This document discusses evidence for the resurrection of Jesus in three facts: 1) Jesus truly lived and died, which is uncontroversial according to historical sources. 2) Jesus' tomb was found empty after his crucifixion, as it was discovered in a known location in Jerusalem and opponents did not deny it was empty. 3) Hundreds of eyewitnesses from various backgrounds claimed to have seen the risen Jesus, as described in early New Testament sources, and many suffered or died for maintaining this testimony. The document analyzes these eyewitness accounts and argues for their reliability.

1. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT

2. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
“Christianity, if false, is of no
importance, and if true, of
infinite importance.
The only thing it cannot be is
moderately important.”
(C. S. Lewis)

3. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
the claim of the first Christians:
ACTS 2:32
“God has raised this Jesus to life,
and we are all witness of the fact”
1 CORINTHIANS 15:17
“If Christ has not been raised, your
faith is futile, you are still in your sins.”

4. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
if Jesus rose from the dead:
God is real
Death is not the end
The things Jesus taught are true

5. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
be good historians
“The purpose of the historian is not to construct a history
from preconceived notions and to adjust it to his own liking,
but to reproduce it from the best evidences
and to let it speak for itself”.
PHILIP SCHAFF

6. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
FACT #1: Jesus really lived and died
RICHARD DAWKINS, THE GOD DELUSION (2006)
“It is even possible to mount a serious, though not widely supported,
historical case that Jesus never lived at all, as has been done by,
among others, Professor G. A. Wells of the University of London
in a number of books, including Did Jesus Exist?”

7. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
FACT #1: Jesus really lived and died
RICHARD DAWKINS, THE GOD DELUSION (2006)
“It is even possible to mount a serious, though not widely supported,
historical case that Jesus never lived at all, as has been done by,
among others, Professor G. A. Wells of the University of London
in a number of books, including Did Jesus Exist?”
Professor G. A. Wells… is a Professor of German Language
Professor Wells’ next 3 books retracted this claim:
“I no longer maintain this position” (Wells, 2004)
In a debate with John Lennox, Dawkins also retracted this claim.
“Ok, Jesus existed” (Dawkins, 2009)

8. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
FACT #1: Jesus really lived and died
the reality: it is completely
uncontroversial in scholarly circles

10. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
TACITUS (AD 56 – 120) in Annals 15.44
“Christians derived their name from a man called Christ, who,
during the reign of Emperor Tiberius had been executed by sentence of
the procurator Pontius Pilate. The deadly superstition, thus checked for
the moment, broke out afresh not only in Judea, the first source of the
evil, but also in the City of Rome, where all things hideous and
shameful from every part of the world meet and become popular.”

11. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
THALLOS (AD 55) – refers to reports of an eclipse at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion.
Mark 15:33 records darkness during the crucifixion.
MARA BAR SERAPION (AD 70) – refers to the Jews executing ‘their wise king’
PLINY THE YOUNGER (AD 110) – records that groups met regularly to sing a
hymn to Christ as to a God
SUETONIUS (AD 120) – says Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome in AD 49
due to riots caused by “Chrestus” (recorded in the New Testament, Acts 18:2)
LUCIAN OF SAMOSATA (AD 115-200) – refers to a man in Palestine who was crucified
and is still worshipped today.
CELSUS (AD 175) – ridicules Christianity by saying Jesus was the illegitimate result of his
mother’s affair with a Roman soldier. Explains reports of Jesus’ miracles as mere
Egyptian sorcery.

12. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
JOSEPHUS (AD 37-100)
2 passages. First shows signs of tampering by a later Christian scribe.
The wide consensus of scholars accept this is what Josephus wrote
[with probable additions in brackets]:
JEWISH ANTIQUITIES 18.63-64
At this time there appeared Jesus, a wise man
[if indeed one ought to refer to him as a man].
For he was a doer of starling deeds, a teacher of people who received the truth with
pleasure. And he gained a following both among many Jews and among many of
Greek origin. [He was the Messiah-Christ.]
And when Pilate, because of an accusation made by the leading men among us,
condemned him to the cross, those who had loved him previously did not cease to do
so. [For on the third day he appeared to them again alive, just as the divine prophets
had spoken about these and countless other marvelous things about him.]
And up until this very day the tribe of Christians, named after him, has not died out.

13. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
JOSEPHUS (AD 37-100)
Second passage shows no signs of tampering:
JEWISH ANTIQUITIES 20.200
“he assembled the Sanhedrin of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus
the so-called Messiah-Christ, whose name was James”.
THE TALMUD
PASSAGE DATED AD 100-200
“On the eve of Passover Jesus was hanged (on a cross). For forty days before the
execution took place, a herald went forth and cried, ‘He is going forth to be stoned
because he has practised sorcery and enticed and led Israel astray. Anyone who can say
anything in his favour, let him come forward and plead on his behalf’. But since nothing
was brought forward, he was hanged on the eve of the Passover.”
PASSAGE DATED LATER, AT LEAST AD 200
Reflects the story that Mary was unfaithful to her husband, showing that there was
widespread mystery surrounding Jesus’ birth.

14. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
John Dickson: before we even open a Bible, we can learn from history:
§ The name ‘Jesus’
§ Place and time-frame of his public ministry (Palestine during Pontius Pilate’s
governorship, AD 26-36)
§ The name of his mother (Mary)
§ The ambiguous nature of his birth
§ The name of one of his brothers
§ His fame as a teacher
§ His fame as a miracle worker / sorcerer
§ That he was called the Messiah/Christ.
§ Some considered him kingly
§ The time and manner of his execution (crucifixion around the Passover festival)
§ The involvement of both Roman and Jewish leadership in his death
§ The coincidence of an eclipse at the time of his crucifixion
§ The report of Jesus’ appearances to his followers after his death
§ The flourishing of a movement that worshipped Jesus after his death.

15. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
FACT #1: Jesus really lived and died
the reality: it is completely
uncontroversial in scholarly circles

16. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
FACT #2: Jesus’ tomb was empty

17. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
FACT #2: Jesus’ tomb was empty
1) Jesus was buried in a known tomb

18. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
FACT #2: Jesus’ tomb was empty
1) Jesus was buried in a known tomb
2) A dead body of Jesus would have easily
disproved their claim

19. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
FACT #2: Jesus’ tomb was empty
1) Jesus was buried in a known tomb
2) A dead body of Jesus would have easily
disproved their claim
3) The resurrection was first preached and accepted
in Jerusalem, where anyone could check the tomb

20. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
FACT #2: Jesus’ tomb was empty
1) Jesus was buried in a known tomb
2) A dead body of Jesus would have easily
disproved their claim
3) The resurrection was first preached and accepted
in Jerusalem, where anyone could check the tomb
4) None of the opponents of Christianity denied
that the tomb was empty

21. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
4) None of the opponents of Christianity
denied that the tomb was empty
FRANK MORRISON:
“In all the fragments and echoes of this far-off controversy
which have come down to us we are nowhere told that any
responsible person asserted that the body of Jesus was still
in the tomb. We are only given reasons why it was not there.
Running all through these ancient documents is the
persistent assumption that the tomb of Christ was vacant.”

22. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
FACT #2: Jesus’ tomb was empty
1) Jesus was buried in a known tomb
2) A dead body of Jesus would have easily
disproved their claim
3) The resurrection was first preached and accepted
in Jerusalem, where anyone could check the tomb
4) None of the opponents of Christianity denied
that the tomb was empty

23. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
FACT #3: Hundreds of eye-witnesses
claim they saw him alive
4) None of the opponents of Christianity denied
that the tomb was empty

24. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
FACT #3: Hundreds of eye-witnesses
claim they saw him alive
ACTS 2:32
“God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact”
2 PETER 1:16-17
“We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the
power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eye-witnesses”
1 JOHN 1:1-3
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have
seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched
– this we proclaim…”

25. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
FACT #3: Hundreds of eye-witnesses
claim they saw him alive
1 CORINTHIANS 15:3-8
“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was
raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared
to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the
same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
and last of all he appeared to me also”

26. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
FACT #3: Hundreds of eye-witnesses
claim they saw him alive
1 CORINTHIANS 15:3-8 (AD 53-57)
“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was
raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared
to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the
same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
and last of all he appeared to me also”

27. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
FACT #3: Hundreds of eye-witnesses
claim they saw him alive
1) There were HUNDREDS of eye-witnesses
2) The eye-witness accounts are EARLY
3) The eye-witness accounts DIFFER in minor details and
AGREE in major details
4) The eye-witness accounts are DETAILED
5) Accounts are from a wide VARIETY of circumstances and people
6) Accounts contain EMBARRASSING details

28. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
FACT #3: Hundreds of eye-witnesses
claim they saw him alive
7) Many eye-witnesses SUFFERED and even DIED defending their claims
that they saw him risen.
8) They had NOTHING TO GAIN from their claim.

29. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
FACT #1: Jesus really lived and died
FACT #2: Jesus’ tomb was empty
FACT #3: Hundreds of eye-witnesses
claim they saw him alive

30. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
But how do we know the New
Testament Documents are reliable?

31. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
1) We can be confident that the New Testament
documents have not been changed.

32. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
1) We can be confident that the New Testament
documents have not been changed.
NUMBER OF
WORK
WRITTEN
EARLIEST COPY
MANUSCRIPTS
PLINY SECONDUS
“Natural History”
TACITUS
“Annals”
HOMER
“Iliad”
NEW TESTAMENT

33. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
1) We can be confident that the New Testament
documents have not been changed.
NUMBER OF
WORK
WRITTEN
EARLIEST COPY
MANUSCRIPTS
PLINY SECONDUS AD 850
AD 61-113
7
“Natural History”
(gap: 750 years)
TACITUS AD 1100
c. AD 100
20
“Annals”
(gap: 1000 years)
HOMER
“Iliad”
c. 800 BC
c. 400 BC
643
NEW TESTAMENT

34. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
1) We can be confident that the New Testament
documents have not been changed.
NUMBER OF
WORK
WRITTEN
EARLIEST COPY
MANUSCRIPTS
PLINY SECONDUS AD 850
AD 61-113
7
“Natural History”
(gap: 750 years)
TACITUS AD 1100
c. AD 100
20
“Annals”
(gap: 1000 years)
HOMER c. 400 BC
c. 800 BC
643
“Iliad”
(gap: 400 years)
Fragments: AD 114
5686 (Greek)
(gap: 50 years)
NEW TESTAMENT
AD 50-100
Complete NT: AD 325 + 19,284
(gap: 225 years)
(Translations)

35. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
2) seven reasons to think what the
original authors wrote was true:
1) Based on eye-witnesses, recorded very close to the time of the events,
not legends recorded long after.
2) Unlikely they fabricated events to promote a teacher who taught:
“let your yes be yes and your no be no”
3) No motive to lie and nothing to gain
4) Suffered and died for it

36. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
2) seven reasons to think what the
original authors wrote was true:
5) Accounts were circulated during the life-time of contemporary
witnesses, some hostile
6) The accounts do not sound like legend
7) Confirmed by archaeology

37. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
2) seven reasons to think what the
original authors wrote was true:
SIR WILLIAM RAMSAY:
“'I began with a mind unfavorable to it...but more recently I found myself
brought into contact with the Book of Acts as an authority for the
topography, antiquities, and society of Asia Minor. It was gradually borne
upon me that in various details the narrative showed marvellous truth”
“Further study...showed that the book could bear the most minute scrutiny
as an authority for the facts of the Aegean world, and that it was written
with such judgment, skill, art and perception of truth as to be a model of
historical statement"

38. RESURRECTION:
BEYOND REASONABLE
DOUBT
FACT #1: Jesus really lived and died
FACT #2: Jesus’ tomb was empty
FACT #3: Hundreds of eye-witnesses claim
they saw him alive
FACT #4: the explosion of a completely
new worldview
FACT #5: Jewish Christians moved the day of worship to a
Sunday
FACT #6: Crazy changes in the lives of early Christians
FACT #7: Monotheistic Jews began to worship Jesus as God