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{{short description|Foundational Christian doctrine that states that Jesus rose from the dead}}
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], 1700, using a ] of Jesus]]
]'' (Kinnaird Resurrection) by ], 1502]]
{{Death of Jesus|expanded=Resurrection}}
{{Gospel Jesus}}
{{Christianity|state=collapsed}}


The '''resurrection of Jesus''' ({{langx|grc-x-biblical|ἀνάστασις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ|anástasis toú Iēsoú}}) is the ] event that ] ] ] from the dead on the third day{{refn|group=note|name="third day"}} after ], starting – or ]<ref group=web name=EB_ih/>{{refn|group=note|name=EB_restoration}} – his ] as ] and ].<ref group=web name="Holcomb"/> According to the ] writing, Jesus was ], ushering in the ].{{sfn|Novakovic|2014|p=152}}<ref group=web name="Holcomb"/> He appeared to his disciples, calling the apostles to the ] of forgiving sin and baptizing ], and ].
The '''resurrection of Jesus''' is the Christian ] that, after being put to death to take the punishment deserved by others for the ]s of the world, Jesus rose again ]. It is the central tenet of ] and part of the ]: "On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures".<ref>Updated version of the Nicene Creed added at ] in 381 AD, in Norman Tanner, ''New Short History of the Catholic Church'', page 33 (Burns & Oates, 2011). ISBN 978-0-86012-455-9</ref><ref>] pointed out that ] 6:2 "seems to have a further reference to the resurrection of Jesus Christ; and the time limited is expressed by two days and the third day, that it may be a type and figure of Christ's rising on the third day, which he is said to do according to the scriptures, according to this scripture; for all the prophets testified of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow". From Dr Robert A. Morey, ''The Bible, Natural Theology and Natural Law: Conflict Or Compromise?'', page 95 (Christian Scholars Press, 2010). ISBN 978-1-60957-143-6</ref>


For the Christian tradition, the bodily resurrection was the restoration to life of a ] powered by ],<ref group="web" name="Habermas.2005" /> as described by ] and the ] authors, that led to the establishment of Christianity. In ], the resurrection of Jesus is "the central mystery of the Christian faith".{{sfn|Siniscalchi|2011|p=363}} It provides the foundation for that faith, as commemorated by ], along with Jesus's life, death and sayings.{{sfn|Dunn|1985|p=53}} For Christians, his resurrection is the guarantee that ] at Christ's {{transl|grc|]}} (second coming).{{sfn|Novakovic|2014|p=153-154}}
In the ], after the Romans crucified Jesus, he was ] by ] but God raised him from the dead<ref>{{bibleref2|Acts|2:24}}, {{bibleref2|Romans|10:9}}, {{bibleref2|1Cor|15:15}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|2:31–32}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|3:15}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|3:26}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|4:10}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|5:30}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|10:40–41}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|13:30}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|13:34}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|13:37}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|17:30–31}}, {{bibleref2|1Cor|6:14}}, {{bibleref2|2Cor|4:14}}, {{bibleref2|Gal|1:1}}, {{bibleref2|Eph|1:20}}, {{bibleref2|Col|2:12}}, {{bibleref2|1Thess|1:10}}, {{bibleref2|Heb|13:20}}, {{bibleref2|1Pet|1:3}}, {{bibleref2|1Pet|1:21}}</ref> and he ] over a span of forty days before he ], to ] at the ].<ref>{{bibleref2|Acts|1:1-4|9|Acts 1:1–4}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|1:9-11|9|Acts 1:9–11}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|2:32-33|9|Acts 2:32–33}}, {{bibleref2|Colossians|3:1|9}}</ref>


Secular and ] scholarship asserts that religious experiences,{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|pp=72–73}} such as the ]{{sfn|Koester|2000|pp=64–65}}{{sfn|Vermes|2008b|p=141}}{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|pp=98, 101}}{{refn|group=note|name="Hurtado_visions"}} and an inspired reading of the Biblical texts,{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|pp=74, 84}} gave the impetus to the belief in the exaltation of Jesus{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|pp=109–110}} as a "fulfillment of the scriptures",{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|p=186}} and a resumption of the missionary activity of Jesus's followers.{{sfn|Koester|2000|pp=64–65}}{{sfn|Vermes|2008a|pp=151–152}}
] declared that "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures".{{Bibleref2c|1cor|15:3-4|9|1&nbsp;Cor.&nbsp;15:3b–4}} Further, the chapter establishes that such a belief in both the death and resurrection of Christ is of central importance to the Christian faith: "And if Christ be not risen, then '''' our preaching vain, and your faith '''' also vain."{{Bibleref2c|1cor|15:14|9|1&nbsp;Cor.&nbsp;15:14}}<ref name=Stagg1>Stagg, Frank. ''New Testament Theology''. Broadman Press, 1962. ISBN 0-8054-1613-7</ref> Paul further asserted that faith is so central to ] that "if Christ be not raised, your faith '''' vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable."{{Bibleref2c|1cor|15:17-19|9|1&nbsp;Corinthians&nbsp;15:17–19}}


Scholars of ] tend to generally avoid the topic, since many believe the matter to be about faith, or lack thereof.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bockmuehl |first=Markus |editor-last=Bockmuehl|editor-first=Markus|title=The Cambridge Companion to Jesus|chapter=7. Resurrection |date=2001|publisher=]|isbn=9780521796781|page=103|quote=Nevertheless, what is perhaps most surprising is the extent to which contemporary scholarly literature on the ‘historical Jesus’ has studiously ignored and downplayed the question of the resurrection...But even the more mainstream participants in the late twentieth-century ‘historical Jesus’ bonanza have tended to avoid the subject of the resurrection – usually on the pretext that this is solely a matter of ‘faith’ or of ‘theology’, about which no self-respecting historian could possibly have anything to say. Precisely that scholarly silence, however, renders a good many recent ‘historical Jesus’ studies methodologically hamstrung, and unable to deliver what they promise...In this respect, benign neglect ranks alongside dogmatic denial and naive credulity in guaranteeing the avoidance of historical truth.}}</ref>
Christians celebrate the ] of Jesus on ], two days after ], the day of ]. ] corresponds roughly with ], the Jewish observance associated with ], that is fixed for the night of the ] near the time of the spring ].<ref>Tamara Prosic, ''The Development And Symbolism Of Passover Until 70 CE'', page 65 (T & T Clark International, 2004). ISBN 0-8264-7087-4</ref>


== Biblical accounts ==
{{Death of Jesus}}
{{See also|Overview of resurrection appearances in the Gospels and Paul|l1=Overview of resurrection appearances in the Gospels and Paul (table)}}
], 1700, using a ] of Jesus]]


The conviction that Jesus was raised from the dead is found in the earliest evidence of Christian origins.{{sfn|Licona|2010|pp=223-235}}{{refn|group=note|In 1 Corinthians 15:3 - 7, ] passes on what Judaism valued as the best evidence: first-person testimony of the resurrection. According to ], Paul's "argumentation in chap.15 revolves around the reality of the resurrection; the tradition adduced by Paul in support of his argument must have contained some element of proof of the resurrection (i.e., witnesses) - otherwise there would have been no reason for Paul to adduce it in the first place".{{sfn|Kloppenborg|1978|p=358}} That this teaching predates Paul and the New Testament book that contains it has been almost universally acknowledged.{{sfn|Kloppenborg|1978|p=351}} ] dates the text to within one to two years of the crucifixion.<ref>23Bart Ehrman, Did Jesus Exist? (New York: Harper Collins, 2012), pages 22, 27, 92, 93, 97, 111, 141, 144, 145, 155, 158, 171, 173, 260, 263; especially pages 131, 132, 157, 164, 170, 251, 254.</ref> However, whether the pre-Pauline material is from the earliest ]-speaking community or from the Jewish-Hellenistic church is disputed.{{sfn|Kloppenborg|1978|p=352}}}}
== New Testament events ==


===Paul and the first Christians===
]
{{See also|Pauline Christianity|Jewish Christian|Paul the Apostle and Jewish Christianity}}
In the ] all four gospels conclude with an extended narrative of ], ], ], ], and his resurrection. In each gospel these five events in the life of Jesus are treated with more intense detail than any other portion of that gospel's narrative. Scholars note that the reader receives an almost hour-by-hour account of what is happening. The death and resurrection of Jesus are treated as the climax of the story, the point to which everything else has been moving all the while.<ref name=Powell>Powell, Mark A. ''Introducing the New Testament''. Baker Academic, 2009. ISBN 978-0-8010-2868-7</ref>{{rp|p.91–92}}


The moment of resurrection itself is not described in any of the canonical gospels, but all four contain passages in which Jesus is portrayed as predicting his death and resurrection, or contain allusions that "the reader will understand".{{sfn|Powell|2018|p=unpaginated}} The New Testament writings do not contain any descriptions of a resurrection but rather accounts of an ] and appearances of Jesus.{{sfn|Vermes|2008a|p=141}}
After his death by crucifixion, Jesus was placed in a new tomb which was discovered early Sunday morning ]. The New Testament does not include an account of the "moment of resurrection". In the ] icons do not depict that moment, but show the ] and depict scenes of salvation.<ref name="Stagg2">Stagg, Evelyn and Frank. ''Woman in the World of Jesus.'' Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1978, p. 144–150.</ref><ref>Vladimir Lossky, 1982 ''The Meaning of Icons'' ISBN 978-0-913836-99-6 page 185</ref> The major ] in the ] (and to a lesser extent other books of the ]) are reported to have occurred after his ], ] and resurrection, but prior to his ].<ref>These are: {{bibleref2|Matthew|28:8–20}}, {{bibleref2|Mark|16:9–20}} (see also the article on ]), {{bibleref2|Luke|24:13–49}}, {{bibleref2|John|20:11–21:25}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|1:1–11}}, and {{bibleref2|1Co|15:3–9||1 Corinthians 15:3–9}}.</ref>


One of the letters sent by ] to one of the early Greek churches, the ], contains one of the earliest ]s referring to post-mortem appearances of Jesus, and expressing the belief that he was raised from the dead, namely 1 Corinthians 15:3–8.<ref>{{Bibleverse|1 Corinthians|15:3–8}}</ref>{{sfn|Neufeld|1964|p=47}}{{sfn|Taylor|2014|p=374}} It is widely accepted that this creed predates Paul and the writing of First Corinthians.{{sfn|Kloppenborg|1978|p=351}} Scholars have contended that in his presentation of the resurrection, Paul refers to this as an earlier authoritative tradition, transmitted in a rabbinic style, that he received and has passed on to the church at Corinth.{{refn|group=note|Early creed:
=== Burial ===
* Neufeld, ''The Earliest Christian Confessions'' (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964) p. 47
], 15th century.]]
* Reginald Fuller, ''The Formation of the Resurrection Narratives'' (New York: Macmillan, 1971) p. 10
{{Main|Entombment of Christ}}
* Wolfhart Pannenberg, ''Jesus{{snd}}God and Man'' translated Lewis Wilkins and Duane Pribe (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1968) p. 90
* ], ''The Early Church: Studies in Early Christian History and Theology'', ed. A. J. B. Higgins (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1966) p. 64
* Hans Conzelmann, ''1 Corinthians'', translated James W. Leitch (Philadelphia: Fortress 1969) p. 251
* Bultmann, ''Theology of the New Testament'' vol. 1 pp. 45, 80–82, 293
* R. E. Brown, ''The Virginal Conception and Bodily Resurrection of Jesus'' (New York: Paulist Press, 1973) pp. 81, 92
* Most Fellows of the Jesus Seminar also concluded that this tradition dates to before Paul's conversion, {{c.|AD 33}}.<ref>] and the ]. ''The acts of Jesus: the search for the authentic deeds of Jesus.'' HarperSanFrancisco. 1998. ''Empty Tomb, Appearances & Ascension'' pp. 449–495.</ref>}} ] writes that the creed is "a tradition he has inherited from his seniors in the faith concerning the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus".{{sfn|Vermes|2008a|p=121–122}} The creed's ultimate origins are probably within the Jerusalem apostolic community, having been formalised and passed on within a few years of the resurrection.{{refn|group=note|Origins within the Jerusalem apostolic community:
* Wolfhart Pannenberg, ''Jesus – God and Man'' translated Lewis Wilkins and Duane Pribe (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1968) p. 90
* Oscar Cullmann, ''The Early church: Studies in Early Christian History and Theology'', ed. A. J. B. Higgins (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1966) pp. 66–66
* R. E. Brown, ''The Virginal Conception and Bodily Resurrection of Jesus'' (New York: Paulist Press, 1973) p. 81
* ], ''First Coming: How the Kingdom of God Became Christianity'' (New York: Random House, 1986) pp. 110, 118
* Ulrich Wilckens, ''Resurrection'' translated A. M. Stewart (Edinburgh: Saint Andrew, 1977) p. 2}} ] argues for an origin in Damascus,<ref>Hans Grass, ''Ostergeschen und Osterberichte'', Second Edition (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1962) p. 96</ref> and according to Paul Barnett, this creedal formula, and others, were variants of the "one basic early tradition that Paul "received" in Damascus from Ananias in about 34 " after his conversion.<ref name=Barnett182>{{cite book |last=Barnett |first=Paul William |year=2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KPMIYtpKtDwC&q=from+Ananias+in+about&pg=PA182 |title=Finding the Historical Christ (Volume 3 of After Jesus) |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=978-0802848901 |page=182}}</ref>


