The No-Resurrection Theories And The Christian
(Recently, I was engaged in conversation with a young person who, although claiming to be a Christian, said he believed that Christ was not miraculously resurrected from the grave. The following article was written in an attempt to examine some of the theories he presented and to show the inconsistency of the Christian holding to such ideas.)
Today, there are few people who would deny that Christ lived but many will deny that he was raised from the tomb as was recorded by Luke. "But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came unto the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, while they were perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel: and as they were affrighted and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying that the son of man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again, And they remembered his words, and returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest." (Lk.24:1-9).
Many theories have been offered to disprove the actual miraculous resurrection of Christ. Yet, every theory advanced by men to dispute the resurrection is simply an attempt to explain away the overwhelming evidence of the empty tomb.
The Bible records one such attempt in Mt.28:12- 15. "And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave much money unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and rid you of care. So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying was spread abroad among the Jews, and continueth until this day." The Jewish authorities never questioned the report of the guards concerning what they actually saw (Mt.28:1-4), but they did invent a story for the soldiers to repeat as an explanation of how the tomb became empty.
Webster tells us that a witness is "a person who saw or can give first hand account of something." Sleeping men do not make good witnesses; yet, the soldiers own false story included the phrase "while we slept" the disciples came and stole the body of Jesus. How could they be witnesses to anything while asleep? Furthermore, the disciples could not have stolen the body for they at first actually thought that Jesus' body had been removed by someone else. (Jno. 20:1-10; Lk. 24:1-12).
Some resurrection scoffers theorize that Joseph of Arimathea removed the body from the tomb; however, they have no basis for reasoning such. Joseph had revealed his love for Christ by asking for the body and by using his "own new tomb" for the burial. (Jno. 19:38). After endangering his life by this act it would seem rather strange indeed to believe that he would so soon change his mind. Also, if Joseph had wanted to remove the body, how does one suppose he would have gotten past the Roman guards, break the seal of the tomb, roll back the stone, steal away the body of Christ, without waking those who claimed to be asleep?
Another preposterous speculation, advocated by a few people, is that the women made a mistake by selecting the wrong tomb to visit on that day. Since the woman had watched the burial only three days before, it is illogical to suppose that they would have so forgotten where their Lord and Savior was laid to rest. (Mt. 27:61) Furthermore, advocates of this idea are placed in the ridiculous position of suggesting that an angel of the Lord made a mistake too! (cf. Mt. 28:6-7)
Perhaps the most unreasonable hypothesis is the so-called swoon theory. This idea, actually proposed by some, states that Christ never did die but rather swooned away; that he was taken from the cross and entombed; that, after having his feet, hands, and side pierced and without food or water for three days, he revived, arose, pushed the stone away from the entrance and exited. Such a conjecture is so absurd as to be ludicrous as Warren A. Candler points out in his book Christus Auctor: "To explain the resurrection by proposing that secretly applied balms revived Christ's broken, crucified body while it lay in a cool sepulcher, is equivalent to explaining that the capture of Alexander the Great was achieved by an early spawning season of the painted twills in Afghanistan. If either is a hypothesis, in the scientific sense of the term, then the world is flat and the moon is made out of malted milk tablets."
Anyone who claims to be a Christian cannot accept such teachings as the preceding; for, the central theme of the apostles teaching was the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, (Acts 2:31-32; 17: 31; Rom, 1:1-4; 1 Cor. 15:1-8).
We can see what the consequences would be if Christ had not been raised. The apostles would be counted liars, causing their preaching and the faith it produced to be of no value. There would be no forgiveness of sins either past or future. The church could not have been established; therefore, Christians would have no hope. (Eph.1:7, 18-23), Regarding the same matter Paul wrote: "Now if Christ is preached that he hath been raised from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither hath Christ been raised: and if Christ hath not been raised, then is our preaching vain, your faith also is vain, Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we witnessed of God that he raised up Christ; whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead are not raised, For if the dead are not raised, neither hath Christ been raised and if Christ hath not been raised your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have only hoped in Christ in the life, we are of all men most pitiable," (1 Cor.15:12-19).
When a person denies the resurrection of Christ, he disputes the very reason for the New Testament, (Jno.3:16; Rom. 5:6-8; 6:3-5; 1 Cor.15:21-31; Heb, 9:11-28). Such an individual could not be a Christian because he has rejected the word of the apostles, thus rejecting Christ. Even as Christ said, "He that heareth you heareth me; and he that rejecteth you rejecteth me; and he that rejecteth me rejecteth him that sent me," (Lk. 10:16),