The Resurrection of Jesus Christ - Importance & Four Popular Theories Used to Disprove It

Founded around the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth nearly two thousand years ago, Christianity has reached every shore and influenced every society around the world. It has gradually become humanity's largest religion with over 2 billion followers. According to a Newsweek poll conducted on March 17 and 18 of 2005 by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, the vast majority of those Americans interviewed (81%) claim to be Christians. Curiously, though, only 78% of these individuals believe that Jesus Christ really rose from the dead. Most surprising, though, was that only a mere 40% of those polled accept that Christ's resurrection was literally a physical resurrection . . . that he actually rose from the dead in a transformed physical body (Meacham, 2005). It appears that American Christians are losing touch with the true nature of the Biblical account of the resurrection and thus, completely missing how central this resurrection is to the very existence of their own faith (Perkins, 1984, p. 17).

In reality, this growing ignorance among Christians in the U.S. is dangerously weakening and may eventually start eroding the actual foundations of the Christian faith in our country, attacking their own faith from inside out. Consequently, it is crucial for every Christian to (1) know the Biblical account of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, (2) realize how crucial this resurrection is for the Christian faith, and (3) become educated about the major theories used by critics to dispute this critical event. Ultimately, every Christian must remember that without a real and physical resurrection, Christianity would crumble.

Outline of the Death, Burial & Resurrection of Christ

First, the Biblical account of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ can be found in all four of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) in the Bible . . . with only a few slight variances. Essentially, each gospel attests to how horrific Jesus of Nazareth's final hours were and rejoice over his miraculous resurrection after three days in the tomb:

After being arrested and dragged ruthlessly before Herod and Pilate by his own people, Christ-a completely innocent man, was sentenced to be crucified when Pilate gave in to the demands of the this crowd of Jews (Luke 22:47-23:25 NIV). Luke then further explains, " . . . they crucified him [Jesus], along with the criminals-one on his right, the other on the left" (Luke 23:33 NIV). And, eventually, after a long period of excruciating agony and unfathomable shame "Jesus called out with a loud voice, 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit'" and death took over his tortured body (Luke 23:46 NIV).

Afterwards, with permission from Pilate, Joseph of Arimathea lovingly removed Christ's mangled body from the cross and prepared it for burial, placing the body in his own tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses sat near Joseph, witnessing the burial and the location of the tomb (Mark 15:42-47 NIV). And before he left the garden where the tomb was located, Joseph closed the tomb entrance using a large stone (Matthew 27:60 NIV).

On the next day, at the insistence of the chief priests and the Pharisees, Pilate sent out a detail of guards to the garden to stand watch around the tomb and to place a seal on the stone so no one could tamper with the body of Jesus (Matthew 27:62-66 NIV). Yet, despite these precautions, a great disturbance occurred on the third day after Christ's death. The seal was violently broken and the stone rolled away from the opening of the tomb, nearly frightening the guards to death (Matthew 28:1-6). And when the followers of Jesus looked into the tomb, it was empty except for the cloth used to wrap the body in burial. Jesus had physically risen from the dead (John 20:1-9)!

Christ's Resurrection: A Vital Part of Christianity

Once the Christian has a thorough understanding of the actual death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, he or she needs to help protect his or her faith by next realizing how crucial a role Christ's resurrection has played in the existence and survival of this religion. The Newsweek poll revealed that 75% of those 1,010 Americans polled believe that Jesus is the Savior, coming to the world to clear everyone of sin. And yet, only 40% of these people accept the Biblical account of the resurrection (Meacham, 2005)? As W. J. Sparrow-Simpson contends, "if the Resurrection is not historic fact, then the power of death remains unbroken, and with it the effect of sin" (McDowell, 1992, p. 182). In other words, without the power over his own death, Christ cannot be considered the Savior of earth, saving his faithful followers from their own deaths. And without Jesus as Messiah, Christianity could no longer exist. The Christian faith would simply fall apart. Every cherished tenet would become merely an elaborate lie from a complete fraud, since Christ predicted his own bodily resurrection numerous times throughout his ministry, insisting that this physical resurrection would save all mankind (McDowell, 1992, p. 180-181). Ultimately, as Michael Green concludes, "Christianity stands or falls with the truth of the resurrection. Once you disprove it, you have disposed Christianity (McDowell, 1979, p. 183).

