According to the New Testament, Jesus was both human and God, so he had the power to lay his life down and to take it up again; thus after Jesus died, he came back to life. This event is referred to in Christian terminology as the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and is commemorated and celebrated by most Christians annually on Easter Sunday.

Most Christians, even those who do not interpret other parts of the Bible literally, accept the New Testament story as an historical account of an actual event central to their faith, though some do not accept a literal bodily resurrection. Non-Christians generally view the story as legend or allegory.

Resurrection accounts

The New Testament

The primary accounts of the resurrection are in the last chapters of the Gospels: Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20 and John 21.

All these accounts agree that Jesus was crucified late on Friday afternoon and placed in a tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea. On Sunday, after the Saturday Jewish day of rest, some of Jesus' female followers returned to the tomb, to complete the burial rites. When they arrived they discovered that the tomb was empty, and they returned with some of the male disciples.

Jesus then makes a series of appearances to the disciples, with the most notable being to the disciples in the upper room, where Thomas would not believe until he put his finger into the holes in Jesus' hands and side (John 20:24-29); along the road to Emmaus, where people talked about their failed hopes that Jesus would be the messiah before recognising Jesus (Luke 24:13-32); and beside the Sea of Galilee to encourage Peter to serve his followers (John 21:1-23). His final appearance is reported as being forty days after the resurrection when he ascended into heaven (Luke 24:44-49), where he remains.

Both Peter (Acts 2:22-32) and Paul (1 Corinthians 15:19) argue that this event was the cornerstone of Christianity, and the resurrection of Jesus is mentioned in nearly every New Testament book.

When compared, the accounts give different details and are difficult to reconcile into a single sequence of events according to some, though John Wenham and other scholars have argued that they are reconcilable. Also, Christians have answered by noting that multiple eyewitnesses to any event tend to give differing accounts and that the resurrection account has many details. (see below)

Other Christian records

Some of the earliest records of the resurrection outside the New Testament are found in the writings of Ignatius (50 - 115), Polycarp (69 - 155) Justin Martyr (100 - 165), and Tertullian (160 - 220), and also the first epistle of Clement.

Ignatius makes many passing references, but two extended discussions are found in the Letter to the Trallians and the Letter to the Smyrnaeans.

All of the main Creeds mention the resurrection, eg the Nicene Creed (325) states that"On the third day he rose again"

Noteworthy non-Christian records

The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus is reputed to have written in 93 that Jesus "appeared to alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold". However, this is a highly controversial passage, likely to be edited by a later Christian scribe (see Josephus on Jesus).

The Roman historian, Tacitus mentions the historical existence of a "Christus", who was put to death under Pontius Pilate. No mention is made of the resurrection (see Tacitus on Jesus).

Suetonius mentions a figure named "Chrestus" who instigated the "Jews" to cause "disturbances" during the reign of Claudius, who expelled them from Rome. No other details are provided; some equate "Chrestus" with "Christ", while others think this was an actual rebel leader of the Jews active in Rome during Claudius' reign (see Suetonius on Jesus).

Thallus may briefly refer to Jesus' crucifixion, making it possible that at Christianity and therefore the resurrection were known by the middle of the first century in the Mediterranean. (Habermas, G The Historical Jesus, p. 197)

Alternative hypotheses

Support and Rebuttal for these claims can be found by following the links

The stolen body hypothesis: the disciples stole the body from the tomb and then fabricated the resurrection.

The swoon hypothesis: Jesus either fainted from exhaustion on the cross or was drugged, and was later revived in the tomb and survived.

The vision hypothesis: Rather than a physical resurrection, Jesus appeared as a vision to various

The Jewish view of Jesus as stated in the Toledoth Yeshu is that the body of the crucified Jesus was removed in the same night.

The Islamic view of Jesus as stated in the Qur'an is that Jesus was not crucified, but someone who looked like Jesus died in his place - (Sura 4:156).

The Gospel of Barnabas which claims that Jesus escaped crucifixion, Judas dying in his place.

Documents found by Russian historian Nicolai Notovitch claim that Jesus was resuscitated and lived the remainder of his life in Kashmir, where there exists a possible tomb for Jesus, under the name Yuz Asaf.

Some speculate that the New Testament record is incomplete, claiming that Jesus married, had children and later moved with his wife to the south of France or Glastonbury, England. These theories have given rise to such works as Holy Blood, Holy Grail, which espouses the idea that the Merovingian kings were descendants of Jesus.

Significance of the resurrection

The resurrection of Jesus perhaps the most significant part of the New Testament, where, according to Christian Theology, it is the point in scripture where Jesus gives his ultimate demonstration that he has power over life and death, thus he has the ability to give people eternal life.

