An Argument for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ: Part 2 of 2

In a court of law, one of the most powerful pieces of evidence is eyewitness testimony.

Eyewitness Testimony

If one is prosecuting a murder, it is beneficial to find the weapon used in the murder, but without eyewitness testimony, it is very difficult to prove. Experts and investigators can be brought in to explain the physical evidence and how it relates to the cause of death and how it is tied to the suspect, but it becomes a complex argument.

However, if you have at least one eyewitness of the murder, then the case is more easily proved. That eyewitness, if found credible, can be all that is needed to convict a person of the crime. Even without the direct physical evidence used in the commission of the crime, it would be a strong case. Moreover, if there are two witnesses to the same crime, the case is further strengthened.

Even stronger is the case that involves more than two witnesses, especially if they are independent accounts.

There are several documents written by eyewitnesses to the resurrection, such as the gospels according to Matthew, Mark, and John. The apostle Paul is also considered an eyewitness to the resurrection, and we are able to examine many of the documents produced by him.

While one cannot examine these witnesses in a court of law, one can examine the documents and the writings they produced.

Written Statements

In addition, although not a firsthand witness, the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts gives an account of the resurrection. In Christianity on Trial: A Lawyer Examines the Christian Faith, explaining the value of documents such as these, W. Mark Lanier stated, “those writings convey more relevant information on credibility than a two-hour examination might” and “The writings have been subject to near exhaustive analysis over the last nineteen centuries.”¹ 

The fact that, even considering immense scrutiny, the resurrection has been believed by millions, if not billions, of followers of Christ for 2000 years, shows how strong the evidence is for the historical event.

In the gospel according to Matthew, the tax collector turned Christian stated that the resurrected Jesus spoke to the eleven disciples and said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…” (Matthew 28:19). The gospel according to Mark records a similar interaction of the resurrected Jesus, as the eleven disciples sat at a table (Mark 16:15).

In addition, both Matthew and Mark record the eyewitness testimony of two females that encountered the empty tomb. In his gospel, John stated that as the disciples were hiding in fear of the Jews, the resurrected Jesus appeared to them and “showed them His hands and His side” (John 20:20).

The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, stated that “last of all He [Jesus] was seen by me” (1 Corinthians 15:8). Luke, in his gospel and the book of Acts, gave an account of the resurrected Jesus (Luke 24, Acts 1:4-8).

An Orderly Account

Although Luke may not be a direct eyewitness, he could be considered an expert in that he took on the task of writing an “orderly account… that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed” (Luke 1:4). This “orderly account” implies that he gathered information from eyewitnesses and recorded the accounts in his writings.

While there are many more eyewitness testimonies that could be listed, these few add incontrovertible evidence to the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead.

These coherent and intelligent accounts are not a sign of hallucinations or an abnormal psychological condition, but they are considered evidence of significant weight.

The Problem with the Hallucination Theory

To this date, there has never been such a mass hallucination recorded as proposed by Jack Kent, nor has there been any credible accounts of a contagious psychological condition being spread to others in an “incomparable chain reaction,” as stated by Ludemann.² 

There are examples of cultish followings that have led groups to do strange things, but not similar hallucinations, especially not mass hallucinations of the same thing or person. In periods of extreme grief, one may claim to have seen their loved one who has died.

However, there are no accounts of a mass vision in this regard. The claim is normally relegated to one person. In the case of Jesus’ resurrection, there are many claims from witnesses that all seen the same Jesus.

Furthermore, they were recorded near the time of the event in independently written documents.

While the accounts differ slightly, they are very clear on the fact that Jesus appeared in resurrected form after His death on the cross and after His burial in a sealed tomb. As Ankerberg and Weldon stated, “The eyewitness nature of Christ’s Resurrection is unassailable given the disciples’ constant appeal to it…”³

Conclusion

The hallucination theory seems possible at first glance but, to hold this view, one must purposely disregard many historical accounts and, moreover, the direct eyewitness testimony of the resurrection of Jesus.

The eyewitnesses, along with many who heard the firsthand accounts of the resurrection, refused to recant their testimony and instead chose to die for the truth of the resurrection of their Lord and Savior.

This, along with countless testimonies of changed lives, has continued to happen for millennia, further proving that there has been no reasonable refutation of the fact that Jesus Christ rose from the grave.

References

1-W. Mark Lanier, Christianity on Trial: A Lawyer Examines the Christian Faith (Downers Grove, IL: IVP,2014).

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-John Ankerberg and John Weldon, Do the Resurrection Accounts Conflict and What Proof Is There That Jesus Rose from the Dead? (Chattanooga, TN: ATRI Publishing, 2011).