Theories Used to Refute the Resurrection

Despite the fact that so many American Christians have lost touch with the true nature of Christ's resurrection and now tend to perceive it as a simple miracle-not the lifeblood of their own faith-(Tozer, 1998, p. 17), many critics have eagerly taken advantage of the extreme importance of the resurrection for Christianity. They readily recognize that if they can disprove the resurrection, they will be able to absolve all moral obligations to Christianity's teachings (Keathley, n.d.). Essentially, they would be able to destroy the solid foundation of the Christian faith with a single blow. As a result, countless "theories" have been concocted around the world since that miraculous morning to try to explain away the resurrection and to expose Christ as a fraud (McDowell & Hostetler, 1992, p. 74). Overall, if Christians wish to safeguard their faith, they must familiarize themselves with at least the most popular of these theories and understand why these theories are invalid.

The Swoon (Resuscitation) Theory

One of the most cited theories used to disprove the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the Swoon, or Resuscitation, Theory. This theory is centuries old. It became widely used because of a man by the name of Venturini (McDowell & Hostetler, 1992, p. 74). The Swoon Theory insists that Jesus never actually died from his gruesome injuries before, during, and after his crucifixion. Rather, he merely fainted because of this trauma and only appeared to be dead, later awakening from his swoon and leaving the tomb on his own three days later (Keathley, n.d.). The book Passover Plot by Dr. Hugh Schonfield actually accused Jesus of planning the whole sequence of events-from his arrest to his crucifixion-so he could feign his own death and could later appear to have risen from the dead, just as he had "predicted" many times to his disciples (McDowell & Hostetler, 1992, p. 74).

Yet, if you closely examine the Swoon Theory, it does not take long before it appears ridiculous and absurd. First of all, Jesus had sustained dire bodily injuries before, during, and after his crucifixion (McDowell & Hostetler, 1992, p. 75). He had been savagely beaten by the Roman guard on his way to the cross, had been impelled by nails and hung on the cross for hours, and then had been stabbed in the side by a Roman spear before he was taken down from that cross (Keathley, n.d.). How could he possibly survive such an ordeal, let alone be able to walk away from it three days later? But that is not all . . . a good number of people were totally convinced that he was truly dead, including people that dealt with death on a regular basis. If Jesus had merely swooned from his injuries, he managed to fool Joseph of Arimathea, the women who went with Joseph to bury Jesus' body, the Roman soldiers who had attended the crucifixion, Pilate, and the chief priests and Pharisees who went to Pilate to have the tomb secured (Keathley, n.d.). That is highly improbable. And thirdly, what about the cloth and spices used to wrap Jesus' body as he was placed in the tomb? It is estimated that Christ was wrapped with more than a hundred pounds of spices and linen, as was Jewish tradition (Keathley, n.d.). And yet, the Swoon Theory still insists that Jesus, in a weakened but living state, unraveled all this weight binding his body . . . all on his own? Clearly, the problems with this theory only mount as one further analyzes the circumstances surrounding Jesus' crucifixion and burial.

The Stolen Body (Theft) Theory

A second popular theory used to prove that the resurrection of Christ is fraudulent is the Stolen Body, or Theft, Theory. In Matthew 28:11-15, the birth of this theory is described. This passage explains that the Roman guards, who had been watching over the tomb, were bribed by the chief priests and Pharisees (the same individuals who had originally requested a guard detail be placed around the tomb) to lie that Jesus; disciples had stolen his body from the tomb to make it appear like he had actually risen from the dead (Killingsworth, 2005). Despite the fact that the Bible specifically mentions this theory, it still remains widely used today to discredit the resurrection (McDowell & Hostetler, 1992, p. 84).

Just as there are problems with the Swoon Theory, there remain problems with the Stolen Body Theory. The burial linen and spices used to wrap Jesus' body before he was laid in the tomb prove again to be an issue. These spices and cloth were left in the tomb, undisturbed, while the body was taken (Keathley, n.d.). Logically, if the disciples wanted to steal the body without being caught, they would not have risked the extra time it would take to remove these wrappings. Also, how could they physically remove the body from these wrappings without disturbing them when they completely bound Jesus' entire body? In addition, the tomb was sealed and guarded by a unit of Roman soldiers. Who could have, or even dared to try to, sneak passed these highly trained and deadly men to steal a body from a sealed tomb in the middle of the night (McDowell & Hostetler, 1992, p. 85). Obviously, the Stolen Body Theory is merely another theory proven to be exceedingly improbable.

