User:Ari89/historicityresurrection

The historicity of the resurrection of Jesus refers to the historical authenticity of the accounts of the resurrection of Jesus. While critical scholars may hold the resurrection as a miraculous event cannot be evaluated by historical method, the events surrounding it such as the burial, tomb discovery and resurrection appearances can be evaluated by historical critical method.

The Resurrection of Jesus from a Historical perspective

Bart D. Ehrman writes that even if one believes Jesus was raised from the dead "there is no way we can demonstrate it using historical methods." However, this does not preclude historians from evaluating the historical reports of the resurrection of Jesus. William Lane Craig writes that there are four lines of evidence for determining the historicity of the resurrection:

1. the burial of Jesus;
2. the discovery of the empty tomb;
3. the appearances of Jesus to his disciples;
4. the origin of the Christian faith.

Records

Early creeds

The earliest written records of the death and resurrection of Jesus are the letters of Paul, which were written around two decades after the death of Jesus, and show that within this timeframe Christians believed that it had happened. Some scholars suppose that these contain early Christian creeds and creedal hymns, which were included in several of the New Testament texts and that some of these creeds date to within a few years of Jesus' death and were developed within the Christian community in Jerusalem. Though embedded within the texts of the New Testament, these creeds are a distinct source for early Christianity.

• Romans 1:3–4: "...concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and designated the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord."
• 2 Tim. 2:8: "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, this is my Gospel."

1 Corinthians 15

Of special significance to understanding the resurrection of Jesus and belief within the early Church is 1 Corinthians 15, specifically the creed recorded in 1 Cor. 15:3–4. This creed reads:

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

Many scholars have noted that here, Paul is referring to rabbinic style transmission of an early authoritative tradition that he received and has passed on to the church at Corinth. For this and other reasons, it is widely believed that this creed is of pre-Pauline origin. Geza Vermes writes that the creed is "a tradition he [Paul] has inherited from his seniors in the faith concerning the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus". The creeds ultimate origins are within the Jerusalem apostolic community having been formalised and passed on within a few years of the resurrection. Paul Barnett writes that this creedal formula, and others, were variants of the "one basic early tradition that Paul "received" in Damascus from Ananias in about 34 [CE]" after his conversion.

This creed attests to an early belief in the resurrection narrative as well as resurrection appearances. These appearances include those to prominent members of Jesus' ministry and the later Jerusalem church, including James the brother of Jesus and the apostles, naming the apostle Peter (Cephas). The creed also makes reference to appearances to unidentified individuals. According to the Acts of the Apostles and Paul's Letter to the Galatians, he had contact with at least two of the named witnesses of the creed, James and Peter.Gal 1:18–20 Hans Von Campenhausen and A. M. Hunter have separately stated that the creed text passes high standards of historicity and reliability of origin.

Gospel narratives

According to the Gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. The Gospel of Matthew states that after an earthquake an angel appeared near the tomb of Jesus and announced his resurrection to Mary Magdalene and "another Mary" who had arrived to anoint the body.Matthew 28:1–10 According to Luke there were two angels.Luke 24:4 According to Mark there was a youth dressed in white.Mark 16:5 The last section of Mark, which is considered a later addition by most biblical scholars (see Mark 16), states that on the morning of his resurrection, Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene.Mark 16:9 John states that when Mary looked into the tomb, two angels asked her why she was crying; and as she turned round she initially failed to recognize Jesus until he spoke her name.John 20:11–18

The Acts of the Apostles state that Jesus appeared to various people in various places over the next forty days. Hours after his resurrection, he appeared to two travelers in the Road to Emmaus appearance. The Gospel of Luke 24:13–32 names just one of the two walkers, Cleopas (Cleophas) a disciple referenced nowhere else in the Bible. To his assembled disciples he showed himself on the evening after his resurrection.John 20:19 Although his own ministry had been specifically to Jews, according to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is said to have sent his apostles to the Gentiles with the Great Commission and ascended to heaven while a cloud concealed him from their sight. According to Acts, Paul of Tarsus was blinded by a light and heard the voice of Jesus during his Road to Damascus conversion. Jesus promised to come again to fulfill the remainder of Messianic prophecy.

Apostolic fathers

The Apostolic Fathers, likewise, discussed the death and resurrection of Jesus, including Ignatius (50−115), Polycarp (69−155), and Justin Martyr (100−165).

