Why should I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ? from Compelling Truth
“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 12-19)
Paul wrote these words to the Corinthian church around AD 55 in response to the belief that the physical was evil and could have no part in eternity. Nearly two-thousand years later, they still speak truth, although for a slightly different reason. Whether we will continue on in physical form after death or not, many still deny that Jesus existed, let alone was raised from the dead. If they are right, as Paul points out, those who teach Jesus’ resurrection blaspheme against God, and those who believe in Jesus’ resurrection “are of all people most to be pitied.” Are we to be pitied? Not if it’s the truth.
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The first issue is determining if Jesus actually existed. In addition to the several authors (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, James, Jude) of the New Testament who wrote their stories and letters with little collaboration, the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus also mentioned Him: “At this time there was a wise man named Jesus. His conduct was good and [he] was known to be virtuous.” The second is discovering if Jesus was crucified, and there are even more accounts to this effect. Josephus mentioned it, but so did Julius Africanus while quoting the historian Thallus, and the Babylonian Talmud goes so far as to mention He was crucified at the Passover. Mara Bar-Serapion agreed that Jesus was believed to be a wise and virtuous man and was killed by the Jews.
