Introduction

Catholic apologists Peter J. Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli write: “We believe Christ’s Resurrection can be proved with at least as much certainty as any universally believed and well-documented event in ancient history.”[1] This paper will introduce Habermas’ and Licona’s Minimal Facts Approach to the resurrection of Jesus. It will briefly address the core naturalist objection, that the Resurrection would be a miracle and miracles cannot occur, and will examine naturalist objections to Jesus’ appearances, the hallucination or vision theory. The paper shows that this theory fails to adequately account for the historical facts. Finally, it concludes from the Minimal Facts Approach that Jesus’ Resurrection was likely a historical fact.

Miracles

The Resurrection was a miracle. If one is an atheist or a deist, as most skeptics are, then a God who performs miracles is not possible. But the argument for God’s existence is very strong: the creation of the universe (see William L. Craig’s Kalam Cosmological Argument), its fine-tuning, the origin of life on earth, and the inadequacy of the neo-Darwinian model to fully explain the information content of living creatures, as well as many other arguments. If there is a God who is active in his creation, miracles are possible. Even today, there are credible, documented accounts of miracles.[2]

Historical Principles for Determining Credibility

 The arguments for the historicity of the Resurrection rely on the credibility of the accounts of this event, which took place about 2000 years ago. Theologians Gary Habermas and Mike Licona lay out five widely accepted historical principles that are relevant to the case for the Resurrection:

  1. Multiple, independent sources support historical claims.
  2. Attestation by an enemy supports historical claims.
  3. Embarrassing situations support historical claims.
  4. Eyewitness testimony supports historical claims.
  5. Early testimony supports historical claims.

If one or more of these principles can be applied to the evidence for an event, one can conclude that the event likely happened. On the other hand, the absence of these principles does not disprove the historicity of an event, but simply makes it less certain.

Minimal Facts Approach

Gary Habermas and Michael Licona have developed a Minimal Facts Approach to argue for the historicity of Jesus’ bodily resurrection. The first four facts are almost universally accepted by New Testament scholars, even by those who deny the resurrection. Scholars also widely, but not universally, accept the fifth fact. These facts are:[3]

  • Fact 1: Jesus died by crucifixion.
  • Fact 2: Jesus’ disciples believed that he rose and appeared to them.
  • Fact 3: The church persecutor Paul was suddenly changed.
  • Fact 4: The skeptic James, brother of Jesus, was suddenly changed.
  • Fact 5: The tomb was empty.

Some scholars reject Fact 5, that the tomb was empty, but this is a minority view. Gary Habermas has estimated that “75 percent of scholars on the subject accept the empty tomb as historical fact.”[4]

Fact 1: Jesus Died by Crucifixion

John Dominic Crossan of the Jesus Seminar, a skeptical scholar, writes: “That he was crucified is as sure as anything historical can ever be.”[5] It is attested to by multiple independent sources, including some who were hostile to Christianity.[6] It also satisfies the principle of embarrassment. Crucifixion in the Roman Empire was a shameful as well as painful way to die. If early Christians had decided to make up a story, they would have chosen a more dignified mode of execution. That Jesus died on the cross is attested to in all four Gospels, which were either written by an eyewitness or relied on eyewitness testimony.[7]

The Swoon Theory

The main argument skeptics provide here is not that the crucifixion did not happen, but that Jesus did not die. This is called the apparent death theory or, more frequently, the swoon theory. According to this argument, Jesus did not really die, but revived in the cold tomb. Keeft and Tacelli provide nine arguments to refute this theory.[8] Basically, Jesus could not have survived crucifixion at the hands of the Romans, who were experts at it. But if He had somehow survived it, in His very weakened state, He could not have unwrapped Himself, rolled away the stone, overpowered the guards, walked to the disciples, and convinced them that He had risen from the dead.

Fact 2: The Disciples Believed that He Appeared to Them

            Almost all scholars agree that “something happened” to cause the disciples to believe that Jesus rose from the dead. The disciples claimed that they had seen him resurrected and were transformed from “fearful, cowering individuals who denied and abandoned him at his arrest and execution into bold proclaimers of the risen Lord.”[9] They began preaching the resurrection on Pentecost, fifty days after it occurred. All of them faced persecution for their beliefs, and many of them were martyred. People are not willing to die for what they know is a lie. If the disciples had not sincerely believed that Jesus rose from the dead, they would not have paid the very heavy price for their proclamation. Moreover, multiple eyewitness attested to seeing Him alive after the crucifixion, including all of the original Eleven (Judas was dead) and both James and Paul (Facts 3 and 4). The three main objections are the fraud or conspiracy, legend or myth, and hallucination or vision theories.

