Michael R. Licona

Michael R. Licona is an American New Testament scholar and Christian apologist who serves as Associate Professor of New Testament Studies at Houston Christian University. He completed his Ph.D. in New Testament Studies at the University of Pretoria (2008) under Jan G. van der Watt, with a dissertation that became his major monograph 'The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach' (2010). Licona's work focuses on applying historical methodology to the question of Jesus' resurrection, building on and modifying the 'minimal facts' approach developed by his mentor Gary Habermas. He argues that the resurrection is best explained as a historical event using criteria drawn from professional historiography. Licona has engaged in numerous public debates with critics such as Bart Ehrman, Dale Martin, and Richard Carrier. His suggestion that some Gospel passages (e.g., the raising of saints in Matthew 27) may reflect apocalyptic symbolism rather than literal history provoked controversy within inerrantist circles, leading to a public dispute with Norman Geisler and his departure from Southern Evangelical Seminary in 2011. His later book 'Why Are There Differences in the Gospels?' (2017) extends this analysis by comparing Gospel variation to Greco-Roman biographical conventions, particularly Plutarch. Critics question whether his harmonizing approach preserves historical reliability or concedes too much to skeptical biblical criticism.