Jesus Rose from the Dead: Proof for the Physical Ressurection of Christ

The Apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15:5 continues his argument concerning the resurrection of Christ, referencing Peter (Cephas). Peter was a coward which denied Jesus three times whenever any observer would have said Christ needed him the most (Matthew 26:74-75). However, at Pentecost, in Acts 2, we see Peter boldly, unashamedly, fearlessly confront thousands of Jews with the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ. What would empower a coward to fearlessly confront those who just crucified his Lord? The answer is that he saw the physically resurrected Christ! Not only this, but if the Jewish leaders indeed had the body of Christ, as some purport, then all they had to do was wheel it out at Pentecost, and none of us would be writing about Jesus today. Even furthermore, if the disciples stole His body, as some argue, then why don't we have record of them returning to His tomb or His body? Muhammad, the hero of Islam, is buried in Mecca; and thousands upon thousands of Muslims make pilgrimage every year to his tomb. The reason why there is no record--from Biblical or Secular Historians--of the early church going to a tomb is because all of them believed Christ physically rose from the dead and therefore, there was no tomb to visit.

In 1 Corinthians 15, the Apostle Paul argues for the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. There are many who believe the resurrection of Jesus to be a myth, but the Apostle Paul in verse 6 references that over 500 witnesses saw the resurrected Christ at once, and some of them were still living at the time he wrote the letter. The reality concerning myths is that myths are impossible to form whenever there are eyewitnesses still alive (1 Cor. 15:6). If the Apostle Paul was going to argue a lie, don't you think he wouldn't reference living witnesses? After all, all the Corinthian believers had to do was go ask one of the witnesses and Christianity is destroyed. Eyewitness testimony is all we have in the ancient world; and the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ is testified by more and better evidence than any other perceived fact of ancient history; and yet, sinners continually suppress this truth.

The Apostle Paul himself was zealous against Christianity. He heavily persecuted the church, and sent Christians running from him left to right when he was known as "Saul". For what conceivable, logical, rational reason would a Pharisee of Pharisees, a murderer of Christians, a hater of Christ, turn to the One his entire system of thought opposed (Philippians 3:4-7)? The answer is that he saw the resurrected Christ (Acts 9).

There are even pagan historians, opponents of early Christianity, who argued, not for the resurrection of Christ, but for the church's peculiar belief in His physical resurrection, as the early church notably gathered on Sunday's to worship in remembrance of the day Christ rose from the dead. There's no doubt that if it wasn't for the early church's profound belief in the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ, amid heavy persecution, Christianity would have all but ended by the 1st century.