Did Jesus really rise from the dead?
Dead people stay dead. The resurrection stories are legends that grew over decades as Jesus' followers struggled to cope with his execution. Grief-induced visions, a mistaken tomb, or later embellishment explain the data better than a miracle.
— A common skeptical position; see Bart Ehrman, How Jesus Became God (2014), ch. 4–5
A small set of facts is granted by nearly all historians who study the period, including skeptics: Jesus died by crucifixion; his disciples sincerely believed he appeared to them alive; the church persecutor Paul and the skeptic James were converted by what they believed were appearances; and the tomb was very likely found empty. Natural theories each explain one or two of these facts but fail on the rest. The resurrection explains all of them, and it is exactly what Jesus predicted.
What Scripture says
3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve. 6After that, He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8And last of all He appeared to me also, as to one of untimely birth.
An early creed Paul 'received' and passed on, listing named witnesses, many still alive when Paul wrote.
14And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is worthless, and so is your faith. 15In that case, we are also exposed as false witnesses about God. For we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead, but He did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19If our hope in Christ is for this life alone, we are to be pitied more than all men.
Paul stakes the entire faith on a historical, falsifiable event.
1When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they could go and anoint the body of Jesus. 2Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they went to the tomb. 3They were asking one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb?” 4But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, even though it was extremely large. 5When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 6But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here! See the place where they put Him. 7But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you.’” 8So the women left the tomb and ran away, trembling and bewildered. And in their fear they did not say a word to anyone.
The earliest Gospel account; women, whose testimony carried little legal weight, discover the tomb empty.
36While they were describing these events, Jesus Himself stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 37But they were startled and frightened, thinking they had seen a spirit. 38“Why are you troubled,” Jesus asked, “and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39Look at My hands and My feet. It is I Myself. Touch Me and see—for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” 40And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and feet. 41While they were still in disbelief because of their joy and amazement, He asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42So they gave Him a piece of broiled fish, 43and He took it and ate it in front of them.
The risen Jesus is physical. He is touched and eats, which rules out a ghost or a vision.
22Men of Israel, listen to this message: Jesus of Nazareth was a man certified by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know. 23He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. 24But God raised Him from the dead, releasing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep Him in its grip. 25David says about Him: ‘I saw the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 26Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will dwell in hope, 27because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay. 28You have made known to me the paths of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence.’ 29Brothers, I can tell you with confidence that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that He would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31Foreseeing this, David spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did His body see decay. 32God has raised this Jesus to life, to which we are all witnesses.
Peter proclaims the resurrection in Jerusalem weeks later, where the tomb could be checked.
18Only after three years did I go up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas, and I stayed with him fifteen days. 19But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.
Paul meets Peter and James in Jerusalem within a few years of his conversion. This is where he likely received the creed.
The case
The minimal facts
Historian Gary Habermas surveyed well over a thousand scholarly publications on the resurrection, written by believers and skeptics alike. He identified a handful of facts that are strongly evidenced and that a large majority of scholars accept. The argument uses only these widely granted facts, not the inspiration of Scripture.
1. Jesus died by crucifixion
All four Gospels report it, and so do non-Christian sources: the Roman historian Tacitus (Annals 15.44) and the Jewish historian Josephus (Antiquities 18.63–64). Roman executioners were professionals. The "swoon theory", that Jesus merely fainted, is almost universally rejected today.
2. The disciples believed the risen Jesus appeared to them
The creed in 1 Corinthians 15:3–8 lists appearances to Peter, the Twelve, more than five hundred at once, James and all the apostles. Paul says he "received" this tradition. Most scholars trace it to his visit with Peter and James in Jerusalem (Galatians 1:18–19), a few years after the crucifixion. Even skeptical scholars grant that the disciples sincerely believed they had seen Jesus.
3. The persecutor Paul was converted
Paul (Saul) was violently opposed to the church (Galatians 1:13; Philippians 3:6). He says his reversal happened because the risen Jesus appeared to him (1 Corinthians 15:8). He was not a grieving follower but an enemy.
4. The skeptic James was converted
During Jesus' ministry his brothers did not believe in him (John 7:5; Mark 3:21). Yet James became the leader of the Jerusalem church and was executed for his faith around AD 62 (Josephus, Antiquities 20.200). Paul's creed gives the reason: "then he appeared to James."
5. The tomb was empty
This fact is somewhat less universally granted than the first four, but it has strong support:
- Jerusalem factor. The resurrection was proclaimed in the very city where Jesus was buried. A body would have refuted it immediately.
- Enemy attestation. The earliest opposing explanation, that the disciples stole the body, assumes the tomb was empty (Matthew 28:11–15).