 Fraud or Conspiracy Theory

One theory is that, after the crucifixion, the disciples conspired to lie that they had seen Jesus appear to them in bodily form. This would also require them to steal His body from the tomb, as otherwise their opponents could have brought it out and paraded it in the streets. Kreeft and Tacelli list seven arguments against this theory.[10] What advantage would the disciples have had from spreading this lie? Most of them were martyred for their faith. As Keeft and Tacelli write, “Nothing proves sincerity like martyrdom.”[11] Habermas and Licona make the same argument and add that even if the disciples lied about the Resurrection, it would not explain the conversion of Paul and James (Facts 3 and 4).

Legend or Myth Theory

Another theory holds that accounts of the Resurrection were myths or legends. According to this theory, the historical Jesus was a religious teacher, possibly a healer of psychosomatic illnesses, but not a miracle worker and certainly not one who rose from the dead. As time went on, the legend developed that He worked miracles and rose from the dead.  Embellishments and legends can certainly develop given enough time. The Gospel of Peter, for example, written in about AD 125, added fanciful elements to the Resurrection story, including men descending from heaven and a talking cross.[12] Kreeft and Tacelli list six arguments against this theory.[13] First, the style of the Gospels is devoid of such fanciful elements as found in the Gospel of Peter. A second argument is that there simply was not enough time for such fanciful embellishments. Most scholars believe that the Synoptics were written in the first century AD, when some of the eyewitnesses were probably still alive. Some scholars argue that Luke was written before Paul died in about AD 64, which would make Mark even earlier. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, Paul recites a creed that includes Christ’s death and Resurrection. The letter was probably written in AD 53-54, but the creed is much earlier. Paul Gould, Travis Dickinson, and Keith Loftin write, “Most scholars, critical and conservative, date this creed within just a few years after Jesus’s crucifixion. Even Gerd Lüdemann, himself no friend of the resurrection theory, grants ‘that all the elements in the tradition are to be dated to the first two years after the crucifixion of Jesus . . . not later than three years after the death of Jesus.’”[14]

Another problem for the legend theory is that the first eyewitnesses to the Resurrection were women. In first -century Palestine, women were not considered credible witnesses. If the accounts were legendary, they would not have women as the first eyewitnesses. Moreover, the apostles would not have been willing to endure persecution and martyrdom for what they knew was a legend. Nor would a legend have been able to convince Paul and James that Jesus had risen from the dead. Another argument against the legend theory is that first-century Jews did not expect that anyone would rise from the dead before the Last Day. As N.T. Wright says, “Nobody in Judaism had expected the Messiah to die, and therefore naturally nobody had imagined the Messiah rising from the dead.”[15] It is therefore unlikely that a legend about Jesus’ bodily resurrection would have developed.

The Hallucination or Vision Theory

Another naturalist attempt to explain the post-resurrection appearances is the hallucination theory. This theory goes back to the critical New Testament scholar David Strauss, who developed it in the 19th century, and is continued today by Gerd Lüdemann.[16] People often have grief hallucinations in which they think they see the loved one in the distance. This is particularly common if they use alcohol or drugs to numb the pain.[17] The disciples were, of course, grieving over their dead leader. But there are problems with this theory. The above-mentioned creed in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 (NASB) says He “appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.” In other words, the appearances were shared by numerous people at the same time: the apostles in the locked room, the two on the road to Emmaus, the apostles again in Galilee, and the five hundred. But hallucinations are individual experiences – they are not shared. Gould, Dickinson, and Loftin quote clinical psychologist Gary Sibcy, who performed an exhaustive review of the professional literature over two decades. He stated that he had “yet to find a single documented case of a group hallucination, that is, an event for which more than one person purportedly shared in a visual or other sensory perception where there was no external referent.”[18]

The hallucination theory also fails to account for the empty tomb. If the disciples merely hallucinated the appearances, the tomb would not be empty. If it were not empty, Tom Wright argues, sooner or later his Jewish followers would have had to collect and rebury his bones, in accordance with Jewish tradition.[19] The theory also fails to account for Facts 3 and 4: It is unlikely that James, the brother of Jesus, would have had a grief-induced hallucination. He might have grieved over the loss of his older brother, but he was a skeptic and did not expect a resurrection. Paul, of course, was a fervent opponent of Christianity and would hardly have grieved over the crucifixion. Moreover, the Gospels recount physical appearances, including the resurrected Jesus’ eating and drinking. The women at the tomb most likely even touched him, as did Thomas.

