The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus

When I first began my theological study of the Christian faith, I soon became aware of one important fact, the resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of the entire faith.  In fact, the New Testament states this directly.  In 1 Corinthians 15:14 it is written that: "If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is worthless, and so is your faith."  

This same New Testament writing also makes it abundantly clear that the resurrection of Jesus was preached from the very offset of Christianity.  1 Corinthians 15: 3-4 contains this religious creed that scholars unanimously agree was a creed recited by the Christian community in the 30's A.D., within a few years after the death of Jesus: "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to scriptures, that he was buried, the he was raised on the Third Day, according to the scriptures."

As I read this, I decided that before I went any further in my study, I had to determine once and for all if Jesus was indeed crucified and killed on a Roman cross, and if he was, is there strong evidence to support the belief that he rose from the dead?  Thus began my investigation.  For the question as to whether Jesus was crucified and killed on a Roman cross, we don't really need to go too deep into that for the reason that the evidence in favor of the crucifixion and execution of Jesus of Nazareth on a Roman Cross is so overwhelming, that it's considered an indisputable fact of history.  Not only is the New Testament emphatic on this, every book of the New Testament was written within 20-60 years after his death  by those who knew Jesus personally or were close to those who knew him.  First and Second Century Jewish, Greek, and Roman Sources also verify the crucifixion of Jesus, making his execution and indisputable fact even among non-Christian historical Jesus scholars.  You can read more on this subject on this link here: (https://bridgeofgracemissions.blogspot.com/2018/04/did-jesus-die-on-cross.html). 

Now that the minimal fact that the death of Jesus on a Roman Cross is an indisputable fact, scholars now had to tackle the issue of the Resurrection.  In order to answer this issue, as to why early Christians believed that Jesus rose from the dead, historical Jesus scholar Gary Habermas assembled a team of non-Christian scholars to study this issue.  He developed what is today called the "minimal facts argument."  As previously stated, the First Minimal Fact was the death of Jesus on a cross.  

The Second Minimal Fact about Jesus is that an astounding  75% of scholars agree that his tomb was empty.  The four Gospels all verify that women first found the tomb, which is significant because in ancient times a woman’s testimony was usually dismissed in ancient trials, yet the Gospels never changed this account.  In order to disprove the Disciples, all that Jewish and Roman authorities would have to do to disprove the resurrection was to produce a body, but they could not.  Some scholars tried to attest that his body was thrown to wild dogs and eaten, but this would have violated Roman law, which dictated that the customs of the occupied nations should be respected in order to keep the peace.  Jewish law explicitly proclaimed that bodies must be buried.  Deuteronomy 21:22-23-dictated that anyone executed must be buried the same day and not be displayed overnight.  All four Gospels attest that Jesus was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.  

The Third Minimal Fact is that the Disciples of Jesus believed he appeared before him.  It is recorded  in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 that Jesus appeared to the Disciples and more than 500 others.  Most important, the Disciples transformation from disillusioned doubters to bold preachers, and the fact that they were willing to suffer and die for their conviction is powerful support.  It is also agreed upon by scholars in this Third Minimal Fact that non-believers also attested to seeing the Risen Jesus.  The most dramatic example was that of Saul of Tarsus, a Jewish Pharisee and persecutor of the early church who stated that Jesus appeared before him on the Road to Damascus.  

The Fourth Minimal Fact is that the Resurrection was preached very early on in the early Christian faith.  1 Corinthians 15: 3-4 contains this religious creed that scholars unanimously agree was a creed recited by the Christian community in the 30's A.D., within a few years after the death of Jesus: "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to scriptures, that he was buried, the he was raised on the Third Day, according to the scriptures."  So we can see that the Resurrection was not something that the faith invented over a span of generations.  Scholars unanimously agree that this was preached from the very offset of the faith, and not a myth that developed over the centuries.  In addition, if the tomb had not been empty, the Disciples wouldn't have been preaching this so quickly after Jesus' death.  Despite this fact, some still try to attest the the Resurrection was a legend that developed over time, but this is not possible.  Scholars still are in almost unanimous agreement that the Tomb was Empty and they're all in agreement that the Resurrection was preached no more than five years after the death of Jesus.  Many even believe that this had been preached only a few months after his death, that's far too short a period of time for a legend to grow.  

