Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus

While I attended college (we won’t count how many years ago!), I had the privilege of attending a Philosophy 201 class which was—shall we say, unique, in the least? Rather than simply teach about all the different belief systems (“this is existentialism, this is rationalism...”), the professor taught these systems of thought—and then showed how they all FAIL—not only from a Scriptural standpoint, but from a logical one as well. We as believers must admit that there are times when we feel seriously under attack from doubt about our “religion”: did Jesus really rise from the dead, or not? After being presented this material, I must say I’ve never had serious doubts as to the validity of the Christian faith.

This professor taught that the key to “proving” the existence of God and the resurrection of Jesus was to link the two. (I use “proving” tentatively because, as in so many other things, proof often depends on the willingness of the listener to hear and accept what is being presented.) You could start from the one and go to the other—say, present the theistic arguments for the existence of God (the pattern of order in nature, human conscience, etc.) and then point out that the Resurrection is consistent with God’s nature (it would take great power to raise Jesus from the dead, and God is omnipotent; it would take great knowledge, and God is omniscient, etc.). Or, you could do this retrospectively—prove the Resurrection first and link it back to God (the uniqueness of Jesus’ teachings, added to the fact of the Resurrection, giving validity to Jesus’ claims, the main ones being His Deity and salvation only in Himself).

Regarding the Resurrection, then, are three sets of historical arguments: 1) All naturalistic theories to explain it away FAIL. This includes the “swoon theory” (which says that Jesus did not actually die, but only fainted on the cross), the disciples “stealing” His body, mass hallucination, etc. Most, if not all, have been disproven by—of all things!—modern science. If anyone is interested, I can cover these in more detail later. 2) There are several positive evidences—eyewitness accounts, for instance, and not just those of the disciples themselves—that show it did happen, with a marked absence of testimony against it. Think about it this way: if the disciples had stolen Jesus’ body, or whatever, wouldn’t there have been someone, somewhere, outside the “inner circle” who knew the truth and would have/could have come forward? Well, possibly, possibly not, which lead me to ... 3) Four “core facts” which even the skeptics admit ...

a) Jesus was a real man, who lived and then died by crucifixion. Check out your history: Crucifixion was a cruel (but effective) method of death by torture. Victims died not from actual wounds but by suffocation, from the weight of their bodies hanging from outstretched arms. The Roman soldiers attending crucifixions were experienced in their work and could tell who was dead and who wasn’t.

b) The disciples saw something and they believed it was the risen Jesus. (The theory of mass hallucination doesn’t fly because, as psychology will tell us, it simply doesn’t happen.)

c) Their lives were totally transformed, even to the point of death. Now, at first glance, this may not seem much to us who have heard of things like the Jim Jones cult, Koresh, and Heaven’s Gate—but we aren’t talking about a case of mass suicide here. This is a group of (at least) eleven men, who went out to different parts of the world, devoted to the same cause, and who all separately suffered torture and met their deaths rather than renounce what they believed was the risen Jesus. Doesn’t anyone think that at least ONE of those men, if they had been privy to some sort of scam, would have spoken up rather than face martyrdom?

d) Lastly, one Saul of Tarsus, bitter enemy of the followers of Christ, is converted—HE believes he sees the risen Jesus, and it transforms his life to the point that he devotes his life to preaching, suffering, and dying for Christ.

All four of these last points are historically verifiable (if anything is) from sources outside of the Bible—the writings of Josephus, etc. As far as those who would question whether Jesus really even existed, well, I have to wonder whether these aren’t the same types of people who would question whether even the Holocaust took place or not. (Forgive me for using this particular event to illustrate my point. It’s familiar, and convenient.) Most people don’t have a problem believing that occurred, because it’s a more recent event, and well-documented.

Consider, then, that God might have taken care to see that the Resurrection was just as well documented as the Holocaust, or any other recent event. Scripture states that the resurrected Jesus was seen several times, by many different people—even, at one point, by a group of 400.

My gratitude for this information goes to Professor Gary Habermas of Liberty University.

