Apologetics Bible History Jesus Resurrection

Did Jesus rise from the dead?

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If Jesus wasn’t resurrected, the Christian faith is worthless.

If one of my friends was medically dead, was appropriately buried, while I was there to see it happen at the funeral, and then, a few days later, I would see him appearing physically to me, I would raise a lot of doubt. Was he dead? I would go check out if his body is still in the grave, or else I was hallucinating. Was I the only one who sees him? Or did many other people saw him too? Did even people who disliked him willingly admit they saw him also? At what point am I ready to get ridiculed by others, if it was just a dream?

There are 4 facts I have to verify:

  1. Did he truly die?
  2. Was he properly buried?
  3. Is the body missing?
  4. Did he bodily appear?
  5. At was cost are we willing to pay for the sincerity of our belief?

When we compile & examine carefully our earliest sources for Jesus’s resurrection, we can build a solid case to get to our conclusion: He was raised from the dead.

The resurrection of Jesus

Christian’s belief

Christianity holds its belief in a historical event, not a spiritual one.
Jesus was resurrected in the flesh, into the same body, in a glorious state of immortality. Paul calls that a ‘spiritual body‘ (sōma pneumatikon). It makes the distinction between authentic Christianity and counterfeits:

  • spiritual resurrection (Jesus’ resurrection is only symbolic, not historical)
  • re-incarnation (the soul transfer into another body that wasn’t ours)
  • resuscitation (temporary re-animation, then die again naturally or accidentally)

The whole Christian faith hinges on the resurrection of Jesus.

“And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”
1 Corinthians 15:14

Historical probabilities

Historians deal with probability, not 100% certainty1. It’s like in the law court: what best explain X, with all the evidence we have on the table?

Dead people cannot raise themselves because they are gone. You need an external agent to bring you back to life, namely, someone who is alive. Resuscitation can happen in hospitals when the doctors re-animate the body using electric shock, and later die naturally or accidentally. Resurrection, however, is a permanent effect.

Richard Swinburne estimates the probability of the resurrection of Jesus up to 97%, based on Baye’s theorem2.

Minimal facts

Minimal facts are data that are strongly evidenced & accepted by the wide range of scholars, even the skeptical ones3.

Gary Habermas lists 5 of them4:

  1. Jesus died by crucifixion
  2. Jesus’ disciples believed that he rose & appeared to them
  3. Paul (the church persecutor) was suddenly changed
  4. James (skeptic), brother of Jesus, was suddenly changed
  5. The tomb was empty

William Lane Craig lists 3 of them5:

  1. Empty tomb
  2. Postmortem appearances
  3. Origin of the belief in Jesus’ resurrection

What we need to believe

In order to make the case for the resurrection, one must first believe or assume:

  1. God exists
  2. Miracles are possible
  3. The New Testament is historically reliable
  4. Jesus was a historical person, not a celestial being

So to prove the theory that Jesus has risen from the death, we will examine these claims.

By the way, the resurrection doesn’t depends on the accuracy of the New Testament, an event can still happen even if the accounts aren’t perfectly align with our expectations.

List of historical facts

Jesus died on the cross

Jesus was buried in a tomb

The tomb was found empty

Jesus physically reappear

Origin of the Christian faith

Explaining the evidence

Historical tools

Historians use several factors to determine the most probably conclusion based on the data we have.

“Extraordinary claims requires extraordinary evidence”
Carl Sagan

All 5 historical facts surrounded the “resurrection of Jesus” can be explain by natural means, and do not require to be extraordinary claims. Men get crucified all the time, Jews buried their dead, tombs gets stolen, people hallucinate, and religious movements grow exponentially. However, what best explain these facts combined?

Hypothesis

  • Conspiration
  • Apparent Death
  • Displaced Body
  • Hallucination
  • Myth in other religions
  • Legend

Best conclusion

God raised Jesus from the dead. If God is capable of creating matters ‘ex nihilo’ (out of nothing), He can surely restore Jesus’ glorified body. And if Jesus is capable to incarnate into a human being, He can also be physically present in the Eucharist.

Recommended books

  • Gary R. Habermas & Michael R. Licona – “The case for the resurrection of Jesus”
  • William Lane Craig – “On Guard: Defending your faith with reason & precision”
  • N.T. Wright – “The Resurrection of the Son of God”

  1. Gary R. Habermas & Michael R. Licona. “The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus”, (Kregel Publications, 2004), 31
  2. Richard Swinburne, “The Resurrection of God Incarnate”, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2003), 214
  3. Gary R. Habermas & Michael R. Licona, “The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, (Kregel Publications, 2004), 47
  4. Gary R. Habermas & Michael R. Licona, “The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, Kregel Publications, 2004, page 64
  5. William Lane Craig, “On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision”, David C Cook, 2010, page 220