While Easter Sunday is the main day on which the resurrection of Jesus is celebrated directly, Emperor Constantine I of Rome declared that weekly church gatherings would no longer occur on Saturdays, (the Sabbath), rather on Sundays, so effectively Sunday church gathering celebrates the resurrection.

Jesus' death and resurrection subtend a variety of theological interpretations as to how salvation is granted to humanity. A common feature of all these interpretations is that they place greater emphasis on the death and resurrection than on the actual words said to have been taught by Jesus himself on the subject of atonement. (eg. Matt. 6:14-15). Skeptics, too, may find meaning in the resurrection, and summaries of the different perspectives follow:

Roman Catholic view

Held by the majority of Christians, the Catholic view is that Jesus willingly sacrificed himself as an act of perfect obedience, atoning for the disobedience of Adam, and thus cleansing Mankind of the stain of original sin. Jesus's sacrifice was an offering of love that pleased God more than man's sin offended God, so now all who believe in Jesus and keep his commandments may receive salvation in his name.

Catholics believe one can fall from grace again if one continues to sin after being saved. One can be restored to grace through the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation (Confession).

Judicial view

By contrast, the Catholic view off-shoot titled the judicial view was held by Martin Luther, and a major cause of the Reformation. It is held by the majority of Protestants.

This view emphasizes God as Judge. Humanity had sinned and God was therefore required, in His justice, to punish humankind. However, God sent His Son, who was sinless, to take the sin of the world on his shoulders, so that anyone who accepted the gift of Jesus's act could be freed from the consequences of his sin, without violating God's judgment.

The result is that through Christ's death, the Old Covenant passed away and all things became new. The veil separating man and God was torn, and the people were free to work out their own salvation through the only true Mediator, Jesus Christ, rather than seeking salvation through rituals, rules, or an exclusive priesthood. People who hold this view generally believe that only acceptance of Christ's sacrifice is necessary for salvation, not a ritual or a sacrament.

This view of the theological significance of Jesus's resurrection is analogous to the Jewish Day of Atonement, by which the sins of the Israelites were put onto a flawless scapegoat, who was then released into the wilderness, taking the sins of the people with him.

Christus Victor

The Christus Victor view, which is more common among Eastern Orthodox Christians, holds that Jesus was sent by God to defeat death and Satan. Because of his perfection, voluntary death, and Resurrection, Jesus defeated Satan and death, and arose victorious. Therefore humanity was no longer bound in sin, but was free to rejoin God through faith in Jesus.

In contrast to the Judicial view, the Christus Victor model emphasizes a spiritual battle between good and evil. The Judicial view would require Christians to believe that God voluntarily punished Jesus for their sins, whereas the Christus Victor view sees humanity as formerly in the power of Satan, who was defeated by Jesus; and God, through Jesus, broke us out of Satan's power.

The Christus Victor sometimes has also been used to argue that Jesus defeated sin and death for everyone, whether or not they hear of Jesus, granting non-Christians the chance of eternal life (or a guarantee thereof, depending on the particular theology in question).

First Man view

The First Man view, held by a small minority of Christians and some Pelagians, states that Jesus was a person just like the rest of humanity, but due to his remarkable faith, purity, sinlessness, and perfection, he earned eternal life, and was resurrected because Death could not hold him. They also believe that by following his teachings and example others may also ultimately earn eternal life.

The First Man view can be compared with the Old-Testament stories of Enoch and Elijah, who walked with God to such a degree of faithfulness that they were not required to die. Enoch 'was no more,' and Elijah was carried in a whirlwind. In the same way, Jesus was faithful to such a

Liberal views

Liberal Christians consider the significance of the resurrection to be a religious symbol of hope, and accept it as a richly symbolic and spiritually nourishing myth. The question of the resurrection is not one of history but religious attitude. People holding this view generally deny that Jesus was literally and bodily resurrected.

Skeptical views

Almost all non-Christians do not accept the bodily resurrection of Jesus. They therefore either deny the ressurrection as a form of myth, or agree with liberal Christians that the resurrection was a devoutly held, powerful myth (for instance, Carl Jung suggests in his essay "The Answer to Job" that the crucifixion-resurrection story was the forceful spiritual symbol of, literally, God-as-Yahweh becoming God-as-Job),

The historicity of the resurrection

For Christians, the historicity of the resurrection is seen as crucial, as most tend to assume that if Jesus has power over life and death, then he is the Son of God. The resurrection, then, becomes the point of falsifiability for Christianity, and is often the focus of religious debates.

As with all study of ancient history, it is important to use proper historical methodology. In this process, the records of the accounts of the witnesses are analysed for their reliability and plausibility.

