Apologetics Bible History Jesus Resurrection

How did the Church began?

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Reading time 34 minutes
  • legends & myths
  • death grief
  • conspiracy
  • embellishments
  • non-historical literary style
  • myths in other religions

  • rapid belief in Jesus’ divinity
  • empty tomb
  • conversion of the Apostles
  • martyrdom of the disciples
  • growth of Christianity

Facts of history

Many things happened after the Easter event which is best explained by the fact that the disciples saw Jesus alive.

There was a lot of false Messiah at that time. Once they die, their movement was done: everybody got back to their normal life. But that wasn’t the case with Jesus.

Eschatology

The early Church was very apocalyptic: they believed that the end of the world will be eminent, somewhere during their lifetime1. Why is that? Because Jews believed that the end time will result in with a resurrection of the body (Dan 12:2, Isa 26:19). What happens when a group of men saw a risen Jesus in the flesh? They would assume that it was the end time. The Son of Man will come back soon to judge the living and the dead. Who knows when? It was urgent for the early Christians to ask people to repent and get baptized as soon as possible before it was too late (Mt 28:19, Acts 2:21-38, 3:18).

Such upcoming events don’t encourage people to start writing the Gospels yet since there will be no more people to read them.

…

After Easter, the life of the Apostles was totally transformed. One proof is the rapid belief in Jesus’ divinity (due to His resurrection) and their great zeal to announce that great news to the point of martyrdom, after knowing that their master was crucified.

Because they witness Jesus physically rising from the dead, for them, it was a sign of the end time, since it was prophecized that this will happen when the dead would rise.

Belief in Jesus’ divinity

If the timeline of Acts is correct, then within 10 days after the last appearance of Jesus, the disciples started to preach his resurrection at Pentecost (Acts 2:24). This is more likely to be historical2: no reason to make up such a delay unless it was true. God’s timing couldn’t be better: it was the feast of Pentecost where many Jews gather in Jerusalem.

Belief in the resurrection is what eventually led his followers to claim that Jesus was God.3
Bart Ehrman

  • the early belief in Jesus’ divinity
    • creation of hymns
    • presence of high Christology
    • celebration of the divine liturgy (common in all religion to worship any deity)
    • sacraments (baptism, Eucharist, confession)
    • change of Sabbath to Sunday
  • miracles in Jesus’ name4 (having an authority granted by God)
  • Paul’s persecution against Christians presuppose a belief in Jesus’ divinity before his conversion

  • the disciples of Jesus didn’t scatter like the failed Messianic figures of their times (Acts 5:36-37)
    • crucifixion was a sign that a man was under God’s curse (Deut 21:23) (disciples already lost hope believing that Jesus wasn’t the true Messiah)
    • ancient Jews had no expectations of a dying-rising Messiah5
    • Peter said that God made Jesus both Lord and Messiah at Pentecost (Acts 2:36)
    • the first converts were called ‘Christians’ in Antioch around 43 AD (believe that Jesus is the Messiah) (Acts 11:26)

Conversions

The belief in Jesus’ divinity ends up being the reason why it upset the faithful Jews: they aren’t supposed to worship other gods than Yahweh. That’s why Paul was persecuting the Church. The disciples did have some doubts at the beginning like anybody would be if they see a risen corpse.

the disciples willingly died for what they saw

  • fearful disciples transformed into courageous ones
  • James (skeptic) was converted
  • Paul (Church persecutor) was converted

Sabbath

The Sabbath was regarded as highly sacred for the Jews. A man was stoned to death for picking up a stick on that day (Num 15: 32-36). And yet, the first Christians (ex-Jews) changed the Sabbath day to Sunday. A radical change of that magnitude is best explain if Jesus rise from the dead. Since He rise on the 8th day (new creation), it make sense that it could parallel the 8th day of the circumcision.

Sacrament (baptism & Eucharist)

Established Christian doctrines from the primitive era heavily depends on the resurrection of Jesus6.

If the disciples baptized ‘in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit’, they take as granted that Jesus is part of the Trinity (God), because Jesus is the Son.

The Eucharist make best sense if it’s the continuation of God’s covenantal relationship with his ‘bride’ (Israel) to be one flesh (for Jesus it’s Him and the Church).

Jesus gave authority to the Apostles to forgive sins. This is only possible if Jesus is God.

Legend & myth

All the doctrines about the divinity of Jesus are based on the fact that He did rise from the dead.