For more information on this subject, check out the following books:


	Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus While I attended college (we won’t count how many years ago!), I had the privilege of attending a Philosophy 201 class which was—shall we say, unique, in the least? Rather than simply teach about all the different belief systems (“this is existentialism, this is rationalism...”), the professor taught these systems of thought—and then showed how they all FAIL—not only from a Scriptural standpoint, but from a logical one as well. We as believers must admit that there are times when we feel seriously under attack from doubt about our “religion”: did Jesus really rise from the dead, or not? After being presented this material, I must say I’ve never had serious doubts as to the validity of the Christian faith. This professor taught that the key to “proving” the existence of God and the resurrection of Jesus was to link the two. (I use “proving” tentatively because, as in so many other things, proof often depends on the willingness of the listener to hear and accept what is being presented.) You could start from the one and go to the other—say, present the theistic arguments for the existence of God (the pattern of order in nature, human conscience, etc.) and then point out that the Resurrection is consistent with God’s nature (it would take great power to raise Jesus from the dead, and God is omnipotent; it would take great knowledge, and God is omniscient, etc.). Or, you could do this retrospectively—prove the Resurrection first and link it back to God (the uniqueness of Jesus’ teachings, added to the fact of the Resurrection, giving validity to Jesus’ claims, the main ones being His Deity and salvation only in Himself). Regarding the Resurrection, then, are three sets of historical arguments: 1) All naturalistic theories to explain it away FAIL. This includes the “swoon theory” (which says that Jesus did not actually die, but only fainted on the cross), the disciples “stealing” His body, mass hallucination, etc. Most, if not all, have been disproven by—of all things!—modern science. If anyone is interested, I can cover these in more detail later. 2) There are several positive evidences—eyewitness accounts, for instance, and not just those of the disciples themselves—that show it did happen, with a marked absence of testimony against it. Think about it this way: if the disciples had stolen Jesus’ body, or whatever, wouldn’t there have been someone, somewhere, outside the “inner circle” who knew the truth and would have/could have come forward? Well, possibly, possibly not, which lead me to ... 3) Four “core facts” which even the skeptics admit ... a) Jesus was a real man, who lived and then died by crucifixion. Check out your history: Crucifixion was a cruel (but effective) method of death by torture. Victims died not from actual wounds but by suffocation, from the weight of their bodies hanging from outstretched arms. The Roman soldiers attending crucifixions were experienced in their work and could tell who was dead and who wasn’t. b) The disciples saw something and they believed it was the risen Jesus. (The theory of mass hallucination doesn’t fly because, as psychology will tell us, it simply doesn’t happen.) c) Their lives were totally transformed, even to the point of death. Now, at first glance, this may not seem much to us who have heard of things like the Jim Jones cult, Koresh, and Heaven’s Gate—but we aren’t talking about a case of mass suicide here. This is a group of (at least) eleven men, who went out to different parts of the world, devoted to the same cause, and who all separately suffered torture and met their deaths rather than renounce what they believed was the risen Jesus. Doesn’t anyone think that at least ONE of those men, if they had been privy to some sort of scam, would have spoken up rather than face martyrdom? d) Lastly, one Saul of Tarsus, bitter enemy of the followers of Christ, is converted—HE believes he sees the risen Jesus, and it transforms his life to the point that he devotes his life to preaching, suffering, and dying for Christ. All four of these last points are historically verifiable (if anything is) from sources outside of the Bible—the writings of Josephus, etc. As far as those who would question whether Jesus really even existed, well, I have to wonder whether these aren’t the same types of people who would question whether even the Holocaust took place or not. (Forgive me for using this particular event to illustrate my point. It’s familiar, and convenient.) Most people don’t have a problem believing that occurred, because it’s a more recent event, and well-documented. Consider, then, that God might have taken care to see that the Resurrection was just as well documented as the Holocaust, or any other recent event. Scripture states that the resurrected Jesus was seen several times, by many different people—even, at one point, by a group of 400. My gratitude for this information goes to Professor Gary Habermas of Liberty University. For more information on this subject, check out the following books: The Resurrection of Jesus—Gary Habermas Mere Christianity—C. S. Lewis Can Man Live Without God?—Ravi Zacharias And you may want to read the following article: Prophecies; Beyond Reasonable Doubt? “I believe, yes, I believe It’s what makes me what I am I did not make it Though it is making me It is the very truth of God Not the invention of any man” Rich Mullins “Creed”
	Home \| Birth & Breastfeeding