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The most important aspect of Christian belief is that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and then physically rose from the dead. If this is true, any other fact about our world is dwarfed in comparison. If it\u2019s false, then the Bible is just gibberish, but if the resurrection actually happened then you and I had better take everything <\/em>that scripture says seriously. For centuries skeptics have told us that the resurrection can\u2019t be true, either the disciples hallucinated everything, or perhaps Jesus didn\u2019t really die\u2014He just laid wounded in a tomb for three days before hopping out of bed. But the truth is the more we explore what surrounds the resurrection narrative of the Gospels, the only plausible explanation remaining is a miracle. In what follows we\u2019ll examine some of the historical data that virtually all historians agree on so that you can know how trustworthy the story of the resurrection truly is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n HOW TO DO HISTORY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Because historical events are, by definition, things that happened in the past and can\u2019t be repeated in a laboratory, historians operate on a scale of probability. Court systems today operate on the same basis and make their decisions based on \u201cproof beyond a reasonable doubt,\u201d or as one legal expert puts it \u201cproof that makes the truth of an accusation more probable than not.\u201d<\/a>[1]<\/a> This is the same basic criteria that historians use to investigate instances in the past. We don\u2019t have photographic evidence that Abraham Lincoln was murdered in the Ford Theatre or that Napolean Bonaparte ever existed, but we take those things for granted because the data leaves us with no other options. As one famous philosopher has said, \u201cThough we have not seen the man (Napoleon), yet we cannot explain what we have seen without the hypothesis of his existence\u201d<\/a>[2]<\/a> When all the data surrounding the story of Jesus is considered, we can confidently say the same about that event as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BUT FIRST, CAN THE BIBLE BE CONSIDERED HISTORY?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When thinking about the Bible, many people make a false distinction. They think that just because the Bible talks about miracles and religious figures, it can\u2019t be considered historically reliable. But that distinction isn\u2019t based on fact, but bias. As Oxford historian John Dickson writes,<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026 the so-called \u201creligious\u201d nature of Christian writings in no way diminishes their value as historical sources. Historians take the Christian agenda into account when they analyse the New Testament, just as they take the imperial bias into account when studying Tacitus or the Jewish bias when reading Josephus, but historians do not place the New Testament in a special category \u2026 it is no exaggeration to say that historians (no matter what their persuasion) universally regard the New Testament writings as the earliest, most plentiful and most reliable sources of information about the Jesus of history.\u201d<\/a>[3]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The New Testament contains four separate biographies of Jesus\u2014the Gospels. This collection gives us most of our information about the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. These are our best and earliest sources. But there are many other non-biblical<\/em> sources that also confirm what the New Testament teaches. This is why most historians can look at all the details surrounding the story of Jesus and, regardless of their personal beliefs, confirm the following basic historical facts. When we put all these facts together, it tells us that the resurrection is something that we can trust to be accurate and true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5 FACTS THAT CONFIRM THE RESURRECTION <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bible tells us that Jesus was accused of blasphemy for claiming to be the Son of God. He was put on trial and sentenced to death by crucifixion under the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. This is what other sources outside the Bible tell us as well. Tacitus, hailed to be the most reputable historian from ancient Rome, tells us that Pilate sentenced Jesus to the \u201cextreme penalty\u201d of crucifixion. Likewise the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus who later served in the Roman court confirms this in his book Antiquities<\/em> as well. Other sources include Lucian of Samosata, Mara Bar Serapion, and the Jewish Talmud. The Talmud even specifies the same date as the Bible, telling us that Jesus was \u201changed (crucifixion was often referred to as being hung on a tree) on the eve of Passover.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those who would suggest that Jesus may not have actually died are also at odds with the data. Not only would Roman executioners be punished if they failed at their job, but the Bible also gives us medical clues that point to the certainty of Christ\u2019s death in the Gospel of John. While Jesus was hanging and the Romans wanted to ensure His death, the soldiers pierced Jesus\u2019 side with a spear. John was an eyewitness and says that he saw how the wound produced a flow of blood and water (John 19:34). The mixture of blood and water is a unique phenomenon that means Jesus died. As the Journal of the American Medical Association writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cClearly, the weight of historical and medical evidence indicates that Jesus was dead before the wound to his side was inflicted and supports the traditional view that the spear, thrust between his right rib, probably perforated not only the right lung but also the pericardium and heart and thereby ensured his death.\u201d<\/a>[4]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is why even non-Christian scholars say Jesus\u2019 death was \u201cas sure as anything historical can ever be.\u201d<\/a>[5]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Scholars agree that first people who claimed to see Jesus risen from the dead, were women. This is important because in the ancient world women weren\u2019t really trusted to be reliable witnesses. The ancient historian Flavius Josephus says, \u201cbut let not the testimony of women be admitted on account of the levity or boldness of their sex \u2026 since it is probably that they may not speak truth either out of hope of gain or fear of punishment.\u201d<\/a>[6]<\/a> If one were to create a conspiracy about Jesus rising from the dead, choosing women to be your main sources would not be a smart move in that day. Nevertheless, women were providentially chosen by God to be the first people that Jesus would appear to. This fact fits with the historical criterion called the \u201cprinciple of embarrassment.\u201d This means that sources are taken more seriously when they include details that may seem embarrassing to the point the writers were trying to make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regardless of how they interpret the fact, most scholars acknowledge that the disciples believed they experienced the risen Jesus. Gerd Ludemann, who is an atheist scholar of the New Testament, says this, \u201cIt may be historically certain that Peter and the disciples had experiences after Jesus\u2019 death in which Jesus appeared to them as the risen Christ.\u201d Another skeptical historian out of Boston University, Paula Fredriksen, agrees with Ludemann. She says, \u201cthat\u2019s what they say, and then all the historic evidence we have afterwards attest to their conviction that\u2019s what they saw.