Give a reason · 1 Peter 3:15
Did Jesus really rise from the dead?
The objection
Dead people stay dead. The resurrection stories come from Jesus' own followers, were written decades later and differ in detail. Grief, visions and a story that grew with retelling seem more likely than a miracle.
What the evidence shows
- 01Jesus was crucified under Pontius Pilate.
Scholars almost universally accept this. The Roman historian Tacitus, no friend of Christians, records it around AD 116.
- 02The claim that Jesus rose is older than any Gospel.
In 1 Corinthians 15, written in the mid-50s AD, Paul passes on a summary he had “received” from earlier believers. Even the agnostic scholar Bart Ehrman agrees it predates Paul's letter.
Debated: How much older is debated. N. T. Wright dates it to within two or three years of the cross; Ehrman says we can only say it is earlier than the letter. - 03Followers had experiences they believed were appearances of the risen Jesus.
A survey of 30 years of research calls this the most crucial point in current scholarship. Ehrman agrees some disciples had visions.
The Christian case
- 01Build only on facts most scholars grant.ArgumentGary Habermas
Habermas's “minimal facts” case uses points accepted across the field, then asks which explanation covers all of them at once.
- 02Legend doesn't explain it.ArgumentN. T. Wright
Wright argues that the empty tomb and the appearances together are best explained by a real resurrection, not theft, hallucination or legend.
What Scripture says
“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.”1 Corinthians 15:20 (KJV)MeaningPaul presents the resurrection as an event, the first of a harvest still to come.
“And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.”1 Corinthians 15:14 (KJV)MeaningChristianity stakes everything on this one claim. If it is false, the faith falls with it.
“Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.”Luke 24:39 (KJV)MeaningLuke stresses a bodily Jesus, not a ghost or a vision.
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1769 Authorized Version), public domain.
Where Christians differ
Some Christians start from historical evidence; others say faith rests on Scripture and the Spirit, with the evidence in support. Both affirm a bodily resurrection.
What skeptics say
Ehrman argues historians cannot establish that a miracle happened, sincere visions need no risen body, and Jesus may never have had a proper burial.
Did you know?
The two oldest manuscripts of Mark 16, both from the 300s, end at verse 8, with the women running from the empty tomb, too frightened to speak.
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“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”1 Peter 3:15 (KJV)
Sources
- Crucifixion of Jesus, Wikipedia
- Tacitus, Annals 15.44, LacusCurtius (Univ. of Chicago)
- Tacitus on Jesus, Wikipedia
- 1 Corinthians 15, Wikipedia
- How Important Was Paul, Actually?, Bart Ehrman blog
- One of Our Earliest Statements of Belief in Jesus, Bart Ehrman blog
- Habermas, “Resurrection Research from 1975 to the Present,” JSHJ 3.2 (2005), Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus (Brill)
- Why I Actually Discuss Hallucinations, Bart Ehrman blog
- Gary Habermas, Wikipedia
- N. T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, Fortress Press
- More Reasons for Thinking Jesus Was Not Given a Decent Burial, Bart Ehrman blog
- Mark 16, Wikipedia