Examining Dale Allison's Arguments for "the appearance to the twelve"

Recently Dr. William Lane Craig has claimed that what we "should be talking about" is how great it is that Dale Allison acknowledges "the appearance to the twelve" and Allison's arguments for it. Craig earnestly urges that we should accentuate the positive when it comes to Allison, emphasizing how very impressive it is that a person who thinks the Gospels have many legendary embellishment nonetheless acknowledges some of the central "facts" that Craig himself uses to argue for Jesus' bodily resurrection.https://content.blubrry.com/reasonable_faith/RF_PODCAST_Dale_Alliosn_on_Resurrection_2025.mp3?fbclid=IwY2xjawNnXMNleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFIdVphNUpRMHBXc3Nyd0J4AR6D--9gESoLXZeZ7Z4bfOIXHycoKgFFeUjw950BET6_-XgD-by2FuQadrftiA_aem_9VaaLpGJj1s-fHA0mNoXzAIn this video I take up Dr. Craig's suggestion that we be talking about Allison's arguments, but I take it in a very different direction from what Craig suggests. I argue that what Allison acknowledges as "the appearance to the twelve" is by his own conception so completely different from what Craig uses as a central fact that, if Allison were right, it would actually be evidence *against* Jesus' bodily resurrection, not for it. I also point out that his arguments show this same problem, to the point that it is just wrong to imply that he is admitting something against his own bias or that his acknowledgement points to the actual strength of the case. In fact, Craig's attempt to insist that we should all, like him, be deeply excited about Allison's acknowledgement points to the weaknesses of his own broadly minimalist approach (not just of a more specific "minimal facts" approach, which he disclaims).I have said more about my disagreements with Craig's "accentuate the positive" advice in this blog post: https://lydiaswebpage.blogspot.com/2025/10/on-maximalism-and-dale-allison-david.htmlThumbnail, Jesus Visits the Disciples in Locked Room Without Thomas © Drawn to the Word/Paul Oman Fine Art. All Rights Reserved.www.paulomanfineart.comUsed with permission