28 April 2024
28 April 2024
Does The Resurrection of Christ Make Sense in Modern Times?
In the first centuries of Christianity, during the era of martyrdom, martyrs were certain that they’ll resurrect, as opposed to dying, mirroring what happened with Jesus. Paul states: “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”
If the first generations of Christians were so sure of the resurrection to the extent that they were able to give up their lives for such a belief, can we, after more than two thousand years living in a skeptic world, have the same confidence that Jesus was resurrected? Let’s examine the facts we know about resurrection and the alternative scenarios
The Facts
1- The resurrection of Jesus was based on many firsthand witnesses
Peter, the apostle, in his speech to the Israelites mentioned that they have witnessed Jesus’s resurrection saying: “You killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.” (Acts 3: 14, 15)
The most important criterion for choosing a disciple instead of Judas was witnessing Jesus’ resurrection: “So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” (Acts 1: 21, 22)
Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, mentioned in the popular passage called “The Testimonium Flavianum” (meaning the testimony of Flavius Josephus), which is found in Book 18, Chapter 3, of his book “the Antiquities,” that Jesus’s followers have reported his resurrection: “And those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive.”
(Jesus Outside the New Testament, p. 97)
“You killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.”
(Acts 3: 14, 15)
2-The sudden emotional change of the disciples
John Stott, the theologian and author, wrote: “Perhaps the transformation of the disciples of Jesus is the greatest evidence of all for the resurrection.”
3-No materialistic gain in proclaiming the resurrection
The apostles suffered for their faith. Paul recounts the suffering he endured, which included being whipped, beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, near starvation, and in danger from various people and places (2 Cor 6, 2 Cor 11). Speaking for the apostles, after being threatened by the religious leaders, Peter and John say, “For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20).
First Christians gave up every source of security for themselves and their families. They left their homes because of the persecution at the hands of the Roman and Jewish leaders and scattered throughout many regions. They abandoned any possibility of a comfortable and secure
The apostles were thrown in prison and beaten for their faith, but they continued to preach and teach the gospel (Acts 5:17–42). In short, there are no earthly motives for proclaiming their faith and the only reason for enduring such sufferings is that they knew it was true.
4-The martyrdom of the apostles
Michael Licona, the historian and apologist, captures the key point in his book “The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach” stating: “After Jesus’ death, the disciples endured persecution, and a number of them experienced martyrdom. The strength of their conviction indicates that they were not just claiming Jesus had appeared to them after rising from the dead. They really believed it. They willingly endangered themselves by publicly proclaiming the risen Christ.” So the question is what kind of people would give up their lives for something they are skeptical about?
Alternatives to the Christian Story
If Jesus wasn’t resurrected, what might have happened then?! There are three popular alternatives to the resurrection.
1-The stolen body theory
This is the oldest claim trying to justify the absence of Jesus’ body. It was mentioned in Mathew 28. The idea originated from the chief priests and the elders who dictated the guards to say that the disciples stole Jesus’ body while they were sleeping. Paul E. Little, the author and evangelical professor, wrote: “What judge would listen to you if you said that while you were asleep you knew it was your neighbor who came into your house and stole your television set? Who knows what goes on while he’s asleep? Testimony like this would be laughed out of any court.”
Even if there were no guards at the tomb, how could the disciples risk their own lives and the lives of many other followers by claiming that Jesus was resurrected whereas they surely knew it was a lie? And of what gain? Nothing.
2-The swoon theory
This theory claims that Jesus was only fainted, not killed before he became conscious again. It’s relatively new and has no historical evidence dated back to Jesus. Moreover, there’s no single instance in history where the Romans failed to kill by crucifixion. Besides, If Jesus was unconscious in the tomb, how come after three days without food or water with all the suffering and torturing He experienced, He could gain His power back and not eventually die? Even if He could, how did He get past the guards?
3-The hallucination theory
This theory claims that the disciples experienced mass hallucinations of Jesus being alive after His death. Hallucinations involve sensing things such as visions, sounds, or smells that seem real but are not. These things are created by the mind.
Aubrey Moe, a psychologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, says: “Hallucinations are a sensory experience that occurs in the absence of an external stimulus… To the person who’s experiencing it, it’s incredibly real. Just like you and I see anything else in the world. It’s very real to them, it’s just that another person in that same situation would not have that same experience.” However, contrary to this definition, all who were present in any of the encounters of Jesus being alive after His death had the same experience. There isn’t a single instance recorded in which someone was experiencing Jesus with his senses, whereas another one present in the same situation doesn’t.
Also, no two hallucinations are identical. As such, the hallucination hypothesis doesn’t explain group encounters with the resurrected Jesus. Moreover, it’s not only a matter of a single instance of a hallucinating group; Jesus appeared to different people with different mentalities and different emotional statuses in different timings: Mary Magdalene was crying, the women were trembling and astonished, Peter was regretting, Thomas was doubting, Emmaus disciples were remembering the events of the week, and the disciples in Galilee were fishing. It’s impossible that all of them had the same hallucination.
Hallucination is most probably related to mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorders, or alcohol addiction. However, in certain cases, it might happen while grieving a loved person who just died when a person would be in a denial state expecting to encounter that loved one anytime, but Jesus’s disciples don’t fit that profile. They weren’t expecting his resurrection. They were frightened and in hiding (John 20:19). They slowly believed it after they were forced by the obvious facts and repeated experiences
All Cateorgies