Skeptics usually raise 3 objections from the legend theory:

  1. embellishments
  2. non-historical literary style
  3. myths in other religions

Embellishment

Only a resurrection would have convince the disciples to worship Jesus as God.

  1. The Resurrection story goes back the real experiences of the original Apostles. Some of which were still alive by the time of the composition of the Gospels (the 50s-90s AD).
  2. Paul’s conversion came within three years after the crucifixion of Jesus, where the message of the resurrection was already in circulation
  3. James, a Jesus skeptic, was converted within one month (before the day of the Ascension according to the list of appearance)

Non-historical genre

The disciple’s difficulty to convince Jews and Greeks and willingness to not change the message to accommodate people.

  1. The tomb is still empty
  2. Myths won’t convince Paul & James to convert
  3. Educated people know what historical genre is
  4. New Testament speaks about physical resurrection

If it was a legend, we would wait until until all eyewitness to die so we can start distording the story, since no one would be able to argue against them.

A. N. Sherwin-White (Oxford) argues that even a span of two generations is not sufficient for a legend to wipe out a solid core of historical facts7.

Myths in other religions

…

Too early to be a legend

Paul include ancient hymns in his letters (33 – 48 CE), meaning that the Christians worship Jesus as divine before he even start writing his Epistles (48 – 67 CE). So the belief in Jesus’ resurrection must pre-date even further than that.

Timeline Empty

Earliest sources

  • 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
  • Pre-Markan passion narrative
  • Speeches in Acts
  • Luke 24:34

1 Cor 15:3-5 Acts 13:28-31 Mark 15:37-16:7
Christ died …death, they asked Pilate to have him killed… …Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last…
he was buried …laid him in a tomb… …laid it in a tomb…
he was raised …God raised him from the dead… “He has been raised, he is not here…”
he appeared …and for many days he appeared to those who came with him… …he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.”

When we compare them, they have the same order of events, as if they came from the same tradition around the same period of time.

As C. H. Dodd said: Acts 2 to 10 weren’t verbatim of Peter’s speeches, but the kerygma used by the early Jerusalem church8.

1 Corinthians was written in ca. 56 CE, but the creed in 15:3-8 comes within few months9 to 3 years after the crucifixion10. Paul received that tradition either during his visit in Jerusalem in 36 CE11 or earlier in Damascus12.

The pre-Markan passion narrative was developed early to explain how Jesus the Son of God end up being crucified13.

It’s considered as a creed for five reasons14:

  1. two words ‘received & delivered‘ is a rabbinic term of passing a tradition15
  2. text’s parallelism & stylized content
  3. the Aramaic name ‘Cephas’ is used for Peter
  4. Paul use primitives phrases like ‘the Twelves’, ‘the 3rd day’, ‘he was raised’, etc.
  5. use of certain words is similar to Aramaic & Mishnaic Hebrew means of narration

Conspiration

The population of Christians increase 40% more every decade16:

  • 1,000 by 40 CE
  • 7,434 by 100 CE
  • 210,516 by 200 CE
  • 5,961,290 by 300 CE
  • 31,722,489 by 350 CE (52,9% of the Roman empire)

Other reasons why early Christianity grew fast:

  • miracles under Jesus’ name17
  • martydom18
  • pagans seeking meaning & hope of the afterlife during difficult times
  • Church’s teaching on marriage & family life

Crime scene

Usually, when someone commits a crime or intentionally spread lies, it’s because they are pursuing a selfish goal to gain something in return (money, power, lust)19. For example, if I steal a bank it’s because I want to earn a million dollars.

Yet, the Apostles had nothing to earn from the world: they lost everything, got persecuted, died as martyrs.

Martyrdom of the Apostles

Suffering for the sake of the Gospel

The disciples were terrified during the crucifixion of Jesus, yet they became fearless after witnessing the risen Jesus.

During their post-Easter ministry, the Apostles suffered a lot for the sake of the Gospel (2 Cor 11:24-28): stoned, imprisoned, lashed, beaten, in danger, sleepless nights, hunger, thirst, cold & exposure, anxiety, etc.

Martyrdom Of The Apostles 3

The disciples could be wrong, but we can know for sure that they were truly convinced of what they believe.

It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.
Acts 4:20

The disciples didn’t die as martyrs for what hear about Jesus: they die for what they have seen it with their own eye. For ancient time, this is what historians crave for20: eyewitness testimony.