In the vision theory, the disciples really did see something, but it was a heavenly vision, not a physical body. Jesus’ soul or spirit was raised to heaven and appeared spiritually to them.[20]  This is possible in the case of Paul, who saw a brilliant light. But it does not do justice to the very physical appearances described above, nor does it explain the empty tomb. Wright argues that, without the empty tomb, the disciples would have dismissed the appearances as sightings of a ghost.[21] Some skeptics try to equate the appearance to Paul and the appearance to the disciples. But Jesus’ appearance to Paul came AFTER the Ascension, whereas the disciples saw him while he was still on earth. Moreover, Paul clearly taught that Jesus had a body in the risen state.[22]

Fact 3: The Church Persecutor Paul Was Suddenly Changed.

Paul was a zealous Pharisee who considered the early Christ-followers heretics and a threat. He participated in the stoning of Stephen, the first martyr, in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1). He was on the road to Damascus to bring Christ-followers back to Jerusalem as prisoners when he saw a bright light and heard Jesus say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). He was blinded and led to Damascus, where his eyes were opened by the Christ-follower Ananias (Acts 9:17). Saul, who was also called by the Greek name Paul, began to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He soon became the apostle to the Gentiles and wrote many of the books in the New Testament. Paul clearly states that the risen Christ “appeared to me also” (Gk. “He was seen by me also”) (1 Cor 15:8). Paul was beheaded for his testimony in Rome in AD 64. It is highly unlikely that Paul would have turned his back on his previous life just based on the testimony of “heretics.” He really thought he had seen the risen Christ.

Fact 4: The Skeptic James, Brother of Jesus, Was Suddenly Changed

James, one of Jesus’ brothers (Mark 6:3), did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah. Mark 3:21 says, “When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, ‘He is out of his mind.’” John 7:5 says, “For even his brothers did not believe in him.” In the creed recited by Paul, Jesus appeared to James (1 Cor 15:7). He became a leader in the church at Jerusalem (Acts 15:13) and was martyred.[23] This is another example of a skeptic being converted as a result of seeing the risen Christ.

Fact 5: The Tomb Was Empty

All four Gospels report that, after the crucifixion, Jesus’ body was placed in a tomb. All three report that, on the third day, the women found the tomb empty. This fifth fact is widely, but not universally, accepted among scholars. Bart Ehrman, for example, argues that Jesus’ body was thrown into an open pit, as Romans often did after a crucifixion. But Josh and Sean McDowell point out that the Romans sometimes did permit burial of crucifixion victims in Palestine to avoid defiling the land under Jewish law.[24] Since it was the Sanhedrin that initiated the crucifixion, it was responsible for burying the body. There is also archaeological evidence from Palestine of bones in ossuaries with nails from crucifixion.

Some skeptics argue that Jesus’ body was placed in a tomb, but the body was stolen, either by the disciples or by someone else. If the disciples had stolen it, they would have known the Resurrection was a lie and would not have accepted martyrdom. As for someone else stealing the body, who would have an interest in doing it? This, of course, would not explain the sightings of the resurrected Christ. Another proposed explanation is that the women mistakenly went to the wrong tomb. Jesus body is still in the tomb, but not the one that was empty. First, the women had seen where the body was placed, and it is unlikely that they would have forgotten where it was. Also, Peter (Luke 24:12) or Peter and the “other disciple” (John 20:6-7) ran to the tomb and found strips of linen used for burial. Another problem with this explanation is that the authorities could have produced the body in response to the events at Pentecost. That would have shut down talk of the Resurrection. Instead, they claimed that Jesus’ disciples stole the body (Matt 28:13).

If the tomb was not empty, Jesus did not rise bodily from the dead. It would mean that the sightings of the “resurrected” Jesus would have been visions at most. The empty tomb itself does not prove the Resurrection, but it corroborates the sightings and experience of the disciples that Jesus truly did rise bodily from the dead.

