Their are 6 facts about Jesus' resurrection story that even skeptics approve of. These have to include only the historical data that are strongly evidenced by multiple independent lines of argumentation, and only the data which are accepted as historical by virtually all historical scholars.
The facts that almost all of biblical scholars, secular skeptics included, say are historical facts are that Jesus died by crucifixion; Jesus' disciples had real experiences that they thought were appearances of Jesus after his death; the disciples were transformed even to the point of being willing to die for their message; Paul also had a similar appearance of Jesus and converted; while he was hunting down and killing Christians at that time; and the message was proclaimed within one or two years from the crucifixion.
Skeptic scholar James Crossley says "the resurrection appearances are some of the hardest, best evidence we have” because it’s early in the 1 Cor 15:3-8 creed, people were convinced that they had seen the risen Christ."
These are just minimal facts that attest to Jesus' resurrection. The disciples scattered and hide after Jesus was killed. They thought their leader was dead and gone and they didn't wanna have the same fate. But they never fully understood all the times he told them what was gonna happen to him.
The disciples suddenly came to believe so strongly that God had raised Jesus from the dead that they were then willing to die for the truth of that belief and some did. But then the obvious question arises: What in the world caused them to believe such an un-Jewish and outlandish thing? Luke Johnson, a New Testament says....., “Some sort of powerful, transformative experience is required to generate the sort of movement earliest Christianity was.” And N. T. Wright says,...“That is why, as an historian, I cannot explain the rise of early Christianity unless Jesus rose again, leaving an empty tomb behind him.”
The facts that almost all of biblical scholars, secular skeptics included, say are historical facts are that Jesus died by crucifixion; Jesus' disciples had real experiences that they thought were appearances of Jesus after his death; the disciples were transformed even to the point of being willing to die for their message; Paul also had a similar appearance of Jesus and converted; while he was hunting down and killing Christians at that time; and the message was proclaimed within one or two years from the crucifixion.
Skeptic scholar James Crossley says "the resurrection appearances are some of the hardest, best evidence we have” because it’s early in the 1 Cor 15:3-8 creed, people were convinced that they had seen the risen Christ."
These are just minimal facts that attest to Jesus' resurrection. The disciples scattered and hide after Jesus was killed. They thought their leader was dead and gone and they didn't wanna have the same fate. But they never fully understood all the times he told them what was gonna happen to him.
The disciples suddenly came to believe so strongly that God had raised Jesus from the dead that they were then willing to die for the truth of that belief and some did. But then the obvious question arises: What in the world caused them to believe such an un-Jewish and outlandish thing? Luke Johnson, a New Testament says....., “Some sort of powerful, transformative experience is required to generate the sort of movement earliest Christianity was.” And N. T. Wright says,...“That is why, as an historian, I cannot explain the rise of early Christianity unless Jesus rose again, leaving an empty tomb behind him.”