The Hallucination Theory

The Hallucination Theory is a third theory widely used by modern skeptics to explain away the Biblical resurrection. This theory argues that Jesus died and never rose from the dead. He simply remained dead and buried. It was only because his followers were so distraught over the death of the man they considered their Messiah that imagine, or even hallucinated, seeing him risen from the dead (Keathley, n.d.).

Nevertheless, it does not take a scientific mind to realize that the Hallucination Theory is a far stretch from reality. At one point, the Bible revealed that five hundred people, concurrently, witnessed the appearance of Jesus Christ days after he was supposedly dead (McDowell, 1979, p. 249-250). Mass hallucinations do not just happen. Even if you disprove that Jesus was seen by such a great number of people at once and instead insist that he was only "seen" by one or two people at a time, this theory is still unlikely. Essentially, this explanation "contradicts laws and principles which psychiatrists say are essential to hallucinations" (Keathley, n.d., The Hallucination Theory: The Refutation, para. 5). Some people try to dodge this by implying that what these people saw was some sort of vision. But as Professor C. S. Lewis shrewdly concludes, "if it were a vision, then it was the most systematically deceptive and lying vision on record (McDowell, 1979, p. 294). Consequently, this theory can neither logically nor scientifically disprove the Biblical account of this miraculous event.

The Wrong Tomb Theory

Finally, the Wrong Tomb Theory was also developed by critics trying to disprove Christ's resurrection. Kirsopp Lake is well known for his support of this theory, insisting that the resurrection can be logically and easily discredited. Fundamentally, supporters of the Wrong Tomb Theory believe that the women who first reported that Jesus had supposedly risen from the dead simply went to the wrong tomb (McDowell & Hostetler, 1992, p. 81). In the end, to them, there was never a resurrection, just a mix-up. It is as simple as that.

Or is it? Initially, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were present when Joseph of Arimathea prepared and entombed the body of Jesus Christ. So, how could they so easily forget the location of the tomb? Then, Peter and John took off to see for themselves and also saw that the tomb was empty. It is even less creditable that two more people would make the same mistake (McDowell, 1979, p. 256). Even if all four of these people made the same error and subsequently spread this erroneous information, the high priests and Pharisees would have gladly gone to the right tomb and proven Christ's followers to be wrong. Even, as Paul Little suggests, " . . . Joseph of Arimathea, owner of the tomb, would have solved the problem" (McDowell, 1979, p. 257). After all, this relentless debate over Jesus' resurrection would not have continued for so long if it was that simple to refute this occurrence.

Conclusion

In conclusion, A. W. Tozer taught Jesus Christ should be "all and everything" for the believer (Tozer, 1998, p. 103). Christ made an unimaginable sacrifice to conquer the sinful nature and the consequences of eternal death of mankind (Noebel, 1995, p. 121). But without the physical resurrection, his death is but in vain. Take away the fact of Jesus' resurrection and there would be nothing left of Christianity but an empty, meaningless shell. Thus, it is pressing that the Christian (1) understands the Biblical account of the Messiah's death, burial, and resurrection, (2) perceives why this event is so vital to Christianity's existence and survival, and (3) is able to confront the many theories manufactured to destroy the credibility of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As Origen of Alexandria, one of the leaders of the early Christian church, asserts, "it is far better to accept teaching with reason and wisdom than with mere faith" (Meacham, 2005).

References:

The Holy Bible (New International Version). (1984). East Brunswick, NJ: International Bible Society.

Keathley, III, J. H. (n.d.). False theories against the resurrection of Christ. Retrieved September 29, 2008, from http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=635

Kilingsworth, C. (2005, March 20). The resurrection of Jesus: Hoax or history? The Pantagraph, FOCUS, G7. Retrieved March 30, 2005 from Pennsylvania Highlands Community College Library, LexisNexis Academic Database: http://www.pennhighlands.edu/

Meacham, J. (2005, March 20). How Jesus became Christ: Resurrection ot the rise of Christianity. Retrieved March 30, 2005 from Pennsylvania Highlands Community College Library, LexisNexis Academic Database: http://www.pennhighlands.edu/

McDowell, J. (1979). Evidence that demands a verdict (vol. 1). San Bernadino, CA: Here's Life Publisher's Inc.

McDowell, J., & Hostetler, B. (1992). Don't check your brains at the door. Dallas: Word Publishing.

Noebel, D. A. (1995). Understanding the Times (Abridged ed.). Colorado Springs: Association of Christian Schools International & Summit Ministries.

Perkins, P. (1984). Ressurection: New Testament witness and contemporary reflection. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc.

Tozer, A. W. (1998). Tozer speaks to students. Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, Inc.