Arguments for the resurrection's historicity

Defending the resurrection's historicity is a field of study known as Christian apologetics. Apologists will claim some or all of the following:

Central tenets

• Multiple eyewitness (At one time, 500) accounts claiming to see and interact with the resurrected Christ, from differing times and situations.
• The conversion to Christianity of Skeptics, including James the eldest half-brother of Jesus and Saul of Tarsus, a pharisee who persecuted Christians.
• The early recording of events (by Christians) suggests that myth-making is unlikely .
• Occam's Razor: If a resurrection is indeed possible, claiming that Jesus really did rise and appear to his disciples is clearly the most logical explanation for the complex events that came later.
• That hundreds of millions of Christians worldwide claim to have met Jesus personally and/or experienced the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Historical support

• All resurrection witnesses repeatedly risked their lives to preach Christianity, and many were martyred, which limits the range of potentially false motives for their testimonies.
• The martyrdom of many of the early church leaders for their faith; some claimed to have met or been disciples of the Apostles. Including: Polycarp, Ignatius, Papias, Irenaeus, and Justin Martyr.
• The first witnesses to the empty tomb and the resurrected Jesus were women, whose testimony was not regarded as credible in the patriarchal Judaism of that period. This is usually seen as a precedent for the gospels being explanations of fact over socially convenient fabrications.
• Most resurrection stories of antiquity emphasize the immortality of their hero's soul; the New Testament descriptions of the resurrection are (arguably) unique in being thoroughly bodily and physical.
• A general acceptance by a majority of biblical scholars and historians that Jesus' disciples at least thought they met Jesus after he died.
• A historical check is served by the presence of hostile witnesses during the time of early Christianity.

Biblical support

• An early Christian Creed proclaims Jesus's resurrection - repeated in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
• Jesus is reported to have flesh and bones - Luke 24:39
• Jesus showed himself to the Apostles with many "infallible proofs" - Acts 1:3
• Christ's "flesh did not see corruption" - Acts 2:31
• The Jewish Scriptures contain statements which some apologists have interpreted as saying that God would take a body, die for sins and rise again.
• The resurrection stories speak poorly of the faith of Jesus' Apostles when he met with them after rising, which some say portrays the gospel writers as honest.

Secular claims

• Roman guards could be punished by death if ever they allow a crucified man to live. The Roman guards even pierced Jesus on the side with a spear; his body bled and released water, a sign of death.
• Roman guards could be punished by death if they allowed a condemned man's remains be stolen.
• The Toledoth Yeshu, (a compilation of early Jewish writings), alludes to stolen body hypothesis. , as does the record of a second century debate between a Christian and a Jew. Apologists see this an acknowledgement that the tomb was empty, with an attempt to explain it away.

Appeals to silence

• The are no records of protests against the empty tomb.
• There is no record of the Jewish and Roman authorities disproving the belief by publicly presenting the real corpse of Jesus.
• The Biblical claim that over 500 people were witnesses of the resurrected Jesus, many still alive at the time; though this open declaration was to Athenian non-Christians who could respond.

Other points

• Western legal standards argue for the historicity of the resurrection of Christ , attested to by former Chief Justices of England.
• A former Watergate conspirator argues that because conspiracies are hard to maintain in the face of persecution, the Apostles were telling the truth regarding the resurrection of Jesus.
• Jesus and his apostles are regarded as highly moral people, as opposed to some religions and cults where the leader or the leader's disciples are untrustworthy.
• Jesus fulfilled many Jewish prophecies; nearly impossible to fulfill by chance.
• The poor educational level of the disciples would have made devising an elaborate cover-up difficult.
• The early church spread rapidly, though highly persecuted.
• Jewish culture was unfamiliar with mythical stories of Gods and rebirths.
• The gospel of John portrays medical knowledge not available at the time; eg. the flow of "blood and water" after a soldier is recorded to have pieced Jesus' side.

Other methodology

• Anglican scholar N.T. Wright in his 2003 volume The Resurrection of the Son of God, examines extensively eschatological views and vocabulary of ancient pagans and post-biblical Judaism and analyses the Biblical accounts of the resurrection against this background.

Arguments against the resurrection's historicity

Major points

• The Gospel accounts of the resurrection differ, and there appears to be evidence of a progressive supernaturalization involving the appearance of angels at the Empty tomb.
• Most people outside Christianity were not aware of the claims of its early proponents (such as those of an empty tomb), so unable to refute them. As Christianity became better known, no evidence remained to refute.
• Occam's Razor: An actual resurrection is not necessary to explain all subsequent history (for alternative hypotheses, see above)

