BODY COUNT:
Did Jesus rise from the dead?
We all are shocked when a famous person suddenly dies. Death has been called “the great equalizer.” Thousands of stone markers surrounded by spacious green lawns tell the stories. Nobel Prize winners. Beauty queens. Billionaires. Presidents. All die. Someday it will be our turn.
The question we all ask is, “what then?” Some, like atheist Bertrand Russell believe death is the end of all consciousness. Russell wrote, “I believe that when I die I shall rot, and nothing of my own ego will survive.”1
However, Jesus Christ said that those who believe in him will be given eternal life. In a radical statement to his followers he said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again.” Furthermore, he told his disciples he would prove his words are true by dying and then rising from the dead three days later.
If Jesus did rise from the dead three days as the New Testament claims, then his promise of eternal life after death is credible. But if Jesus didn’t rise, then everything else he said is put into question.
Theologian R. C. Sproul has stated, “The claim of resurrection is vital to Christianity. If Christ has been raised from the dead by God, then He has the credentials and certification that no other religious leader possesses. Buddha is dead. Mohammad is dead. Moses is dead. Confucius is dead. But, according to … Christianity, Christ is alive.”2
Mythical accounts depict gods such as Osiris, Isis, Horus, and Tammuz dying and coming back to life. But no one seriously believes these myths are true because there isn’t a shred of evidence that these gods existed, let alone came back from the dead. But with Jesus Christ, the evidence is compelling that 2,000 years ago he did exist and greatly impacted history (See “Was Jesus a real person?”).
But could Jesus’ resurrection have been invented by his followers or the early church—or is there evidence? Some say it is a cold case that cannot be reopened. Others who investigated the evidence for themselves tell us another story. So what are we to believe? After all, Jesus’ resurrection is either the greatest feat or the greatest fraud in all human history.
Researcher Josh McDowell said, “After more than seven hundred hours of studying this subject and thoroughly investigating its foundation, I have come to the conclusion that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the most wicked, vicious, heartless hoaxes ever foisted upon the minds of men, OR it is the most fantastic fact of history.”3 Right. So which is it?
In the coming pages we will see if there is evidence either to refute or support the most radical claim in history, the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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