The Resurrection
Did the Resurrection of Jesus Christ really happen? And you don’t have to be a Christian, or believe in the scriptures even, to be preoccupied with this question. For debates around this question have did the Resurrection of Jesus Christ really happen? And you don’t have to be a Christian, or believe in the scriptures even, to be preoccupied with this question. For debates around this question have gone on for centuries in religious and secular circles and I suspect it will go on for some time to come. Some commentators even raise the question of when exactly was the crucifixion and have debated the consequential implication(s) of the traditional Friday view of this epochal event against the non-traditional Wednesday view.
Lets put aside religious ideologies for the moment, since I consider discussion about my religious beliefs versus any other’s, to be a futile endeavour, and concentrate instead, on a number of probabilities which I believe, in face of the impossibility of proving or disproving in secular terms an event such as the Resurrection with any certainty of arguments, can provide answers to the question of the Resurrection.
To begin with, something extra ordinarily dramatic happened to change the disciples. After the crucifixion they were clearly a bunch of terrified, frightened, confused, not to say traumatised, individuals who had seen their dearest friend killed. A few days later they were making what must have seemed like an absurd claim: “Jesus is risen from the dead”. What, do you think, could have caused such a change in their demeanour?
If their claim about Jesus were pure and simple false, it could easily have been revealed as such. For the authorities of the period need only have shown to the public the decaying corpse of Jesus, and the disciples’ claims would have been refuted at a stroke. And if their claim about Jesus being raised from the dead were based on deception would they really have been able to keep up the pretence, given the grave threat of being tortured for their own beliefs?
Indeed, if Jesus had revived in the tomb and had not been dead when taken down from the cross, the critics of the disciples need only to have brought Jesus in front of a court of law to show that the claims for the Resurrection were outrageous.
We can also examine the kind of evidence adduced by the Gospel writers. John, in particular, gave a central role to the women in the Resurrection stories- and yet the evidence of women in a court of law at the time, it has been said, was not given the same status as that of male evidence.
Why then deliberately “weaken” the evidence in the story when, if the stories were pure fabrications, it would have been more compelling to use the evidence of men? At the very least, does this not suggest some degree of historical veracity?
To go even further, let us consider the change in Jesus’ own family. At one point in Jesus’ life they think him mad.Remember? But not long after the Resurrection, Jesus’ brother, James, became a believer and later the leader of the church in
And consider the Gospels themselves. Not only do they have integrity in design; they were also a most unusual form of literature. Some even claim that they are unique. What kind of event might give rise to such a development?
Finally, even the most sceptical observer cannot fail to admit that out of the crucifixion-resurrection event grew a church that has remained vital and vibrant throughout the years. Is it really likely that so many sane, reasonable and coherent human beings would base their lives on deception?
I recognise the danger in raising the question- because there is, of course, no end to human gullibility, nor any end to the abuse of the ignorant by those in power.
Nevertheless, while questions can and must be raised about the historical truth of Jesus, questions must also be asked about the church itself, for the church claims in some sense to be the body of Christ and also to receive that same body within the Eucharist. In short, the church claims that the Resurrection was not simply a historic event, but began and continues to shape its life in the here and now. It is only when you place all these pieces of argument together that you reach a point where you say that the story of the physical Resurrection makes more sense of the events surrounding Jesus’ death than any other explanation.
The “spiritual” Resurrection theory is not really adequate to explain the change in the disciples- for them the universe itself had altered: it was a cosmic event.
There comes a point when, in my view, and that of countless Christians, the arguments for some kind of physical resurrection make sense.
Without a doubt, there is an inevitable complexity about the Resurrection. It is not just an event in the past. I continue to see signs of resurrection today wherever goodness overcomes evil, wherever grace overcomes cruelty, and wherever light overcomes darkness.
This is why, wherever Easter Passion Week may find you, it is appropriate to contemplate the Resurrection of Jesus.
© EP/April 2010
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