Other points

• Stories of the bodily disappearance of divine heroes are common: Gesar, the Savior of Tibet, The Gurus of Sikhism, the ascension of Muhammad (even though he has a tomb), the vanishing of Elijah into the sky, God buries Moses in secret.
• A few modern scholars (e.g., Robert Graves and Evan Powell) speculate that Jesus may have undergone a near-death experience. This is functionally similar to the swoon hypothesis.
• No Roman Historian quotes any darkness of three hours at the time of Jesus' death - Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
• Had a resurrection occurred, the corpse would be missing, and the executioner-soldiers would have been themselves killed for permitting it to be stolen. We have no record of their executions, nor do we have a record from Roman authorities exonerating the soldiers of corpse-theft on the grounds that the deceased had resumed living.
• Jesus' apostles and closest friends doubted that they were in the presence of a resurrected Jesus.
• A few skeptics claim that some of the 500 who witnessed the resurrected Jesus lost their faith. However, the bible passage in question uses the term "fell asleep", which is much more likely a euphemism for death.
• The Pauline Epistles mention resurrection appearances to Iakobos, presumably James, Jesus' eldest half-brother and later to 500 brethren. Neither is mentioned in the canonical Gospel accounts, and the women at the empty tomb are not mentioned by Paul.
• Some skeptics claim that Western legal standards would not argue for historicity of the resurrection.
• The supposed martyrdom of witnesses to the resurrection is not historically verified.

Comparisons with other resurrection stories

Resurrection stories exist in various "mystery religions" that usually center around agricultural cycles, where their god dies and is resurrected every year.

We do not have good records of what the "mystery religions" believed before c. AD 200, but given their propensity of borrowing from one another and the growth of Christianity at that time, apologists argue that it is highly likely that other religions borrowed from Christianity rather than the reverse.

Justin Martyr argued in the second century that Jesus' virgin birth, death and resurrection were prophesied by the Hebrew scriptures, and that similar stories in other religions were loosely based on the same Hebrew prophecies.

See also

• The empty tomb
• Church of the Holy Sepulchre
• Shroud of Turin
• Easter
• Resurrection
• Christian apologetics
• (note: currently underwritten)

Bibliography

Ancient Texts

• Gospel of Barnabas, Published by Oxford University Press, London
• Flavius Josephus, (request for reference of exact books used)
• Julius Africanus, (request for reference of exact books used)
• Justin Martyr, (request for reference of exact books used)
• The New Testament, various editors have used different translations (NRSV, TNIV and others)
• The Qur'an
• Saint Ignatius, Letter to the Trallians
• Saint Ignatius, Letter to the Smyrnaeans
• Suetonius, (request for reference of exact books used)
• Tacitus, (request for reference of exact books used)
• Thallus, (request for reference of exact books used)
• The Toledoth Yeshu

Modern Apologist

• Bruce, FF, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985)
• Catholic Encyclopedia,
• Craig, William Lane,
• Craig, William Lane,
• Craig, William Lane, The Son Rises. 2001
• Craig, William Lane, Jesus' Resurrection: Fact or Figment?: A Debate Between William Lane Craig and Gerd Ludemann
• Habermas, Gary,
• Habermas, Gary,
• Habermas, Gary, The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ (College Press: Joplin, MI 1996).
• Habermas, Gary and Licona, Michael, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus. Kregel Publications, 2004.
• Herrick, Greg
• Holding, James Patrick
• Holding, James Patrick (a reply to Richard Carrier)
• McDowell, Josh,
• McDowell, Josh, New Evidence that Demands a Verdict, Thomas Nelson, Inc, Publishers, 1999
• Peters, Ted, Resurrection: Theological and Scientific Assessments, 2002
• Williams, Rowan, Resurrection: Interpreting the Easter Gospel, 2003
• Wenham, John. Easter Enigma: Do the Resurrection Stories Contradict One Another? Cambridge University Press, 1993.
• Wright, N.T., The Resurrection of the Son of God. Fortress Press. 2003
• Wright, N.T.,
• Wright, N.T., The New Testament and the People of God Fortess Press
• Wright, N.T., Jesus and the Victory of God Fortess Press
• Wright, N.T., The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering who Jesus was and is. IVP 1996
• Yamauchi, Edwin,
• Zukeran, Patrick,

Modern Skeptic

• Carrier, Richard, Refers to James Patrick Holding
• Farrell, Till,
• Lapide, Pinchas, The Resurrection of Jesus: A Jewish Perspective ,
• Lowder, Jeffrey Jay, , 1995
• Jung, Carl, The Answer to Job (essay)
• Spong, John Shelby, Resurrection : Myth or Reality? , 1995
• Tobin, Paul,

Modern Dialogues

• Stewart, Robert B. The Resurrection of Jesus: John Dominic Crossan And N.T. Wright in Dialogue, 2006 Auferstehung Jesu Christi

Jeesuksen ylösnousemus Uskrsnuće Isusa Krista Kebangkitan Yesus Jesu uppståndelse