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

← All items

James, the brother of Jesus

Research gradeProbable

Sources: ; ; Josephus, Antiquities 20.200

The Christian case

During Jesus' ministry his own family did not follow him: "For neither did his brethren believe in him" (). Yet the early list says, "After that, he was seen of James" (). Paul met "James the Lord's brother" in Jerusalem (), James became the leader of the Jerusalem church, and the Jewish historian Josephus records that he was stoned in 62 CE as "the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ". A sceptical brother who became the leader of the movement, and died for it, is one of the most striking turns in the record.

What the research found

Probable as a whole. That the list names James is established; that he was Jesus' brother and became the Jerusalem leader is highly probable; that he did not follow Jesus during the ministry is probable.

Explore the counterarguments

No account of the appearance to James survives. Whether the James clause belongs to the original formula is disputed. James may have known of Peter's experience before his own, which an ordinary explanation can use; in the comparison of explanations the James evidence fits the bodily resurrection and the best natural account equally.