Why Trust the Testimonies about the Resurrection?

When multiple independent sources agree on the key contours of a story, it is worth considering the possibility that the narrative they share is credible. That is especially true when this shared story includes details that do not place the storyteller in the best light.

So, what does all of this have to do with whether or not the resurrection really happened?

Multiple independent sources agree on the same general sequence of events regarding the story of Jesus's resurrection. Every retelling of the resurrection mentions that Jesus died, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day, and that he appeared to specific individuals and groups. All four New Testament Gospels and a later independent retelling of the resurrection preserved in the manuscript Papyrus Cairo 10759 identify Mary Magdalene as the first witness at the empty tomb. When it comes to when and how Jesus died, the eminent Roman historian Tacitus agrees with the Gospel writers that Jesus was crucified in Judea during the administration of Pontius Pilate.

These points represent a striking conflux of concurrences scattered throughout a series of sources that did not depend on each other. One particular detail no one would have fabricated is Mary Magdalene as the initial witness.

If this story had been a fictional account concocted by first-century followers of Jesus, no one would have positioned a woman at the empty tomb. That is because women were not regarded as trustworthy witnesses in the contexts where Christianity first took root and grew. This inconvenient detail in the resurrection story suggests that early Christians were willing to preserve the truth about what happened, even when it was awkward. Prioritizing a woman’s testimony makes no sense unless Mary Magdalene was the first witness at the tomb.

An Event Rooted in History

The striking consistency of these reports, even concerning inconvenient details, is one reason why many sceptics agree that at least some parts of the story must have happened. The resurrection is a story we can call witnesses; some witnesses are not even Christians. Bart Ehrman was an agnostic who recently described himself as an atheist. Despite his disbelief in the resurrection, Ehrman admits,

I am struck by the consistency among otherwise independent witnesses in placing Mary Magdalene at the cross and the tomb on the third day. It seems hard to believe this happened through a fluke of storytelling. It looks much more likely that, at least with the traditions involving the empty tomb, we are dealing with something rooted in history.

New Testament scholar Paula Fredriksen is not a Christian. Yet as she reads the reports of the earliest followers of Jesus, she is open-minded enough to recognise that in their own terms, what they saw was the raised Jesus. . . . All the historical evidence we have afterwards attests to their conviction that that’s what they saw. I’m not saying that they really did see the raised Jesus. . . . I don’t know what they saw. But I do know, as a historian, that they must have seen something.

Even people who aren’t Christians can admit “we are dealing with something actually rooted in history” and “they must have seen something.” But what was it that the first followers of Jesus saw?

Christians have always believed these first witnesses saw Jesus himself in risen flesh. Yet the question we are exploring together is whether or not the resurrection really happened, and anyone interested in that question is likely to wonder about possibilities that do not involve a corpse coming back to life.

So, what are the alternatives to bodily resurrection? And how probable are these possibilities?

Empty Tomb

One of the most prominent possibilities is that the first witnesses sensed a post-mortem presence they misinterpreted as resurrection.

In the weeks and months after a loved one dies, it is not uncommon for friends or family members to sense the nearby presence of the deceased person. In the words of Taylor Swift reflecting on her feeling that her deceased grandmother Marjorie was still present with her, “And if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were talking to me now. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were still around.” Sometimes, this sense that a loved one is “still around” can take the form of visions that seem physical. It is even possible for groups of people to experience collective hallucinations.

What happened among the first followers of Jesus?

What if the alleged witnesses merely experienced a profound sense of their crucified leader’s presence that they misperceived as a resurrection? Or suppose a few of them hallucinated or experienced a vision that convinced them they saw Jesus alive in the flesh. If so, what the disciples witnessed was not a body transformed and restored to life. At best, what happened was closer to the experience of the boy in The Sixth Sense, who interacted with dead people who did not know they were dead. At worst, they were duped by a collective hallucination. Either way, Jesus is no more alive today than Taylor Swift’s grandmother.

But this proposition has a problem. Visions and hallucinations cannot empty a tomb.

Or, to put it another way, even if Grandma Marjorie’s presence is still around on Taylor’s latest tour, Marjorie’s remains remain in the ground. The body of Jesus, however, is nowhere to be found.

