What is the evidence for the resurrection?
Question 60043
The resurrection of Jesus is not a blind leap of faith but a claim about history that can be examined. When we look at the evidence, we find that the resurrection is the best explanation for the facts that virtually all scholars, Christian and non-Christian alike, accept. Let’s consider what those facts are and why the resurrection makes sense of them.
The Minimal Facts Approach
Historian Gary Habermas has developed what he calls the “minimal facts approach” to the resurrection. This method focuses on facts that are accepted by the vast majority of scholars who study the historical Jesus, regardless of their theological commitments. These are not facts accepted only by Christians; they are accepted across the scholarly spectrum because the evidence for them is so strong.
The key minimal facts include: (1) Jesus died by crucifixion; (2) His disciples believed they saw Him risen and their lives were transformed by this belief; (3) The church persecutor Paul was converted after he believed he had seen the risen Jesus; (4) The sceptic James, Jesus’ brother, was converted after he believed he had seen the risen Jesus; (5) The tomb was found empty. This last point is disputed by some scholars but accepted by the majority. The question is: What best explains these facts?
Fact 1: Jesus Died by Crucifixion
The death of Jesus by crucifixion is one of the most certain facts of ancient history. It is attested not only by all four Gospels and the rest of the New Testament but also by non-Christian sources. Tacitus, the Roman historian, records that “Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus” (Annals 15.44). Josephus refers to Jesus as one “whom Pilate had condemned to the cross” (Antiquities 18.63-64). Even the Jewish Talmud refers to Jesus being “hanged” (Sanhedrin 43a), which was a term used for crucifixion.
Some have suggested that Jesus only appeared to die on the cross and later revived in the cool of the tomb (the “swoon theory”). This theory faces insurmountable problems. Roman soldiers were experts at execution; failure to ensure death would have meant their own execution. The centurion confirmed Jesus’ death before allowing His body to be taken down (Mark 15:44-45). The spear thrust into Jesus’ side produced “blood and water” (John 19:34), likely indicating the separation of clotted blood and serum, a medical sign of death. And even if Jesus had somehow survived the crucifixion, He would have been in no condition to roll away a heavy stone, overpower guards, and convince His disciples He had conquered death.
Fact 2: The Disciples’ Belief in the Resurrection
That the disciples came to believe they had seen the risen Jesus is beyond reasonable doubt. This belief is attested in the earliest Christian sources. Paul’s letters, written in the 50s, refer to appearances of Jesus to Peter, the Twelve, and others (1 Corinthians 15:5-8). The early creed Paul quotes dates to within a few years of the crucifixion itself. The book of Acts records the disciples proclaiming the resurrection from the earliest days of the church.
The disciples’ belief transformed their lives. Peter, who had denied Jesus, boldly proclaimed Him before the same authorities who had condemned Jesus. James was martyred by Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:2). According to church tradition, all the apostles except John were martyred for their faith. People sometimes die for false beliefs, but they do not willingly die for what they know to be a lie. The disciples were in a position to know whether the resurrection was true; they maintained it was true even unto death.
Fact 3: The Conversion of Paul
Paul was not a friend of Christianity. He describes himself as a persecutor of the church, one who tried to destroy it (Galatians 1:13). He was advancing in Judaism beyond many of his peers, zealous for the traditions of his fathers (Galatians 1:14). He had everything to lose by becoming a Christian: status, reputation, career, comfort, and eventually his life.
Yet Paul became the greatest advocate for the faith he once tried to destroy. What caused this? Paul attributed it to one thing: he had seen the risen Jesus. “Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?” (1 Corinthians 9:1). “Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me” (1 Corinthians 15:8). Paul spent the rest of his life proclaiming the risen Jesus, suffering beatings, imprisonment, shipwreck, and ultimately execution. His conversion demands an explanation, and the explanation he gave was encountering Jesus.
Fact 4: The Conversion of James
James, the brother of Jesus, did not believe in Him during His ministry (John 7:5; Mark 3:21). This is an embarrassing detail the early church would not have invented. Yet after the resurrection, James became a leader of the Jerusalem church (Acts 15:13; Galatians 2:9), was known for his piety, and was eventually martyred according to Josephus (Antiquities 20.200).
What transformed a sceptical brother into a faithful martyr? Paul tells us: “Then he appeared to James” (1 Corinthians 15:7). The appearance of the risen Jesus converted a sceptic within Jesus’ own family. This is powerful evidence because James was not a predisposed believer; he had reason to be sceptical of his own brother’s claims.
Fact 5: The Empty Tomb
The majority of scholars accept that Jesus’ tomb was found empty on the Sunday after His crucifixion. Several factors support this. First, the tomb’s location was known; Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin, provided it. The authorities could have produced the body if it were there. Second, the earliest Jewish response to the Christian proclamation was not to deny the empty tomb but to explain it by claiming the disciples stole the body (Matthew 28:11-15). This concedes that the tomb was empty. Third, the report that women discovered the empty tomb is unlikely to have been invented, given the low regard for women’s testimony in that culture.
Alternative explanations for the empty tomb all face serious problems. The stolen body theory requires the disciples to have overpowered the guards, taken the body, and then died for a claim they knew was false. The wrong tomb theory requires everyone, including the authorities, to have forgotten where a prominent councillor had buried Jesus just days earlier. The moved body theory has no evidence and fails to explain why the disciples would proclaim resurrection rather than simply looking for where the body had been moved.
The Best Explanation
What best explains these facts? Various naturalistic theories have been proposed over the years: the disciples hallucinated; Jesus did not really die; the body was stolen or moved; the whole thing was a legend that developed over time. Each of these theories fails to account for all the evidence.
Hallucinations are individual experiences; they do not happen to groups, let alone to five hundred people at once. They do not explain the empty tomb or the conversion of sceptics like Paul and James. The swoon theory, as we saw, is medically impossible. The stolen body theory does not explain why the disciples would die for a known lie. The legend theory is ruled out by the early date of the testimony; legends take generations to develop, but the creed in 1 Corinthians 15 dates to within a few years of the events.
The best explanation remains the one the first Christians gave: God raised Jesus from the dead. This explains the empty tomb, the appearances to multiple individuals and groups, the transformation of the disciples, the conversion of sceptics, and the emergence and growth of the church. As C.S. Lewis observed, Christianity is a religion you could not have guessed. If we were making it up, we would not have invented a story like this. But if it actually happened, everything makes sense.
Conclusion
The evidence for the resurrection is substantial and compelling. It does not require blind faith but invites honest investigation. The tomb was empty. The disciples saw Jesus alive. Sceptics were converted. The church was born and flourished despite every reason it should have failed. The resurrection of Jesus is not merely a religious doctrine but a historical event, the most important event in history. And it is an event that calls for a response. If Jesus is risen, then He is Lord, and we are called to trust in Him, follow Him, and share in the life He offers.
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9
Bibliography
- Habermas, Gary R., and Michael R. Licona. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2004.
- Craig, William Lane. Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics. Third Edition. Wheaton: Crossway, 2008.
- Licona, Michael R. The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2010.
- Ryrie, Charles C. Basic Theology. Chicago: Moody Press, 1999.
- Geisler, Norman L. The Battle for the Resurrection. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1989.
