Did Jesus Actually Rise from the Dead?

The Christian conviction that Christ conquered death began with the proclamation of the disciples, who along with numerous other witnesses, including Saul of Tarsus who later became the Apostle Paul, claimed to have seen and conversed with the risen Christ.

The resurrection of Christ is viewed by Christians as the vindication of Christ's teaching concerning himself and a validation of his mission of redemption. By his resurrection, Christ defeated sin and death and fulfilled the original calling of Israel to be "a light to the nations".

The late Bruce Metzger, a renowned New Testament scholar at Princeton and an expert in textual criticism stated,

"The evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ is overwhelming. Nothing in history is more certain than that the disciples believed that, after being crucified, dead, and buried, Christ rose again from the tomb on the third day, and that at intervals thereafter he met and conversed with them. . . . It is simply inconceivable that the scattered and disheartened remnant (Jesus" disciples) could have found a rallying point and a gospel in the memory of him who had been put to death as a criminal, had they not been convinced that God owned him and accredited his mission by raising him from the dead." 1

Contemporary Authorities on the Resurrection

For me to write about Christ's resurrection is redundant in that so much material has already been written by scholars and authorities far more qualified than I am. You can reference some the best work on this subject by scholars and authors such as:

On the popular level, JND Anderson's Christianity: The Witness of History, (IVP Press) provides a discussion of the historical foundations of the Christian faith including the evidence for the resurrection. In addition, Timothy Keller's The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism covers questions most often posed by skeptics and also covers evidence for the resurrection.

A Brief Summary of the Evidence for the Resurrection

The following points are explained in depth in the writings of the scholars and authors previously cited.

  1. The disciples proclaimed Jesus as the risen Messiah very shortly after his crucifixion in Jerusalem, the very city in which it had occurred. Therefore, there was no time for elaborate myths to develop. If Jesus was still in the grave, the Jewish authorities could have quickly disproved the apostles' claim. Of course, they accused the apostles of stealing Jesus body and perpetrating a hoax. However, many of the apostles were executed by the Roman authorities for proclaiming Jesus as a King more ultimate than Caesar. (Tradition indicates that Peter met his death by crucifixion in a head down position. Paul languished in a Roman prison and was most likely executed in Rome.) Could these men, who were willing to die for the Gospel of Christ, have perpetrated a deliberate fraud? That seems psychologically unlikely. Skeptics would at least have to admit that the disciples genuinely believed that Christ had risen from death.

  2. All the first Christians were Jews who were strict monotheists. They viewed the coming Messiah as a great military leader and king who would overthrow the Roman occupiers and make all the nations acknowledge his authority. The idea of a dying and rising Messiah was totally unexpected. When Jesus told his disciples about his coming crucifixion, they could not grasp what he was saying. When Jesus was tried by the Sanhedrin (the Jewish council) and condemned to death, his disciples were shocked and in despair. They hid for fear of the Jewish authorities. What changed these despairing and frightened disciples into bold witnesses of Christ's resurrection just a few weeks later?

  3. In Paul's first letter to the Christians at Corinth, he cites a list of witnesses to whom the risen Christ appeared. He stated that the list of witnesses, came from reliable sources.
    "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received; that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. The he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me." (I Cor. 15:3‐8)
    Biblical scholars regard Paul's letter to the Corinthians as authentic. It was written just 15 to 20 years after the death of Jesus. In the passage quoted previously, Paul mentions the resurrection and, by implication, the empty tomb, which occurred on the "third day". As Tim Keller points out, Paul is writing about an historical event that occurred in space and time. He also mentions several groups of witnesses in a list that was passed down as reliable tradition and that was carefully preserved.2

  4. Skeptics have often concluded that the disciples were sincere but must have hallucinated Jesus appearances. It is surmised that their grief and sadness brought on visions or hallucinations, which led them to believe that Jesus was in some way spiritually alive and that his teachings would live on. However, it is extremely unlikely that several people in different places and at different times could have the same hallucination. Referring back to Paul's list, he mentions more than five hundred people who saw the risen Christ at one time. Then there is the fact that as Jews, the disciples did not expect Jesus' resurrection and were in despair over his death. They had expected him to assume power and inaugurate the Kingdom of God on earth right away. When that did not happen, they viewed it as a defeat. Finally, because Christ had identified Himself as the Messiah and yet was crucified, how could they continue to believe his claim? It was only the resurrection that turned them into bold witnesses that proclaimed Christ as the risen savior and Israel's Messiah.

  5. Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee and a persecutor of the Christian movement, was later converted in a dramatic encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. He became an apostle and one of the greatest early Christian missionaries. His letters to various churches are included in the New Testament. Years later, after his missionary journeys across Asia Minor, he was arrested in Jerusalem, and upon appealing to Caesar (as a Roman citizen), was to be sent to Rome for trial. While Paul was being held in the city of Caesarea, the king of Palestine, Herod Agrippa was curious about Paul's case and asked Paul to appear before him. This gave Paul an opportunity to explain his conversion experience and the suffering and rising again of Christ. Paul stated, "For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak freely; for I am persuaded that none of these things (referring to Christ's life, arrest, and execution) has escaped his notice, for this was not done in a corner." (Acts 26:26) Paul was appealing to events that were common knowledge to people residing in Palestine at that time.

  6. The Apostles cross-validated their experiences as witnesses of Christ's resurrection. As mentioned previously, the idea that they could have fabricated the account of the resurrection or deceived one another is unbelievable. Peter was an eyewitness of the trial and crucifixion of Christ, the empty tomb, and the appearances of the resurrected Christ. He certainly spoke at length with Paul and some of the other apostles in Jerusalem during the first church council concerning what was required of the Gentile (non-Jewish) converts. Paul, Peter, James and others had many conversations about Jesus's life and teachings, his death, and his resurrection. 

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Footnotes

1Bruce Metzger, The New Testament: Its Background, Growth, and Content, Abington Press, Nashville and New York, 1965, pp 126 ‐ 127.

2Keller, Timothy, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, Riverhead Books, 2008, p. 212.

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