Josephus

Flavius Josephus (c. 37–c. 100), a Jew and Roman citizen who worked under the patronage of the Flavians, wrote the Antiquities of the Jews c. 93 which contains a passage known as the Testimonium Flavianum. This passage mentions mentions John the Baptist and Jesus as two holy men among the Jews. Scholars are not sure of the original text because of changes made to the text by Christian editors. This later text mentions the death and resurrection of Jesus: "When Pilate, upon the accusation of the first men amongst us, condemned [Jesus] to be crucified, those who had formerly loved him did not cease [to follow him], for he appeared to them on the third day, living again, as the divine prophets foretold, along with a myriad of other marvellous things concerning him." It is widely held by scholars that at least part of the Testimonium Flavianum is an interpolation, since Josephus was not a Christian and characterized his patron Emperor Vespasian as the foretold Messiah. (See also Josephus on Jesus.)

Events and Evaluation

Contemporary resurrection beliefs

Scholars look towards resurrection beliefs contemporary to the resurrection of Jesus in order to illuminate the meaning of the resurrection of Jesus. The first Christians were first century Jews, and many Jews at the time believed in the physical resurrection of the dead. This resurrection was expected to be an end times event, however, the resurrection of Jesus breached this expectation. The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians that "Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." 1 Cor 15:20 (ESV) Jesus' resurrection was an assurance in the future bodily resurrection that many first century Jews were expecting.

According to Christian belief, Jesus' resurrection reversed human judgment, established freedom from death, and inaugurated "the age to come." The nature of Jesus' resurrected body has been a matter of debate from the earliest days. According to Paul, the risen Christ had a spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15). From early on, however, Christians have insisted on the material reality of Jesus' resurrection (see Luke 24:36-43). In John, the physical, risen Jesus can move through closed doors (John 20:19), showing that he had not simply returned to a regular earthly life.

Burial

Contemporary burial practices

The crucifixion of Jesus occurred in a Jewish region of Roman Palestine. For this reason, contemporary burial practices must be viewed in light of both Roman and Jewish customs, although emphasis for the Jesus account should be placed on the latter.

Evans article in Journal for the Study of the Historical Jeuss and Jesus, the final days.

Burial of Jesus

Some scholars are split on whether Jesus was buried. Craig A. Evans contends that, "the literary, historical and archaeological evidence points in one direction: that the body of Jesus was placed in a tomb, according to Jewish custom." John Dominic Crossan, based on his unique position that the Gospel of Peter contains the oldest primary source about Jesus, argued that the burial accounts become progressively extravagant and thus found it historically unlikely that an enemy would release a corpse, contending that Jesus' followers did not have the means to know what happened to Jesus' body. Crossan's position on the Gospel of Peter has not found scholarly support, from Meyer's description of it as "eccentric and implausible", to Koester's critique of it as "seriously flawed". Habermas argued against Crossan, stating that the response of Jewish authorities against Christian claims for the resurrection presupposed a burial and empty tomb, and he observed the discovery of the body of Yohanan Ben Ha'galgol, a man who died by crucifixion in the first century and was discovered at a burial site outside ancient Jerusalem in an ossuary, arguing that this find revealed important facts about crucifixion and burial in first century Palestine. Other scholars consider the burial by Joseph of Arimathea found in Mark 15 to be historically probable, and some have gone on to argue that the tomb was thereafter discovered empty. More positively, Mark Waterman maintains the Empty Tomb priority over the Appearances. Michael Grant wrote:

[I]f we apply the same sort of criteria that we would apply to any other ancient literary sources, then the evidence is firm and plausible enough to necessitate the conclusion that the tomb was indeed found empty.

The physical resurrection of Jesus requires that Jesus was buried and entombed. All four Gospels state that, on the evening of the crucifixion, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus, and that, after Pilate granted his request, he wrapped Jesus' body in a linen cloth and laid it in a tomb. This was in accordance with Mosaic Law, which stated that a person hanged on a tree must not be allowed to remain there at night, but should be buried before sundown. In Matthew, Joseph was identified as "also a disciple of Jesus;" in Mark he was identified as "a respected member of the council (Sanhedrin) who was also himself looking for the Kingdom of God;" in Luke he was identified as "a member of the council, good and righteous, who did not consent to their purpose or deed, and who was looking for the Kingdom of God'" and in John he was identified as "a disciple of Jesus." Mark stated that, when Joseph asked for Jesus' body, Pilate was shocked that Jesus was already dead, and he summoned a centurion to confirm this before dispatching the body to Joseph. John recorded that Joseph was assisted in the burial process by Nicodemus, who brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes and included these spices in the burial cloth as per Jewish customs.

