Disciples made the whole thing up
The most common explanation of the Resurrection by sceptics is
that the disciples concocted the whole scheme by paying off the guards,
stealing the body, and claiming that Jesus rose from the dead. Then, they
worked together for the rest of their lives to spread a religion that they knew
to be a lie.
Christians disagree with this theory because it flies smack
in the face of human nature. Before the Resurrection, the disciples never
impressed anyone by being a courageous and zealous group of people. In fact,
they were downright cowardly. Therefore, it seems like a weak argument to
suggest that this group of 11 men unanimously conspired to make up the whole
scheme, preach a lie for many years, be imprisoned and tortured for speaking
the lie, and willingly die for something they knew to be false. Many people
find it hard to consider dying for a cause that they honestly believe in, but
how many people would willingly die for a lie? If it were a lie, one would’ve
expected at least one of the disciple conspirators to try and save his skin
just before being executed.
Chuck Colson gives one of the best Christian arguments
against this theory by comparing the Resurrection to the Watergate scandal. Colson
was the chief legal counsel to former U.S. President Richard Nixon and went to
jail because of his involvement in Watergate. One of the reasons that Colson
believes in the truth of the Resurrection is the way in which he saw his
colleagues and himself react during the Watergate conspiracy. He writes in
Loving God (Zondervan, 1987):
With the most powerful office in the world at stake, a small
band of handpicked loyalists, no more than ten of us, could not hold a
conspiracy together for more than two weeks... Even political zealots at the
pinnacle of power will save their own necks in the crunch, though it may be at
the expense of the one they profess to serve so zealously.
Another strike against this explanation is that, if the
disciples really did make this whole plan up and document the fiction in the
Gospels, why are they so often portrayed in less-than-stellar terms? Assuming they
had the wherewithal to pull off the Resurrection conspiracy, one would think
that they would’ve at least made themselves look good in their made-up stories,
rather than so often appearing as a band of bumbling and cowardly nitwits.
Disciples were delusional
Another possibility put forth by sceptics is that the
disciples didn’t actually see a risen Jesus, they just thought they did. In other
words, the disciples saw Jesus either by delusion, hallucination, imagination,
or dream. In this scenario, some unknown third party stole the body.
Had Jesus appeared once or twice to individuals, such a case
might be more convincing. But given the fact that the Bible says Jesus appeared
multiple times to the disciples during a 40-day span (when most or all of them
were present at the same time) and to as many as 500 other believers in one
setting as well, Christians believe this option also seems to be wishful
thinking – it tries to account for the sincerity of the disciples without
allowing for the supernatural.
Jesus was “mostly dead”
A third explanation given by sceptics is that Jesus didn’t
actually rise from the dead, because he was simply unconscious when they put
him in the tomb. I call this explanation the Miracle Max theory, because it
reminds me of a scene in The Princess Bride in which the hero Westley
supposedly dies, but is brought back to life by Miracle Max. It turns out that
Westley isn’t dead, but simply “mostly dead.” According to Miracle Max, there’s
a big difference between the two: “Mostly dead is slightly alive. Now, all
dead... well, with all dead, there’s usually only one thing that you can do. Go
through his clothes and look for loose change.”
Although the Miracle Max theory may seem more rational
because it avoids the supernatural, Christians find it unbelievable for several
reasons. First, Jesus hung on the cross for several hours and was presumed dead
before he was brought down from it. Second, an essential part of any execution
is ensuring that the death actually occurred, so the Roman soldiers would’ve
confirmed the death of a prisoner before releasing the body to the deceased’s
loved ones for burial. Mark 15:44 even states that Pilate asked that the report
be confirmed by one of his men before they released the body. Third, Jesus
would’ve had to somehow revive himself while lying in a dark tomb for three
days and receiving no medical treatment. Fourth, in his post-crucified state,
Jesus would’ve required the strength to push the boulder away. Finally, he’d
have to change his appearance so that he didn’t look like someone who barely
escaped death, but instead as someone in a perfect state of health – because that’s
how the Bible says he appeared to the disciples (see Luke 24:36-42).
Jesus really did rise from the dead
The last option is that a supernatural event did happen and
that Jesus really did rise from the dead. This option supports the facts
confirmed by the Bible (see the “Rounding up the eyewitnesses” sidebar) and
non-biblical sources and is most consistent with the disciples’ behaviour
throughout their post-Resurrection ministries. At the same time, faith plays an
important part in accepting this option, because such a belief requires that a
supernatural event occurred.
Rounding up the eyewitnesses
The event that many sceptics argue against is Jesus’
resurrection (see the section, “Peering into an Empty Tomb: Revisiting the
Resurrection,” in this chapter). Yet, based on historical standards, the
testimonial evidence in support of Jesus’ resurrection is compelling. Theologian
Norman Geisler notes in Christian Apologetics (Baker Book House, 1976), “The
number of individual appearances (of Jesus after his resurrection recorded in
the scriptures) is more than sufficient to determine the validity of their
testimony. No like testimony is possessed for any event from ancient times.”
In other words, Jesus’ resurrection has more eyewitness
evidence supporting it than do the military victories of Alexander the Great,
the Peloponnesian War, and the ancient Olympic games.
Table 5-1
Explaining the Resurrection
Possible Explanation: Disciples made the story up
Why It’s Hard to Believe: Goes against how people would
normally behave in such a situation
Disciples imagined seeing Jesus
Requires different people to have experienced the same
hallucination, because Jesus appeared to multiple people at the same time
Jesus wasn’t really dead
Goes against medical science
Requires gross negligence on part of the Roman authorities
Requires many believing and non-believing people to be
fooled
Jesus really rose from the dead
Requires a supernatural event to occur
Coming to a Conclusion: Was Jesus a Good Teacher or the Son
of God?
Even people who aren’t Christians usually respect and admire
the teachings of Jesus. After all, who would argue against the idea that if
people lived according to his moral principles, the world would be a better
place? Yet, the fact is that although many non-Christians readily acknowledge
him as a good teacher, they don’t accept that he was actually the Son of God.
Limiting Jesus to a teaching role is much like thinking of
George Washington as purely a military general or a good husband. Yes,
Washington was a successful military leader and a good husband, but his true
importance to Americans lies in being the father of our country. If you
overlook that fact, then you really miss the gist of who he was. In the same
way, relegating Jesus to being just a good teacher ignores much of what Jesus
taught and emphasized throughout his ministry.
Christians believe the issue, however, goes beyond just what
Jesus emphasized. Because so much of his teaching focused on radical claims
about himself, clearly Jesus, by his own deliberate action, painted himself
into a corner. Considering that, he must be one of the following:
Exactly who he claimed to be – equal with God
An ego-driven man who demanded attention at all costs
A delusional man who had no grip on reality
Therefore, with Jesus, you either have to accept all his
claims as true or else believe that his moral teaching was taught by a
notorious self-promoter or by a man who had no grip on reality. Author C.S.
Lewis sums up the Christian view best when he writes:
I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish
thing that people often say about him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great
moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.” That is the one thing
we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus
said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a
level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil
of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of
God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you
can spit at him and kill him as a demon, you can fall at his feet and call him
Lord and God. But let us not come away with any patronizing nonsense about his
being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend
to.
-Mere Christianity (Harper San Francisco, 2001)
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