{{blockquote| For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures,{{refn|group=note|name="died for"|The {{transl|grc|kerygma}} from 1 Corinthians 15:3–5 refers to two mythologies: the Greek myth of the noble dead, to which the Maccabean notion of martyrdom and dying for ones people is related; and the Jewish myth of the persecuted sage or ] man, c.q. the "story of the child of ]."{{sfn|Mack|1995|pp=86–87}} The notion of 'dying for' refers to this martyrdom and persecution.{{sfn|Mack|1997|p=88}}
The synoptic gospels agree that, as the evening came after the crucifixion, ] asked Pilate for the body of Jesus, and that, after Pilate granted his request, wrapped it in linen cloth and ] in a ].<ref>{{bibleref2|Matthew|27:57–61|TNIV}}, {{bibleref2|Mark|15:42–47|TNIV}}, {{bibleref2|Luke|23:50–56|TNIV}}</ref> This was in accordance with ], which stated that a person hanged on a tree must not be allowed to remain there at night, but should be buried before sundown.<ref>R. E. Brown, ''The Virginal Conception and Bodily Resurrection of Jesus'' (New York: Paulist Press, 1973) pp. 147; cf. {{bibleref2|Deuteronomy|21:22–23|TNIV}}.</ref>


James F. McGrath refers to 4 Maccabees,<ref>{{bibleverse|4 Maccabees|6}}</ref> "which presents a martyr praying "Be merciful to your people, and let our punishment suffice for them. Make my blood their purification, and take my life in exchange for theirs".<ref name="bibleverse|4|Maccabees|6:28–29">{{bibleverse|4 Maccabees|6:28–29}}</ref> Clearly, there were ideas that existed in the Judaism of the time that helped make sense of the death of the righteous in terms of atonement."<ref group=web name="McGrath.2007">James F. McGrath (2007), </ref>
In Matthew, Joseph was identified as "also a ] of Jesus;"<ref>{{bibleref2|Matthew|27:57–61|TNIV}}</ref> in Mark he was identified as "a respected member of the council (]) who was also himself looking for the ];"<ref>{{bibleref2|Mark|15:42–47|TNIV}}</ref> in Luke he was identified as "a member of the council, good and righteous, who did not consent to their purpose or deed, and who was looking for the Kingdom of God'"<ref>{{bibleref2|Luke|23:50–56|TNIV}}</ref> and in John he was identified as "a disciple of Jesus".<ref name="bibleref2|John|19:38–42|TNIV">{{bibleref2|John|19:38–42|TNIV}}</ref>


See also Herald Gandi (2018), , referring to Isaiah 53,<ref>{{bibleverse|Isaiah|53}}</ref> among others:
The ] states that when Joseph asked for Jesus's body, Pilate marvelled that Jesus was already dead, and he summoned the centurion to confirm this before releasing the body to Joseph. John recorded that Joseph was assisted in the burial process by ], who brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes and included these spices in the burial clothes per Jewish customs.<ref name="bibleref2|John|19:38–42|TNIV"/>


" Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed ... Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the Lord shall prosper. Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities."}} and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures,{{refn|group=note|name="third day"|See for explanations on the phrase "third day". According to Ernst Lüdemann{{sfn|Lüdemann|Özen|1996|p=73}} and Pinchas Lapide, "third day" may refer to Hosea 6:1–2:<ref name="bibleref2|Hosea|6:1–2">{{bibleref2|Hosea|6:1–2}}</ref>
=== Death state of Christ during the 3 days ===
{{see also|Intermediate state}}


{{poemquote|Come, let us return to the Lord;
According to the Book of Acts, the apostle Peter delivered a sermon fifty days after the resurrection in which he stated: "Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact."{{Bibleref2c|Acts|2:29-31}}
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.}}


See also 2 Kings 20:8: "Hezekiah said to Isaiah, 'What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?{{'"}}<ref>{{bibleref2|2 Kings|20:8}}</ref>
As written in the ]: "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: 'Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead' (Greek ''egenomen nekros''), and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades".{{Bibleref2c|Rev.|1:17-18}}


According to Sheehan, Paul's reference to Jesus having risen "on the third day ... simply expresses the belief that Jesus was rescued from the fate of utter absence from God (death) and was admitted to the saving presence of God (the eschatological future)."{{sfn|Sheehan|1986|p=112}}}} and that he appeared to ], then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.<ref>oremus Bible Browser, </ref>}}
] also states: "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water."{{Bibleref2c|1Peter|3:18–20|9}}


In the Jerusalem {{transl|grc|ekklēsia}} (Church), from which Paul received this creed, the phrase "died for our sins" probably was an ] rationale for the death of Jesus as being part of God's plan and purpose, as evidenced in the scriptures. For Paul, it gained a deeper significance, providing "a basis for the salvation of sinful Gentiles apart from the Torah."{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|p=131}} The phrase "died for our sins" was derived from ], especially 53:4–11,<ref>{{bibleverse|Isaiah|53:4-11}}</ref> and ], especially 6:28–29.<ref name="bibleverse|4|Maccabees|6:28–29"/>{{refn|group=note|name="died for"}} "Raised on the third day" is derived from Hosea 6:1–2:<ref name="bibleref2|Hosea|6:1–2"/>{{sfn|Lüdemann|Özen|1996|p=73}}
That passage, along with the phrase that "his soul was not left in hell",{{Bibleref2c|Acts|2:31|9}} is the basis of the statement that "he descended into hell" in the ]. The death state of Christ was considered by theologians such as ] and related in traditions such as the ].


{{poemquote|Come, let us return to the Lord;
=== Tomb discovery ===
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
{{Main|Empty tomb|Myrrhbearers}}
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.{{refn|group=note|name="third day"}}}}


Paul, writing to the members of the church at Corinth, said that Jesus appeared to him in the same fashion in which he appeared to the earlier witnesses.{{sfn|Lehtipuu|2015|p=42}} In ] Paul described "a man in Christ who ... was caught up to the third heaven", and while the language is obscure, a plausible interpretation is that the man believed he saw Jesus enthroned at the right hand of God.{{sfn|Chester|2007|p=394}}
], 1437-1446. ]]


The many Pauline references affirming his belief in the resurrection include:
Although no single gospel gives an inclusive or definitive account of the resurrection of Jesus or his appearances, there are four points at which all four gospels converge:<ref>{{bibleref2|Mark|16:1–8|TNIV}}, {{bibleref2|Matthew|28:1–10|TNIV}}, {{bibleref2|Luke|24:1–12|TNIV}}, and {{bibleref2|John|20:1–13|TNIV}}</ref>


* Romans 1:3–4: "...concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and designated the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord".<ref>{{bibleref2|Romans|1:3–4|NIV}}</ref>
# Attention to the stone that had closed the tomb
* 2 Timothy 2:8: "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead... this is my gospel for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained...".<ref>{{bibleref2|2Tim|2:8|NIV|2 Timothy 2:8}}</ref>
# The linking of the empty tomb tradition and the visit of the women on "the first day of the week;"
* 1 Corinthians 15:3–7: "...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..."<ref>{{bibleref2|1Cor|15:3–7|NIV|1 Corinthians 15:3–7}}</ref>
# That the risen Jesus chose first to appear to women (or a woman) and to commission them (her) to proclaim this most important fact to the disciples, including Peter and the other apostles;
# The prominence of ];<ref name="Stagg2" /><ref>Setzer, Claudia. "Excellent Women: Female Witness to the Resurrection". ''Journal of Biblical Literature,'' Vol. 116, No. 2 (Summer, 1997), pp. 259–272</ref>


=== Gospels and Acts ===
Variants have to do with the precise time the women visited the tomb, the number and identity of the women; the purpose of their visit; the appearance of the messenger(s)—angelic or human; their message to the women; and the response of the women.<ref name="Stagg2" />
{{Main|Mark 16|Matthew 28|Luke 24|Acts 1|John 20}}
{{See also|Gospel harmony|Passion of Jesus|Burial of Jesus|Empty tomb|Myrrhbearers}}
]


Jesus is described as the "]", {{transl|grc|prōtotokos}}, the first to be raised from the dead, thereby acquiring the "special status of the firstborn as the preeminent son and heir".{{sfn|Novakovic|2014|p=152}}<ref group=web name="Holcomb">], </ref> His resurrection is also the guarantee that all the Christian dead will be resurrected at Christ's {{transl|grc|]}}.{{sfn|Novakovic|2014|p=153-154}}
All four gospels report that women were the ones to find the tomb of Jesus empty, although the number varies from one (]) to an unspecified number. According to Mark and Luke, the ''announcement'' of Jesus' resurrection was first made to women. According to Mark and John, Jesus actually ''appeared first'' (<span class=plainlinks>in {{Bibleref2|Mark|16:9}} and {{Bibleref2|John|20:14}}</span>) to Mary Magdalene alone.<ref name="Stagg2" /> "Whereas others found woman not qualified or authorized to teach, the four Gospels have it that the risen Christ commissioned women to proclaim to men, including Peter and the other apostles, the resurrection, foundation of Christianity".<ref name="Stagg2" />


After the resurrection, Jesus is portrayed as calling the apostles to the ], as described in Matthew 28:16–20,<ref name="Bibleref2|Matthew|28:16–20">{{Bibleref2|Matthew|28:16–20}}</ref> Mark 16:14–18,<ref>{{bibleref2|Mark|16:14–18}}</ref> Luke 24:44–49,<ref>{{bibleref2|Luke|24:44–49}}</ref> Acts 1:4–8,<ref>{{bibleref2|Acts|1:4–8}}</ref> and John 20:19–23,<ref>{{bibleref2|John|20:19–23}}</ref> in which the disciples receive the call "to let the world know the good news of a victorious Saviour and the very presence of God in the world by the spirit".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Castleman |first=Robbie F. |title=The Last Word: The Great Commission: Ecclesiology |journal=Themelios |volume=32 |issue=3 |page=68 |url=http://s3.amazonaws.com/tgc-documents/journal-issues/32.3_Castleman.pdf}}</ref> According to these texts, Jesus says that they "will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you",<ref>{{bibleref2|Acts|1:8}}</ref> that "repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem",<ref>{{bibleref2|Luke|24:46–47}}</ref> and that "if you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained".<ref>{{bibleref2|John|20:12–23}}</ref>
In the gospels, especially the ], women play a central role as eyewitnesses at Jesus' death, entombment, and in the discovery of the empty tomb. All three synoptics repeatedly make women the subject of verbs of seeing,<ref>Richard Bauckham, ''Jesus and the Eyewitnesses'' (Eerdmans Publishing Company: Cambridge, 2006), p. 48.</ref> clearly presenting them as eyewitnesses.<ref>B. Gerhardsson, 'Mark and the Female Witnesses', in H. Behrens, D. Loding, and M. T. Roth, eds., ''Dumu-E2-Dub-Ba-A'' (A. W. Sjöberg FS; Occasional Papers of the Samuel Noah Kramer Fund 11; Philadelphia: The University Museum, 1989), pp. 219–220, 222–223; S. Byrskog, ''Story as History—History as Story'' (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament Jerusalem Talmud 123; Tübingen: Mohr, 2000; remprinted Leiden: Brill, 2002), pp. 75–78; Richard Bauckham, ''Jesus and the Eyewitnesses'' (Eerdmans Publishing Company: Cambridge, 2006), p. 48.</ref>