- Women as first witnesses. In first-century Jewish society women's testimony carried little legal weight (Josephus, Antiquities 4.219). If someone had invented the story, they would not have made women the primary witnesses. The detail survives because it is what happened.
Weighing the explanations
| Theory | Crucifixion | Appearances | Paul | James | Empty tomb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swoon (Jesus survived) | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Stolen body | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Hallucinations | ✓ | Partly | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Legend | ✓ | ✗ (too early) | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Resurrection | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
The resurrection is the only explanation that accounts for all the facts. A skeptic may reply that miracles are impossible. That isn't a conclusion drawn from the evidence; it's an assumption made before looking at it. If God exists, raising Jesus is not beyond his power. The real question is whether the evidence points there, and it does.
Why it matters
Paul did not treat the resurrection as a private spiritual experience. He staked everything on it: "if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile" (1 Corinthians 15:17). Christianity invites investigation. It offers a hope grounded in an event in history, not wishful thinking.
Word study
greek · “he has been raised” · 1 Corinthians 15:4
Paul shifts from the aorist tense for 'died' and 'was buried' to the perfect tense for 'has been raised'. The perfect describes a completed action with continuing results: Christ was raised and remains alive. The passive voice points to God as the one who raised him.
“But what about…?”
Couldn't the disciples have hallucinated?
Hallucinations are private experiences, but the appearances were reported to groups (the Twelve, 'more than five hundred'). Hallucinations also do not empty a tomb, and they would not have converted a hostile skeptic like James or a persecutor like Paul. Grief visions of the dead were familiar in the ancient world and were never taken to mean resurrection.
Maybe they went to the wrong tomb?
Then the authorities could simply have gone to the right tomb and produced the body, ending the movement. The earliest Jewish counter-claim, that the disciples stole the body (Matthew 28:11–15), assumes the tomb really was empty.
Isn't this just a legend that grew over time?
The creed in 1 Corinthians 15 is usually dated by critical scholars to within a few years of the crucifixion. That is too early for legend to replace the core historical memory, especially while eyewitnesses like Peter and James were still alive and leading the church.
Didn't the disciples simply lie?
Liars make poor martyrs. The disciples endured beatings, imprisonment and in several cases death for their proclamation. People die for things they believe are true, but rarely for something they know is false.
Where Christians differ
Go deeper
- book · 2004The Case for the Resurrection of JesusGary Habermas & Michael Licona
- book · 2003The Resurrection of the Son of GodN. T. Wright
- book · 2010The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical ApproachMichael Licona
- book · 2003The Case for EasterLee Strobel
Sources (4)
- Tacitus, Annals 15.44: Christ executed by Pontius Pilate under Tiberius
- Josephus, Antiquities 18.63–64 and 20.200: Jesus' execution under Pilate; the death of 'James, the brother of Jesus'
- Josephus, Antiquities 4.219: women's testimony not admitted in court
- Gary Habermas, 'Resurrection Research from 1975 to the Present', Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 3.2 (2005)
Related questions
Couldn't the disciples have hallucinated the resurrection?
Visions of the bereaved are real, but they don't fit the evidence. The appearances came to individuals and to groups, to friends and to enemies, at different times and places. They convinced a skeptic (James) and a persecutor (Paul) who were not grieving. And a vision does not empty a tomb. Most importantly, in Jewish thought, seeing a dead person would mean seeing a ghost or a spirit, not that he had been bodily raised. The disciples' claim was something hallucinations would not have produced.
Did Jesus really die on the cross?
Jesus was flogged, crucified and pierced by professional Roman executioners who confirmed his death, and both Roman and Jewish historians report that he was executed. Even if someone had survived such treatment, he would have been a broken, bleeding man needing months of care, not a victorious Lord who convinced his followers he had conquered death. That is why the swoon theory has been abandoned by almost all scholars, skeptical ones included.
Weren't the resurrection stories written too late to be reliable?
The resurrection is not first found in the Gospels but in Paul's letters from the 50s AD, which quote a creed that most scholars date to within a few years of the crucifixion. That is far too early for legend to replace the core facts, especially while Peter, James and hundreds of other witnesses were alive. By ancient standards the Gospels themselves are also early: our main sources for Alexander the Great were written centuries after his death.
Why do the Gospel resurrection accounts seem to contradict each other?
The Gospels differ in secondary details but agree on the core: Jesus was buried; on the first day of the week women, including Mary Magdalene, found the tomb empty; angelic messengers announced he had risen; and he then appeared to his disciples. Differences in peripheral details are what we expect from independent witnesses and from ancient biographers who selected and summarized. Historians do not reject an event because accounts of it vary in the details; identical accounts would suggest copying or collusion.
This entry is a draft and has not yet been theologically reviewed.