Lamentation at the Tomb. Russian Orthodox icon, 15th century (Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow).

The Synoptics (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) described the burial as occurring on the "Day of Preparation," with Mark providing the explanation of this as the day before the Sabbath. The synoptics described the tomb as "hewn out of the rock," i.e., a sepulchre, with Matthew, Luke, and John stating that it was new (i.e., no one else had been buried there before), and with Matthew stating that the tomb belonged to Joseph. John stated that the tomb was located in a garden near the site of the crucifixion.

The synoptics stated that women saw where Jesus was buried; Matthew named "Mary Magdalene and the other Mary," Mark named "Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses," and Luke simply gave "the women who had come with him from Galilee." Matthew gave an account of the chief priests and Pharisees requesting that Pilate secure the tomb, lest Jesus' disciples should steal the body and proclaim Jesus to be risen from the dead, whereupon Pilate said, "you have a guard of soldiers, go, make it as secure as you can"—after which they secured the sepulchre by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

William Lane Craig argued that the guard placed at the tomb was a Jewish guard, and that Pilate's words to the chief priests and Pharisees recorded in Matthew, "You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you can," were all rebuff. In support, he observed that Roman guards would have been subject to execution if they slept during watch, and that the Jewish authorities probably could not have provided protection for Roman guards from Pilate, like they could have if the guard was Jewish; thus, he wrote, "if one were to give the story the benefit of the doubt, one would assume the guards were Jewish."

Scholars; L. Michael White and Helmut Koester see the account of the guards in Matthew as an apologetic attempt of the writer to explain the Jewish claims that the disciples stole the body; which were circulating at the time.

Three days in the tomb

Beyond "I was dead" (Rev 1:8), the only apparent New Testament comment on the three days in the tomb is 1 Peter 3:18-20, which describes Jesus as preaching to the "spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago". This passage, along with the words of Peter that God did "not leave his soul in Hades" (Acts 2:31) give rise to "descended to Hades" in the Apostles' Creed. The death state of Christ was considered by theologians such as Thomas Aquinas and related in traditions such as the Harrowing of Hell.

The Resurrection

The Resurrection—Tischbein, 1778.

The actual act of Jesus rising to life from a state of death is not described in canonical Scripture. Rather, the first sign of the resurrection of Jesus is the tomb being found empty by the women-—which has been called the most significant affirmation of women in the New Testament. The noncanonical Gospel of Peter, written some time in the first or second century, records two men coming down from the sky and the stone rolling away on its own, at which time the frightened guards run away to report the breach. Some time later, the two men from Heaven escort Jesus from his tomb, with their heads reaching to the sky, and with Jesus' head reaching even higher. They are followed out by the cross, which is asked by a Heavenly voice if it has preached to the dead, and miraculously answers "yes."

Tomb discovery

Craig's intro: The majority of contemporary researchers accept the historicity of the discovery of the empty tomb.

Although no single Gospel gives an inclusive or definitive account of the resurrection of Jesus or his appearances, there are four points at which all four Gospels converge:

1. The linking of the empty tomb tradition and the visit of the women on "the first day of the week;"
2. That the risen Jesus chose first to appear to women (or a woman) and to commission them (her) to proclaim this most important fact to the disciples, including Peter and the other apostles;
3. The prominence of Mary Magdalene;
4. Attention to the stone that had closed the tomb

Variants have to do with the precise time the women visited the tomb, the number and identity of the women; the purpose of their visit; the appearance of the messenger(s)—angelic or human; their message to the women; and the response of the women.

Apologists claim the places where the Gospels coincide consist of confirming evidence, as they show that the authors agree on what happened, while the differences between the four accounts consist of confirming evidence as they show that the authors were not colluding to propagate a falsehood, but rather, they show that each writer researched the events independently or that different stories had developed.

Women

Further information: Myrrhbearers

All four Gospels report that several women were the ones to find the tomb of Jesus empty. According to Mark and Luke, the announcement of Jesus' resurrection was first made to women. According to Matthew and John, Jesus actually appeared first to women (in John to Mary Magdalene alone). "Whereas others found woman not qualified or authorized to teach, the four Gospels have it that the risen Christ commissioned women to teach men, including Peter and the other apostles, the resurrection, foundation of Christianity.

In the Gospels, especially the synoptics, women play a central role as eyewitness at Jesus' death, entombment, and in the discovery of the empty tomb. All three synoptics repeatedly make women the subject of verbs of seeing, clearly presenting them as eyewitnesses.

