The transfiguration occurred on a remote mountaintop and there were only four witnesses.  It is hard to imagine what kind of proof one could ask for except the statements of the eye-witnesses.  What kind of “proof” are you asking for?  Are you asking for someone who was not there to give witness?  Or are you asking if there would be some sort of physical evidence of the transfiguration left behind?  It is fairly obvious that no such evidence could possibly exist.  About the only conceivable “evidence” we could have of this event would be a non-believer or a believer who said that the Christians believe that this event happened.  Well, we have the biblical accounts, so this would not add any evidence to the case.

So, I am afraid that we will have to accept the witness of those who were actually there.  I believe that, unless we have reason to believe that these eye-witnesses are lying, then we should take their recorded account at face value.  This is a general common-sense rule.  If we are told by someone who witnessed something what they saw, we should accept that it is an honest account of what they observed unless we have reason to think that they are either lying or grossly exaggerating.  I can think of no reason for James, Peter and John to all make up this event in some sort of conspiracy. Given that two of them gave their lives for belief in Jesus and the other went to prison for his faith, to propose some sort of conspiracy is not consistent with the facts.  So I believe that something like what we have in the gospel accounts actually happened.  I believe the lives of these three apostles testifies that they believed that Jesus was who he said he was and that their belief logically would have motivated them not to lie.  I believe that this event happened, but am afraid that we will have to take the word of the four who were there that it did in fact happen.

John Oakes