Thanks, all, for the responses. I also like the works of those like Bill Craig, Lee Strobel, Dr. Habermas etc on the Resurrection.
For us Christians, the witness of the Bible is enough. For Non-Christians, we can cite first century Jewish historians like Flavius Josephus: I wrote an article on that here:
https://onepeterfive.com/secularists-proof-resurrection/ Church Fathers St. Ambrose and St. Jerome mention Josephus' Testimony on Jesus in their Apologia for Christianity. Some liberal scholars deny the authenticity of this testimony, but it is found in all the manuscripts of Josephus that we have. Josephus is a renowned historian and his testimony has great value.
Basically, the evidence is (1) the fact of Christ's Public Death under Pontius Pilate around A.D. 33 (2) The fact of the Empty Tomb (3) the fact of the Apostles' completely changed lives after they began giving testimony to Christ's Resurrection. (4) The fact of their Martyrdom as Eyewitnesses, without ever changing or recanting their story, even under death and torture. All opposing explanations fail here.
(1) Were the Apostles just lying? Hardly likely. Would anybody be able to invent such a lie, convince 10 of their colleagues to go along with it, and then all the Apostles become Martyrs for what they knew to be a lie? The witnesses would not have been unanimous first of all if it were a lie, and at least some of them would have cracked under pressure from Caesar or the Sanhedrin, and given "the lie" away. That none of them did so is strong evidence, that they were not lying, but had really seen Jesus Christ risen from the dead.
(2) Were the Apostles subjectively convinced, but in reality hallucinating? The mere fact of the Empty Tomb argues against this theory. Also, hallucinations do not happen in groups, and to all at exactly the same time. And Christ purposefully ate with His Apostles after He rose from the dead, probably precisely in order to put an end to such speculations which He knew would rise up later.
(3) What alternatives really remain? The Apostles were not lying, and not hallucinating, when they bore witness that Christ had Risen. [That Christ did not really die, but only "swooned"? If so, the Apostles would have rather felt pity for Him, and never worshipped Him as God as St. Thomas did, but rather tried to help Him. Clearly implausible in light of what actually happened when St. Thomas met the Lord again.] Therefore, with all these false theories excluded, it remains that they were telling the Objective Truth: Christ is Risen!
New Advent puts it like this:
"Briefly, therefore, the fact of
Christ's Resurrection is attested by more than 500 eyewitnesses, whose experience, simplicity, and uprightness of life rendered them incapable of inventing such a fable, who lived at a time when any attempt to deceive could have been easily discovered, who had nothing in this life to gain, but everything to lose by their testimony, whose moral
courage exhibited in their apostolic life can be explained only by their intimate conviction of the objective
truth of their message. Again the fact of
Christ's Resurrection is attested by the eloquent silence of the
Synagogue which had done everything to prevent deception, which could have easily discovered deception, if there had been any, which opposed only sleeping witnesses to the testimony of the Apostles, which did not punish the alleged carelessness of the official guard, and which could not answer the testimony of the Apostles except by threatening them "that they speak no more in this name to any man" (
Acts 4:17). Finally the thousands and millions, both
Jews and
Gentiles, who believed the testimony of the Apostles in spite of all the disadvantages following from such a
belief, in short the origin of the
Church, requires for its explanation the reality of
Christ's Resurrection, for the rise of the
Church without the Resurrection would have been a greater
miracle than the Resurrection itself."
https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12789a.htm
God Bless, All.
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