The resurrection of Jesus

Christians say Jesus of Nazareth was executed under Roman authority, buried, and raised to a life his followers could meet. Paul says that if Christ has not been raised, the preaching is empty (1 Corinthians 15:14And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.King James Version).

Key points

• 1 Corinthians 15:3–8^15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; ^15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: ^15:5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: ^15:6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. ^15:7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. ^15:8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.King James Version says Paul passed on what he received: Christ died, was buried, was raised, and appeared to named people and to a group.
• Mark 15–16 tells the crucifixion, the burial, and an empty tomb. The earliest manuscripts do not all include the longer ending of Mark 16.
• John 19–20 tells the death, the tomb, and the meetings, including Thomas.
• Qur’an 4:157–158¹⁵⁷ And [for] their saying, "Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, the messenger of Allāh." And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain. ¹⁵⁸ Rather, Allāh raised him to Himself. And ever is Allāh Exalted in Might and Wise.Saheeh InternationalOpen on quran.com ↗, on the reading almost all Muslims share, denies that Jesus was killed on the cross. That is not the same objection as “legends expand.”
• Atheist and agnostic objections include late accounts, grief-visions, a tomb empty for a mundane reason, and “resurrection” as a metaphor for a cause that outlived its founder.
• What would count against the claim includes a body, a credible early source that the disciples knew the tomb was occupied and preached anyway, or a showing that the “appearances” language never meant meeting a living Jesus.
• The Qur’an passage is also Did Jesus die on the cross? and Jesus in the Qur’an and the Gospels.

The question

Everything else in the faith leans on that event.

The doubts

Atheist and agnostic objections usually take one of a few shapes. The accounts were written late and grew in the telling. Grief produced visions. The tomb was empty for a mundane reason, or was never part of the earliest story. “Resurrection” language was a metaphor for a cause that survived its founder. These can be combined. They are not one objection.

Muslim conviction is different. The Qur’an honors Jesus and, in the reading almost all Muslims share, denies that he was killed on the cross (Qur’an 4:157–158¹⁵⁷ And [for] their saying, "Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, the messenger of Allāh." And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain. ¹⁵⁸ Rather, Allāh raised him to Himself. And ever is Allāh Exalted in Might and Wise.Saheeh InternationalOpen on quran.com ↗). God would not let his prophet end that way; someone else was made to appear so, or the event was otherwise not what the Gospels report. That is not the same objection as “legends expand.”

The Christian claim

Treat the claim as a claim about an event, not only about a feeling. The earliest extended summary we have is 1 Corinthians 15:3–8^15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; ^15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: ^15:5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: ^15:6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. ^15:7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. ^15:8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.King James Version. Paul passes on what he says he received: Christ died for sins, was buried, was raised, and appeared to named people and to a group. The Gospels, later and fuller, tell the crucifixion in public and the meetings afterward in ways that are not identical. Christians have to live with the differences and not sand them flat.

What would count against the claim is part of an honest page: a body, a credible early source that the disciples knew the tomb was occupied and preached anyway, or a showing that the “appearances” language was never meant as meeting a living Jesus. Christians do not think those have been produced. This page has not closed the case.

What each book says is in Jesus in the Qur’an and the Gospels. The Qur’an story and the Gospel story protect different claims about what God did with his prophet, or with his Son.

Passages

• 1 Corinthians 15:3–8^15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; ^15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: ^15:5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: ^15:6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. ^15:7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. ^15:8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.King James Version — the early summary and the list of appearances.
• Mark 15–16 — crucifixion, burial, and the disputed ending. The earliest manuscripts do not all include the longer ending.
• John 19–20 — death, the tomb, and the meetings, including Thomas.
• Qur’an 4:157–158¹⁵⁷ And [for] their saying, "Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, the messenger of Allāh." And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain. ¹⁵⁸ Rather, Allāh raised him to Himself. And ever is Allāh Exalted in Might and Wise.Saheeh InternationalOpen on quran.com ↗ — the passage read as denying the crucifixion.

Keep reading

• The Islamic dilemma
• The deity of Christ
• Jesus in the Qur’an and the Gospels
• Did Jesus die on the cross?
• Why don’t Jews believe Jesus is the Messiah?
• What is Christian Science?