The presence of women as the key witnesses who discover the empty tomb has been seen as increasing the credibility of the testimony, since, in the contemporary culture (Jewish and Greco-Roman), one might expect a fabrication to place men, and especially numerous and important men, at this critical place, rather than just "some grieving women." C. H. Dodd considered the narrative in John to be "self-authenticating", arguing that no one would make up the notion that Jesus had appeared to the "little known woman" Mary Magdalene. However, some passages in the Mishnah (Yebamoth 16:7; Ketubot 2:5; Eduyot 3:6) indicate that women could give testimony if there was no male witness available. Also, Josephus and Pliny the Younger have used women as witnesses to their claims. In addition, Paul does not mention the women. Bart Erhmann notes that the appearance of women at the tomb fit with Mark's literary purposes claiming:

"One of Mark's overarching themes is that virtually no one during the ministry of Jesus could understand who he was. His family didn't understand. His townspeople didn't understand. The leaders of his own people didn't understand. Not even the disciples understood in Mark—especially not the disciples! For Mark, only outsiders have an inkling of who Jesus was: the unnamed woman who anointed him, the centurion at the cross. Who understands at the end? Not the family of Jesus! Not the disciples! It's a group of previously unknown women…the women at the tomb…."

— Bart Erhmann

Eastern Orthodox icon of the Myrrhbearing Women at the Tomb of Christ (Kizhi, 18th century).

All three Synoptics name two or three women on each occasion in the passion-resurrection narratives where they are cited as eyewitnesses: the Torah's required two or three witnessesDeuteronomy 19:15 in a statute that had exerted influence beyond legal courts and into situations in everyday life where accurate evidence was needed. Among the named women (and some are left anonymous), Mary Magdalene is present in all four Gospel accounts, and Mary the mother of James is present in all three synoptics; however, variations exist in the lists of each Gospel concerning the women present at the death, entombment, and discovery. For example, Mark names three women at the cross and the same three who go to the tomb, but only two are observed to be witnesses at the burial. Based on this, and similar examples in Matthew and Luke, Richard Bauckham argued that the evangelists showed "scrupulous care" and "were careful to name precisely the women who were known to them as witnesses to these crucial events" since there would be no other reason, besides interest in historical accuracy, not to simply use the same set of characters from one scene to another.

Mark's account (which in the earliest extant manuscripts) ends abruptly and claims that the women told no one. The Gospels of Matthew and Mark do not present any further involvement at the tomb. Luke describes Peter as running to the tomb to check for himself, and John adds that the Beloved Disciple did so too, the beloved disciple outrunning Peter. Curiously, Mary also addresses Jesus as “Lord.”<

Men

William Hole's interpretation of the Beloved Disciple joining Peter in the tomb

Luke merely states that after seeing the vacancy of the tomb, Peter was wondering what had happened, John gives a detailed account.John 20:2–10

John describes the beloved disciple only as making a cursory glance at the linen, Peter is described as carefully examining the scene. After making their examination, the Beloved Disciple apparently draws a conclusion.John 20:8–9

Once Peter has entered, John describes the Beloved Disciple as entering the tomb whereupon he believed as they knew not about the scripture. What exactly the Beloved Disciple believed, and who exactly they are, and what scripture exactly is being referenced, is not explained. The word used to mean scripture is singular and most of the time this form is used to refer to single quotations. Several passages from the Old Testament have been proposed as likely candidates for this source, Psalm, Hosea and Jonah. Since most of the New Testament was written before the Gospel of John, candidates have also been suggested from these texts. John only indicates that Peter and the Beloved Disciple were present, but it is possible that one or both of the people named Mary may also have been there, and thus Hartmann believes they refers to Peter and Mary being in ignorance about a resurrection.

Since the only mention in John of the tomb having any content describes it only as having grave clothes, this paucity of evidence for anything more than the body being stolen would make the Beloved Disciple rather gullible if it were a resurrection he suddenly believed in. A question also arises as to why, according to John, the Beloved Disciple doesn't tell Peter and them about this. A long line of major scholars including Augustine of Hippo and John Calvin have thus argued that the Beloved Disciple simply came to believe Mary Magdalene's story that the body was gone. Unlike Hartmann and those sharing his view, most scholars regard they as referring to Peter and the Beloved Disciple, pointing to them both being ignorant about any resurrection, and pointing to the conclusion that the Beloved Disciple had come to believe some other issue.

