The Resurrection Of Jesus - The Basis Of Christianity

When a person professes to be Born-Again, they should be able to defend the foundational facts of Christianity.

“We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:14-17 ESV)

“I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” (Galatians 2:21 ESV).

Either Jesus was a fraud, a madman lunatic, or God, the Son. Christianity proclaims that Jesus arose from the dead and bases its entire case on that fact. Historical certainty can be defined as when every logically available piece of evidence is in. Historical certainty of the Resurrection can’t be obtained due to there being no living eyewitnesses, so we must rely on available logical evidence.

Skeptics use the confirmation bias of circular logic to base their denial of the Resurrection, which goes like this: miracles can't happen, so Jesus didn't rise, so the reporters lied; because miracles don't happen, so the Resurrection couldn't occur, so we can't believe the stories, because miracles can't happen, so, etc., etc., etc.

All facts presuppose other facts, so any structured argument has basic assumptions. These can also be argued but are usually of a kind that both sides can accept as founding facts of the debate. Before presenting the evidence of the Resurrection, certain assumptions must be taken into account, which are easily proved with sincere, unbiased research.

1. Jesus lived. He is a historical person.

2. The Romans crucified Him at the request of the Jewish leaders. He was considered dead.

3. He was buried in a known, accessible tomb.

4. The preaching about Jesus was threefold:

A - He arose from the dead

B – He ascended into Heaven

C - The tomb is empty

5. The Jewish leaders were motivated to disprove the Resurrection.

6. The followers of Jesus were persecuted for speaking about the Resurrection.

7. The tomb was empty and still is! No body was ever produced.

8. There is a millennium of scholarship research focused on the Scriptures that have established the Bible was faithfully transmitted. Historical records of Jesus’ life are recorded in a few places apart from the Bible and writings of His followers. Those who deny the Resurrection use the same sources for their argument.

The Uniqueness of Jesus

The historical Jesus was unique, and wherever you find Him quoted, He is saying things that are humanly impossible to experience.

1. Jesus said He would live forever (John 8:58)

2. Jesus described the Eternal world from the inside: He saw Satan fall (Matthew 3:41,115:7, 8:10,25:41; Luke 10:18; John 14:2).

3. Jesus seated all authority in Himself (Matthew 5:17,20,22,26,28,32; 7:29; 28:18)

4. Jesus thought He was perfect. He presumed His adequacy to forgive sin. He defined the Law (Matthew 5:17, 9:2; Luke 7:48; Mark 10:21).

5. Jesus said that His death could fix the wrongs of the world as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, 1 Timothy 2:6 – see also Numbers 18:15-16, Exodus 13:13, 34:20).

6. Jesus said He would rise from the dead (Matthew 20:19,26:61-64; 27:63-65; John 2:19)

7. Jesus was the center of His belief system. He preached himself (Matthew 10:32-39,11:28-30,19:29 all contain twenty-four I's. Jesus said, "eat my flesh, drink my blood," and "I" am the Way, Truth, Life." (John 6:51,14:6).

Jesus was a Wise and Nice Guy

Some skeptics accept the historicity of Jesus but will not accept His divinity. They want to give some credibility to Jesus, so they argue long and hard that He was a good and wise teacher. This argument is a diversion that cannot be logically demonstrated. At the second level of investigation, neither of these terms holds up.

If Jesus was wise, then He knew that His claims were humanly impossible and defrauded the poor, guilt-ridden people. Therefore, He was not good or wise because none of these terms mean anything unless Jesus was who He said He was God, the Son.

If Jesus was a nice guy, meant well, and honestly tried to help people, then He must have been a deluded lunatic who didn't realize that no human being could do the things He said He did.

The Supernatural

Skeptics have gone to great lengths to supply rational explanations for the basic facts of the Resurrection, specifically that the tomb was empty because they do not want to acknowledge the supernatural. Some theories sound plausible, but they don't hold up to the fundamental assumption that the Disciples told the truth. Six major theories follow: