Any explanation has to cover a few historically certain facts:
1: Jesus was crucified and died on the cross.
2. Jesus was buried in a tomb which was found empty a few days later.
3. Several witnesses came to believe that they had seen Jesus risen to life again.
4. The disciples became leaders of a new faith movement which grew into Christianity. Converts included friends and enemies, believers and sceptics, Jews, Romans, and pagans.
Disciples Stole The Body
They had no reason to. Their great leader had died. As far as they were concerned he was another false Messiah. He had been a good friend, but all they had left was his memory. The death of Jesus was proof to them that the mission was over. Most of them ran out of town! They didn't expect a resurrection of any kind until the end times and Judgement Day.Stealing the body would have made no sense to them.
It didn't make sense for them to do it, but maybe they got some crazy idea to attempt it. So what would that mean? Jesus was locked in a tomb wrapped in linen, behind a two ton boulder sitting in a groove, sealed with a gubernatorial stamp, guarded by a number of Roman soldiers, in a burial plot reserved for Jewish leaders.
The disciples would need at least two of them (probably more) to be involved to have the strength to move the boulder. They'd have to be sneaky enough in numbers to get past armed, alert, trained guards who were there for the sole reason to stop grave robbers. They'd have to somehow remove a two ton boulder silently! Then for some reason they decide to unwrap Jesus from his deathbed clothing and neatly arrange it where he was laying before making off with the body and resealing the tomb silently so that no one would notice he had gone missing. If they were being sneaky, they would want to be in and out quick, so undressing Jesus while they were still in the tomb would have been absolute madness. Seeing as he had been dead some time, the smell would have been enough for them to want to leave as fast as possible.
They wouldn't have bribed the guards, because they had no money. The guards would have been punished for accepting the bribes anyway and there would be nothing to stop them from telling anyone the truth.
They wouldn't have killed the guards, because that would mean more bodies to hide, and require an explanation of where the missing soldiers had went. It would have made the theft more obvious.
No means, motive, or opportunity. Didn't happen.
That aside. Let's say that they did steal the body and pretend Jesus was back.
All but one of them died as martyrs. Nobody would die or risk the lives of their friends and families for something that they knew was a lie. If they knew that Jesus was really dead, then at least one of them would have cracked under pressure and admitted it before their execution. The religion would have been finished.
Sceptics often point to the 9/11 suicide bombers as proof that people do die for their beliefs. Yeah. People die for things that they believe. The difference between the 9/11 bombers and the disciples is that the bombers believed, while the disciples knew the truth of whether Jesus lived or didn't. It wasn't a question of belief for them, it was a question of true or false, or real or lie.
So how well does this explanation do?
1: Jesus was crucified and died on the cross.
Yep. He had to otherwise he wouldn't be in the tomb in the first place.
2. Jesus was buried in a tomb which was found empty a few days later.
The disciples nabbed the body apparently. No way they could have managed it or any reason for them to do that though.
3. Several witnesses came to believe that they had seen Jesus risen to life again.
Calls them out as liars. But the accusation doesn't stick.
4. The disciples became leaders of a new faith movement which grew into Christianity. Converts included friends and enemies, believers and sceptics, Jews, Romans, and pagans.
Disciples became leaders, but the growth of the movement doesn't make much sense when it was built on a lie.
The Disciples Wanted Their New Religion To Succeed And Made Up The Resurrection For Popularity
Covered the lies just above. One of them would have given up the act eventually.The disciples were all devout Jews until the resurrection. Then they became Followers of Jesus and broke off from tradition.
This meant at worst persecution, torture, and death, and at best poverty and unpopularity. Remember, Jesus was tortured and crucified for his teachings. That's not the example for someone who wants a happy, fulfilled life of fame, glamour, fortune, and power.
These people didn't become leaders in the sense that their followers had to obey their commands. They were teachers, preachers, and guides.
They had no interest in making a new cult that would earn them power and riches. Christianity gave them the complete opposite of that. Which is why it makes literally no sense whatsoever that they would carry on lying to protect a lifestyle that only offered hardship.
Peter had already lied while Jesus was alive so he could save his own skin. It's unlikely that he'd lie to make sure his enemies crucified him upside-down...