Other Objections (Not Minimal Facts)

Discrepancies Between Resurrection Accounts

One objection often made is that the four Gospels give differing accounts of the Resurrection.[25] For example, how many women went to the tomb on the third day and how many angels were there? Did Jesus appear to the disciples at Jerusalem, as Luke writes, in Galilee, as Matthew writes, or first in Jerusalem and then in Galilee, as John writes? If these differences cannot be reconciled, at worst this would be a blow to the doctrine of biblical inerrancy, which does not lie at the center of the Christian faith. Still, Gleason Archer writes, “A careful examination of these four records in comparison with one another demonstrates that they are not in any way contradictory, despite the charges leveled by some critics. It is helpful to synthesize all four accounts in order to arrive at a full picture of what took place on Easter itself and during the weeks that intervened until the ascension of Christ.”[26]  

One should keep in mind that none of the Gospels pretend to be a complete account of the life, death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus. Books in the first century AD had to be short, as they were written by hand on expensive papyrus or parchment and then had to be copied laboriously by hand to pass them on to others. The authors of the Gospels, therefore, were very selective about which details to include and which to leave out. John only mentions Mary Magdalene at the tomb, but he does not write that she was the only one at the tomb. Matthew (Matt 28:2-7) and Mark (Mark 16:5) write about one angel at the tomb while Luke (Luke 24:4) and John (John 20:12) write about two angels. But Matthew and Mark do not write that there was only one angel at the tomb. Likewise, the apparent problem about where the appearances took place goes away if John’s account is accepted: Jesus appeared to the disciples in both places.

The alleged discrepancies suggest that the Gospel writers are relying on different traditions. This indicates the use of multiple independent sources, which would buttress claims that the Resurrection really did occur.

Other Religions Make Similar Claims

The argument is that other religions make the same claims as Christianity. If these claims are myths, is not the Resurrection also a myth? Note that tis line of argument does not address the evidence laid out in the Minimal Facts approach.

It is not true that other religions make the same claims. Hinduism has no known founder. Buddhism has a founder, Siddhartha Gautama, but he made no claims to divinity, and Buddhism does not speak of a resurrection. The Buddha achieved “enlightenment” and taught that people could escape the cycle of rebirth by following the “eightfold path.” The founder of Islam, the prophet Muhammad, did not claim divine status nor did he rise from the dead. His tomb in Medina is a pilgrimage site for pious Muslims. He claimed to receive the Koran orally from the angel Gabriel over a period of time. The first revelation was in AD 609 in a cave on Mount Hira. Besides himself, there were no witnesses to his receipt of the Koran. The founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, claimed he received the golden plates from the angel Moroni, which he deciphered using a “seer stone.” Once deciphered, he returned the plates to Moroni. Mormons say there were 11 witnesses to the deciphering process (not to the receipt of the plates), but this does not withstand scrutiny well. One should note that Mormons claim to be Christians, and Muslims count Jesus as one of their prophets.

Contrast the accounts of Muhammad and Joseph Smith to the Resurrection, to which there were numerous eyewitnesses, including up to 500 at one time (1 Cor 15:6). Another notable difference is that many of the Christian eyewitnesses suffered martyrdom for their testimony. Muhammad was a powerful military leader and not martyred. Joseph Smith was killed when he tried to defend himself in a local jail using a smuggled pistol. Both Muhammad and Joseph Smith also benefited from their stories with power and multiple wives. There is nothing like that in the early Christian church.

Among world religions, Christianity’s claims are unique. They should be evaluated on the evidence.

The Gospel’s Authors Were Biased

 The argument is that the Gospel authors were followers of Jesus Christ, and so were biased. Can we trust biased sources?

Of course they were biased! They believed in the Resurrection. If you believe in the Resurrection, you would be a fool not to follow Christ! Who else besides a believer would write an account about someone that most people had never heard of? But biased does not mean untrustworthy. Perhaps everything we know about ancient personalities comes from sources that were biased either for or against that person. Even modern historians, who endeavor to be “objective,” have a point of view. If we disqualify all sources that have a bias, we would know very little about anything. That the writers of the Gospels were biased does not mean they were not honest or objective.

