On the night Jesus was betrayed, he first attended a dinner, where he prayed and gave thanks before the meal. Afterward, Jesus passed around both bread and drink, which he referred to as the sacrifice of his body and blood for sin (1 Cor. 11:23ff.). Later, Jesus appeared before Pilate (Acts 3:13; 13:28), where he made a good confession, which very possibly concerned his identity as the Messiah (1 Tim. 6:13).
In spite of the fact that Jesus was a righteous man (1 Pet. 3:18), he died for the sins of others (1 Pet. 3:18; Rom. 4:25; 1 Tim. 2:6). He was killed (Acts 3:13-15; 13:27-29; 1 Cor. 15:3; Phil. 2:8) by crucifixion (Acts 2:23; 2:36; 4:10; 5:30; 10:39), dying in the city of Jerusalem (Acts 13:27; cf. 10:39), at the hands of wicked men (Acts 2:23). Afterwards, he was buried (Acts 13:29; 1 Cor. 15:4). These events caused the disciples to doubt and despair.
On the third day after the crucifixion (Acts 10:40), the tomb was empty (1 Cor. 15:4, implied) and Jesus was raised from the dead (Acts 2:24, 31-32; 3:15, 26; 4:10; 5:30; 10:40; 13:30-37; 2 Tim. 2:8). Jesus appeared to numerous eyewitnesses (Luke 24:34; Acts 13:31; 1 Cor. 15:4ff.), even eating with them (Acts 10:40-41). Two of these persons — namely James (1 Cor. 15:7) and Paul (1 Cor. 15:8-9) — were formerly skeptics before they met the risen Jesus. The disciples were witnesses of the appearances (Acts 2:32; 3:15; 5:32; 10:39, 41; 13:31), which were reported at a very early date (Acts 10:40-41; 13:31; 1 Cor. 15:4-8). After his resurrection, Jesus ascended to heaven where he was glorified and exalted (Acts 2:33; 3:21; 5:31; 1 Tim. 3:16; Phil. 2:6f.).
The disciples were transformed by these experiences (cf. 1 Tim. 3:16) and made the gospel the very center of their early preaching (1 Cor. 15:1-4). In fact, it was the risen Jesus who taught that salvation was to be preached in his name (Acts 2:38-39; 3:19-23; 4:11-12; 5:32; 10:42-43; 13:26, 38-41). The resurrection was the chief validation of Jesus’ person and message (Acts 2:22-24, 36; 3:13-15; 10:42; 13:32-33; Rom. 1:3-4; 10:9-10). The apostolic preaching initially centered in Jerusalem, the same place where Jesus had been killed. Here the church was born and grew, with Sunday as the chief day of worship.
In the early Christian preaching, Jesus was given numerous titles: Son of God (Acts 13:33; Rom. 1:3-4), Lord (Luke 24:34; Acts 2:36; 10:36; Rom. 1:4; 10:9; Phil. 2:11), Christ or Messiah (Acts 2:36, 38; 3:18, 20; 4:10; 10:36; Rom. 1:4; Phil. 2:11; 2 Tim. 2:8), Savior (Acts 5:31; 13:23), Prince (Acts 5:31) and the Holy and Righteous One (Acts 3:14; cf. 2:27; 13:35). Concerning his essential nature, he was even called God (Phil. 2:6).
Most of these facts are reported in early Christian creeds and actually predate the writing of the New Testament. Others are virtually unanimously accepted by critical scholars, usually because of these creeds and other early historical data. It should be pointed out that these latter, critical facts were not accepted in this chapter simply because the critics also accept them, but because they are established by the facts, such as by the creeds that we investigated in this chapter and by the work of careful historical methodology.87 Thus, critical scholars should not object to this data, since it is both validated by their methods and accepted by their cohorts.