That is why the traditions involving the empty tomb are so important. One key claim that is consistent throughout multiple retellings of the story is that Mary Magdalene saw the cave where Jesus' corpse was laid and returned to find the tomb empty (Matt. 27:61–28:7; Mark 15:47–16:7; Luke 23:55–24:11). It's difficult to argue that Jesus' body was still buried when Mary visited the tomb. If his body had still been entombed behind the rolling stone when people started proclaiming he was alive, the religious leaders could have… quickly confounded every claim of resurrection by disinterring the dead body and parading the corpse through the streets of Jerusalem. 

Such an act would have ended the earliest disciples’ devotion to the risen Jesus while their claims were still confined to a tiny sect. However, the religious leaders do not seem to have attempted anything of this sort, which suggests the body was no longer accessible to them.

If the tomb was genuinely empty—and it certainly seems to have been—it would be challenging to dismiss the disciples’ experiences as visions or hallucinations. But it is not merely the emptiness of the tomb that makes me confident that Jesus was raised from the dead; it is also the deaths of the witnesses.

 What People Won’t Die For—and What They Will

“I only believe histories in which witnesses were to be slaughtered,” French philosopher Blaise Pascal once wrote. It’s a bit of an overstatement, but there’s also a kernel of common sense in Pascal’s words. Historical claims are most believable when witnesses refuse to alter their claims, even in the face of death.

Of course, martyrdom alone doesn’t prove that a particular event happened. Myriads of people throughout history have died for lies that they thought were true. What makes a claim most believable is when the martyrs are able to know firsthand whether or not their testimony is true. If you’re uncertain about a claim you’re making or know the claim is false, you will back away from the story at some point before it costs you your life.

Atheists around the world have declared themselves members of the satirical Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (yes, it’s an actual organization that claims “millions, if not thousands” of followers). And yet, not one of these individuals will ever die for this cause because they know their “Pastafarian” faith a hoax. This principle that prevents Pastafarian martyrs is not limited to hoax religions. Throughout history, people have sometimes sacrificed their lives for lies, but they are not typically willing to die for a falsehood when they know it is false.

This brings us to a crucial question about the resurrection: Did any of those who claimed to have seen the risen Jesus persist in their devotion to this message at the cost of their lives?

The answer is yes—and not merely once, but at least three times.

How the Martyrdoms of Eyewitnesses Make the Resurrection Credible

Multiple early sources testify that three alleged witnesses to the resurrection died for what they declared: Simon Peter, James, the brother of Jesus, and James, the son of Zebedee.

* According to reports from Luke (Acts 12:1–3) and Clement of Alexandria, King Herod Agrippa I beheaded James, the son of Zebedee, to please the religious leaders in Jerusalem.

* The high priest Ananus had James, the brother of Jesus, stoned to death, according to Josephus and Eusebius.

* Peter was executed in Rome—perhaps by crucifixion—during Emperor Nero's reign. John’s Gospel (John 21:18–19) and a letter written by Clement of Rome hint at Peter’s martyrdom, and other writers explicitly mention how he died for his faith.

If the resurrection claims had been falsified, one or more of these leaders would almost certainly have been in a position to know about the fabrication. If the disciples stole the body of Jesus as some Jewish religious leaders claimed (Matt. 28:11–15) or if their encounters with his resurrected flesh were ambiguous, these three would have been aware of that, too.

Once their claims about Jesus caused them to be ostracized by fellow Jews, Peter and the two Jameses had nothing to gain by continuing to proclaim the resurrection. Especially after their claims about Jesus exposed them to localized outbursts of Roman persecution, they knew they had everything to lose by continuing to insist Jesus was alive. Still, they chose death over any denial of their devotion to the risen Jesus. They persisted to the point of execution, providing strong evidence for the resurrection’s reality.

When I was a college student struggling with my faith, this aspect of the evidence seized me at a moment when I thought the last dregs of faith had been drained from my soul. People sometimes die for lies but do not typically die for a lie when they know it is a lie. Yet witnesses who would have known if the resurrection had been a fabrication clung to their confidence that Jesus was alive all the way to death. That recognition shook my scepticism and forced me to doubt my doubts. Decades later, it still does. Considering this evidence, I am convinced that the resurrection is only implausible if we presuppose a world where miracles are impossible.

Timothy Paul Jones