Over the centuries, there have been several naturalistic explanations offered to discount the claim that Jesus was resurrected from the grave. One of those claims is that witnesses underwent such grief at the loss of their Lord, that they experienced a hallucination that was caused by a psychological condition.
However, the proof of the resurrection of Jesus is based on many eyewitness accounts and cannot be reasonable dismissed as a mere hallucinatory experience of a single person or a group of people.
The Hallucination Fallacy
After a period of over 2000 years, there have been many theories questioning whether Jesus rose from the grave. One of the oldest theories is that the disciples stole His body from the tomb. Even the original fabricators of this idea did not seem to believe it themselves, as it appears that it was formed due to fear of being found wrong and losing status and favor within their culture and community. Others say that He never actually died or that it was just a legend fabricated over many years.
One of the most interesting claims against the resurrection is the naturalistic view that witnesses identified in the Bible were hallucinating when they allegedly seen Jesus after His resurrection. The claims do not normally involve a drug induced hallucination, but it is attributed to a psychological condition.
In his article Explaining Away Jesus’ Resurrection: The Recent Revival of the Hallucination Theories, Gary Habermas cites an account of this theory. He stated Gerd Ludemann “holds that this explanation can be applied to all of the chief participants in the earliest church: the disciples, Paul, the 500, and James, the brother of Jesus.”1
He further cite Ludemann as stating that the hallucinations produced a “religious intoxication” and an “ecstasy” that spread to other disciples in an “incomparable chain reaction.”2
Also cited in the article, Habermas mentions Jack Kent’s claim that “Jesus’ male and female followers experienced ‘normal, grief-related hallucinations.’”3 Kent goes as far to say of the apostle Paul that, because of his participation in Stephen’s death, he experienced the psychiatric condition of “conversion disorder, ” which also caused stumbling and blindness.4
These claims may seem somewhat of a stretch, but this is just one method in which people try to discredit the resurrection.
Foundation of the Resurrection
Although it seems that the evidence for the hallucination theory is very thin, it is, at face value, one of the more sophisticated attacks on Christianity. The atheist’s argument that there is no God amounts to foolish talk and frail arguments when compared to the complex and intricate design found in all life forms.
However, if one can successfully discredit the resurrection, all of Jesus’ claims and Christianity, as a whole, crumble to the ground. If the resurrection did not happen, then there would be no hope beyond this world. There would be no purpose to follow the instructions found in the Bible.
As the apostle Paul stated, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable” (1 Corinthians 15:19, NKJV).
The resurrection is the foundation of the entire content of Scripture and all its claims.
However, for one to attack the resurrection of Jesus, they first have to acknowledge that Jesus existed and, therefore, give evidence of the credibility of the Bible as a valid source of historical events.
What makes the critic believe the Bible is true on some of its claims, but false on others? What is the evidence that it is false as far as the claims of the resurrection?
It appears that there is not a denial of reliability of the Scripture as a source of historical fact, but a denial focused on its claims of the supernatural. However, there is ample evidence to prove the supernatural occurrence of the resurrection, one being the eyewitness accounts explained in Part 2.
References
1-Gerd Lüdemann, The Resurrection of Jesus, 50, 37; cf. What Really Happened to Jesus, 103, quoted in Gary Habermas, “Explaining Away Jesus’ Resurrection: the Recent Revival of Hallucination Theories” (2001). LBTS Faculty Publications and Presentations. 107.
2-Gerd Lüdemann, The Resurrection of Jesus, 106-7, 174-75, quoted in Gary Habermas, “Explaining Away Jesus’ Resurrection: the Recent Revival of Hallucination Theories” (2001). LBTS Faculty Publications and Presentations. 107.
3-Jack Kent, The Psychological Origins of the Resurrection Myth (London: Open Gate, 1999), quoted in Gary Habermas, “Explaining Away Jesus’ Resurrection: the Recent Revival of Hallucination Theories” (2001). LBTS Faculty Publications and Presentations. 107.3.
4-Jack Kent, The Psychological Origins of the Resurrection Myth (London: Open Gate, 1999), 6-11, 49-61,85-90, quoted in Gary Habermas, “Explaining Away Jesus’ Resurrection: the Recent Revival of Hallucination Theories” (2001). LBTS Faculty Publications and Presentations. 107.4.
Dan Buteau has been married for the last 33 years and is a father of four adult children. He is also a grandfather to five children. He serves as a Pastor at a church in southern Maine. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Math Studies from Granite State University and he is currently a Master’s of Theology student at Liberty University. In addition, Dan served in the United States Marine Corps for four years and is retired from a 25-year career in law enforcement. He has a hunger and thirst for the Word of God and is continuing to obey the calling of his Savior, Jesus Christ, as he carries out the Great Commission.