The shorter version of the ] ends with the discovery of the empty tomb by ], Salome, and "Mary the mother of James". A young man in a white robe at the site of the tomb announced to them that Jesus has risen, and instructed them to "tell Peter and the disciples that he will meet them in Galilee, 'just as he told you{{'"}} (]).{{sfn|Boring|2006|pp=3, 14}}
=== Resurrection appearances of Jesus ===
{{Main|Resurrection appearances of Jesus}}


In the ], an angel appeared to Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb, telling her that Jesus is not there because he has been raised from the dead, and instructing her to tell the other followers to go to Galilee, to meet Jesus. Jesus then appeared to Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" at the tomb; and next, based on Mark 16:7, Jesus appeared to all the disciples on a mountain in Galilee, where Jesus claimed authority over heaven and earth, and commissioned the disciples to preach the gospel to the whole world.{{sfn|Cotter|2001|p=127}} In this message, the end times are delayed "to bring the world to discipleship".{{sfn|Cotter|2001|pp=149–150}}
After they found the empty tomb, the gospels indicate that Jesus made a series of appearances to the disciples. He was not immediately recognizable, according to Luke.<ref name=Sanders>Sanders, E. P. ''The Historical Figure of Jesus.'' New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-14-014499-4</ref>{{rp|p.277}} ] concluded that although he could appear and disappear, he was not a ghost. Writing that Luke was very insistent about that, Sanders pointed out that "the risen Lord could be touched, and he could eat".{{Bibleref2c|Lk.|24:39-43}} He first appeared to ], but she did not recognize him at first. The first two disciples to whom he appeared, walked and talked with him for quite a while without knowing who he was, (the ]).{{bibleref2c|Luke|24:13–32||Lk. 24:13-32}} He was made known "in the breaking of the bread".{{Bibleref2c|Lk.|24:35}} When he first appeared to the disciples in the ], ] was not present and wouldn't believe until a later appearance where he was invited to put his finger into the holes in Jesus' hands and side.{{bibleref2c|John|20:24–29||Jn. 20:24-29}} Beside the ] he encouraged ] to ]. {{bibleref2c|Jn.|21:1–23}} His final appearance is reported as being forty days after the resurrection ] into ]<ref>{{bibleref2|Luke|24:44-53|9|Lk.24:44–53}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|1:1-4|9|Acts 1:1–4}}</ref> where he sits on the right hand of God.{{bibleref2c|Mark|16:19|9}}&nbsp;<ref>Colossians 3:1 KJV If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.</ref>


], Baden-Württemberg, Germany]]
At a later time, on the ], ], then the arch-persecutor of the early disciples, was converted to Christ following an extraordinary vision and discourse with Jesus which left him blind for three days.{{bibleref2c|Acts|9:1-20|9|Acts 9:1–20}} (Saul later became known as Paul the Apostle.){{Bibleref2c|Acts|13:6}} <ref>Paul Powell writes that the apostle had two names: Saul and Paul. Saul was his Jewish name, the name of Israel's first king. The testimony of the book of Acts is that he was a Roman citizen as well, meaning that he needed a Roman name. In {{Bibleref2|Acts|13:6}} Saul is called Paul for the first time ("But Saul, who was also known as Paul, . . . ") on the island of Cyprus. (Powell, Mark A. ''Introducing the New Testament.'' Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. 2009. ISBN 978-0-8010-2868-7)</ref>
He became one of Christianity's foremost ] and theologians.{{bibleref2c|1Cor|15:6||1 Cor. 15:6}} <ref name="Sanders"/>


In the ], "the women who had come with him from Galilee"<ref>{{Bibleref2|Luke|23:55|}}</ref> come to his tomb, which they find empty. Two angelic beings appeared to announce that Jesus is not there but has been raised.<ref>{{Bibleref2|Luke|24:1–5||24:1–5}}</ref> Jesus then appeared to two followers on their way to Emmaus, who notify the eleven remaining Apostles, who respond that Jesus has appeared to Peter. While they were describing this, Jesus appeared again, explaining that he is the messiah who was raised from the dead according to the scriptures "and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem".<ref>{{Bibleref2|Luke|24:37-47||24:37-47}}</ref>{{sfn|Burkett|2002|p=211}} In ] (two works from the same author) he then ], his rightful home.{{sfn|Burkett|2002|p=211}}
== Christian tradition ==


In Acts of the Apostles, Jesus appeared to the apostles for forty days and commanded them to stay in Jerusalem,<ref>{{Bibleref2|Acts|1:3|ESV|1:3}}</ref> after which Jesus ascended to heaven, followed by the coming of the Holy Spirit at ] and the missionary task of the early church.{{sfn|Brown|1973|p=103}}
]'s 1898 negative of the image on the ] has an appearance suggesting a positive image. It is used as part of the devotion to the ].]]


==Jewish-Hellenistic background ==
The resurrection of Jesus has long been central to Christian faith and appears within diverse elements of the Christian tradition, from feasts to artistic depictions to religious relics. In Christian teachings, the sacraments derive their saving power from the passion and resurrection of Christ, upon which the salvation of the world entirely depends.<ref>''The encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 5'' by Erwin Fahlbusch, Jan Milic Lochman, Geoffrey William Bromiley, John Mbiti 2008 ISBN 0-8028-2417-X page 490</ref>
], ], 17th century]]


===Jewish===
An example of the interweaving of the teachings on the resurrection with Christian relics is the application of the concept of "miraculous image formation" at the moment of resurrection to the ]. Christian authors have stated the belief that the body around whom the shroud was wrapped was not merely human, but divine, and that the image on the shroud was miraculously produced at the moment of resurrection.<ref>Charles S. Brown, 2007 ''Bible "Mysteries" Explained'' ISBN 0-9582813-0-0 page 193</ref><ref>Peter Rinaldi 1972, ''The man in the Shroud'' ISBN 0-86007-010-7 page 45</ref> Quoting ]'s statement that the shroud is "the wonderful document of His Passion, Death and Resurrection, written for us in letters of blood" author Antonio Cassanelli argues that the shroud is a deliberate divine record of the five stages of the Passion of Christ, created at the moment of resurrection.<ref>Antonio Cassanelli, 2001 ''The Holy Shroud: a comparison between the Gospel narrative of the five stages of the Passion'' ISBN 0-85244-351-X page 13</ref>
{{See also|Jewish eschatology|Resurrection of the dead}}
In Judaism, the idea of resurrection first emerges in the 3rd century BC ]{{sfn|Elledge|2017|pp=130ff}} and in the 2nd century BC ],{{sfn|Schäfer|2003|pp=72–73}} the later possibly as a belief in the resurrection of the ] alone, which was then developed by the Pharisees as a belief in bodily resurrection, an idea completely alien to the Greeks.{{sfn|Schäfer|2003|pp=72–73}} ] tells of the three main Jewish sects of the 1st century AD, that the ] held that both soul and body perished at death; the ] that the soul was immortal but the flesh was not; and the ] that the soul was immortal and that the body would be resurrected to house it.{{sfn|Schäfer|2003|p=72}} Of these three positions, Jesus and the early Christians appear to have been closest to that of the Pharisees.{{sfn|Van Voorst|2000|p=430}} ] notes that for the Pharisees, "the new body is a special, holy body", which is different from the old body, "a view shared to some extent by the ex-Pharisee Paul (1. Cor. 15:35ff)".{{sfn|Mason|2001|p=169}}


The evidence from Jewish texts and from tomb inscriptions points to a more complex reality: for example, when the author of the Book of Daniel wrote that "many of those sleeping in the dust shall awaken",<ref>{{Bibleref2|Dan|12:2}}</ref> religion scholar ] believes he probably had in mind a rebirth as ]ic beings (metaphorically described as stars in God's Heaven, stars having been identified with angels from early times); such a rebirth would rule out a bodily resurrection, as angels were believed to be fleshless.{{sfn|Endsjø|2009|pp=124–125}} Other scholars hold that Daniel exposes a belief in a bodily resurrection.{{sfn|Elledge|2017|pp=21, 23}} Other texts range from the traditional Old Testament view that the soul would spend eternity in the underworld, to a metaphorical belief in the raising of the spirit.{{sfn|Lehtipuu|2015|pp=31–32}} Most avoided defining what resurrection might imply, but a resurrection of the flesh was a marginal belief.{{sfn|Endsjø|2009|p=145}} As Outi Lehtipuu states, "belief in resurrection was far from being an established doctrine"{{sfn|Lehtipuu|2015|pp=32}} of ].
=== Easter ===
{{Main|Easter}}


===Greco-Roman===
Easter, the preeminent feast that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, is clearly the earliest Christian festival.<ref>''Foundations of Christian Worship'' by Susan J. White 2006 ISBN 0-664-22924-7 page 55</ref> Since the earliest Christian times, it has focused on the ] of God in the death and resurrection of Christ.<ref>''Mercer dictionary of the Bible'' by Watson E. Mills, Roger Aubrey Bullard 1998 ISBN 0-86554-373-9 page 224</ref>
{{Main|Immortality#Ancient Greek religion}}


The Greeks traditionally held that a number of men and women gained physical immortality as they were translated to live forever in either ], the ], heaven, the ocean, or literally right under the ground. While some scholars have attempted to trace resurrection beliefs in pagan traditions concerning death and bodily disappearances,{{sfn|Endsjø|2009|pp=54–70}} the attitudes towards resurrection were generally negative among pagans.{{sfn|Wright|2003|p=53}}<ref group=web>{{cite web| url = https://ntwrightpage.com/2016/07/12/jesus-resurrection-and-christian-origins/ | title = Jesus' Resurrection and Christian Origins, N.T. Wright| date = 12 July 2016}}</ref> For example, ] was killed by Zeus for using herbs to resurrect the dead, but by his father ]'s request, was subsequently immortalized as a star.<ref>Emma and Ludwig Edelstein, ''Asclepius: Collection and Interpretation of the Testimonies'', Volume 1, Page 51</ref><ref>] ''Concise Encyclopedia of Greek and Roman Mythology'' p.47</ref><ref>Theony Condos, ''Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans'', p.141</ref> According to ], most of the alleged parallels between Jesus and pagan deities only exist in the modern imagination, and there are no "accounts of others who were born to virgin mothers and who died as an atonement for sin and then were raised from the dead."<ref>Bart Ehrman (2012), {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180822020811/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/bart-d-ehrman/did-jesus-exist_b_1349544.html |date=2018-08-22 }}, ''Huffington Post''</ref>
Easter is linked to the ] and ] recorded in the ] through the ] and ] that preceded the resurrection. According to the New Testament, Jesus gave the Passover meal a new meaning, as he ] for his death in the ] during the Last Supper. He identified the loaf of bread and cup of wine as symbolizing ] soon to be sacrificed and ] soon to be shed. {{bibleref2|1co|5:7|NIV|1 Corinthians|5:7}} states, "Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed"; this refers to the Passover requirement to have no yeast in the house and to the allegory of Jesus as the ].<ref>{{bibleref2||John|1:29}}, {{bibleref2||Revelation|5:6}}, {{bibleref2|1Pe|1:19||1 Peter 1:19}}, {{bibleref2|1Pe|1:2||1 Peter 1:2}}, and the associated notes and Passion Week table in {{Cite book|editor=Barker, Kenneth|title=Zondervan NIV Study Bible|publisher=]|location=]|year=2002|isbn=0-310-92955-5|page=1520}}</ref>


From Hellenistic times on, some Greeks held that the soul of a meritorious man could be translated into a god in the process of ] (divinization) which then transferred them to a special place of honour.{{sfn|Wright|2003|pp=56; 76}} Successors of ] made this idea very well known throughout the Middle East through coins bearing his image, a privilege previously reserved for gods.{{sfn|Cotter|2001|p=131}} The idea was adopted by the Roman emperors, and in the Imperial Roman concept of apotheosis, the earthly body of the recently deceased emperor was replaced by a new and divine one as he ascended into heaven.{{sfn|Cotter|2001|pp=131, 135–136}} These stories proliferated in the middle to late first century.{{sfn|Wright|2003|p=76}}
=== Resurrection and Redemption ===


The apotheosised dead remained recognisable to those who met them, as when ] appeared to witnesses after his death, but as the biographer ] ({{c.|AD 46|120}}) explained of this incident, while something within humans comes from the gods and returns to them after death, this happens "only when it is most completely separated and set free from the body, and becomes altogether pure, fleshless, and undefiled".{{sfn|Collins|2009|pp=46, 51}}
In the teachings of the ], the resurrection was seen as heralding a ]. Forming a theology of the resurrection fell to the apostle Paul. It was not enough for Paul to simply repeat elementary teachings, but as {{bibleref2|Hebrews|6:1|NIV}} states, "go beyond the initial teachings about Christ and advance to maturity". Fundamental to Pauline theology is the connection between Christ's Resurrection and ].<ref>''The creed: the apostolic faith in contemporary theology'' by Berard L. Marthaler 2007 ISBN 0-89622-537-2 page 361</ref> Paul explained the importance of the resurrection of Jesus as the cause and basis of the hope of Christians to share a similar experience.<ref>See ], in ]</ref>


==Burial and empty tomb==
] and ]s with the ].]]
Scholars differ on the historicity of the empty tomb story and the relation between the burial stories and the postmortem appearances. Scholars also differ on whether Jesus received a decent burial. Points of contention are (1) whether Jesus's body was taken off the cross before sunset or left on the cross to decay, (2) whether his body was taken off the cross and buried specifically by ], or by the Sanhedrin or a group of Jews in general, and (3) whether he was entombed (and if so, what kind of tomb) or buried in a common grave.


===Burial===
The teachings of the apostle Paul formed a key element of the Christian tradition and theology. If His death stands at the center of Paul's theology, so does the Resurrection: unless the one died the death of ''all'', the ''all'' would have little to celebrate in the resurrection of the one.<ref>''Theology of Paul the Apostle'' by James D. G. Dunn 2003 ISBN page 235</ref> Paul taught that, just as Christians share in Jesus' death in baptism, so they will share in his resurrection<ref name = "Ehrman 2006"/> for Jesus was designated the ] by his resurrection.{{bibleref2c|Rom|1:4}}<ref name = "Ehrman 2006">Ehrman, Bart. Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend. Oxford University Press, USA. 2006. ISBN 0-19-530013-0</ref> In ] Paul states:
{{Main|Burial of Jesus}}


An often noted argument in favour of a decent burial before sunset is the Jewish custom, based on Deuteronomy 21:22–23,<ref>{{Bibleverse|Deuteronomy|21:22-23|NRSV}}</ref> which says the body must not be left exposed overnight, but must be buried that day. This is also attested in the Temple Scroll of the Essenes, and in ]' ''Jewish War'' 4.5.2§317, describing the burial of crucified Jewish insurgents before sunset.{{sfn|Brown|1973|p=147}}{{sfnp|Dijkhuizen|2011|pp=119–120}}{{sfnp|Dunn|2003b|p=782}}{{sfnp|Evans|2005}}{{sfnp|Magness|2005}} Reference is made to the ], a Roman Law Code from the 6th century AD, which contains material from the 2nd century AD, stating that "the bodies of those who have been punished are only buried when this has been requested and permission granted."{{sfnp|Evans|2005|p=195}}{{sfnp|Allison|2021|p=104}} Burial of people who were executed by crucifixion is also attested by archaeological finds from ], a body of an apparently crucified man with a nail in the heel which could not be removed who was buried in a tomb.{{sfnp|Magness|2005|p=144}}{{sfnp|Dunn|2003b|p=782}}
<blockquote>
But Christ really has been raised from the dead. He is the first of all those who will rise. Death came because of what a man did. Rising from the dead also comes because of what a man did. Because of Adam, all people die. So because of Christ, all will be made alive.
</blockquote>


Contra a decent burial, ] has argued that Jesus was buried in disgrace as an executed criminal who died a shameful death,{{sfnp|Magness|2005|p=141}}{{sfnp|Hengel|1977}} a view which is "now widely accepted and has become entrenched in scholarly literature."{{sfnp|Magness|2005|p=141}} ] argued that Jesus's followers did not know what happened to the body.{{sfnp|Allison|2021|p=94}}{{refn|group=note|Allison refers to "Crossan, Historical Jesus, 391–4; idem, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1994), 123–58; idem, Who Killed Jesus? Exposing the Roots of Anti-Semitism in the Gospel Story of the Death of Jesus (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1996), 160–77))"}} According to Crossan, Joseph of Arimathea is "a total Markan creation in name, in place, and in function",{{sfnp|Allison|2021|p=94, note 4}}{{refn|group=note|Allison refers to Crossan (1996), ''Who Killed Jesus?''}} arguing that Jesus's followers inferred from Deut. 21:22–23 that Jesus was buried by a group of law-abiding Jews, as described in Acts 13:29.
The ], discussed the death and resurrection of Jesus, including ] (50−115),<ref>Ignatius makes many passing references, but two extended discussions are found in the ] and the ].</ref> ] (69−155), and ] (100−165). Following the ] and the liberating ] in 313, the ] of the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries, that focused on ] helped shape the Christian understanding of the redemptive nature of Resurrection, and influenced both the development of its iconography, and its use within Liturgy.<ref>''The Resurrection and the icon'' by Michel Quenot 1998 ISBN 0-88141-149-3 page 72</ref>


New Testament scholar Dale Allison writes that this story was adapted by Mark, turning the group of Jews into a specific person.{{sfnp|Allison|2021|p=94-95}} Roman practice was often to leave the body on the stake, denying an honourable or family burial, stating that "the dogs were waiting."{{sfnp|Allison|2021|p=95}}{{sfnp|Crossan|2009|p=143}} Archaeologist Byron McCane argues that it was customary to dispose of the dead immediately, yet concludes that "Jesus was buried in disgrace in a criminal's tomb".{{sfnp|McCane|2003|p=89}} British New Testament scholar ] also notes that "Jewish criminals were supposed to receive a shameful and dishonourable burial",{{sfnp|Casey|2010|p=451}} and argues that Jesus was indeed buried by Joseph of Arimathea, but in a tomb for criminals owned by the ].{{sfnp|Casey|2010|p=451}} He therefore rejects the empty tomb narrative as legendary.{{sfnp|Casey|2010}}
Belief in bodily resurrection was a constant note of the Christian church in antiquity. And nowhere was it argued for more strongly than in North Africa. ] accepted it at the time of his conversion in 386.<ref>''Augustine: ancient thought baptized'' by John M. Rist 1996 ISBN 0-521-58952-5 page 110</ref> Augustine defended Resurrection, and argued that given that Christ has risen, there is ].<ref>''Augustine and the Catechumenate'' by William Harmless 1995 ISBN 0-8146-6132-7 page 131</ref><ref>''Augustine De doctrina Christiana'' by Saint Augustine, R. P. H. Green 1996 ISBN 0-19-826334-1 page 115</ref> Moreover, he argued that the death and resurrection of Jesus was for the salvation of man, stating: "to achieve each resurrection of ours, the savior paid with his single life, and he pre-enacted and presented his one and only one by way of sacrament and by way of model."<ref>''The Trinity'' by Saint Augustine (Bishop of Hippo.), Edmund Hill, John E. Rotelle 1991 ISBN 0-911782-96-6 page 157</ref>


New Testament historian ] writes that it cannot be known what happened to Jesus's body; he doubts that Jesus had a decent burial,{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=82-88}} and also thinks that it is doubtful that Jesus was buried by Joseph of Arimathea specifically.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=82}} According to Ehrman, "what was originally a vague statement that the unnamed Jewish leaders buried Jesus becomes a story of one leader in particular, who is named, doing so."{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=84}}{{refn|group=note|In an earlier publication (2003), Ehrman recognized that "Some scholars have argued that it's more plausible that in fact Jesus was placed in a common burial plot, which sometimes happened, or was, as many other crucified people, simply left to be eaten by scavenging animals", but further elaborated by stating that "he accounts are fairly unanimous in saying ... that Jesus was in fact buried by this fellow, Joseph of Arimathea, and so it's relatively reliable that that's what happened."<ref>Bart Ehrman, From Jesus to Constantine: A History of Early Christianity, Lecture 4: "Oral and Written Traditions about Jesus" .</ref>}} Ehrman gives three reasons for doubting a decent burial. Referring to Hengel and Crossan, Ehrman argues that crucifixion was meant "to torture and humiliate a person as fully as possible", and the body was normally left on the stake to be eaten by animals.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=85}} Ehrman further argues that criminals were usually buried in common graves;{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=86}} and Pilate had no concern for Jewish sensitivities, which makes it unlikely that he would have allowed Jesus to be buried.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=87}}
The 5th century theology of ] provides an insight into the development of the Christian understanding of the redemptive nature of Resurrection. The crucial role of the sacraments in the mediation of salvation was well accepted at the time. In Theodore's representation of the ], the sacrificial and salvific elements are combined in the "One who saved us and delivered us by the sacrifice of Himself". Theodore's interpretation of the Eucharistic rite is directed towards the triumph over the power of death brought about by the Resurrection.<ref>''Adventus Domini: eschatological thought in 4th-century apses and catecheses'' by Geir Hellemo 1997 ISBN 90-04-08836-9 page 231</ref>


A number of Christian authors have rejected the criticisms, taking the Gospel accounts to be historically reliable.{{refn|group=note| {{harvtxt|Wright|2009|p=22}} argues that the burial of Christ is part of the earliest gospel traditions.}} ] states that "the burial of Jesus in the tomb is one of the earliest and best-attested facts about Jesus."{{sfnp|Robinson|1973|p=131}} ], reviewing the arguments of Crossan and Ehrman, finds their assertions strong, but "find it likely that a man named Joseph, probably a Sanhedrist, from the obscure Arimathea, sought and obtained permission from the Roman authorities to make arrangements for Jesus’s hurried burial."{{sfnp|Allison|2021|p=112}} ] states that "the tradition is firm that Jesus was given a proper burial (Mark 15.42-47 pars.), and there are good reasons why its testimony should be respected."{{sfnp|Dunn|2003b|p=781}}
The emphasis on the salvific nature of the Resurrection continued in Christian theology in the next centuries, e.g., in the 8th century Saint ] wrote that: "...When he had freed those who were bound from the beginning of time, Christ returned again from among the dead, having opened for us the way to resurrection" and Christian iconography of the ensuing years represented that concept.<ref>Vladimir Lossky, 1982 ''The Meaning of Icons'' ISBN 978-0-913836-99-6 page 189</ref>


Dunn argues that the burial tradition is "one of the oldest pieces of tradition we have", referring to 1 Cor. 15.4; burial was in line with Jewish custom as prescribed by Deut. 21:22–23 and confirmed by Josephus ''War''; cases of burial of crucified persons are known, as attested by the Yehohanan burial; Joseph of Arimathea "is a very plausible historical character"; and "the presence of the women at the cross and their involvement in Jesus's burial can be attributed more plausibly to early oral memory than to creative story-telling."{{sfnp|Dunn|2003b|pp=781–783}} ] refers to Deut. 21:22-23 and Josephus to argue that the entombment of Jesus accords with Jewish sensitivities and historical reality. Evans also notes that "politically, too, it seems unlikely that, on the eve of Passover, a holiday that celebrates Israel's liberation from foreign domination, Pilate would have wanted to provoke the Jewish population" by denying Jesus a proper burial.{{sfn|Evans|2005|pp=188–190, 195}} ], after replying to various objections against the historicity of the guards at the tomb, argues that "the presence of guards at the tomb would imply that Jesus was buried in a well-identified place (contrary to unburied hypothesis)."{{sfn|Loke|2020|p=141}}
=== Depictions of the Resurrection ===
{{Main|Resurrection of Jesus in Christian art}}


According to religion professor John Granger Cook, there are historical texts that mention mass graves, but they contain no indication of those bodies being dug up by animals. There is no mention of an open pit or shallow graves in any Roman text. There are a number of historical texts outside the gospels showing the bodies of the crucified dead were buried by family or friends. Cook writes that "those texts show that the narrative of Joseph of Arimethaea's burial of Jesus would be perfectly comprehensible to a Greco-Roman reader of the gospels and historically credible."<ref>Cook, J. (2011). Crucifixion and Burial. New Testament Studies, 57(2), 193-213. {{doi|10.1017/S0028688510000214}}. p. 213.</ref>
] with a wreath symbolizing the victory of the Resurrection, above Roman soldiers, ca. 350.]]


===Empty tomb===
In the ], artists just hinted at the Resurrection by using images from the Old Testament such as the fiery furnace and Daniel in the Lion's den. Depictions prior to the 7th century generally showed secondary events such as the ] at the tomb of Jesus to convey the concept of the Resurrection. An early symbol of the resurrection was the wreathed ], whose origin traces to the victory of ] at the ] in 312, which he attributed to the use of a cross on the shields of his soldiers. Constantine used the Chi Rho on his standard and his coins showed a ] with the Chi Rho killing a serpent.<ref>''Understanding early Christian art'' by Robin Margaret Jensen 2000 ISBN 0-415-20454-2 page 149</ref>
{{Main|Empty tomb}}


====Skepticism about the empty tomb narrative====
The use of a wreath around the Chi Rho symbolizes the victory of the Resurrection over death, and is an early visual representations of the connection between the ] and his triumphal resurrection, as seen in the 4th century sarcophagus of Domitilla.<ref></ref> in Rome. Here, in the wreathed Chi Rho the death and resurrection of Christ are shown as inseparable, and the Resurrection is not merely a happy ending tucked at the end of the life of Christ on earth. Given the use of similar symbols on the ], this depiction also conveyed another victory, namely that of the Christian faith: the Roman soldiers who had once arrested Jesus and marched him to ] now walked under the banner of a resurrected Christ.<ref>''The passion in art'' by Richard Harries 2004 ISBN 0-7546-5011-1 page 8</ref>
Early on, the stories about the empty tomb were met with skepticism. The Gospel of Matthew already mentions stories that the body was ].{{sfnp|Dunn2003b|p=836}} Other suggestions, not supported in mainstream scholarship, are that Jesus had ], was ],{{sfnp|Ehrman|2014|p=88}} or was ].<ref>e.g. https://www.christianpost.com/voices/jesus-twin-brother-and-the-truth-about-easter.html or in ]</ref>


The belief that Jesus did not really die on the cross but only appeared to do so is found in a wide variety of early texts, and probably has its historical roots in the earliest stages of Christianity.{{sfn|Stroumsa|2004|p=270}} According to Israeli religion scholar ], this idea came first, and later, docetism broadened to include Jesus was a spirit without flesh.{{sfn|Stroumsa|2004|pp=267, 268}} It is probable these were present in the first century, as it is against such doctrines that the author of 1 and 2 John seems to argue.{{sfn|Stroumsa|2004|pp=267, 268}}
The cosmic significance of the Resurrection in Western theology goes back to ] who in the 4th century said that "The universe rose again in Him, the heaven rose again in Him, the earth rose again in Him, for there shall be a new heaven and a new earth".<ref></ref><ref name="Sherry2005">''Images of redemption: art, literature and salvation'' by Patrick Sherry 2005 ISBN 0-567-08891-X page 73</ref> This theme developed gradually in the West, and later than in the East, where the Resurrection was early linked to redemption and the renewal and rebirth of the whole world. In art this was symbolized by combining the depictions of the Resurrection with the ] in icons and paintings. A good example is from the ] in Istanbul, where ], ] and other figures are also present, depicting that Christ was not alone in the resurrection.<ref name="Sherry2005"/> The depiction sequence at the 10th century ] shows Christ as he pulls Adam, followed by Eve from his tomb, signifying the salvation of humanity after the resurrection.<ref>''Heaven on Earth: art and the Church in Byzantium'' by Linda Safran 1998 ISBN 0-271-01670-1 page 133</ref>


The absence of any reference to the story of Jesus's empty tomb in the ] and the Easter ] (preaching or proclamation) of the earliest church has led some scholars to suggest that Mark invented it.{{refn|group=note|Bultmann dismisses the empty tomb story as "an apologetic legend."{{sfnp|Bultmann|1963|p=287}}}} Allison, however, finds this ] unconvincing.{{sfn|Allison|2005|p=306}} Most scholars believe that the ] and the ] contain two independent attestations of an empty tomb, which in turn suggests that both used already-existing sources{{sfn|Aune|2013|p=169}} and appealed to a commonly held tradition, though Mark may have added to and adapted that tradition to fit his narrative.<ref>Engelbrecht, J. "The Empty Tomb (Lk 24:1-12) in Historical Perspective." Neotestamentica, vol. 23, no. 2, 1989, pp. 245.</ref> Other scholars have argued that instead, Paul presupposes the empty tomb, specifically in the early creed passed down in 1 Cor. 15.{{Sfn|Ware|2014|p=498}}{{Sfn|Cook|2017|pp=56–58}} Christian biblical scholars have used textual critical methods to support the historicity of the tradition that "Mary of Magdala had indeed been the first to see Jesus", most notably the ] in recent years.{{sfn|Dunn|2003b|pp=843}}<ref>], ''Gospel Women, Studies of the Named Women in the Gospels'' (2002), pages 257-258</ref> According to ], the inclusion of women as the first witnesses to the risen Jesus "once suspect, confirms the truth of the story."{{sfn|Allison|2005|pp=327-328}}
== Historicity and origin of the narrative ==
{{Main|Historicity and origin of the Resurrection of Jesus}}


====Empty tomb and resurrection appearances====
], ], 17th century.]]
] emphatically and extensively argues for the reality of the empty tomb and the subsequent appearances of Jesus, reasoning that as a matter of "inference"{{sfn|Wright|2003|p=711}} both a bodily resurrection and later bodily appearances of Jesus are far better explanations for the empty tomb and the 'meetings' and the rise of Christianity than are any other theories, including those of Ehrman.{{sfn|Wright|2003|p=711}} ] concurred, stating "...in my judgment, the evidence for the bodily resurrection of Jesus is strong...", and critiqued skeptical objections.<ref>{{cite book |last= Brown |first= Raymond |author-link= Raymond E. Brown |year= 1994 |title= An Introduction to New Testament Christology |publisher= Paulist Press |page= 163-166 |isbn= 978-0809135165}}</ref> ] writes that the majority of scholars of the Bible believe that the evidence shows that the Resurrection of Jesus is historical. <ref>{{cite book |last= Dunn |first= James |author-link= James Dunn (theologian) |year= 2019 |title= Why believe in Jesus' Resurrection? |publisher= SPCK |page= unpaginated |isbn= 978-0281076581}}</ref> ] argues for an empty tomb that was later followed by visions of Jesus by ] and Mary Magdalene, while also accepting the historicity of the resurrection. While he acknowledges contradictions in the Gospels' narratives, he argues that they agree on the important themes and that the differences are inconsequential when judging the historical event as a whole.{{sfn|Allison|2021|pp=3, 310-335, 337, 353}} Allison has endorsed David Graieg's work on the Resurrection appearances, which also argues that early Christians remembered Jesus as having physically risen from the dead. Graieg argues that ] in ] remembered Jesus as having bodily risen from the dead and that the resurrection was of core importance to early Christians using a methodology based on memory theory. Graieg argues that Jesus physically rose from the dead and that he was remembered by Christians as having risen in a metamorphized form.<ref>{{cite book |last= Graieg |first= David |year= 2024 |title= Resurrection Remembered: A Memory Approach to Jesus’ Resurrection in First Corinthians |publisher= Routledge |page= Preface (unpaginated) |isbn= 978-1032679983}}</ref> Religion professor ] points to how the notion of an empty tomb would fit with the ] that any case of immortalization always required absolute physical continuity. A vanished body could consequently be an indication of someone having been made immortal, as seen for instance in the case of ], the Trojan prince ], and princess ], whose mysterious disappearances were seen as the result of their being swept away to a physically immortal existence by the gods, ] whose lack of bodily remains after his funeral pyre was considered proof of his physical immortalization, and ] who was held to have reappeared after his body vanished from a locked room, which Endsjø interprets as something like a resurrection.{{sfn|Endsjø|2009|pp=58-60, 63, 83, 93}}{{sfn|Lehtipuu|2015|pp=62–63}}


Smith argues that Mark has integrated two traditions, which were first separate, on the disappearance (from the tomb, interpreted as being taken to heaven) and appearance (post-mortem appearances), into one Easter narrative.{{sfn|Smith|2010|pp=2, 179–180}}{{sfn|Smith|2007}} According to ], the story of the empty tomb developed independently from the stories of the post-resurrection appearances, as they are never directly coordinated to form a combined argument.{{sfn|Vermes|2008a|p=142}} While the coherence of the empty tomb narrative is questionable, it is "clearly an early tradition."{{sfn|Vermes|2008a|p=142}} Vermes notes that the story of the empty tomb conflicts with notions of a spiritual resurrection. According to Vermes, "he strictly Jewish bond of spirit and body is better served by the idea of the empty tomb and is no doubt responsible for the introduction of the notions of palpability (Thomas in John) and eating (Luke and John)."{{sfn|Vermes|2008a|p=148}} Ehrman rejects the story of the empty tomb, and argues that "an empty tomb had nothing to do with it ... an empty tomb would not produce faith."{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=98}} Ehrman argues that the empty tomb was needed to underscore the physical resurrection of Jesus.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=90}}
The earliest Christians ] Jesus as the risen Christ. The first Christians may be defined as those followers of Jesus who, after his crucifixion, proclaimed him as the risen lord.<ref name="Ehrman 2006"/> The earliest Christian scriptures place Jesus' resurrection at the center of religious faith. The preaching and letters of the ] in the ] and the ] declared that Jesus died, was raised by God and the apostles are witnesses to this resurrection.<ref>{{Bibleref2|Acts|2:14-40}}; {{Bibleref2-nb|Ac|3:11-12}}; {{Bibleref2-nb|Ac|4:5-12}}; {{Bibleref2-nb|Ac|5:29-32}}; {{Bibleref2-nb|Ac|10:34-42}}</ref>


