# The resurrection of Jesus

> The Christian claim that Jesus was crucified, buried, and raised, and the main ways that claim is doubted.

- Canonical: https://apologetics.wiki/wiki/resurrection-of-jesus
- Hubs: Atheism, Islam, Other
- Tags: resurrection, jesus, history
- Updated: 2026-09-27

> **Stub.** A door into the historical and theological claim, not a survey of the literature. Read a passion narrative before you repeat a summary of it.

## The question

Christians say Jesus of Nazareth was executed under Roman authority, buried, and raised to a life his followers could meet. Everything else in the faith leans on that. Paul says as much: if Christ has not been raised, the preaching is empty (1 Corinthians 15:14).

## A fair statement of 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. A fair reply picks the version the person actually holds.

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 (4:157–158). 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.” Do not answer a Muslim neighbor with a speech aimed only at David Hume.

## A Christian starting point

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. 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. They also should not talk as if a stub had closed the case.

For a conversation with a Muslim friend, agree first on what each book says, using [Jesus in the Qur’an and the Gospels](/wiki/jesus-in-the-quran-and-the-gospels). Then ask what kind of God each story is protecting.

## Scripture to open together

- 1 Corinthians 15:3–8 — the early summary and the list of appearances.
- Mark 15–16 — crucifixion, burial, and the disputed ending. Say out loud that the earliest manuscripts do not all include the longer ending.
- John 19–20 — death, the tomb, and the meetings, including Thomas.
- Qur’an 4:157–158 — when that is the text your neighbor is standing on.

## Keep reading

- [The deity of Christ](/wiki/deity-of-christ)
- [Jesus in the Qur’an and the Gospels](/wiki/jesus-in-the-quran-and-the-gospels)

## Sources
- First Letter to the Corinthians — 15:3–8
- Gospel of Mark — 15–16
- Gospel of John — 19–20
- Qur'an — 4:157–158 (The passage most often read as denying that Jesus was crucified.)