Textual critics like Schnackenberg, however, have argued that the passage does actually refer to belief in a resurrection, but argues the reference to him believing is a later addition to the text. The version of John in the ancient Codex Bezae has the passage reading that he saw and did ‘‘not’‘ believe. Bultmann has called John 20:9 a gloss of the ecclesiastical redaction, also arguing that the verse is a later addition, particularly since it references scripture as indicating that Jesus must rise from the dead, since John almost always prefers instead to use the wording ascend from the dead.

Luke and John both have the disciple(s) return home, which probably refers to Jerusalem, but possibly also Galilee.

Resurrection appearances of Jesus

In the Supper at Emmaus, Caravaggio depicted the moment the disciples recognise their risen lord

Main article: Resurrection appearances of Jesus

After the discovery of the empty tomb, the Gospels indicate that Jesus made a series of appearances to the disciples, with the most notable being to the disciples in the upper room, where Thomas did not believe until he was invited to put his finger into the holes in Jesus' hands and side; the Road to Emmaus appearance, where people talked about their failed hopes that Jesus would be the messiah before recognizing Jesus; and beside the Sea of Galilee to encourage Peter to serve his followers. His final appearance is reported as being forty days after the resurrection when he ascended into heaven, where he remains with God.

One of the most widely recalled pre-ascension visions of Jesus is the doubting Thomas conversation between Jesus and Thomas the Apostle. After Jesus' death, the apostle stated that he would not believe that Jesus was resurrected until he stuck his fingers in the nail holes in Jesus' hands and spear-hole in his side. Thomas was ordered to do so when he met Jesus, but the Gospel of John does not specify if physical contact actually took place.

Soon after, on the road to Damascus, a one time rabbi and persecutor of the early church named Paul of Tarsus converted to Christianity. A few years later, Paul became Christianity's foremost missionary, converting hundreds of people, planting dozens of churches throughout Greece and the Near East, and writing letters that would become part of Christian scripture. On one missionary journey, Paul travels to Athens and speaks at the Areopagus, where he claims that over 500 people were witnesses of the resurrected Jesus, many still alive at the time.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that Jesus appeared after his resurrection also upon the American continent and taught them, as well as bestowed the rights of the priesthood upon twelve apostles to administer in all the affairs of the church among that people. The account is found in Third Nephi in the Book of Mormon.

Origin of the narrative

The ultimate origin of the Apostles early belief in the resurrection of Jesus is debated by theologians, scholars and lay persons alike.

The earliest Christians proclaimed Jesus as the risen Christ. The first Christians may be defined as those followers of Jesus who, after his crucifixion, proclaimed him as the risen lord. The earliest Christian scriptures place Jesus' resurrection at the center of religious faith.

The preaching of the Apostle Peter in the Acts of the Apostles which is widely believed to reflect Aramaic Jewish-Christian preaching declare that Jesus died, was raised by God and the apostles are witnesses to this resurrection. The same proclamation of Jesus' death and resurrection is found within the letters of Paul. In his first epistle to the Corinthians 15:1-8, Paul passes on a Christian creed that he claimed to have received at his conversion. Paul Barnett writes that this creedal formula, and others, were variants of the "one basic early tradition that Paul "received" in Damascus from Ananias in about 34 [CE]." The comparatively short length of time between the events and the earliest descriptions makes it unlikely that a deliberate fraud could have occurred.

Although narrative of Jesus' entombment and resurrection circulated orally among early Christians, its first extant recording as a narrative is found in the Gospel of Mark, in addition to the other canonical gospels. E.P. Sanders argues that a plot to foster belief in the Resurrection would probably have resulted in a more consistent story, and that some of those who were involved in the events gave their lives for their belief. However, Sanders offers his own hypothesis, different from the supporters, claiming that "there seems to have been a competition: 'I saw him,' 'so did I,' 'the women saw him first,' 'no, I did; they didn't see him at all,' and so on."

In Mark's account, the earliest manuscripts of Mark 16 break off abruptly at 16:8, where the men at the empty tomb announce Jesus' resurrection, lacking post-resurrection appearances of Jesus. The modern text of Mark 16:9–20 does not appear in the earliest manuscripts. Many modern translations of Mark 16 end at Mark 16:8 with for they were afraid, sometimes adding 16:8–20 in italics, or in a foot note; the New Revised Standard Version gives both the "long ending," i.e., 16:8–20, and another variant "short ending" after Mark 16:8. Scholars disagree about whether the original work ended at 16:8, or whether the last part, perhaps the last page, is missing. John Fenton writes that if the Evangelist intended to end at 16:8, this does not mean that he "did not believe that Christ was risen" as he refers to the resurrection directly and indirectly on numerous occasions throughout the work. Reginald Fuller believes that the "writer seemed to know such apperances, apparently to Peter and the others in Galilee."

