Introduction

This is possibly the most important article on this site. Not only is this issue paramount to the Christian faith, it is also one of its strongest defenses. In fact, some apologetic systems begin right here at the resurrection and derive the truth of the Bible and God's Existence from it. If Christ's resurrection took place then He is the Son of God as He said. If He is the Son of God then all He says is true - and that pretty much covers the whole Bible and proves that God exists. All other questions are secondary.

Paul said that, "if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is futile and your faith is empty. Also, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified against God that he raised Christ from the dead, when in reality he did not raise him, if indeed the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is useless; you are still in your sins. Furthermore, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. For if only in this life we have hope in Christ, we should be pitied more than anyone" (1 Cor. 15:13-19).

Minimal Facts Approach

For believers to successfully defend Christianity against Atheism and other religions we need not die in the ditch over every single doctrine. Indeed, the gospel (which is spelled out most succinctly in the chapter quoted above) does not require much in the way of presentation. According to Paul it is that: "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared [to many]" (1 Cor. 15:3-5). So basically, if Christ died, was buried, and was raised, then the gospel is true. This is what Dr. Gary Habermas calls the "minimal facts approach." It does not seek to convince someone of every aspect of Christian doctrine, nor does it require that every piece of evidence in existence be used to point to it. Rather, the essentials of Jesus' resurrection can be proved using only the most critically accepted evidences.

As C. S. Lewis noted, given God miracles are not only possible they are probable - and the only way to prove they cannot exist is to prove that God does not exist. God's existence is not something that science or history can speak to, that is for philosophy. Therefore, we can put that one off for now and simply look at the evidence of history like we would any other alleged historical event without filtering the evidence through our assumptions. Habermas states that there are at least twelve facts that critical scholars will admit (and the majority of scholars will give you more than these). Not only are they admitted by virtually all critical scholars, but they are individually attested to by other data.

• Jesus died by crucifixion.
• He was buried.
• His death caused the Disciples to despair and lose hope.
• Jesus' tomb was discovered (or claimed to be discovered) to be empty a few days later.
• The Disciples believed they experienced appearances of the risen Jesus.
• After this the Disciples were transformed from doubters into bold believers.
• This message was the center of preaching in the early Church.
• This message was preached in Jerusalem.
• As a result of this preaching, the Church was born and it grew.
• Resurrection day, Sunday, replaced the Sabbath (Saturday) as the primary day of worship.
• James, a skeptic, was converted when he also believed that he saw the resurrected Jesus.
• Paul, a violent enemy of Christianity, was converted by an experience which he believed to be an appearance of the risen Jesus.

Any good theory must do two things: (1) Explain the most evidence, and (2) not contradict the evidence. While there may be some theories to explain one or two of the above facts, only the resurrection explains and accounts for them all. Even if someone were to object to this list of twelve, only a few are needed to prove the resurrection and establish the gospel: Jesus' death, burial, resurrection, and appearances. With just these facts alone, you can refute all the major skeptical explanations. Hank Hanegraaff has a good memory tool to remember these: the acronym FEAT (Fatality, Empty Tomb, Appearances, Transformation).

Christ's Death

Death by crucifixion is essentially death by asphyxiation - one is increasingly unable to exhale. Habermas reports that an experiment was done in West Germany where male volunteers were hung (not nailed!) by a 2 x 4. These men lost consciousness at a maximum of 12 minutes (crucifixion takes longer because the victim can push up, for a time, with his feet). Second, Roman soldiers (expert killers) stabbed Jesus in the chest and blood and water came out. This means that the spear entered His heart (not just His chest) because the water would have come from the pericardium surrounding the heart.

Even if He did not die (but only swooned) what about the heavy burial clothes? What about the sealed tomb? What about the stone covering the tomb? What about the Roman guards? What about walking miles on destroyed feet? What about His appearances - suppose He made it through all that - do you think He would have looked like a risen savior or just a guy on the verge of death? The disciples' reactions were not those of seeing someone barely alive. Even if this too could be explained what do you do with Paul and James?

