The resurrection.

The historical evidence behind the claim that Jesus rose from the dead, item by item: what is known, how firmly, and how the explanations compare. Each item is graded on the same scale as the rest of the site.

The resurrection What outsiders said Archaeology Dating the crucifixion

Established 2Highly probable 2Probable 4Thinly attested 1Not supported 1Turns on background 1

Mark 15; Tacitus, Annals 15.44; Josephus

Jesus died by crucifixion under Pontius Pilate

Jesus was executed by crucifixion on the authority of Pontius Pilate, prefect of Judea.

Established

1 Cor 15:4; Mark 15:42-47

Burial in a known tomb by Joseph of Arimathea

Jesus' body was placed in a known rock-cut tomb by Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Jerusalem council.

Probable

Mark 16:1-8; Matt 28; Luke 24; John 20

The tomb found empty by women

Within days of the crucifixion, women followers of Jesus found the tomb where he had been laid empty.

Probable

1 Cor 15:3-8

The early creed: "he was raised … and he appeared"

Paul hands on a formula he had received: Christ died, was buried, was raised, and appeared to Cephas and the Twelve.

Highly probable

1 Cor 15; Gal 1-2

His followers proclaimed him raised, within a few years

Within a few years of Jesus' death, some of his followers proclaimed that God had raised him and that he had appeared to them.

Highly probable

1 Cor 15:5-7

Appearances to groups

The early list includes the Twelve, "above five hundred brethren at once" and "all the apostles", but gives no details.

Thinly attested

1 Cor 15:7; Gal 1:19; Josephus, Antiquities 20.200

James, the brother of Jesus

James, apparently not a follower during the ministry, is listed among those who saw the risen Jesus and became the leader of the Jerusalem church.

Probable

Gal 1:13-17; 1 Cor 15:8-9

Paul, from persecutor to apostle

Paul, who persecuted the movement, attributed his turn to a revelation of the risen Jesus.

Established

Josephus; 1 Clement 5; Acts 12:2

Leaders who suffered and died for it

Several first-generation leaders, including James, Peter and Paul, were killed in connection with their faith.

Probable

1 Cor 15; Gal 1; Mark 15-16

Explanations the evidence counts against

Deliberate fabrication, survival of the crucifixion, pure legend, and visions alone do not fit the evidence.

Not supported

Allison 2021

The resurrection and the best natural account compared

Against the best natural account, the evidence alone comes out about even; the verdict depends on one's view of God and of Jesus.

Turns on background

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The early creed: "he was raised … and he appeared"

Research gradeHighly probable

Sources

The Christian case

Paul passes on a summary he had himself been given: "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve" (). The likeliest time for Paul to have received it is his visit to Peter and James in Jerusalem, about three years after his conversion, and many scholars, sceptics among them, are reported to date it within a few years of the crucifixion. Its sequence (died, buried, raised) speaks of the body that was buried being raised.

What the research found

Highly probable that the formula is older than Paul and was being handed on before his mission to Corinth (late 40s or early 50s). A date within about five years of the crucifixion is probable but rests on inference.

Explore the counterarguments

Paul does not say when he received the formula; he could have learned it later, at Antioch in the 40s. The Greek word for "appeared" does not by itself say whether the experiences were seen with the eyes or in a vision, and Paul calls the raised body "a spiritual body" (), whose meaning is debated. The formula does not mention an empty tomb.