The Resurrection Argument

Evidence for the Burial

1. Jesus' burial is attested in the very old information in 1 Corinthians 15:3–5.

2. The burial account is part of very old source material used by Mark in his gospel.

3. As a member of the Jewish high court that condemned Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea is unlikely to be a Christian invention.

4. The burial story lacks any signs of legendary development.

5. No other competing burial story exists.

For these and other reasons, most New Testament critics agree that Jesus was buried by Joseph of Arimathea in a tomb.

Evidence for the Empty Tomb

1. The old information in 1 Cor. 15 implies the empty tomb (e.g., "he was buried ... he was raised").

2. The empty tomb story is also part of Mark's very old source material.

3. The story is simple and lacks signs of legendary embellishment.

4. The fact that women's testimony was considered worthless at that time counts in favor of the historicity of the women's discovering the empty tomb.

5. The early Jewish allegation that the disciples had stolen the body presupposes that the tomb was empty.

6. The use of "the first day of the Week" (Mark 16:2) instead of "on the third day" points to the primitiveness of the tradition.

7. It would have been virtually impossible for the disciples to proclaim the resurrection in Jerusalem had the tomb not been empty.

Mark's account of the empty tomb is simple, lacking the theological embellishments of later legends. It does not describe the resurrection itself, Jesus' triumph over death, divine titles, fulfilled prophecies, or the appearance of the risen Lord.

In contrast, the apocryphal Gospel of Peter contains legendary elements: a gigantic Jesus, giant angels, a talking cross, a voice from heaven, and a multitude of witnesses. This highlights the stark, unembellished nature of Mark's narrative.

The Gospel of Peter’s Account of the Resurrection

Evidence for the Appearances

1. The list of eyewitnesses to Jesus' post-resurrection appearances, which is quoted by Paul (1 Cor. 15:3-5) and vouched for by his personal acquaintance with the people involved, guarantees that these appearances occurred.

2. The appearance narratives in the gospels provide multiple, independent attestations of the appearances.

3. The transformation of Paul and James.

The gospels provide multiple, independent attestations of Jesus' appearances—a key mark of historicity:

• Peter: Attested by Luke.

• The Twelve: Attested by Luke and John.

• Galilean Appearances: Attested by Mark, Matthew, and John.

• Appearances to Women: Attested by Matthew and John.

Certain appearances have strong historical credibility. For example, the gospels report that Jesus' brothers, like James, were non-believers during his ministry. The early church would have been unlikely to invent such a detail. Yet, James and his brothers became prominent Christians after Jesus' death, suggesting a powerful, transformative event.

The Swoon Theory

📄 On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ (PDF)

The Conspiracy Theory

1. It is a historical fact that no one—weak or strong, saint or sinner, Christian or heretic—ever confessed, freely or under pressure, bribe, or even torture, that the story of the resurrection was a fake, a lie, or a deliberate deception. Even when people broke under torture, denied Christ, and worshipped Caesar, they never revealed that the resurrection was their conspiracy. If they made up the story, they were the most creative, clever, intelligent fantasists in history, far surpassing Shakespeare, Dante, or Tolkien. Fishermen's "fish stories" are never that elaborate, convincing, life-changing, and enduring.

2. Nothing proves sincerity like martyrdom. The disciples' character argues strongly against such a conspiracy on the part of all of them, with no dissenters.

3. There could be no possible motive for such a lie. Lies are always told for some selfish advantage. What advantage did the "conspirators" derive from their "lie"? They were hated, scorned, persecuted, excommunicated, imprisoned, tortured, exiled, crucified, boiled alive, roasted, beheaded, disemboweled, and fed to lions.

The Hallucination Theory

1. There were too many witnesses. Hallucinations are private, individual, and subjective.

2. Hallucinations usually last a few seconds or minutes, rarely hours. This one hung around for forty days (Acts 1:3).

3. Hallucinations usually happen only once, except to the insane. This one returned many times, to ordinary people (Jn 20:19-21:14; Acts 1:3).

4. Hallucinations come from within, from what we already know, at least unconsciously. This one said and did surprising and unexpected things (Acts 1:4, 9)—like a real person and unlike a dream.

5. The apostles could not have believed in the "hallucination" if Jesus' corpse had still been in the tomb. This is a very simple and telling point; for if it was a hallucination, where was the corpse? They would have checked for it; if it was there, they could not have believed.

6. If the apostles had hallucinated and then spread their hallucinogenic story, the Jews would have stopped it by producing the body—unless the disciples had stolen it, in which case we are back with the Conspiracy theory and all its difficulties.

7. A hallucination would explain only the post-resurrection appearances; it would not explain the empty tomb, the rolled-away stone, or the inability to produce the corpse. No theory can explain all these data except a real resurrection.

The Myth Theory

By far the most popular theory to explain away the resurrection is to try to escape the traditional dilemma of " deceivers" or "deceived" (hallucinators) by interpreting the Gospels as myth—neither literally true nor literally false, but spiritually or symbolically true. This is the standard line of liberal theology departments in colleges, universities, and seminaries throughout the western world today.

1. The style of the Gospels is radically and clearly different from the style of all the myths. Any literary scholar who knows and appreciates myths can verify this. There are no overblown, spectacular, childishly exaggerated events. Nothing is arbitrary. Everything fits in. Everything is meaningful.

2. There was not enough time for myth to develop. The original demythologizers pinned their case on a late second-century date for the writing of the gospels; several generations have to pass before the added mythological elements can be mistakenly believed to be facts. Eyewitnesses would be around before that to discredit the new, mythic versions.

3. Much more can be said. See earlier slides.