The Son Rises: Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus

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The Empty Tomb

The historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus consists primarily in the evidence supporting three main facts: the empty tomb of Jesus, the appearances of Jesus to his disciples, and the origin of the Christian faith. If it can be shown that the tomb of Jesus was found empty, that He did appear to His disciples and others after His death, and that the origin of the Christian faith cannot be explained adequately apart from His historical resurrection, then if there is no plausible natural explanation for these facts, one is amply justified in concluding that Jesus really did rise from the dead.

Some modern theologians have objected to this conclusion because it infers from the facts that Jesus rose from the dead, and we are not bound to accept that inference. But not only would such an objection destroy all knowledge of history whatsoever, it would also destroy virtually all knowledge in practical affairs, thus making life impossible. For example, if one day we heard shots from a neighbor’s house and saw a man fleeing from the house, and if we found our neighbor dead on the living room floor, and if the police apprehended the fleeing man, and fingerprint and ballistics tests showed that he was carrying the murder weapon, then, if these theologians were correct, we could still not conclude that he shot our neighbor, since this is an inference. But such evidence is accepted in any court of law. The point is that the truth of an inference should be proved beyond any reasonable doubt.

So with the resurrection. If we saw a friend killed and attended his funeral, and if a few days later his grave was found empty and he appeared and spoke to us on several occasions, then, as E. L. Bode remarks in his excellent study on the historical evidence for the empty tomb, the inference that he has been raised to life would not seem to be unwarranted or merely subjective.1 Therefore, it only remains to be seen whether in fact the evidence for Jesus’ resurrection is of such a quality.