Next. They were trying to convince Jewish people about the resurrection. Jews did not believe that any sort of return to life would happen until Judgement Day. To Jewish ears, talk of the resurrection would sound a bit too much like the pagan myths of gods who rise and fall to signify summer and winter. They would have no interest at all in adding any heretical pagan ideas to their solid traditions. The disciples would not have been able to convince anyone.
However, Jews did change their minds. Jesus' brother James who had never believed before the crucifixion went on to be one of the great leaders. A lot of people have brothers who think they are gods. It would take something really special to happen for anyone to be convinced, let alone begin preaching it to strangers. James ended up being stoned to death.
Not only that. Saul was a Christian hunter and killer. He was wealthy and powerful. He had a high rank and command over several soldiers. He had it all already. He gave it all up to preach the word of Jesus until eventually having his head lopped off for the trouble.
If any of these people wanted to stick to a peaceful, happy, easy life, they would have stayed well away from Christianity.
So how well does this explanation do?
1: Jesus was crucified and died on the cross.
Yep.
2. Jesus was buried in a tomb which was found empty a few days later.
Doesn't say whether the tomb was empty or not. I suppose you have to assume it was and come up with some other explanation for why.
3. Several witnesses came to believe that they had seen Jesus risen to life again.
They made it up and lied about it. They never really believed it. Very weak explanation when a group of 500 people were meant to have seen Jesus at the same time.
4. The disciples became leaders of a new faith movement which grew into Christianity. Converts included friends and enemies, believers and sceptics, Jews, Romans, and pagans.
There would be no reason for anyone to lead the movement let alone join it especially someone who made a living hunting and killing these people...
Jesus Was Crucified But Didn't Die On The Cross
Some sceptics suggest that Jesus was put on the cross but just fainted. When that happened people thought he was dead, took him down and buried him. This is often called 'swoon theory'.So after this happened, a couple of days later Jesus woke up and let himself out of the tomb. Then he went and found his old friends and let them know he was OK. They all then thought he was back from the dead, and maybe Jesus himself actually believed that had happened.
It's a neat theory, but doesn't make sense with the facts. The Roman executors were professionals. They weren't going to fooled by a swoon. That's what the spear stuck in his side was about. They were checking he really was gone before pulling him down. It's their standard procedure to make sure their victims were crucified til dead. They didn't want to muck about pulling a guy down, having him wake up, then have to faff about putting him back up again. They had to be sure, and both Pontius Pilate and the Sanhedrin had to be convinced that Jesus was dead too.
Besides that, Jesus' treatment on the day of the crucifixion would pretty much guarantee his death. He was beaten and whipped, losing blood the whole time before having to drag his crossbeam up a hill and being nailed to it. Modern medical studies have confirmed that the symptoms Jesus suffered described in the Gospels were exactly what would be expected if it was true, including his exhaustion and the flow of 'blood and water' when he was pierced
It's undeniable that if Jesus was put on that cross, he did not come off of it until he was dead. That was the whole reason for putting him up there.
So how well does this explanation do?
1: Jesus was crucified and died on the cross.
Denies this established fact then bases the rest on this.
2. Jesus was buried in a tomb which was found empty a few days later.
If he was just unconscious when he was put in, then without food, water, fresh air, or medicine, it's pretty certain he would have died in there. After two days of hunger, thirst, and blood loss, it's unlikely he would have had any strength in him to lift a two ton boulder and let himself out without anyone noticing (without a miracle - but if we're allowing miracles, then what's the problem with the resurrection?).
3. Several witnesses came to believe that they had seen Jesus risen to life again.
He went back to his disciples but we would have been in a terrible state. He would have been covered in wounds and hardly able to walk with the holes in his feet. He would have taken months to heal. It wouldn't be particularly convincing to anyone if he tried to say that he had restored himself into a new heavenly body and conquered death.
4. The disciples became leaders of a new faith movement which grew into Christianity. Converts included friends and enemies, believers and sceptics, Jews, Romans, and pagans.
If somehow Jesus had survived crucifixion and burial, then let himself out of the tomb and convinced his followers that he was back from the dead, then maybe this could have happened. It's a lot of extremely unlikely 'ifs' and 'maybes' though. Aside from that, Jesus battered body would hardly do anything to convince the likes of Saul of Tarsus to become a follower. It would be more likely that Saul would have grabbed Jesus when he had the chance and made sure he was executed properly the second time.