All the disciples died for their belief in the resurrection of the death. They had nothing to gain by lying and start a new religion. They were rejected, mocked, beat, put into prison, tortured & put to death. Paul was a smart intellectual. They have many opportunities to reconsider their position and abandon half-way. And yet, none of them ever admit the contrary.

Expansion of Christianity

The disciples of Jesus has been commanded to preach the Good News around the world (Mt 28:19), and was expected to suffer for Christ’s sake (1 Pet 4:16, Jn 15:18-25).

  • Stephen: stoned to death in Jerusalem (34 CE)21
  • James (son of Zebedee): beheaded in Jerusalem (44 CE)22
  • Andrew: crucified in Patras, Greece (60 CE)23
  • James (‘brother’ of Jesus): thrown from the temple & beaten to death in Jerusalem (62 CE)24
  • Mark: dragged by horse until he died in Alexandria, Egypt (68 CE)25
  • Peter: crucified upside down in Rome (64-68 CE)26
  • Paul: beheaded in Rome (67 CE)27

  • Thomas: stabbed to death with a spear in India (72 CE)28
  • Matthew: killed by a sword in Ethiopia (74 CE)
  • Matthias: stoned & beheaded in Jerusalem (80 CE)
  • Philip: crucified in Hierapolis, Turkey (80 CE)29
  • Luke: hanged in Thiva, Greece (84 CE)
  • Bartholomew: flayed to death with a whip in Albanopolis, Armenia (1st century CE)
  • John: died in exile on the island of Patmos (100 CE)

Most of their death was recounted by later sources. The three which we are the most confident:

  • Peter
  • James (son of Zebedee)
  • Paul

Dying as a martyr doesn’t prove that it was only because of the resurrection (they could have commit a crime worthy of death penalty). However, the argument is that they were ready to die for the sake of a risen Jesus. We can’t read people’s mind, but going from city to city to proclaim a risen Jesus to end up being in prison and beat up, is a good proof that they sincerely believe it to be true.

“I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn’t keep a lie for 3 weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.”30
Charles W. Colson (1931 – 2012)

Strong belief don’t make it true

Just to be clear: dying for a cause don’t prove the cause to be true.

Just to be clear: dying for a cause don’t prove the cause to be true, but it only prove that we truly believe it and we sincerely care about it. Martyrdom doesn’t prove that Jesus was risen, but it proves that they believe it so strongly that they were willing to die for it. Like any political or religious fanatic.

The disciples might be wrong in their belief (saw something else), even if they were truly sincere and honest people. But through their endurance of persecution and willingness to die, we can be very confident that they believed it.

9/11 doesn’t prove that Islam is true, it only prove that the the terrorists sincerely believe in Islam to the point of dying for it.

The Apostles assumed the resurrection of the body so much that they dismiss the fear of dying, because they think they will revive again.

If the disciples only believed in a spiritual resurrection:

  • they would never went into volunteer martyrdom
  • they would convince others much easier to follow this new religion

Why should I sacrifice myself for a ‘spiritual rebirth’, just like other religions?

Ex: During 9/11, nobody would question the terrorist’s trust in Islam, to the point of dying. However, this doesn’t prove that Islam is true. In fact, they have faith in a story that happen 1,400 years before. If a Christian dies today, his belief is based on a story that happen 2,000 years ago. Contrast that with Jesus’ resurrection: the disciples were directly on the scene and know as a fact that they did experience the risen Jesus by themselves. Martyrdom of the Apostles doesn’t prove the resurrection, but it does prove that they believe it so strongly that they were willing to die for it. And that’s very valuable.

Enemy attestation

“You see, these misguided creatures (Christians) start with the general conviction that they are immortal for all time, which explains the contempt of death and voluntary self-devotion which are so common among them”31
Lucian of Samosata (120 – 190 CE)

J. Warner Wallace (ex-detective) said that a successful conspiracy would consist of five aspects32.

Factors Typical conspiracy Resurrection
small number of conspirators lies are difficult to keep secret: the less, the better 12 Apostles, 120 disciples, 500 people
thorough & immediate communication if conspirators can’t know if their partner has given up the truth, they would lie to save themselves
  1. the disciples had no communication
  2. they were all scattered across the Roman Empire
  3. they died far from one another
  4. none of them ever admit that it was a lie
short time span the shorter the conspiracy, the better (1 of the 2 conspirators will get killed by the other to preserve the lie) they resisted up to 40-60 years
significant relational connections when conspirators are close in relationship (family, best friends) it’s much harder to give up on them while there were few family connections among the disciples, the number of year they got separated alone after the event was greater than the 3 years they spend together
little to no pressure conspirators will continue to lie until one of them get pressure out to confess; the more pressure on them, the more it will fail all the Apostles were tortured & persecuted, mostly died as martyrs