==Resurrection of a transformed body==
] who considers the Resurrection one of the fundamental and intriguing concepts of the Christian faith has presented eight possible theories to explain the Resurrection of Jesus. These theories fall between two extremes, ranging from a total denial of the Resurrection to absolute belief in it. The six variants include the theft of the body, recovery from a coma and a spiritual non-bodily resurrection.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Resurrection: History and Myth |last= Vermes|first= Geza|year= 2008|publisher= Doubleday|location= New York|isbn= 978-0-7394-9969-6|page= xv}} Original in italics.</ref><ref name="Vermes 2008 141">{{cite book |title= The Resurrection: History and Myth |authorlink=Géza Vermes|last= Vermes|first= Geza|year= 2008|publisher= Doubleday|location= New York|isbn= 978-0-7394-9969-6|page= 141}}</ref></blockquote> Vermes dismisses the "two extremes", stating that they "are not susceptible to rational judgment".<ref name="Vermes 2008 141"/>


] notes that the story of the empty tomb conflicts with notions of a spiritual resurrection. According to Vermes, "he strictly Jewish bond of spirit and body is better served by the idea of the empty tomb and is no doubt responsible for the introduction of the notions of palpability (Thomas in John) and eating (Luke and John)."{{sfn|Vermes|2008a|p=148}}
According to a survey conducted by ]; 75% of both conservative and non-conservative New Testament scholars accept arguments in favor of the empty tomb.<ref>Gary Habermas Experiences of the Risen Jesus </ref> ] claims that if the resurrection could, in fact, be proven through science or historical evidence, the event would lose its miraculous qualities.<ref name="RMB 14">], "The Empty Tomb: Introduction; The Second Life of Jesus". In {{cite book |title= The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond the Grave |editor1-first= Robert M.|editor1-last= Price|editor1-link= Robert M. Price |editor2-first= Jeffrey Jay|editor2-last= Lowder| year= 2005|publisher= Prometheus Books|location= Amherst|isbn= 1-59102-286-X|page= 14}}</ref> ] writes that the stories of the resurrection were originally ] and that the more detailed accounts are secondary and not based on historical records.<ref>Helmut Koester, ''Introduction to the New Testament, Vol. 2: History and Literature of Early Christianity.'' Walter de Gruyter, 2000. p. 64-65.</ref> ] states that "the resurrection is not a historical event ... the event itself falls outside the scope of history and into the realm of faith”.<ref>{{cite book |title= ]|edition= |last= Aslan|first= Reza|authorlink= Reza Aslan|year= 2013|publisher= Random House|location= New York |isbn= 978-0-679-60353-5|pages= n.p.}}</ref>


Both Ware and Cook argue, primarily from Paul's terminology and the contemporary Jewish, pagan and cultural understanding of the nature of resurrection, that Paul held to a physically resurrected body (''sōma''), restored to life, but animated by spirit ('']tikos'') instead of soul ('']''), just like the later Gospel accounts.{{sfn|Ware|2014b}}<ref group=web name=Hurtado.Ware">Larry Hurtado (11 September 2014 ), </ref> The nature of this resurrected body is a matter of debate. In 1 Corinthians 15:44,<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Corinthians|15:44}}</ref> Paul uses the phrase "spiritual body" (''sōma pneumatikos''),<ref group=web>{{cite web| url = https://www.stfonline.org/1-corinthians-1544-soul-body-spiritual-body| title = ''1 Corinthians 15:44 ''| date = 14 May 2013}}</ref> which has been explained as a "Spirit-empowered body",{{sfn|Ware|2014b}}<ref group=web name=Hurtado.Ware"/><ref group=web name="Brown.body"/> but also as a "celestial body", made of a finer material than the flesh.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=94}}<ref group=web name="Brown.body">Taylor S. Brown (august3, 2018), </ref>{{refn|group=note|name="Habermas"}}
According to R. A. Burridge, the majority consensus among biblical scholars is that the genre of the Gospels is a kind of ancient biography and not myth.<ref>Burridge, R. A. (2006). Gospels. In J. W. Rogerson & Judith M. Lieu (Eds) ''The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Studies.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 437</ref> ] has stated that, while the apostle Paul's resurrection experience was "visionary in character" and "non-physical, non-material", the accounts in the Gospels are very different.<ref>James D.G. Dunn, ''Jesus and the Spirit: A Study of the Religious and Charismatic Experience of Jesus and the First Christians as Reflected in the New Testament.'' Eerdmans, 1997. p. 115, 117.</ref> ] argues that a plot to foster belief in the Resurrection would probably have resulted in a more consistent story:<ref>"Jesus Christ". Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 10 Jan. 2007</ref>


In the ] Paul describes how the body of the resurrected Christ is utterly different from the one he wore when he had "the appearance of a man", and holds out a similar glorified state, when Christ "will transform our lowly body", as the goal of the Christian life – "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (I Corinthians 15:50), and Christians entering the kingdom will be "putting off the body of the flesh" (Colossians 2:11).{{sfn|Lehtipuu|2015|pp=42–43}}{{sfn|Endsjø|2009|pp=141, 145}} Paul opposed the notion of a purely spiritual resurrection, as propagated by some Christians in Corinth, which he addresses in 1 Corinthians.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=94}} The developing Gospel tradition emphasized the material aspects to counter this spiritual interpretation.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=90}}
{{Quotation|I do not regard deliberate fraud as a worthwhile explanation. Many of the people in these lists were to spend the rest of their lives proclaiming that they had seen the risen Lord, and several of them would die for their cause. Moreover, a calculated deception should have produced great unanimity. Instead, there seem to have been competitors: ‘I saw him first!’ ‘No! I did.’ Paul’s tradition that 500 people saw Jesus at the same time has led some people to suggest that Jesus’ followers suffered mass hysteria. But mass hysteria does not explain the other traditions.|E. P. Sanders<ref name=Sanders/>}}


Paul's views of a bodily resurrection went against the thoughts of the Greek philosophers to whom a bodily resurrection meant a new imprisonment in a corporeal body, which was what they wanted to avoid – given that, for them, the corporeal and the material fettered the spirit.<ref>''Meditation and Piety in the Far East'' by Karl Ludvig Reichelt, Sverre Holth 2004 {{ISBN|0-227-17235-3}} p. 30</ref>
== Biblical accounts ==
{{Christianity}}


] notes that there is a great difference between Paul's resurrection appearance, and the appearances described in the Gospels. Where "Paul's seeing was visionary ... , 'from heaven'", in contrast, the Gospel accounts have a "massive realism" to them,{{sfn|Dunn|1997|p=115}} as seen for example in Luke having Jesus insisting that he was of "flesh and bones",<ref>{{bibleref2|Luke|24:37–39}}</ref> and John having Jesus asking Thomas to touch his wounds.<ref>{{bibleref2|John|20:27}}</ref> Dunn contends that the "massive realism' ... of the appearances themselves can only be described as visionary with great difficulty – and Luke would certainly reject the description as inappropriate."{{sfn|Dunn|1997|p=115}} According to Dunn, most scholars explain this as a "legendary materialization" of the visionary experiences, "borrowing the traits of the earthly Jesus."{{sfn|Dunn|1997|p=116}}{{refn|group=note|According to Sheehan, Paul's account of the resurrection is not meant to be taken as referring to a literal, physical rising from the grave.<ref name="Sheehan.2013">{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-gospel-according-to-thomas-sheehan/Content?oid=873733|title=The Gospel According to Thomas Sheehan|last=McClory|first=Robert|work=The Chicago Sun-Times|year=1989|access-date=31 March 2013}}</ref> Paul's understanding of the resurrection, and perhaps Peter's as well, is a metaphorical one, with the stories of Jesus's (figurative) resurrection reflecting his triumphant "entry into God's eschatological presence."{{sfn|Sheehan|1986|p=111}} Sheehan:{{blockquote|The word "resurrection" is a metaphor that unfortunately has been taken literally. That's where the confusion begins. In the New Testament the word for "resurrection" means literally "awakening," like waking up your kids in the morning. The New Testament says not that God "resurrected" Jesus from the dead, but that he "awoke" him. Using metaphoric language, the New Testament says God awoke Jesus from the sleep of death and brought him into God's heavenly presence. There's nothing here about an event in space and time. Resurrection doesn't mean coming back to life."<ref name="Sheehan.2013"/>}} Sheehan quotes Helmut Koester:{{blockquote|"Resurrection is thus a mythological metaphor for God's victory over the powers of unrighteousness. ... The preaching of Jesus' resurrection was thus the proclamation that the new age had been ushered in": "The Structure and Criteria of Early Christian Beliefs" in Robinson and Koester, Trajectories, 223, 224.{{sfn|Sheehan|1986|p=261}}}}}} Yet, according to Dunn, there was both "a tendency away from the physical ... and a reverse tendency towards the physical."{{sfn|Dunn|1997|p=116-117}} The tendency towards the material is most clear, but there are also signs for the tendency away from the physical, and "there are some indications that a more physical understanding was current in the earliest Jerusalem community."{{sfn|Dunn|1997|p=117}}
=== Background ===


According to Wright, there is substantial unanimity among the early Christian writers (first and second century) that Jesus had been bodily raised from the dead,{{sfn|Wright|2003|pp=9-10}} "with (as the early Christians in their different ways affirmed) a 'transphysical' body, both the same and yet in some mysterious way transformed."{{sfn|Wright|2003|p=711}} According to Wright, Paul "believed he had seen the risen Jesus in person, and ... his understanding of who this Jesus was included the firm belief that he possessed a transformed but still physical body."{{sfn|Wright|2003|p=398}}
The resurrection story appears in more than five locations in the ]. In several episodes in the ] Jesus ] and resurrection, which he states is the plan of ].<ref>''Dictionary of Premillennial Theology'' by Mal Couch 1997 ISBN 0-8254-2410-0 page 127</ref> Christians view the resurrection of Jesus as part of the plan of ] and ] by ].<ref>''Great Preaching on the Resurrection'' by Curtis Hutson 2000 ISBN 0-87398-319-X pages 55-56</ref> Belief in a bodily resurrection of the dead became well established within some segments of Jewish society in the centuries leading up to the time of Christ, as recorded by ] {{Bibleref2-nb|Dan|12:2}}, from the mid-2nd century BC: "Many of those sleeping in the dust shall awaken, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting peril". Josephus (1st century AD) gives the following outline: The ] believed in ], and the ]s did not.<ref>{{cite web| last =Pecorino | first = Philip | title = Section 3. The Resurrection of the Body | work = Philosophy of Religion | publisher = Dr. Philip A. Pecorino | year = 2001 | url = http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/pecorip/SCCCWEB/ETEXTS/PHIL_of_RELIGION_TEXT/CHAPTER_7_SOULS/Resurrection.htm | accessdate = 13 September 2007 }}</ref> The Sadducees, politically powerful religious leaders, rejected the afterlife, angels, and demons as well as the Pharisees' oral law. The Pharisees, whose views became ], eventually won (or at least survived) this debate. The promise of a future resurrection appears in the Torah as well as in certain Jewish works, such as the ], ''c'' 100 BC, and the Pharisaic book ], ''c'' 124 BC.<ref name="Harris">], Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985.</ref> It is thus accurate to say that there was nothing innovative or uniquely Christian about belief in resurrection.<ref></ref>


== Significance in Christianity ==
=== Paul's epistles ===
{{Main|Salvation in Christianity}}
] at the ], Austria. The artwork depicts Christ's crucifixion and ] (left), and resurrection (right).]]