James D.G. Dunn writes that where the apostle Paul's resurrection experience was "visionary in character" and "non-physical, non-material" the accounts in the Gospels are very different. He contends that the "massive realism'...of the [Gospel] appearances themselves can only be described as visionary with great difficulty - and Luke would certainly reject the description as inappropriate" and that the earliest conception of resurrection in the Jerusalem Christian community was physical. Conversely, members of the Jesus Seminar believe that Mary of Magdala, Paul, and probably Peter had genuine visionary experiences of the risen Jesus.

Those who think Paul was a Gnostic Christian hold the belief that Paul talks of the resurrection as an allegory or that Paul thought that Jesus was never a human.

Explaining resurrection belief

A number of theories are put forward by biblical scholars and historians to explain the early Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus.

Bodily resurrection

Jesus bodily raised from the dead; limits of history

Body was removed

The body was removed by someone unconnected with the movement, or stolen by disciples.

Wrong tomb

Empty tomb was not that of Jesus

Bibliography

• James D.G. Dunn, Jesus and the Spirit: A Study of the Religious and Charismatic Experience of Jesus and the First Christians as Reflected in the New Testament. Eerdmans, 1997.
• Bart D. Ehrman, Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium.
• Gary Robert Habermas, The Resurrection of Jesus: A Rational Inquiry Dissertation submitted to Michigan State University 1976

Further reading

Pro-Resurrection

Articles:

• Bruce, FF, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?, 1985, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press
• Catholic Encyclopedia, The resurrection of Jesus Christ
• Craig, William Lane, Contemporary Scholarship and the Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, 1985, Truth 1 89–95
• David Marshall (Ph.D.). "The Risen Jesus" an essay in Essential Jesus, edited by Bryan Ball and William Johnsson, and published by Pacific Press in 2002.
• Habermas, Gary, "Resurrection Research from 1975 to the Present: What are Critical Scholars saying?" Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus, Jun2005, Vol. 3 Issue 2, p135-153
• Wright, N.T., "Resurrecting Old Arguments: Responding to Four Essays," Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus, Jun2005, Vol. 3 Issue 2, p209-231. [2]
• Yamauchi, Edwin, Easter: Myth, Hallucination, or History?, 1974, Christianity Today

Books:

• Bauckham, Richard. Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony. Wm. B. Eerdman's, 2008.
• Endsjø, Dag Øistein. Greek Resurrection Beliefs and the Success of Christianity. New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2009.
• Habermas, Gary and Licona, Michael, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, Kregel Publications, 2004.
• Habermas, Gary, The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ (College Press: Joplin, MI 1996).
• McDowell, Josh, New Evidence that Demands a Verdict, Thomas Nelson, Inc, Publishers, 1999
• Strobel, Lee, The Case for Easter, Zondervan Publishing Company, 2004.
• Wenham, John. Easter Enigma: Do the Resurrection Stories Contradict One Another? Cambridge University Press, 1993.
• Wright, N.T., The Resurrection of the Son of God. Fortress Press. 2003 Online excerpt

Sceptical

Articles:

• Crossley, James G.. "Against the Historical Plausibility of the Empty Tomb Story and the Bodily Resurrection of Jesus: A Response to N.T. Wright,"Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus, Jun2005, Vol. 3 Issue 2, p171-186
• Price, Robert M., By This Time He Stinketh: The Attempts of William Lane Craig to Exhume Jesus. 1997.

Books:

• Paine, Thomas, The Age of Reason, 1795
• Robert M. Price and Jeffery Jay Lowder, The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond the Grave (ISBN 1–59102–286-X), 2005
• Spong, John Shelby, Resurrection: Myth or Reality? , 1995

Dialogues

• Craig, William Lane, Jesus' Resurrection: Fact or Figment?: A Debate Between William Lane Craig and Gerd Ludemann. IVP Academic, 2000.
• Is There Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus?: A Debate between William Lane Craig and Bart D. Ehrman (transcript) [3] (video)
• Stewart, Robert B. The Resurrection of Jesus: John Dominic Crossan And N.T. Wright in Dialogue, 2006