“That is why, as a historian, I cannot explain the rise of early Christianity unless Jesus rose again leaving an empty tomb behind him.” 33
N.T. Wright

  1. 1 Peter 4:7, Mt 24:34, 26:64, 1 Cor 10:11, 15:51, 1 Thess 4:15-17
  2. J.P. Moreland, “Scaling the Secular City: A Defense of Christianity”, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 1987), 160-161
  3. Bart D. Ehrman, “How Jesus became God: the exaltation of a Jewish preacher from Galilee”, (New York: HarperCollins, 2014), 131
  4. Acts 3:6; 4:7, 10, 30, 16:18, 19:13, 17
  5. Bart D. Ehrman, “How Jesus became God: the exaltation of a Jewish preacher from Galilee”, (New York: HarperCollins, 2014), 116
  6. Rom 6:4; 8:38-39, 1 Cor 15:17, 2 Cor 5:15-17, 1 Pet 1:3, Rev 20:12
  7. A. N. Sherwin-White, “Roman Society and Roman Laws in the New Testament”, (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1978),186-193
  8. C. H. Dodd, “The Apostolic Preaching And Its Developments”, (Willett Clark and Company, 1937), 24
  9. James D.G. Dunn, “Christianity in the making (vol 1): Jesus Remembered”, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003), 855
  10. Gerd Lüdemann, “The Resurrection of Jesus”, translated by Bowden (Fortress, 1994), 171-172
  11. Gal 1:18, Gary R. Habermas, “The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence For The Life Of Christ”, (Joplin, MO: College Press Publishing, 1996), 155
  12. Acts 9:3-18, Jean Héring, “The First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (tr. A. W. Heathcote and P.J. Alcock; London: Epworth, 1962), 158
  13. Martin Hengel, “Acts and the History of Earliest Christianity”, (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985), 46
  14. Lee Strobel, “The Case for Christ: A Journalist’s Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus”, (Zondervan, 1998-2016), 337-338
  15. Josephus, “Antiquities of the Jews”, 13.297
  16. Rodney Stark, “The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World’s Largest Religion”, (New York: HarperOne, 2011), 156
  17. Ramsay MacMullen, “Christianizing the Roman Empire”, (Yale University Press, 1986), 40-41, 60-61
  18. Tertullian, “Apologeticus”
  19. J. Warner Wallace, “Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates The Claims Of The Gospels”, (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2013), 240
  20. Richard Bauckham, “Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness testimony”, (Eerdmans, 2017), 406
  21. Acts 7:58-60
  22. Acts 12:2
  23. Acts of Andrew, Hippolytus (On The Twelve)
  24. Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews, 20.197-203), Hegesippus (Eusebius, “Church History”, 2.23.8-18), Clement of Alexandria (Hypotyposes, 7), and the less reliable First Apocalypse of James
  25. Jerome, “De Viris Illustribus”, chapter 8
  26. 1 Clement 5:1-4, Ignatius (Letter to the Smyrneans 3:1-2), Dionysus of Corinth, Muratorian Canon, Tertullian (Scorpiace 15) and The Prescription Against Heresies 36, and less reliable sources: The Apocalypse of Peter, The Ascension of Isaiah, The Act of Peter, The Apocryphon of James
  27. 1 Clement 5:5-7, Ignatius (Letter to the Ephesians 12:2), Polycarp (Letter to the Philippians 9:1-2), Dionysus of Corinth (Eusebius, “Church History”, 2.25.4), Irenaeus (Against Heresies 3.1.1), Tertullian (Scorpiace 15:5-6) and the less reliable Acts of Paul
  28. Acts of Thomas
  29. Polycrates of Ephesus (Letter to St Victor), Acts of Philip
  30. Charles Colson, “An Unholy Hoax? The Authenticity of Christ” BreakPoint syndicated column 020329 (29 March 2002)
  31. Lucian of Samosata, “The Death of Peregrinus”
  32. J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Investigates The Claims Of The Gospels, (David C. Cook, 2013), 112
  33. “The New Unimproved Jesus”, Christianity Today (Sept. 13, 1993), page 26