Did Jesus Really Rise From The Dead?

The Bible makes the claim that Jesus rose from the dead and was seen by over 500 people.

Paul, who was once a persecutor of those who believed in the resurrection of Jesus, claimed that Jesus appeared to him, his disciples, James, and over 500 people following his resurrection.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7:

“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also...”

Following the appearance of Jesus to Cephas (Peter), his disciples, James (brother of Jesus who rejected Jesus until after the resurrection), and Paul, they began proclaiming that Jesus rose from the dead.

The proclamation that Jesus rose from the dead ultimately led to their deaths.

Yet it was their confidence in the resurrection that emboldened them to proclaim the resurrection and die for its truth.

The Book of Acts contains these proclamations.

Is this true?

Did Jesus really rise from the dead?

Is the Bible correct about the resurrection of Jesus?

Can the Bible be trusted?

If the Bible can be trusted, then yes, Jesus rose from the dead.

So, can the Bible be trusted?

The writings of Matthew - Revelation were all written by real people at a real time in history.

These writings provide historical eyewitness evidence to the existence of Jesus, the life of Jesus, the death and burial of Jesus, and the resurrection of Jesus.

These writings were written by individuals then copied and collected over a period of time, in the same way ancient literature is copied and collected.

These writings were eventually compiled into one volume, which is called the Bible.

Simply from a historical perspective, we can trust the information contained in these writings.

Either these writings are true, or the writers were all lying about seeing Jesus and talking with Jesus following his resurrection.

If they are lying about the resurrection, then we can conclude that they all died for something they knew was a lie.

However, the writings contained in the Bible strongly emphasize that what they wrote about and died for, the resurrection of Jesus, was the truth.

Therefore, their writings can be trusted.

If these historical writings cannot be trusted, then no ancient pieces of literature can be trusted.

However, the authors of the historical writings following the resurrection of Jesus are written by real people claiming to be eyewitnesses of Jesus...of his life, death, burial, and resurrection.

We can be confident the claims made by these individual writers from Matthew - Revelation can be trusted as accurate, historical information about Jesus.

These writings are not myths or made up.

Peter, a disciple of Jesus, wrote:

For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. (2 Peter 1:16-18)

The writings of Peter and others are real.

They are as reliable as any piece of ancient literature considered historical and reliable.

Actually, the writings from Matthew to Revelation are more reliable than other pieces of historical literature because they have more copies of manuscripts than any other ancient, historical piece of literature, and the manuscripts are closer to the original events recorded than any other ancient, historical piece of literature.

As a result, we can trust the writings of those claiming to see Jesus, both before and after his resurrection, as accurate.

If you would like to read more about the reliability of the Bible, click on the article below.

You may be interested in reading an article I wrote called, Three Reasons I Believe In God.

If you would like to learn more about Jesus, I have written several books that may interest you: CLICK HERE