===Foundation of Christian faith===
The earliest written records of the death and resurrection of Jesus are the letters of Paul, which were written around two decades after the death of Jesus,<ref></ref><ref name=Barnett2>{{cite book |last=Barnett |first=Paul William |year=2005 |authorlink=Paul Barnett (bishop) |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=iEfBfYC5NU4C&pg=PA2#v=snippet&q=%22letters%20of%20paul%22&f=false |title=The Birth of Christianity: The First Twenty Years (Volume 1 of After Jesus) |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=978-0802827814 |page=2}}</ref> and show that within this time frame Christians believed that it had happened. Some scholars suppose that these contain early Christian ]s and creedal ]s, which were included in several of the ] texts and that some of these creeds date to within 50 years of Jesus' death and were developed within the ].<ref>A basic text is that of Oscar Cullmann, available in English in a translation by J. K. S. Reid titled, ''The Earliest Christian Confessions'' (London: Lutterworth, 1949)</ref> Though embedded within the texts of the New Testament, these creeds are a distinct source for early Christianity.
In ], the death, resurrection, and ] of Jesus are the most important events, and the foundation of the Christian faith.{{sfn|Dunn|1985|p=53}}{{sfn|Dunn|2009|p=149}}{{refn|group=note|{{Bibleverse|1 Cor|15:12–20}} {{Bibleverse|1 Peter|1:3}}}} The ] states: "On the third day{{refn|group=note|name="third day"}} he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures".<ref>Updated version of the Nicene Creed added at ] in 381 AD, in Norman Tanner, ''New Short History of the Catholic Church'', p. 33 (Burns & Oates, 2011). {{ISBN|978-0-86012-455-9}}</ref> According to Terry Miethe, a Christian philosopher at Oxford University, the question "&thinsp;'Did Jesus rise from the dead?' is the most important question regarding the claims of the Christian faith."<ref>Terry Miethe, in: Gary Habermas & Anthony G. N. Flew, ''Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? The Resurrection Debate'', ed. Terry Miethe (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1987), p.xi. Quoted by ], ''The Resurrection as Initially Improbable'' (chapter). In: {{cite book|title= The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond the Grave|editor1-first= Robert M.|editor1-last= Price|editor1-link= Robert M. Price|editor2-first= Jeffrey Jay|editor2-last= Lowder|year= 2005|publisher= Prometheus Books|location= Amherst|isbn= 1-59102-286-X|page= |url= https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781591022862/page/44}}</ref> According to ], a Baptist evangelist, the resurrection of Jesus was part of the plan of ] and ] by ].<ref>John R. Rice, ''The Importance of Christ's Resurrection in the Christian Faith''. In: Curtis Hutson (2000), ''Great Preaching on the Resurrection'', {{ISBN|0-87398-319-X}} pp. 55–56</ref> According to the ] of the Catholic Church, the resurrection of Jesus causes and is the model of the resurrection of all the dead, as well as the cause and model of ], which the catechism calls "spiritual resurrection."<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.cin.org/users/james/ebooks/master/trent/tcreed05.htm| title = Master Nazareth Catechism: Catechism of the Council of Trent: Article V}}</ref> Summarizing its traditional analysis, the Catholic Church states in its Catechism:
{{blockquote|Although the Resurrection was an historical event that could be verified by the sign of the empty tomb and by the reality of the apostles' encounters with the risen Christ, still it remains at the very heart of the mystery of faith as something that transcends and surpasses history.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p122a5p2.htm#647| title = Catechism of the Catholic Church 647}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1S.HTM|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church - IntraText|date=25 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211125132200/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1S.HTM |archive-date=25 November 2021 }}</ref>}}


For orthodox Christians, including a number of scholars, the resurrection of Jesus is taken to have been a concrete, material resurrection of a transformed body.{{sfn|Wright|2003|p=272; cf. 321}}<ref group=web name="Habermas.2005">Habermas (2005), </ref>{{refn|group=note|name="Habermas"|According to Christian apologist ], "Many scholars have spoken in support of a bodily notion of Jesus' resurrection."<ref group=web name="Habermas.2005"/> According to Habermas, Paul refers to a physical body in 1 Corinthians 15:44.<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Corinthians|15:44}}</ref> Habermas notes that Paul doesn't use solely the word ''pneuma'', but speaks about body "]]. According to Habermas, Paul refers to a physical body, arguing that "Paul says three things in one chapter that indicates that he’s talking about a physical resurrection." The first is that Paul says that he is a Pharisee, implying that he believes in a physical resurrection. The second is that, in Philippians 3:11, Paul says "That I may attain the resurrection of the dead", using the phrase ''eks-anastasis'' ("εἰς τὴν ἐξανάστασιν") (out-resurrection), "resurrection from out among the dead ones." And third, in Philippians 3:20–21 "He Jesus will change my body to be like His body." Habermas further notes that in Philippians 3:20,21, Paul speaks of a "glorious body" which is resurrected.<ref group=web name="Habermas.Flew">John Ankerberg and Gary Habermas (2000), </ref>}} Scholars such as ] and ] argue there are sufficient arguments for the historicity of the resurrection.{{sfn|Blomberg|1987|p=253}}{{sfn|Licona|2010}}{{sfn|Habermas|2024}}
* {{bibleref2|Romans|1:3–4|NIV}}: "...concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and designated the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord".<ref>Wolfhart Pannenberg, ''Jesus—God and Man'' translated Lewis Wilkins and Duane Pribe (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1968) pp. 118, 283, 367; Neufeld, ''The Earliest Christian Confessions'' (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964) pp. 7, 50; C. H. Dodd, ''The Apostolic Preaching and its Developments'' (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1980), p. 14</ref>
* {{bibleref2|2Tim|2:8|NIV|2 Timothy 2:8}}: "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead... this is my gospel for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained...".<ref>Bultmann, ''Theology of the New Testament'' vol 1, pp. 49, 81; Joachim Jeremias, ''The Eucharistic Words of Jesus'' translated Norman Perrin (London: SCM Press, 1966) p. 102</ref>
* {{bibleref2|1Cor|15:3–7|NIV|1 Corinthians 15:3-7}}: "...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"


In secular and ] scholarship, the post-resurrection appearances are often interpreted as being subjective ] in which Jesus's presence was felt,{{sfn|Koester|2000|pp=64–65}}{{sfn|Vermes|2008b|p=141}}{{sfn|De Conick|2006|p=6}} as articulated in the ].{{refn|group=note|According to Habermas, a Christian ], both internal states of mind, such as ]s, ], and bereavement-related ], as well as objective phenomena such as illusions have been proposed as possible natural explanations for what the disciples believed they saw.{{sfn|Bergeron|Habermas|2015|p=158}}}} In the twenty-first century, modern scholars such as ] have proposed that ] had a vision of Jesus, due to severe ] and ].{{refn|group=note|"Gerd Lüdemann 2012: 552 (cf. 550-557); 2004: 159 (cf. 163-166); 1994: 174 (cf. 173-179). See also Bart Ehrman 2014: 183-206, although Ehrman never describes the vision he proposes. Other proponents of some form of vision hypothesis include Michael Goulder (1996, 2000, 2005) and James Crossley (2005), although Goulder proposes only a spiritual resurrection belief emerged initially, and Crossley considers Jesus’ predictions of his own death historical and a contributing factor to the resurrection belief."}} Ehrman notes that "Christian apologists sometimes claim that the most sensible historical explanation for these visions is that Jesus appeared to the disciples."{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=107}}
These many appearances include those to prominent members of Jesus's ministry and the later Jerusalem church, including ] and the apostles, naming the ] (Cephas). The creed also makes reference to appearances to unidentified individuals. According to the ] and Paul's ], he had contact with at least two of the named witnesses of the creed, James and Peter.{{Bibleref2c|Gal|1:18-20}}
Hans Von Campenhausen and A. M. Hunter have separately stated that the creed text passes high standards of historicity and reliability of origin.<ref>Hans Von Campenhausen, "The Events of Easter and the Empty Tomb", in ''Tradition and Life in the Church'' (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1968) p. 44</ref><ref>Archibald Hunter, ''Works and Words of Jesus'' (1973) p. 100</ref>


=== Gospel narratives === ===First ''ekklēsia''===
{{Main|Jewish Christian}}


The belief in the resurrection by Jesus's early followers formed the proclamation of the first ''ekklēsia'' (lit. "assembly").<ref>Reginald H. Fuller, '']'' (New York: Scribners, 1965), p. 11.</ref>{{sfn|Pagels|2005|p=40}} The "visions of the resurrected/exalted Christ" reinforced the impact Jesus and his ministry had on his early followers,{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|pp=53–54, 64–65, 72-73}} and interpreted in a scriptural framework they gave the impetus to Christ-devotion{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|pp=53–54, 64–65, 181, 184-185}} and the belief in the exaltation of Jesus.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|pp=109–110}}{{sfn|Vermes|2008a|p=138}} Jesus's death was interpreted in light of the scriptures as a redemptive death, being part of God's plan.{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|pp=185-188}} The subsequent appearances led to the resumption of the missionary activity of Jesus's followers,{{sfn|Koester|2000|pp=64–65}}{{sfn|Vermes|2008a|pp=151–152}} with ] assuming the leadership role in the first ''ekklēsia'' (which formed the basis for the Apostolic succession).{{sfn|Pagels|2005|pp=43–45}}{{sfn|Lüdemann|Özen|1996|p=116}}
==== Mark ====


In the '']'', a 1st-century account of Jewish history by ], believers of the resurrection are discussed. However, this reference to the resurrection is widely believed to have been added by a ].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ehrman|first=Bart D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xpoNAQAAMAAJ|title=The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings|date=1997|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-508481-8|language=en}}</ref> Within the ] literature of ], there is a retelling of the resurrection of Jesus.<ref>{{cite book|author=]|title=The Gospel According to Peter: A Study|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vQtKAAAAMAAJ|publisher=]|date=1894|page=11|accessdate=2022-04-02}}</ref>
Just before sunrise on the day after the regular weekly Sabbath three women, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, come to anoint Jesus' body, wondering how they would be able to roll the large rock away from the tomb; but they found the rock already rolled aside and a young man in white inside; he told them that Jesus had risen, and that they should tell Peter and the disciples that he will meet them in Galilee, "just as he told you". The some of the women ran away and told no-one.{{Bibleref2c|Mark|16}}


==== Matthew ==== ====Ushering in the last days====
Jesus's followers expected God's Kingdom to come soon, and Jesus's resurrection was the first event of the Endtime.{{sfnp|Borg|Crossan|2006|p=185}}{{refn|group=note|name=last days}} As Borg and Crossan note, "For Mark the kingdom of God is already here because the Son of Man is already present".{{sfnp|Borg|Crossan|2006|p=185}}


====Exaltation and Christology====
Just before sunrise on the day after the regular weekly Sabbath two women, Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary", went to look at the tomb. Accompanied by an earthquake, an angel had come down from Heaven and rolled the rock aside from the tomb. The angel waited for them and told them not to be afraid, but to tell the disciples that Jesus had risen and will meet them in Galilee. The women were joyful and set out to tell the disciples the good news, then soon afterward Jesus appeared and told them not to be afraid, and told them that He had risen and that they should tell the disciples that they will see Him in Galilee. The disciples go to Galilee, where they then see Jesus in the flesh.
{{See also|Ascension of Jesus|Session of Christ|Christology}}


=====Christ-devotion=====
The soldiers guarding the tomb were terrified by the angel, and informed the chief priests; the priests and elders bribed them to spread a lie that the disciples stole the body, "nd this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day".{{Bibleref2c|Matthew|27:61-28:3}}
The New Testament writings contend that the resurrection was "the beginning of His exalted life"{{sfn|Novakovic|2014|p=135}}{{refn|group=note|Novakovic quotes C.E.B. Cranfield, ''The Epistle to the Romans'', 1:62.{{sfn|Novakovic|2014|p=135, note 78}}}} as Christ and Lord.{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|pp=508, 591}}<!-- Hurtado (2003) nor Hurtado (2005) has so many pages... --><ref group=web name="Holcomb"/> Jesus is the "] of the dead", ''prōtotokos'', the first to be raised from the dead, thereby acquiring the "special status of the firstborn as the preeminent son and heir".{{sfn|Novakovic|2014|p=152}}<ref group=web name="Holcomb"/> ] writes:


{{blockquote|"Firstborn" refers to the high, privileged position that Christ has as a result of the resurrection from the dead ... Christ has gained such a sovereign position over the cosmos, not in the sense that he is recognized as the first-created being of all creation or as the origin of creation, but in the sense that he is the inaugurator of the new creation by means of his resurrection.<ref group=web name="Holcomb"/>}}
==== Luke ====


Hurtado notes that soon after his death, Jesus was called Lord ('']''), which "associates him in astonishing ways with God".{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|p=179}} The term Lord reflected the belief that God had exalted Jesus to a divine status "at God's 'right hand'".{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|p=181}} The worship of God as expressed in the phrase "call upon the name of the Lord " was also applied to Jesus, invocating his name "in corporate worship and in the wider devotional pattern of Christian believers (e.g., ], ], ])".{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|pp=181-182}}
Just after sunrise on the day after the Sabbath a number of women (Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James) come to anoint Jesus's body. They find the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. Suddenly two men stand beside them. The men tell them Jesus is risen. The women tell the disciples, but the disciples do not believe them, except for Peter who runs to the tomb. Peter finds the grave-clothes in the empty tomb and goes away, wondering.


