavenly vision” – Isaiah 1:1, 1 Samuel 3:1; Proverbs 29:18
So, the apostle Paul is claiming that he saw the risen Christ and that it was a revelation of the word of God – on par with Scripture. So, Paul Bilal Williams is wrong when he commonly and repeatedly says that the NT does not claim to be “God’s Word” or “revelation” from God. The apostle Paul was claiming that when he saw Jesus (Acts 9, 22, 26; 1 Corinthians 9:1-2; 1 Corinthians 15:3-9), it was a revelation of God and God’s Word, and so writing down the teaching in his letters is also a claim of revelation or of God’s word, taking into account the Hebrew understanding of “heavenly vision”. (For issues of the accusations that Acts 9, 22 and 26 contradiction one another, see this article.)
The empty tomb is not mentioned in 1 Cor. 15:3-9; but Paul does mention it in Acts 13:29-30. So there is no contradiction with I Cor. 15:3-9 and Matthew 28, Mark 16; Luke 24 or John 20
And Peter mentions the tomb of David in Acts 2:29, that David died, and was buried (as in 1 Cor. 15:3-5) and that his tomb is still with us today, etc. and this is in the context of speaking about Psalm 16:10 as a fulfillment of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (see the surrounding context of Acts 2:22-36)
See the words for tomb in Matthew 28:1-2; Mark 16:1-2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, etc.
Matthew 12:39-41, sign of Jonah
“three days and three nights” – a Jewish idiom
Literary technique of Synecdoche – a figure of speech in which the part of something represents the whole. A part representing the whole. Part of Friday represents all of Friday, all day and night Saturday, and part of Sunday represents all of Sunday.
For example, see – Esther 4:16 “three days and three nights”; then, following the same event, in 5:1, it says “on the third day”.
And see also Jonah 1:17 and Jonah 2:1-2 and 2:10
Jonah prayed from the belly of the whale (or great fish) “out of the depths of Sheol”
When the great fish vomited Jonah up on shore and then Jonah went to Nineveh, it is understood that Jonah tells the Ninevites what happened to him. Either way, the point is a miracle. Jonah should have died, but came out alive. Or he did die, went to Sheol (see Jonah 2:2 -10, and God raised him back to life and commanded the great fish to vomit Jonah. Jonah either should have died, and so his appearance to them as alive is a miracle; or he did really die and prayed in Sheol and God brought him back to life – either way, Jonah was a testimony to the pagan Ninevites, a non-Jewish Gentile nation, to the resurrection of the future Messiah and His resurrection from the dead as it was a miracle of God.
Also, Jonah 1:16 shows that the pagan sailors (probably Canaanites / Phoenicians) offered a sacrifice to Yaweh. (the Lord) So, they were taught about animal blood sacrifice in order to get forgiveness of sins. We can assume that Jonah also taught the Ninevites about atonement and blood sacrifice in chapter 3, even though it is not specifically mentioned.
David Wood and Sam Shamoun in the last video, show that one cannot interpret Matthew 12:39-41 in a way that contradicts Matthew 16:4 and 16:21. see Matthew 16:4 (also mentions “the sign of Jonah”) and 16:21 – Jesus will be killed, and on the third day, He will be raised from the dead.
Turretinfan article on “three days and three nights”
Why was Paul Williams unwilling to debate Bob “the builder” on what the Qur’an says about the Crucifixion and death of Jesus in Surah 4:157 ??
Debate between Dr. White and Karim Ayoub about the late Ahmed Deedat’s methods of arguing against the Crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ.
David Wood and Sam Shamoun discuss the “sign of Jonah” and how Zakir Naik uses the same old argument of Ahmed Deedat and they fully refute all Muslim arguments against the crucifixion and the way they twist the sign of Jonah in Matthew 12:39-41.
Apologetics and Agape 