Minimal Facts Conclusion

The most controversial of the five minimal facts are the empty tomb and the nature of the appearances to the disciples. Fact 1, the crucifixion, is not questioned by serious scholars – it is confirmed by multiple sources, including non-Christian ones such as Josephus, and the criterion of embarrassment makes it extremely unlikely that early Christians would have invented such a shameful death for their leader.[27] Fact 3 – that Paul suddenly changed due to a claimed appearance – is well known. Paul was a fierce opponent of the Christian faith, and only a dramatic event could have explained his conversion. Fact 4 – that James, the brother of Jesus, converted – also requires an explanation. The gospels record that James rejected his brother’s claims, but suddenly in Acts he is a leader of the church in Jerusalem. Paul reports that Jesus appeared to James after the Resurrection, which would explain his conversion.

The naturalist explanations of Fact 5, the empty tomb – theft of the body, the swoon theory, wrong tomb – are questionable and fail to address the other four facts. In particular, the suggestion that the disciples might have stolen the body does not work. If they had stolen the body, they would have known that the resurrection was a lie and would not have been willing to suffer and die for proclaiming it. This contradicts fact 2 – the disciples believed Jesus appeared to them. The case is very strong that his appearances were real, bodily ones and not hallucinations or mere visions.

The Minimal Facts, taken together, make a powerful case for the bodily resurrection of Jesus. It is the best explanation for all five facts looked at individually and taken together. Each of the naturalist theories at best explains one of the facts taken in isolation. Combining the naturalist theories together to explain all the facts decreases their likelihood immensely.[28]

If you would like a Word document of this article, please send me an email at rampinelli@aol.com.

Bibliography

Archer, Gleason L., Jr. New International Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001. 

Bauckham, Richard. Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2006.

Craig, William Lane. Reasonable Faith : Christian Truth and Apologetics. Third edition. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2008.

Gould, Paul M., Travis Dickinson, and R. Keith Loftin. Stand Firm: Apologetics and the Brilliance of the Gospel. Nashville, TN: B & H Academic, 2018. 

Habermas, Gary R., and Mike Licona. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2004.

Keener, Craig S. Miracles Today: the Supernatural Work of God in the Modern World. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2021.

Kreeft, Peter J. and Ronald T. Tacelli, Handbook of Catholic Apologetics: Reasoned Answers to Questions of Faith. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2009.

McDowell, Josh and Sean McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World, 4th ed. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2017.

Moreland, James Porter, and Tim Muehlhoff. The God Conversation : Using Stories and Illustrations to Explain Your Faith. Revised and expanded 2nd ed. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2017.

Wright, N. T. (Nicholas Thomas). Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church. New York: HarperOne, 2008.

[1] Peter J. Kreeft and Ronald T. Tacelli, Handbook of Catholic Apologetics: Reasoned Answers to Questions of Faith, (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2009), 192.

[2] See Craig S. Keener, Miracles Today: The Supernatural Work of God in the Modern World, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2021).

[3] Gary R. Habermas, and Mike Licona, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2004), 48-77

[4] Habermas and Licona, 70.

[5] Habermas and Licona, 49. They quote from John Dominic Crossan, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1991), 145.

[6] Habermas and Licona, 49.

[7] See Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony, (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2006), 6.

[8] Kreeft and Tacelli, Handbook of Catholic Apologetics, 193-195.

[9] Habermas and Licona, 50.

[10] Kreeft and Tacelli, Handbook of Catholic Apologetics, 195-197.

[11] Kreeft and Tacelli, Handbook of Catholic Apologetics, 196.

[12] Ibid., 201.

[13] Ibid., 200.

[14] Paul Gould, Travis Dickinson, and Keith Loftin, Stand Firm: Apologetics and the Brilliance of the Gospel, Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2018), 71.

[15] N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope (London: SPCK, 2007), 59.

[16] William Lane Craig. Reasonable Faith : Christian Truth and Apologetics. Third edition. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Books, 2008. p. 384

[17] Habermas and Licona, 105-6

[18] Paul Gould, Travis Dickinson, und Keith Loftin, Stand Firm: Apologetics and the Brilliance of the Gospel, Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2018), 122.

[19] Tom Wright. Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, (New York: HarperOne, 2008), 69-70.

[20] Habermas and Licona, 154-155.

[21] Wright, Surprised by Hope, 70.

[22] Habermas and Licona, p. 155

[23] Habermas and Licona, 68.

[24] Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World, 4th ed. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2017), 251.

[25] Habermas and Licona, 122-123.

[26] Gleason L. Archer, Jr. New International Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001), 420.

[27] Habermas and Licona, 48-49.

[28] Habermas and Licona, p. 120-121