The evidence for the resurrection of Jesus includes 12 facts
agreed upon by scholars, both liberal and conservative. A reasonable approach
is to evaluate those 12 known facts against 13 theories about what happened to
determine each theory’s explanatory power (which of the 12 facts it doesn’t
account for). The only 2 theories that account for all 12 known facts are:
- Jesus was an alien
- Jesus was bodily resurrected
Here
are the 12 facts (gotten from a presentation by Dr. Craig Hazen):
1.
Jesus died by crucifixion [*** core
fact #2]
2.
He was buried
3.
Jesus’ death caused the disciples to
despair and lose hope, believing that his life was ended
4.
The tomb was discovered to be empty
just a few days later
5.
The disciples had experiences which
they believed were literal appearances of the risen Jesus [*** core fact #3]
6.
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]
7.
This message was the center of
preaching in the early church
8.
This message was especially
proclaimed in Jerusalem, where Jesus died and was buried shortly before
9.
As a result of this preaching the
church was born and grew
10. Sunday became the primary day of worship
11. James, who had been a skeptic, was converted to the faith
when he also believed he saw the resurrected Jesus
12. 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]
Here
is a chart of 13 theories that attempt to explain the facts (again, credit is
given here to Craig Hazen for this excellent chart):
