Appendix B to Session 5:

The Historical Evidence for Jesus' Resurrection

1. Notice the following historical points about Jesus’ resurrection:
1. Jesus was laid in a well known tomb:
2. It was owned by Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent man. (see Luke 23:51, Matt. 27:57, Mark 15:43, John 19:38)  This would have been a checkable detail.  If the disciples were making up a hoax (a trick), they would not have included this.  But they did include it, so it’s less likely a hoax.  It’s more likely that Jesus really did rise.
4. The tomb was empty:
5. (Luke 24:3, Matt 28:6, John 20:2). If Peter and the others made up a grand hoax, the body had to be somewhere.  It wasn’t in the tomb, so where was it?  Maybe the Romans or Jews took it.  But no, if that were true, they would have produced the body when Christianity grew.  They hated Christianity.  And if they had the body they could have stopped it.  With no risen Christ, there is no Christianity.  So why didn’t the Romans or Jews produce the body?  The only answer is this:  They didn’t have it.  It was somewhere else.
7. So where was it?  Did the disciples have it?  If they did, how did they get it?  They must have snuck past the Roman guards to get the body, as some say.  But why would they try?  Robbing graves held a death sentence.  So that’s hard to believe.  But assuming they did try, how did they succeed? It is not credible that the guards fell asleep, long enough for the huge stone to be rolled away, and for Jesus to be carried off.  The guards faced severe penalties for falling asleep.  So the best historical option is this:  Luke is telling the truth.  Jesus really rose from the dead.

5. The risen Jesus appeared many times to many people:
6. There were at least 12 appearances of the risen Jesus to more than 500 people.  Notice especially 1 Corinthians 15:6, which records an appearance of Jesus to 500 people, ‘most of whom are still alive’.  The point of the phrase ‘most of whom are still alive’ should be clear.  If the readers of the letter weren’t sure about the resurrection, they should go and ask one of the witnesses.  There were still plenty around.  This would not be written if the whole thing were a hoax.
8. The disciples’ lives were profoundly changed:
9. This is for me the most persuasive historical fact.  The history we have points to massive transformation in the disciples.  They devoted the rest of their lives preaching the risen Christ.  Many died for so doing.  And here’s the key point:  They knew whether it was a hoax or not.  They knew whether they had the body of Jesus.  So their actions are evidence that there was no hoax.  Why die for a religion you know is a lie?  It’s not like a modern suicide bomber.  They don’t have evidence that their religion is true.  But these disciples did.  They were convinced from what they had seen that Jesus rose from the dead.
11. The recorded early killings of Christians. 
12. The Roman Historian Tacitus records Christians being burnt to death by Nero (i.e. Nero blamed Christians for the Great Fire of Rome).  This fire is known to have occurred in 64 A.D.
14. Here's a quote from Tacitus (which is not in the bible):
    But all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiations of the gods, did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order. Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. 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, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired. Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer or stood aloft on a car. Hence, even for criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling of compassion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the public good, but to glut one man's cruelty, that they were being destroyed. (Annals 15:44)
16. That is, Christianity was large in following around 30 years after Christ's death (Christ died either in 33 A.D., or perhaps 30 A.D.).  It was large enough that Nero could blame Christians for the Great Fire of Rome.
    What's more, Christianity was persuasive enough that these Christians would continue to assert that they were Christian, even when they could have denied it (they 'pleaded guilty').
18. Yet it was in the mid 50s A.D. that Paul wrote 1 Corinthians.  That's not long before the great fire.  In 1 Corinthians, Paul claimed that there were 500 witnesses to Jesus' resurrection, most of whom were still alive.  I don't think these witnesses would have been hard to find.  Just track down one of the major churches (the church in
    Rome
    had such apostles), and you'd find an eyewitness.The point is that the martyrs of 64 A.D. could have checked out whether Christianity were true before they went to their deaths.  Now if I knew I was a going to my death for my faith, and the faith was checkable, I would definitely do the check.
20. The most reasonable conclusion is that many of these Christians had done the check.  The eyewitnesses confirmed that they had seen the risen Jesus.  And so that's why Nero could find lots of Christians to execute.Thus the most reasonable inference from the swift growth of Christianity, is that Jesus really rose from the dead.

 

2. These can all be answered:
3. • Hoax by apostles
   • (But the early leaders were often odds, see further arguments above)

      

     Mistaken identity - this is from the Koran. 

   • (But the High Priest would not have allowed the Romans to crucify the wrong man)

3. Scholars are desperate for another option besides the Christian one.  They’re desperate for Christianity to be wrong.  But they can’t find a good alternative.  See that in the number of the suggestions.  See that in how wild some of the suggestions are.  Hallucinations?  Were there 500 people hallucinating together?  No, the best explanation is the simplest:  Jesus in fact rose from the dead.