Key Questions: Dad, why do we believe Jesus rose from the dead?
1. But rising from the dead is impossible.
Jesus’ resurrection is the central article of Christian faith, but that doesn’t mean believing it happened is merely a matter of blind faith.
It’s not like one of the “six impossible things before breakfast” the White Queen believes in Alice in Wonderland (Glen Scrivener).
Instead, it is the most reasonable explanation of the historical facts that are widely accepted (see Talking Points), even by skeptical scholars.
Alternative explanations may be attempted for each of those points, but they will not add up to a coherent explanation (Matt Perman).
The resurrection also provides a more coherent explanation of the world we live in (Scrivener).
Everything came from nothing.
Life came from non-life.
Order came from chaos.
It also offers a better explanation of the longings in our hearts.
There is a resurrection-sized hole in our psyches.
We long for hope beyond death.
Rather than mere wish fulfillment, this could be an indication that we were created for a resurrection reality.
Without the resurrection, life becomes absurd.
Denying the resurrection is the more impossible thing to believe.
2. What are the most common alternative explanations for the facts of the resurrection, and how should I respond to them?
There is a wealth of great resources addressing this question (see Recommended Resources). The points below primarily draw from articles by John Piper, Neil Shenvi, and Benjamin Shaw and Gary Habermas.
Jesus was never actually crucified or buried.
Documented by a dozen contemporary sources.
Not something Christians would have made up because it was considered shameful by both Jews and Gentiles (1 Corinthians 1:23).
The Romans knew how to kill people, including giving Jesus a final death-blow in his side to ensure he was actually dead (John 19:33–34).
Joseph of Arimethea, who the gospels tell us buried Jesus, was a member of the Sanhedrin (a Jewish court). He was too famous to associate with the burial unless it was true—people could ask him to verify.
The grave was not empty.
In all four gospels women are mentioned as the first witnesses.
Because women weren’t considered reliable witnesses at the time, this wouldn’t be mentioned unless it were true (Rebecca McLaughlin)
If Jesus’ body were still in the grave, the Christians’ opponents could have just produced it.
There is no record of opponents even claiming Jesus’ body was still in the grave, though there are records in the Bible and other ancient documents of claims the disciples stole the body (Matthew 28:11-15), which acknowledge it wasn’t there.
Swoon theory—Jesus was crucified and buried but didn’t actually die.
Would require believing that after being beaten and crucified, Jesus revived in a tomb without medical assistance or sustenance and rolled away the stone and then walked out on nail-pierced feet with a gaping wound in his side.
On seeing him, would the disciples have declared him the resurrected Lord, who had conquered the grave, or got him a doctor?
The body was stolen.
If by Jesus’ foes, why didn’t they produce it to stop the successful spread of Christian faith, which they saw as a threat?
Why would they steal it in the first place, if it would only support Jesus’ claims?
If by Jesus’ friends, why would they die for what they knew was a lie?
“We have good historical evidence that James, Peter, and Paul were all executed for their faith, and church tradition maintains that as many as eleven of the twelve apostles were eventually martyred” (Shenvi).
The disciples were hallucinating or lying.
The Bible records multiple eyewitness experiences, most importantly 1 Corinthians 15:3-5, which lists Peter, the twelve, the five hundred, James the brother of Jesus, and all the apostles.
This tradition goes back to the first year or two after Jesus’ death—it wasn’t a later legend invented to support Christian faith.
Paul explicitly mentions that most of those people are “still alive” (1 Corinthians 15:6), inviting skeptics to investigate their testimony.
Skeptics like James, the brother of Jesus (see Mark 3:21; 6:2-6), and antagonists, like Paul (Acts 8:1, 3) would be unlikely to hallucinate these things, or believe them if they did.
Group hallucinations (Matthew 28:16–20; Luke 24:13–49; John 20:19–24; Acts 2:32) are very unlikely, especially of someone well known to the viewers.
The disciples were not gullible, but level-headed skeptics both before and after the resurrection (Mark 9:32, Luke 24:11, John 20:8-9, 25) (Piper).
The NT does not read like the work of “dupes or deceivers” (Piper).
Could they have covered up this lie successfully?
Would they have died for something they knew to be a lie?
Reza Aslan, a Muslim commentator, writes: “These first followers of Jesus were not being asked to reject matters of faith based on events that took place centuries, if not millennia, before. They were being asked to deny something they themselves personally, directly encountered.”
The hallucination argument doesn’t deal with the evidence for the empty tomb, while the lying argument doesn’t explain the disciples' willingness to suffer and be martyred.
The resurrection is a legend that developed over time.
The list of eye-witnesses in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 goes back to a few years after the resurrection.
This still doesn’t explain the empty tomb or the origin of Christian faith.
If belief in the resurrection is the origin of the church; it cannot be the product of the church.
To disregard all the evidence, you actually have to combine more than one alternative explanation (e.g., stolen body and hallucinations), which makes the alternative explanations less likely (like stacking together leaking buckets).
3. Can you be a Christian but not believe in the resurrection?
Even if Jesus didn’t actually rise from the dead, wouldn’t we still have his teachings and his example?
A common view in liberal Christianity since the nineteenth century is that the resurrection is a spiritual truth but not a historical or physical one—Jesus is resurrected in our hearts, but his body never actually emerged from the tomb.
Those who believe that Christianity doesn’t need the resurrection have too small an understanding of what Christianity actually involves.
It’s not just teaching to encourage us in our lives but an alternative understanding of life itself, which extends beyond our lives into eternity.
It doesn’t just help basically good people get better but radically transforms sinful people into those right with God through the forgiveness of sin.
It doesn’t just rely on our feelings but on facts.
Paul makes this argument in 1 Corinthians 15 (Trevin Wax).
“Without the resurrection, we are still in our sins, have lied about God, have a worthless faith, and are most to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15:12–19, 32–34)” (Shaw).