Now the four minimal facts certainly present a strong argument.  It's very clear that the Disciples ardently believed that they had seen Jesus rise from the dead and that hundreds of others also witnessed it, and they were so certain of this that they endured prison, beatings, floggings, even death to attest to it.  Now some skeptics have questioned the legitimacy of these witnesses.  Some suggest that perhaps they all were suffering from hallucinations, but medical experts like respected psychologist Dr. Gary Collins assert that a mass hallucination by so many over a long period of time is not possible as they are not experienced by groups of people at the same time, nor do they happen in different places as the Gospels record seeing the Risen Jesus in various areas of Judea & Galilee.   Only one person can see a given hallucination at a time.  They are private & subjective affairs.  They do not occur among hundreds of people in various places.  We must also consider that while it's true that individual people hallucinate about seeing deceased loved ones, non-believers in Jesus also attested to seeing the Risen Jesus, and it makes no sense that people who did not believe in Jesus and in all likelihood never met him prior to his execution, would have hallucinated him.  In addition, the hallucination explanation does not explain the mystery of the empty tomb.  We should also consider that over the years, many people from various walks of life have experienced what are called "Near Death Experiences," and these individuals have revealed things that no medical expert would dismiss as a hallucination or altered mental state.   

Other explanations have also been proposed.  Over the centuries, some skeptics have considered the Swoon Theory,” which proposes that  was crucified, but he survived the cross, his wounds healed, and he then saw his Disciples.  However, there is no record of anyone surviving a full Roman Crucifixion.  Roman soldiers were among the best trained and most rigorously disciplined soldiers in the world.  They purposely designed crucifixion to be a full-proof method of execution.  In addition, Roman military code dictated that if the soldiers failed in their duty to execute a condemned man, then their own lives would be forfeit.  This is why the soldiers stabbed Jesus in the heart to make sure he was dead before he was taken down from the cross and buried.  When he was pierced by the spear, the Gospels stated that "blood and water" came out, illustrating that his lungs had collapsed and he was indeed dead.  Dr. Alexander Metherell, who studied the practice of Roman crucifixion, concluded that in the state he was in, there was no plausible way that Jesus could have survived.  Already severely weakened from the brutal flogging prior to being nailed to the cross, the spear would have certainly erased any doubt.   In addition, if Jesus had come in wounded, but alive, the Disciples simply would have asserted that he survived the Cross and did not rise from the dead.  The Swoon Theory also fails to account for the issue of the Empty Tomb.  Agnostic Bart Ehrman and other skeptical scholars concede that it would have been impossible for a who had been endured a torment so great that he was thought to be dead to have moved the stone away and leave the tomb.  

Some skeptics have suggested that perhaps the Body had been stolen, but the Bible itself dispelled that theory.  In Matthew 28:11-15 it is written the the Jewish religious leaders told the guard assigned to watch over the tomb that he was to claim that the Disciples bribed him and stole his body in order to counter their claim to the Resurrection.  However, the Disciples themselves knew about this and emphatically denied it.  Even if they had stolen his body, they would not have been so willing to die for what they knew was a lie, especially when they had nothing to gain by lying.  Nobody would knowingly die for a lie, especially if there is no material reward to be gained by knowingly following a lie.  In addition, I previously stated that if the Jewish leaders and Roman authorities wanted to disprove this, they would have put great effort into finding the body of Jesus and presenting it to the people, but neither the Jewish leaders nor the Roman authorities were ever able to find a body.  This also provides further proof the the tomb was empty as the opponents of Jesus never denied this fact, but made efforts to prove alternative explanation for this fact.  

