Marty Sampson, who renounced his faith back in August, recently came on Youtube to talk about where he is now and what he’s doing. He says he’s now focused on studying the resurrection and becoming an expert on it. Sampson acknowledged in his Youtube video that the focal point of Christianity is the resurrection and if the resurrection is true, then Christianity is true.

He shows some books that he’s currently required to read in his study of the resurrection. Interestingly, while definitely not the best choices for theological soundness are heavy and scholarly in nature. The books he showed are The Ressurection of the Son of God by N.T. Wright, The Ressurection: A Critical Inquiry by Michael Alter, and The Ressurection of Jesus by Michael Licona.

While it is fascinating to watch someone who was caught up in the Hillsong movement and then renounced his faith now spending so much time and energy in deep theological study in an effort to find the truth, the reality is that unless he repents and believes the gospel, he will always look at the resurrection as foolishness. While theological study can certainly aid in grounding one’s apologetic, it is the work of the Holy Spirit that will turn him to God if he so pleases.