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Would God have had Jesus appear to everyone (or more)?

Trace the strongest lines of support, challenge each claim, and follow every response as far as the reasoning goes.

00 Reasons
supporting
03 Reasons
challenging

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01 About this question

Reportedly, God raised Jesus from the dead and had Jesus present himself alive to a relatively small pool of witnesses. If God existed and raised Jesus from the dead, wouldn't he have had Jesus appear to more witnesses, like the Pharisees, or the Jews at large, or perhaps to all the world up until the present?

Richard Carrier: “Why on earth would a God, who wanted to save all mankind, only appear to a few hundred, most unnamed, people and then give up? Wouldn't it be much more efficient and effective… to bypass the apostolate and just appear to everyone?” [“The Spiritual Body of Christ,” in Price and Lowder, Empty Tomb (Prometheus Books, 2005), 195)]

(This is at least loosely connected to the so-called problem of divine hiddenness, which asks, “If a loving God existed, wouldn't God ensure we always know it so we can have relationship?”)

02 Related questions
  • Did God raise Jesus from the dead? This question is related because if we want to say God raised Jesus from the dead, then we have to talk about why God would plausibly choose to do such a thing; otherwise the whole hypothesis is absurd because God rarely raises people from the dead. But those motivations for raisiing Jesus would presumably require us to say that God would have Jesus appear to, not just the apostles, but all men. So as a matter of consistency, the Christian apologist cannot deny that God would have Jesus appear to everyone.
  • Would God have reason to resurrect Jesus from death? This question is related because the presumed reason God would have to raise Jesus would transfer over into also being a reason that God would ensure everyone witness its reality. If we deny that God would have a reason for all to see Jesus, then it becomes hard to say that God had a reason to resurrect Jesus in the first place. What are the chances that God would just want Jesus to rise and for only a few to see him?

The argument field

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3 arguments at this level

For

Supports this claim

0 reasons

Against

Challenges this claim

3 reasons
  1. God wills for all to enter into relationship with Him

    01 Challenging reason God wills for all to enter into relationship with Him Read argument

    God wills for all humans to freely enter into relationship with him,1 and this helps show God would have Jesus appear to everyone because Jesus's appearing to all persons in the world would best accomplish this goal of having more humans freely relate with him.2

    Sources and notes
    1. 1 Timothy 2:4 says “[God] desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
    2. One can have competing desires. God can have a desire to save all men and simultaneously--being Holy--have a competing desire to bring about true righteous justice and therefore justly condemn all men, much like one can both desire to stay in bed in the morning and a competing desire to get out of bed. Consider:
      ◦ From a scriptural perspective; several scriptures indicate God's desire to bring judgment on the wicked (i.e. all humanity), ◦ Prima facie God, as the greatest possible being, would have both of these competing desires. What God goes on to will, however, is what sometimes gets called one's “ultimate desire” and designates which of God's desires He has chosen to bring about.
  2. God wills for all to believe Christianity is true

    02 Challenging reason God wills for all to believe Christianity is true Read argument

    God wills for as many people as possible mentally assent to the truth of Christianity. This is relevant because having Jesus appear directly to all persons is the most efficient means by which God could bring about this result.

  3. God wants all to be Christian via resurrection evidence

    03 Challenging reason God wants all to be Christian via resurrection evidence Read argument

    Getting humans to reason from resurrection evidence to the truth of Christianity is the only or primary way God would want to use bring someone to belief that Christianity is true. This suggests God would ensure Jesus apepars to everyone because that is the best way--or only way--to get us to reason from Jesus's resurrection to the truth of Christianity.