Rationalistic Theories Of The Resurrection Of Jesus Christ

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the most famous events throughout religion, as well as, history. Even those who belong to a faith outside of Christianity are aware of Christ’s resurrection after he was crucified. However, what many don’t know about are the theories that attempt to discredit that the resurrection and the historical information that prove these theories wrong. On top of this, many people don’t realize just how important the resurrection is to the Christian faith and what it really means. In order to really understand the resurrection, it is important to have knowledge on all of these topics.
There are a few different rationalistic theories that attempt to explain the resurrection of Jesus. The first theory has been
Historically and ethically this theory has multiple weaknesses in it. By all accounts, the disciples were emotionally distraught after the crucifixion of Christ. There is almost no evidence that they were expecting a resurrection because they were so distraught and discouraged, so it is unlikely that they were going to plot a fake one (Strauss). This theory would also require us to assume that the disciples who created the greatest ethical system would fabricate such an elaborate hoax, which is extremely unlikely (Strauss). Similar to the swoon theory, this theory does not explain how the linen wrappings used to cover Christ’s body were left exactly the same way they were when He was placed in the tomb (False Theories Against the Resurrection of Christ). The final and most modern theory about Christ’s resurrection is the legendary development theory. The legendary development theory states that the resurrection story started as a legend that were recorded in the gospels (Strauss). This theory is the hardest to disprove because it claims that all of the stories of the resurrection cannot be trusted (Strauss). However, this theory does not account for the fact that the disciples were persecuted and the death of a martyr for their faith. It is hard to believe that they would have gone through all of this for a myth they fabricated
The first piece of evidence is that Jesus was crucified under order from Pontius Pilate around 30 AD. There are no scholars who deny that Jesus was not crucified in Judea because history shows over and over just how good the Romans had become at doing this (Strauss). The second piece of evidence is that all four Gospels provide confirmation that Jesus was buried in the Tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. The incidental details of the location of the tomb are what give the resurrection historical credibility (Strauss). The tomb being discovered empty on the third day is the third piece of historical evidence that affirms Christ’s resurrection. This piece of evidence is important for a number of reasons. First, the women discover the empty tomb which was very unusual in this time because women were seen as unreliable sources. On top of this, the disciples would have not been able to preach if the tomb had not been empty. Similar to this, the claim that Jesus’s body was stolen presupposes that the tomb was empty. The final important piece of this evidence is that in Mark’s gospel it states that Jesus rose on “the first day of the week”, which would change the Lord’s Day (the Sabbath) from Saturday to Sunday. The fourth piece of historical evidence is the fact that many people saw Jesus alive. Again it is important to remember that the