Summary and Conclusion
This chapter has presented perhaps our strongest category of evidence, especially for the death and resurrection of Jesus. Admittedly, the amount of material concerning the life and ministry of Jesus before his death was not overwhelming. However, when we enter the “passion week” of Jesus’ life prior to his crucifixion and afterwards, the situation changes drastically.
The strength of the testimony for Jesus’ death and resurrection comes from several facets of the evidence. First, the material in this chapter was quite early. These early Christian traditions predate the writing of the New Testament and hence give us our earliest look at data dealing with the life of Jesus. In the case of 1 Corinthians 15:3ff. and the Acts creeds (along with a few other examples), this material dates within a few years of the actual events. This is not disputed by the critical community.
Second, these creeds present eyewitness testimony for the facts that they report. Again, 1 Corinthians 15:3ff. and the Acts traditions are the keys in that they link us with the apostles, both singly and in groups, primarily through the testimonies of the two eyewitnesses Paul and Peter. An additional example is Luke 24:34, which may also date to the earliest church and Peter.
Third, additional evidences for Jesus’ resurrection include strong considerations like the empty tomb, the disciples’ radical transformations and willingness to die for the truth of the gospel, which was their central message, along with the conversions of skeptics Paul and James. These and other considerations must be explained.
Fourth, alternative hypotheses that seek to explain away the resurrection in natural terms have failed to adequately account for the known historical facts. Not only is this conclusion dictated by the data themselves, but critical scholars have even admitted this failure. Few researchers have favored any of these theses in recent times.
Fifth, the accepted facts, and the minimal facts in particular, are not only established historically but are recognized by virtually all critical scholars as well. The advantages are that these facts provide a strong basis for belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus and, at the same time, should not be rejected since they are recognized on strictly historical grounds. The facts that almost all scholars accept provide a strong basis for belief in Jesus’ literal resurrection from the dead, especially in the absence of viable naturalistic theories.
On this basis, then, we may conclude that the early Christian creeds and accepted historical facts prove the historicity of the death and resurrection of Jesus. These data are sufficient both to disprove the alternative theories, and to present strong evidences for these events (such as the early and eyewitness testimony), all on the grounds of known history. Critical doubts in other areas cannot disprove and change these basic facts.
1See Oscar Cullmann, The Earliest Christian Confessions, transl. by J.K.S. Reid (London: Lutterworth, 1949), pp. 35, 38. This book is one of the classic works on this subject.
2Ibid., pp. 57-58, 63-64.
3Ibid., p. 32.
4Ibid., pp. 22-23, 28, 55, 57-62. Cf. Bultmann, Theology of the New Testament, vol. 1, pp. 27, 125, 131, 175, 298; Neufeld, The Earliest Christian Confessions (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964), pp. 9, 49, 57, 61; Fuller, Foundations, pp. 204-206, 221-225, 248; Pannenberg, Jesus, pp. 366-367.
5Bultmann, Theology of the New Testament, ibid., vol. 1, pp. 49, 81; Joachim Jeremias, Eucharistic Words, p. 102; Neufeld, ibid., p. 145, cf. p. 128.
6See Cullmann, Confessions, pp. 55, 58; C.F.D. Moule, The Birth of the New Testament, revised edition (New York: Harper and Row, 1982), p. 247; Neufeld, pp. 128-129, 133.
7Cullmann, ibid., p. 55; Bultmann, Theology, vol. 1, p. 27; II, p. 121; Pannenberg, Jesus, pp. 118, 283, 367; Neufeld, pp. 7, 50; cf. Dodd, Apostolic Preaching, p. 14.
8For example, see Bultmann, Theology, vol. 1, pp. 27, 50. Other such sources will be pursued later in this chapter.
9Moule, Birth, pp. 33-35.
10Jeremias, Eucharistic Words, p. 102; Neufeld, pp. 7, 9, 128.
11Jeremias, ibid., p. 132; cf. Bultmann, Theology, vol. 1, p. 176; 2, pp. 153, 156; Fuller, Foundations, pp. 214, 216, 227, 239.