{"id":1048,"date":"2015-06-18T11:59:07","date_gmt":"2015-06-18T16:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/veritasfidei.org\/?p=1048"},"modified":"2015-06-18T13:12:59","modified_gmt":"2015-06-18T18:12:59","slug":"how-do-you-know-jesus-rose-from-the-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/veritasfidei.org\/en\/how-do-you-know-jesus-rose-from-the-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"How do you know Jesus rose from the dead?"},"content":{"rendered":"

How do you know Jesus rose from the dead?<\/h1>\n

I believe the most important question in Christianity is: did Jesus actually\u2014as a historical event\u2014rise from the dead? The apostle Paul agreed that this issue is key. He wrote in 1st<\/sup> Corinthians 15 that if Jesus wasn\u2019t raised, our faith is \u201cworthless\u201d and we are worthy of \u201cpity.\u201d

If Jesus wasn\u2019t raised, our faith is \u201cworthless\u201d and we are worthy of \u201cpity.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div> I agree. Fortunately for us, the resurrection can be verified historically.<\/p>\n

Dr. Gary Habermas decided to investigate what historians believe about some key aspects of the life of Jesus of Nazareth related to the resurrection claim. This included all types of scholars: agnostic, atheist, and theists. He tracked over 3400 scholarly sources in French, German and English since 1975. Habermas affirms that you can \u201ccount the exceptions with one hand, maybe two\u201d related to the scholars that disagree with these facts.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

It is worth clarifying that these facts are well evidenced by historiography and that is the reason the majority of scholars grant them. These facts are as follows:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    Jesus died by crucifixion [core fact #2]<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  2. \n

    He was buried<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  3. \n

    Jesus\u2019 death caused the disciples to despair and lose hope believing his life had ended<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  4. \n

    The tomb was discovered empty a few days later<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  5. \n

    The disciples had experiences which they believed were literal appearances of the risen Jesus [core fact #3]<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  6. \n

    The disciples were transformed from doubters who were afraid to identify themselves with Jesus to bold proclaimers of his death and resurrection [core fact #1]<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  7. \n

    This message was the center of preaching in the early church<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  8. \n

    This message was especially proclaimed in Jerusalem, where Jesus died and was buried shortly before.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  9. \n

    As a result of this preaching the church was born and grew<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  10. \n

    Sunday became the primary day of worship<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  11. \n

    James, who had been a skeptic (brother of Jesus), converted to the faith after seeing the risen Jesus<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
  12. \n

    A few years later, Paul was also converted by an experience which he, likewise, believed to be an appearance of the risen Jesus [core fact #4]<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    These facts are taken from a reduced number of manuscripts that even critical scholars consider authentic historical sources (1 Cor. 15, Mark, John, Galatians, Acts). There have been many different theories throughout history to try to explain away the resurrection as a fabricated myth. We can test these theories and see if they can explain all the facts (1-12).<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Let\u2019s review the most common:<\/p>\n