Jesus Christ’s resurrection is at the core of the Christian faith. Therefore, If there is any historical or secular evidence to prove such a miraculous event, it has been laid under a scanner for centuries (Flavius & Josephus, 2023). We may look to the available evidence in non-biblical sources to guide us in how plausible or implausible the resurrection should be taken as an essential part of Christian theology and, indeed, as a significant historical claim. This essay, therefore, will consider critical historical and secular sources that speak to the resurrection of Jesus, considering their strengths and weaknesses toward the evidence of the case.
One of the earliest references, outside the Bible, to the resurrection of Jesus is in the works of the Roman historian Tacitus (Flavius & Josephus, 2023). In his work Annals, Tacitus gave an account of Emperor Nero’s persecution of Christians and further went on to say that “Christus,” the founder of their name, underwent suffering unto death “during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus”. Though he did not mention the resurrection, his account confirms the biblical record that, at the very least, gave some historical verifications to the central fact of Jesus’ death at the hands of Pilate.
The Jewish historian Josephus is another early secular source that speaks to the resurrection. In his work Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus wrote something concerning Jesus: “At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. Moreover, his conduct was good, for he moulded surprising feats and was a teacher of such people who accept the truth gladly (Vernon & Mark 2019). He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks”. Although questioned, Josephus does agree that Jesus was, in fact, a miracle worker with a large following; therefore, his general declaration on this fact does add some credibility to the gospel narratives. Apart from these ancient sources, there is also archaeological evidence, albeit of an indirect nature, pointing in favour of the resurrection of Jesus.
The boxes had inscriptions of some names of people who appear in the Bible, among them “Yeshua” (Hebrew for Jesus) and “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.” While not substantiated, these archaeological finds surely add to the support of this lineage and the historical fact of people with the same names and their family relationships found in the Gospels, thus lending credence to these accounts. It must, however, be remembered that historical and secular sources so far do not give direct and unequivocal evidence for the resurrection of Jesus (Vernon & Mark, 2019). Though weighty in sum, the references to Jesus by Tacitus and Josephus are silent on his resurrection. Archaeological evidence, along with the others, only supports the more comprehensive history and context; it must logically prove the event of a resurrection.
In conclusion, the eyewitnesses’ biblical narratives provide detailed presentations of Jesus’ resurrection appearances in which he transformed the defeated and hopeless into the heralds of the reign of the risen Christ. The fact that the early Christian movement grew even with intense persecution bears witness to the fact that the disciples must have sincerely believed in the resurrection. The conversion of Saul, a persecutor of the church, to apostle Paul after he meets with the risen Jesus also gives an impetus for believing the claims of resurrection. The fact that they were willing to suffer and die for what they had known strengthens their steadfast conviction about the truth of the resurrection. The nature of the resurrection is miraculous and, by definition, cannot be ascertained with specific historical proof. However, the cumulative weight of the evidence from eyewitness accounts changed lives, and the rapid spread of Christianity does present the most plausible case for the resurrection. This evidence presents itself very much as a believer; it tends to be quite compelling to me, and I believe that God did raise Jesus from the dead, which is central to the facts a Christian believes.
Works Cited
Flavius, Josephus. The Antiquities of the Jews. Simon and Schuster, 2023.
Vernon, Mark. A secret history of Christianity: Jesus, the last inkling, and the evolution of consciousness. John Hunt Publishing, 2019.
write