Resurrection of Jesus

According to the New Testament, God miraculously raised Jesus Christ from the dead three days after his crucifixion, and this is generally referred to as the resurrection of Jesus Christ; this is commemorated and celebrated each year at Easter. Most Christians accept the New Testament account as an accurate historical account of an event that is central to their theology.

For very many self-identifying Christians, the Resurrection is one of the foundational belief of Christianity: the belief that Jesus Christ died for the sins of humanity and was resurrected to live with God is regarded by many as the cornerstone of Christianity. Saint Paul said that if the resurrection did not really happen, then Christians were to be pitied above all men. (I Corinthians 15:19) Christians have lived and died the death of martyrs in hope of the resurrection, both in hope of Christ's resurrection in the past and in hope of their own in the future.

Non-Christians generally view the New Testament account of the resurrection of Jesus as fictional. Some people who call themselves Christians regard the resurrection as a myth; but since some Christians view belief in the resurrection as essential to Christianity itself, the latter would not regard the former as bona fide Christians. See Christianity.

The Biblical account

Some New Testament references that describe this event are:

Acts 4:10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.

1 Cor 6:14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.

Gal 1:1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)

1 Pet 1:21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God

Non-Biblical records

Some of the earliest records of the resurrection outside the New Testament are found in the writings of Josephus (37 - 110), Ignatius (50 - 115), Polycarp (69 - 155) Justin Martyr (100 - 165), and Tertullian (160 - 220).

The historicity of the resurrection

As with all historical events which occurred beyond a few hundred years ago, the issue of historicity is an important aspect of any person's belief in the actual occurrence of the event. In contrast with scientific phenomenon for which reproducibility and falsifiability is important, historical phenomena depend on different criteria, such as uniqueness of occurrence, plausibility of circumstances, and testimony of witnesses.

Some historians have questioned the historicity of the events related by the New Testament. One of the first to do so was Edward Gibbon (1737 - 1794). See The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire for an extensive quote from that work in which Gibbon wonders why no contemporary historians noticed three hours of darkness in the middle of the Roman Empire. Other historians have explained this darkness as an eclipse local to the Jerusalem area.

Comparing the resurrection in Christianity with resurrections in other religions

Other religions have claims of resurrection, such as Mithraism, Greek worship of Adonis, Egyptian worship of Osiris, the Babylonian story of Tammuz and rural religious belief in the Corn King. Some historians conjecture that the New Testament's accounts of the resurrection of Jesus were in some ways influenced by, or directly based on, these earlier resurrection stories. Some discussion of these views are expressed on the relevant articles.

Christians hold that the stories are significantly different, and that the similarities are superficial; thus, no special significant need be attached to the similarities.

On a similar note, many stories in the Torah, held sacred by both Jews and Christians, also are noted by historians to have close parallels to earlier pagan myths and stories. Liberal Jewish and Christian denominations agree that this is likely the case, and have theologies that do not depend on this finding. Traditional Christians and Orthodox Jews reject any similarities.

External link:

• Possible historical influence on New Testament's account of resurrection

• Parallels between pagan and Christian account of resurrection

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