The resurrection of Jesus isn’t just a religious claim — it’s a historical one. Either something extraordinary happened in Jerusalem around 30 AD, or it didn’t. So what does the evidence actually show?

Rather than starting with “the Bible says so,” let’s use a method developed by historian Gary Habermas called the Minimal Facts Approach. This approach only uses facts that meet two criteria: (1) they are supported by multiple independent sources, and (2) the vast majority of scholars — including skeptics — accept them. In a survey of over 3,400 academic publications on the resurrection, Habermas identified several facts that meet this bar.

Fact 1: Jesus Died by Roman Crucifixion

This is accepted by virtually all historians. Jesus’ execution is attested by multiple New Testament sources, but also by the Roman historian Tacitus (Annals 15.44), the Jewish historian Josephus (Antiquities 18.3.3), and the Talmud (Sanhedrin 43a). Roman crucifixion was professionally administered — the soldiers knew how to kill people. The “swoon theory” (that Jesus merely fainted) has been almost universally abandoned by scholars.

Fact 2: The Tomb Was Found Empty

The empty tomb is reported in all four Gospels, and critically, the first witnesses were women. In first-century Jewish and Roman culture, women’s testimony was considered unreliable and was inadmissible in court. If you were inventing this story, you’d never choose women as your primary witnesses — unless that’s actually what happened.

Additionally, the earliest Jewish counter-argument wasn’t “the tomb wasn’t empty” — it was “the disciples stole the body” (Matthew 28:13). Even the opponents conceded the tomb was empty. They just offered a different explanation.

Fact 3: Multiple, Independent Eyewitness Appearances

Paul, writing in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 (dated by most scholars to within 3-5 years of the crucifixion), records a list of resurrection appearances: to Peter, to the Twelve, to over 500 people at once, to James (Jesus’ brother, who had been a skeptic), and to Paul himself.

This creed is extraordinarily early. Scholars like James D.G. Dunn date it to within months of the crucifixion — far too early for legend to develop. As N.T. Wright notes, “We are here in touch with the earliest Christian tradition, with something that was being said two decades or more before Paul wrote this letter.”

The appearances weren’t limited to believers. Paul had been actively persecuting Christians. James had been a skeptic during Jesus’ ministry. Both became leaders of the early church after claiming to see the risen Jesus.

Fact 4: The Disciples Were Transformed

Something happened that turned terrified, scattered followers into bold proclaimers willing to suffer and die for their testimony. Peter, who denied knowing Jesus three times on the night of His arrest, later preached the resurrection in Jerusalem and was eventually martyred.

People die for beliefs they hold sincerely — but people don’t die for something they know is a lie. The disciples were in a position to know whether the resurrection happened or not. They weren’t distant followers hearing secondhand reports — they claimed to be eyewitnesses. Licona emphasizes that this transformation requires an adequate cause.

Fact 5: Enemy and Skeptic Conversions

Two of the most significant early Christians were hostile to the movement before their conversions. Paul (formerly Saul of Tarsus) was a Pharisee who actively hunted Christians. James was Jesus’ own brother who apparently did not believe during Jesus’ public ministry (John 7:5).

Both claimed a resurrection appearance as the reason for their dramatic reversals. These aren’t people who were predisposed to believe — they had every reason not to.

Evaluating the Alternatives

Skeptics have proposed numerous alternative explanations over the centuries. Let’s briefly consider the main ones:

• The disciples stole the body. This doesn’t explain the appearances, and it means they knowingly died for a lie.
• Hallucinations. Hallucinations are individual psychological events — they don’t happen simultaneously to groups of people in different locations over a period of weeks. They also don’t explain the empty tomb.
• Legend development. The 1 Corinthians 15 creed is too early for legendary embellishment — we’re talking years, not centuries.
• Wrong tomb. The burial by Joseph of Arimathea (a member of the Sanhedrin) makes it easy to locate the correct tomb. The authorities could have simply produced the body.

As Wright concludes in his massive 800-page historical study, no naturalistic hypothesis adequately explains all the evidence. The best explanation — the one that accounts for all the minimal facts — is that Jesus actually rose from the dead.

Why This Matters

If the resurrection happened, it changes everything. It means Jesus’ claims about Himself were vindicated. It means death isn’t the final word. And it means the Christian faith isn’t built on wishful thinking — it’s built on an event in history that you can investigate for yourself.

As Craig often says: the evidence for the resurrection is as good as the evidence for any event in ancient history. The question is whether you’re willing to follow it where it leads.