Newsweek and the Washington Post have a weekly "discussion" feature called "On Faith," that explores a different question about faith each week.
The question posted online this week:
If the remains of Jesus had been definitively found, how would that change your view of Christianity?
Now, keep in mind a new poll shows some 75 percent of Americans who don't label themselves born-again Christians believe in the physical resurrection of Christ.
Of course, don't expect Newsweek's panel to mirror the public at large. It appears that more than half the panelists in this discussion don't personally believe in the physical resurrection of Christ.
Among the 17 panelists, there were two Muslims advancing Islam's view of Christ, seven other panelists who either denied the physical resurrection of Christ or offered a squishy liberal theology of resurrection as more than "something spectacular happening to Jesus' corpse" and only four (including MRC 20th Anniversary Gala emcee Cal Thomas) who gave a defense of the physical resurrection as the cornerstone of Christian theology.