An Imposter Was Crucified In Jesus' Place
This is less often used by atheists and more a Muslim teaching. The idea is that Jesus was never put on the cross in the first place. Some lookalike died for him, so Jesus was free to reappear to anyone in full health a few days later.There's a few problems with this. First off it makes Jesus a liar, which is completely out of character. Next, it makes all of his disciples liars too. That problem has been covered already. The lie would have come to light eventually and Jesus would have been long forgotten as another false prophet.
Next, it means that Jesus would have allowed a disciple to offer their life in place of his. Again this is very out of character. He spent his whole life teaching and leading by example that putting the needs of others first is more important than looking after yourself.
It also means that Jesus and his disciples were involved in some cleverly planned conspiracy. Judas must have been in on it. When he went to tell the Sanhedrin that he would deliver Jesus to them, he always knew that the person he would kiss was not going to be Jesus. From that point on Jesus would pretend to be someone else, while someone else took the rap for him.
So while Jesus stood by, this other guy was put on trial by several people, found innocent but put to death anyway because the crowd wanted to see it happen. Considering the amount of time Jesus had been preaching and the number of people who had seen him, someone would have noticed that the man on the cross was not Jesus. It makes no sense.
So how well does this explanation do?
1: Jesus was crucified and died on the cross.
Someone died.
2. Jesus was buried in a tomb which was found empty a few days later.
Someone was put in the tomb, but while Jesus was wandering about, this guy would still have been rotting in there sealed behind a heavy boulder. Authorities would have noticed that Jesus was both walking about and also lying dead in his grave.
3. Several witnesses came to believe that they had seen Jesus risen to life again.
They were all liars who were in on a conspiracy.
4. The disciples became leaders of a new faith movement which grew into Christianity. Converts included friends and enemies, believers and sceptics, Jews, Romans, and pagans.
They were liars who were martyred for a false prophet. Nonsense.
They All Hallucinated
This idea accepts that the disciples completely believed that the resurrection happened. So it attempts to explain why they would go to their deaths for something that wasn't true.
They all hallucinated and came to believe that Jesus really had appeared to them to prove he was back.
The more information we have, the less likely this seems. It barely seems worth considering.
Jesus appeared to several people on separate occasions to let them know he had risen. It doesn't make any sense that a lot of people would have the same hallucination and all believe it was real. Real enough to spend the rest of their lives preaching about it. People tend to know the difference between a hallucination or real person in front of them. They usually recognise that they were drunk, or lacking sleep at the time. They realise that the image was a bit hazy and didn't quite make sense. Jesus was said to have appeared to at least 15 individuals as well as a group of 500 people.
On each of these occasions, these people would have all had the same vision. In the case of the 500, or even the times when Jesus appeared to two or three people at a time, these people would have had to have had the exact same hallucination at the exact same time. That just doesn't happen.
What was supposed to be in the air at the time anyway that was causing people to be having these crazy visions?
That aside. These supposed hallucinations involved the disciples touching Jesus to see for certain that he was real or on other occasions, they even sat down and ate bread with him. Hallucinations don't eat!
These people did believe in an afterlife, so they would know the difference between a spiritual visit of the ghost of a friend and the actual physical person coming, sitting, and sharing a meal.
The hallucination explanation is so ridiculous I feel it's been given more space on this page than it deserves...
So how well does this explanation do?
1: Jesus was crucified and died on the cross.
Yep.
2. Jesus was buried in a tomb which was found empty a few days later.
Who knows? This explanation says nothing about the empty tomb. Even if the hallucination explanation works it needs something else to explain the tomb.
3. Several witnesses came to believe that they had seen Jesus risen to life again.
Yep. Doesn't make sense, but that's what this explanation deals with.
4. The disciples became leaders of a new faith movement which grew into Christianity. Converts included friends and enemies, believers and sceptics, Jews, Romans, and pagans.
Who could be convinced by someone elses hallucination?
So some people try a combination of the body being stolen and the disciples having grief hallucinations to cover all the bases. But two very faulty explanations don't make one good one.
Atheists are stuck with a huge problem of there being no reasonable explanations for the resurrection of Jesus apart from the Gospel story being true.