\u201d<\/a>[7]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Aside from the Gospels, The New Testament also includes a letter that contains important information about the resurrection. The Apostle Paul describes how the risen Jesus appeared to many different people, even 500 different witnesses at one time (1 Cor. 15:6). Within his letter he also recites a resurrection creed, or popular saying that communities would memorize. Paul\u2019s letter is dated to about 20 years after Jesus, but scholars say the creed might have arisen only a few years after Jesus\u2019 resurrection. This is an amazing record of how the earliest witnesses believed Jesus truly did rise from the dead! Based on traditions and other historical sources, it\u2019s also likely that all of Jesus\u2019 original 12 disciples, except John, died for their testimonies about Jesus\u2019 resurrection. Dying for your beliefs doesn\u2019t necessarily make them true, but it does mean those beliefs are sincere. If the apostles were claiming they saw the resurrection for personal gain, they would have had lots of chances to deny what they were claiming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To disprove the Christian faith (which many political forces were trying to do at the time) all one would have to do is point to the body of Jesus still being in the tomb. The Gospel of Matthew tells us that the authorities set guards over the tomb but that those guards encountered an angel who rolled the stone covering away (tombs in that day were small enclosures that were blocked by a large rolling stone). The guards then reported what they saw and were given \u201chush money\u201d to keep what happened secret. They were also told to tell people that the body of Jesus was stolen away during the night. This would have been virtually impossible, given how difficult it would be to steal a dead body that was guarded and locked away in a tomb. But surprisingly, even the earliest critics of Christianity repeated the claim that Jesus\u2019 disciples stole the body from the tomb. The conspiracy ultimately backfires because all it does is prove that Jesus\u2019 tomb was empty. An empty tomb is hard to explain outside of a physical resurrection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not only did the original disciples of Jesus claim to have living experiences with Jesus\u2019 after His death, but the New Testament tells us that even people who were hostile to him did as well. The gospels tell us that Jesus\u2019 brothers (yes, He had a few) ridiculed Him and challenged His teachings (Mark 3:21, John 7:5). Yet soon after His death, we see one of them\u2014James\u2014rise quickly to ranks of leadership within the Jerusalem church. What might be the reason for this drastic turnaround? In the apostle Paul\u2019s chronology of resurrection appearances, we read that James had an encounter with the Risen Christ after the five hundred (1 Cor. 15:7). The former skeptic became known as \u201cbishop of bishops\u201d and today we can even read one of his letters in the New Testament. His faith ultimately led him to be martyred by the same religious leaders that indicted his brother before him. He was martyred somewhere between A.D. 62-69.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The second skeptic turned martyr was Paul. He is one of the most accomplished writers and missionaries in the New Testament, but before that he was a violent persecutor of Christians. He too claimed to have a revolutionary encounter with the risen Jesus. While journeying to a different city on his way to put Christians to death or into prison, the Bible tells us that he saw Jesus (Acts 9:1-18).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul\u2019s encounter involved dramatic details, like a light flashing all around him from heaven, but he still claims to encounter the risen Christ (1 Cor. 15:8). Like James, Paul suffered the way of martyrdom in Rome (A.D. 64-67) under Emperor Nero who was intoxicated with the same hatred of Christ that previously motivated Paul. The drastic nature of his conversion, along with his martyrdom, is hard to explain aside from a genuine testimony of encountering the risen Jesus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The points I\u2019ve listed above are accepted by most historians today. If we put them together, we\u2019ll find that the best explanation isn\u2019t some kind of ridiculous conspiracy, but that Jesus really did rise from the dead and appear to His disciples. This is the event turned the world upside down 2,000 years ago. But the resurrection wasn\u2019t just a cool miracle\u2014it had a purpose. The Bible says that the resurrection was meant to demonstrate the power of Jesus\u2019 sacrifice. Jesus\u2019 death wasn\u2019t an accident, He said He came to earth in the form of human flesh, to die the death that we deserved for our sins. The event was even predicted by the Hebrew prophets hundreds of years before Jesus was even born. As the prophet Isaiah says,<\/p>\n\n\n\n But he was pierced for our transgressions, In the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God isn\u2019t just doing a cool miracle, He\u2019s redeeming humanity from the power of sin. This is why the historical evidence surrounding the resurrection doesn\u2019t just provide us with confidence in miracles, it gives us hope in the life to come. To God be all the glory!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c<\/strong>Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live<\/em>.\u201d (John 14:19).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Citations<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>[1]<\/a> Gary R. Habermas, Mike Licona, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus<\/em> (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2004), 32.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>[2]<\/a> Stephen C. Meyer, Signature in the Cell<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>[3]<\/a> John Dickson, The Christ Files: How Historians Know What They Know About Jesus (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010), 56 (E-Book on Scribd.com).<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>[4]<\/a> Norman Geisler, The Big Book of Christian Apologetics<\/em> (Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing, 2012), 77.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>[5]<\/a> Geisler, 77.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>[6]<\/a> Habermas, 49.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>[7]<\/a> Ibid., 58.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The most important aspect of Christian belief is that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and then physically rose from the dead. If this is true, any other fact about our world is dwarfed in comparison. If it\u2019s false, then the Bible is just gibberish, but if the resurrection actually happened then you and I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/therightstory.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/therightstory.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/therightstory.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therightstory.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therightstory.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=274"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/therightstory.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":275,"href":"https:\/\/therightstory.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274\/revisions\/275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/therightstory.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therightstory.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therightstory.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 <\/sup><\/strong>We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:5-6)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n