Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus

Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus"Various questions about Jesus of Nazareth have often been asked by critics and sojourners of religious thought. Indeed, this is an important question for each rationally thinking person to answer if she is to conclude that Christianity is preferable over rival world views. However, in the wake of evidence for God's existence we tend to cease our pursuit of metaphysical inquiry. This seems to be the case because of our cultural contentment for believing in some sort of deity apart from any theological context. Religious belief is perceived as a "private inner belief" that is not a matter of public scrutiny. Although religious belief is certainly private this is not to say that such a belief is necessarily groundless or beyond criticism. The fact is the avoidance of a religious conclusion evinces an assumption that Christianity is not true. Is it the case that Christianity is not a matter of evidence but a "blind faith"? Is it the case that Christianity is not substantiated by any available evidence or is there independent evidence for the foundation for Christian belief? In this essay, we will survey what it means to pursue evidence for Christianity in the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth. The Apostle Paul once remarked, "If Christ has not been raised then your faith is futile" (1 Corinthians 15:17; NIV). This makes Resurrection studies a paramount issue, if not the ultimate radix, of substantiating Christian belief. Prefacing this discussion will be the role of history in Christian evidence and how history ought to approach religious claims. If an analysis of historical documentation does not prove that Jesus really rose from the dead in bodily form then we must concede that the Apostle Paul's condition has been met resulting in a futility of such belief."