In the end, some skeptics try to state that nobody actually saw Jesus rise from the dead and leave the tomb the moment that it happened, but facts show us that one doesn't have to actually witness an event to know it happened.  No right-minded person would walk through Auschwitz or Yad Vashem and state that the Holocaust never happened.  Nobody actually witnessed the infamous killer Timothy McVeigh blow up a Federal Building in Oklahoma City, but the 137 witnesses provided enough circumstantial evidence against him and the prosecutors presented over 700 exhibits that built such a strong, airtight case that was so so overwhelming that a jury unanimously found him guilty.  This circumstantial evidence also needs to be considered in the issue of the Resurrection.  

First, as previously mentioned, the all the Apostles (except for John) suffered martyrdom for what they preached.  They had nothing to gain by preaching this, no material wealth or political power, but they were so convinced with what they believed in that they endured numerous tortures, and eventually death, but never recanted.  Second, the New Testament records the conversion of Skeptics.  James, the brother of Jesus was a skeptic who became a believer, as was the Jewish Pharisee Saul of Tarsus, a persecutor of the early Church who later became a believer known as the Apostle Paul (Paul too was martyred for his belief).  The New Testament likewise makes numerous references of miracles performed by the Jesus and the Apostles, and that many people witnessed these miracles.  Now we must also consider that all these men are Jews, and Jews took their faith and beliefs very seriously.  So seriously that they endured centuries of persecution and occupation by various foreign powers, but still retained their identity while the identities of other people of the region such as the Hittites, Ammonites, Perizzites, Canaanites, and Babylonians gradually vanished.  For the Jewish people, uttering blasphemies against God was a very grave sin, and could doom them to damnation, so they would not knowingly blaspheme against their God.  In addition, the Death and Resurrection of Jesus was very important to the early believers.  It is the most widely celebrated aspect of Jesus' life!  Now there are many historical figures that are respected and idolized: Ex. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., John Lennon, Mahatma Gandhi, just to name a few.  However, are their deaths celebrated as their most important achievement?  Absolutely not!  Their deaths are mourned.  Yet for all the things that Jesus did, for the Apostles, his Death and Resurrection is most important.  No historical idol is ever celebrated for his death, only Jesus is.  

So when we consider the "Four Minimal Facts" that Christian and non-Christian historical Jesus Scholars agree on we have to consider this simple truth.  Only the Resurrection  adequately answers all four of this "Minimal Facts."  The "Hallucination Theory," "Stolen Body Theory," and "Swoon Theory," all fail to adequately answer for these "Minimum Facts."  The Resurrection is the best and most probable answer to the data, and the case for the Resurrection proves to be very strong, even for ardent skeptics.  It is based upon solid data, historical testimony, and is incredibly impeccable.  Anthony Flew: a famed Atheist turned Christian, stated that: “The evidence for the resurrection is better than for claimed miracles in any other religion.  It’s outstandingly different in quality and quantity."

Now this presentation simply focuses on the minimal facts, and not so much on the "theological logic & necessity" of the crucifixion & resurrection of Jesus.  This is an issue that needs its focus in order to fully understand.  However, what we can ascertain from these minimal facts is that the crucifixion & execution is a historical fact, and the Resurrection is the most probable explanation as to what happened to Jesus after his death, and it answers how and why the early Christians preached this teaching.  

Sources

Acts17Apologetics.  "Live Event: Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?"  Filmed [March 2018].  YouTube Video, 3:10:23.  Posted [March 2018].  Accessed from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYL5TZ9jJqg

Acts17Apologetics.  "Muslim Scholar Reza Aslan Admits that the Qur'an is Wrong about Jesus."  Filmed [Jan. 2014].  YouTube Video, 2:38.  Posted [Jan. 2014].  Accessed from  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0-7D75ftmk 

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