Gerd Ludemann on the appearances

Gerd Ludemann is well known among Christian apologists of the resurrection of Jesus because he advocates an alternative to the view that Jesus' followers saw a real flesh and blood person at the time of the resurrection appearances. Since Ludemann is an atheist scholar who affirms that the appearances really happened, some bloggers and apologists will cite him in defense of that fact. It's a way of saying, "He's a guy who agrees with me about the appearances even though he's not just a Christian saying what he wants to be true." It's like saying we've got a concession from a hostile witness.

After reading Ludemann's own defense of the hallucination hypothesis in What Really Happened to Jesus and in Jesus' Resurrection: Fact or Figment, I think it's a mistake to cite him this way. The reason Ludemann subscribes to the hallucination hypothesis is because grief hallucinations are very common. Since resurrection apologists deny that the appearances were hallucinations, they cannot use this argument to support the fact that appearances happened. However common grief hallucinations are, if they are not the real explanation for the appearances, then they are irrelevant to the question of whether Jesus' disciples saw the risen Jesus.

Ludemann also rejects some of the reasons resurrection apologists think the appearances happened. For example, in Jesus' Resurrection, Fact or Figment, William Lane Craig appeals to multiple attestation as evidence for the appearances, but Ludemann rejects some of those appearance accounts as unhistorical. Craig also points to the appearances to the women at the tomb, but Ludemann rejects those appearances as unhistorical as well. So Ludemann does not accept the appearances as historical for the same reasons Craig does.

So it is inconsistent for a resurrection apologist to cite Ludemann in support of the appearances. One can only consistently cite a source of authority on an historical conclusion if they agree with the reasons that authority came to their conclusion. Or, I suppose it's okay to cite an authority if you don't know what their reasons are, but it's better to know so you avoid making this kind of mistake.