- The Christian faith rests upon the claim that Jesus Christ physically rose from the grave on that first Easter Sunday morning. What is the evidence that this event really took place?
- First, the rapid growth of the early Church in the first two centuries A.D., in a hostile Jewish culture, occupied by a hostile Roman empire, only makes sense in light of the early Christians’ commitment to their testimony that Jesus was the risen Messiah.
- Second, in 1 Corinthians 15 the apostle Paul testifies that there were over 500 eyewitnesses to the bodily resurrection of Jesus. The majority of scholars agree that 1 Corinthians was written about 55 A.D. This was roughly 20 years after the resurrection. In other words, many of the eyewitnesses were still around.
- Third, many lives were dramatically transformed as a result of witnessing the risen Jesus. For example: Saul became Paul; James, the brother of Jesus, went from skeptic to leader of the Church in Jerusalem; the disciples were transformed from cowards to bold evangelists willing to die for the testimony they proclaimed. What else explains these remarkable transformations?
For more powerful evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ please check out Dr. Carlson’s lecture, The Resurrection: Fiction or Fact? available in CD or MP3 in our online store.