Christ's Burial and Empty Tomb

Regardless of whether or not critics accept certain features of the gospels there is no early evidence that Jesus was buried anywhere else. Critics might come up with theories later, but they should have as good of evidence as Christians do. We have texts that were written very shortly after Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. In First Corinthians 15 (which is accepted by critics as genuine) Paul bases the gospel message on Christ's death, burial , and resurrection. Acts is also accepted by many critics and in 13:29 we are told that Jesus was buried.

All four gospels agree that the tomb where Jesus was buried was empty three days later. There is good reason to think that these accounts are not made up. First, the first people to visit the empty tomb are women. The men were off in hiding. Now, men are not known to write themselves into stories as being scared while the women stood strong! Further, in the first century women were not allowed to testify in a court of law - you would not want them to be the primary witnesses if you were making a story up. Second, the Jews believed the tomb was empty. They thought the disciples stole the body but notice that this means they agreed that the tomb was in fact empty (you don't make up stories for false facts). Third, if the disciples (or anyone) stole the body this fails to explain the appearances. Finally, Jerusalem was the last place someone would make up this story because all the people who were in a position to challenge the story were right there. It was the only place in the world where such a story could be refuted by the faith's enemies and yet it wasn't!

Christ's Appearances

Jesus appeared to over 500 people (1 Cor. 15:6; Luke 24; Acts 1:3 ) including skeptics and enemies of the faith. As quoted above, "If Christ has not been raised from the dead," (Paul says after giving a list of His appearances) "then our faith is vain." They didn’t just say, "We believe in Jesus," or, "He rose in our hearts"! Some try to argue that the disciples hallucinated. First, hallucinations don’t occur in groups and many different people at different times believed they saw the risen Christ. Second, hallucinations are rare and require a certain state of mind that would not have been true of these people at different places and times.

The Disciples' Transformation

Critics admit that the disciples at least thought they saw the risen Jesus - but what if they made it up? Neither lies nor hallucinations can transform people the way the resurrection did. First, what would they have had to gain? Christianity wasn't exactly popular and it certainly did not make them any money! Second, liars do not make good martyrs. There is no better explanation than the resurrection for the disciples willingness to die horrible deaths for their faith. Yes, lots of people die for lies that they think are true, but no one dies for what they know is untrue. Yet according to history:

• Matthew suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, killed by a sword.
• Mark died in Alexandria, Egypt, dragged by horses through the streets.
• Luke was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost.
• John, the only apostle to die peacefully, faced martyrdom when he was boiled in oil where he was miraculously delivered from death, John was then sentenced to the island of Patmos, he was later freed and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa, and died as an old man.
• Peter was crucified upside down on an x-shaped cross,  he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die in the same way that Jesus Christ had died.
• James the Greater, son of Zebedee, was ultimately beheaded at Jerusalem. The Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial, he later declared his new faith to the judge and knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian.
• James the Just, the brother of Jesus, was thrown over a precipice and fell one hundred feet from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club.
• Bartholomew, also known as Nathaniel,  was martyred for his preaching in Armenia when he was flayed to death by a whip.
• Andrew was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras, Greece... he was whipped severely by seven soldiers, they then tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony, yet he continued to preach to his tormentors for two days until he died.
• Thomas was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips.
• Jude, the brother of Jesus, was killed with arrows for refusing to deny his faith.
• Matthias, the replacement for Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded.
• Barnabas was stoned to death at Salonica.
• The apostle Paul was tortured and then beheaded by Nero at Rome in A.D. 67.

There is no record of any eyewitness ever recanting - no matter what tortures they underwent - for what they said they saw.

Conclusion

The claim that ignited the fire under these once terrified and hiding disciples was, "We saw Him." Because Jesus was raised we have hope for the future - that we will be raised and that what we have done in this life will matter for eternity.