According to Hurtado, powerful ]s were an indispensable factor in the emergence of Christ-devotion.{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|pp=64–65, 181, 184-185}}{{refn|group=note|See also Andrew Chester (2007), ''Messiah and Exaltation: Jewish Messianic and Visionary Traditions and New Testament Christology'', Mohr Siebeck; and Larry Huratdo (11 December 2012), .}} Those experiences "seem to have included ] of (and/or ascents to) God's heaven, in which the glorified Christ was seen in an exalted position."{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|pp=72–73}}{{refn|group=note|name="Hurtado_visions"|These visions may mostly have appeared during corporate worship.{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|p=73}} Johan Leman contends that the communal meals provided a context in which participants entered a state of mind in which the presence of Jesus was felt.{{sfn|Leman|2015|pp=168–169}}}} Those experiences were interpreted in the framework of God's redemptive purposes, as reflected in the scriptures, in a "dynamic interaction between devout, prayerful searching for, and pondering over, scriptural texts and continuing powerful religious experiences."{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|p=184}} This initiated a "new devotional pattern unprecedented in Jewish monotheism", that is, the worship of Jesus next to God,{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|p=53}} giving Jesus a central place because his ministry, and its consequences, had a strong impact on his early followers.{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|pp=53–54}} Revelations, including those visions, but also inspired and spontaneous utterances, and "charismatic exegesis" of the Jewish scriptures, convinced them that this devotion was commanded by God.{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|pp=72–73, 185}}
The same day Jesus appears to two of his followers on the road to Emmaus. They fail to recognise him until he breaks bread and gives thanks, and he then vanishes. The two go at once to Jerusalem where they find the disciples exclaiming over Jesus' appearance to Peter. As they tell their story Jesus appears to them all. They are afraid, but he invites them to touch his body, eats with them, and explains the prophecies which are fulfilled in him.{{Bibleref2c|Luke|24}}


Ehrman notes that both Jesus and his early followers were ], who believed in the bodily resurrection, which would start when the coming of God's Kingdom was near.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=99}} According to Ehrman, "the disciples' belief in the resurrection was based on ]",{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|pp=98, 101}} arguing that visions usually have a strong persuasive power, but also noting that the Gospel-accounts record a tradition of doubt about the appearances of Jesus. Ehrman's "tentative suggestion" is that only a few followers had visions, including Peter, Paul and Mary. They told others about those visions, convincing most of their close associates that Jesus was raised from the dead, but not all of them.{{refn|group=note|name=Sanders.first"}} Eventually, these stories were retold and embellished, leading to the story that all disciples had seen the risen Jesus.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|pp=101–102}} The belief in Jesus's resurrection radically changed their perceptions, concluding from his absence that he must have been exalted to heaven, by God himself, exalting him to an unprecedented status and authority.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|pp=109–110}}
==== Acts ====


While the vision theory has gained support among critical scholars since the last quarter of the 20th century,<ref name=Habermas_2011_Trinity>Gary Habermas (2001), . Trinity Journal (TRINJ 22NS (2001) 179-196)</ref> conservative Christian scholars who believe in a bodily resurrection reject the visionary theories in favor of a literal interpretation of the textual accounts of a physical resurrection.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.equip.org/free/DJ923.htm |title=Habermas |access-date=2005-08-26 |archive-date=2003-02-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030207070853/http://www.equip.org/free/DJ923.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref></ref><ref>Michael Morrison {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329191338/http://www.gci.org/Jesus/resurrectionhistory |date=2015-03-29 }}</ref>{{sfn|Habermas|2005|pp=135–153}}<ref>Wright, N.T. "Christian Origins and the Resurrection of Jesus: The Resurrection of Jesus as a Historical Problem." Sewanee Theological Review, 1998.</ref>{{sfn|Wright|2003|pp=690–691}}{{sfn|Allison|2005|pp=324–325}}
(The Acts of the Apostles is presented as a continuation of the Gospel of Luke.)
=====Low and High Christology=====
Jesus appeared to the apostles for forty days, giving many proofs that he was alive, and instructing them not to leave Jerusalem until they were baptised with the Holy Spirit.{{Bibleref2c|Acts|1}}
{{See also|Early High Christology|Preexistence of Christ}}


It has long been argued that the New Testament writings contain two different Christologies, namely a "low" or ] Christology, and a "high" or "incarnation Christology".{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=125}} The "low Christology" or "] Christology" is the belief "that God exalted Jesus to be his Son by raising him from the dead",{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|pp=120, 122}} thereby raising him to "divine status",<ref group=web name=BE_2013.02.14>{{cite web|last1=Ehrman|first1=Bart D.|author-link1=Bart D. Ehrman|title=Incarnation Christology, Angels, and Paul |url=https://ehrmanblog.org/incarnation-christology-angels-and-paul-for-members/|website=The Bart Ehrman Blog|access-date=2 May 2018|date=14 February 2013}}</ref> as in Romans 1:4.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Romans|1:4|NRSV}}</ref> The other early Christology is "high Christology", which is "the view that Jesus was a pre-existent divine being who became a human, did the Father’s will on earth, and then was taken back up into heaven whence he had originally come",<ref group=web name=BE_2013.02.14/>{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=122}} and from where he ]. The chronology of the development of these early Christologies is a matter of debate within contemporary scholarship.{{sfn|Loke|2017}}{{sfn|Ehrman|2014}}{{sfn|Talbert|2011|pp=3–6}}<ref group=web name="Hurtado.2017">Larry Hurtado, </ref>
==== John ====


According to the "evolutionary model"{{sfn|Netland|2001|p=175}} c.q. "evolutionary theories",{{sfn|Loke|2017|p=3}} as proposed by Bousset, followed by Brown, the Christological understanding of Christ developed over time, from a low Christology to a high Christology,{{sfn|Mack|1995}}{{sfn|Ehrman|2003}}<ref name="Ehrman_HJBG_CG">Bart Ehrman, ''How Jesus became God'', Course Guide</ref> as witnessed in the Gospels.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014}} According to the evolutionary model, the earliest Christians believed that Jesus was a human who was exalted, c.q. ] as God's Son,{{sfn|Loke|2017|pp=3–4}}{{sfn|Talbert|2011|p=3}}{{sfn|Brown|2008|p=unpaginated}} when he was resurrected,<ref name="Ehrman_HJBG_CG"/><ref>Geza Vermez (2008), ''The Resurrection'', pp. 138–139</ref> signalling the nearness of the ], when all dead would be resurrected and the righteous exalted.{{sfn|Fredriksen|2008|p=unpaginated}} Later beliefs shifted the exaltation to his baptism, birth, and subsequently to the idea of his eternal existence, as witnessed in the Gospel of John.<ref name="Ehrman_HJBG_CG"/> Mark shifted the moment of when Jesus became the son to the ], and later still Matthew and Luke shifted it to the moment of the ], and finally John declared that Jesus had been with God from the beginning: "In the beginning was the Word".{{sfn|Brown|2008|p=unpaginated}}
Early on the day after the Sabbath, before sunrise, Mary Magdalene visited the tomb and found the large stone had already been rolled away. She told Peter and "the beloved disciple", who then ran to the tomb to only find empty the grave-clothes, then go home. They assume his body had been stolen. Mary wept, then sees two angels that speak to her, and then Jesus, whom she does not recognise. Jesus told her to tell the disciples that he is ascending to the Father, and Mary then tells the disciples she had seen the Lord.


Since the 1970s, the late datings for the development of a "high Christology" have been contested,{{sfn|Loke|2017|p=5}} and a majority of scholars argue that this "High Christology" existed already before the writings of Paul.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=125}} This "incarnation Christology" or "high Christology" did not evolve over a longer time, but was a "big bang" of ideas which were already present at the start of Christianity, and took further shape in the first few decades of the church, as witnessed in the writings of Paul.{{sfn|Loke|2017|p=5}}<ref group=web name="Bouma.2014">{{cite web|last=Bouma|first=Jeremy|title=The Early High Christology Club and Bart Ehrman – An Excerpt from 'How God Became Jesus'|url=https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/how-god-became-jesus-bart-ehrman-high-christology-excerpt/|website=Zondervan Academic Blog|publisher=] Christian Publishing|access-date=2 May 2018|date=27 March 2014}}</ref><ref group=web name=BE_2013.02.14/><ref group=web>Larry Hurtado (10 July 2015 ), </ref>
That evening Jesus appeared among them, despite having locked the doors, and gives them power over sin and forgiveness of sin. A week later he appears to ], who has not believed, but when Thomas is instructed to touch the ] he says, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus replies: "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed".{{Bibleref2c|John|20}}


According to Ehrman, these two Christologies existed alongside each other, calling the "low Christology" an "] Christology, and "the "high Christology" an "incarnation Christology."{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=125}} While adoptionism was declared ] at the end of the 2nd century,<ref>{{cite book|last=Harnack|first=Adolf Von|title=History of Dogma|year=1889|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/harnack/dogma1.II.III.III.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iAvGNlIWg9IC&q=adoptionism+heresy&pg=PA23 |title= The Popular Encyclopedia of Church History: The People, Places, and Events That Shaped Christianity |author1= Edward E. Hindson |author2=Daniel R. Mitchell | page=23|publisher= Harvest House Publishers|year= 2013 |isbn= 9780736948074 }}</ref> it was adhered to by the ],<ref>{{Cite book | editor1-last = Cross | editor1-first = EA | title = The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1989 | contribution = Ebionites | editor2-last = Livingston | editor2-first = FL}}</ref> who regarded Jesus as the Messiah while rejecting his ] and his ],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | url = http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/177608/Ebionites | encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Britannica | title = Ebionites}}</ref> and insisted on the necessity of following ].<ref>{{Cite book | first = Kaufmann | last = Kohler | chapter-url = http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=22&letter=E | chapter = Ebionites | editor1-first = Isidore | editor1-last = Singer | editor2-first = Cyrus | editor2-last = Alder | title = ] | date = 1901{{ndash}}1906}}</ref> They revered ] (James the Just); and rejected ] as an ].<ref name="Maccoby 1987">{{Cite book| author = Hyam Maccoby| title = The Mythmaker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity| pages = 172–183| publisher = HarperCollins | year = 1987 | isbn = 0-06-250585-8| author-link = Hyam Maccoby}}, </ref> They show strong similarities with the earliest form of Jewish Christianity, and their specific theology may have been a "reaction to the ]."{{sfn|Dunn|2006|p=282}}
=== Comparison of narratives in the Gospels and Acts===


In the "pre-existence" Christology, Christ's resurrection and exaltation was a restoration of the exalted status he already had, but had not grasped at, as described in Philippians|2:6-11.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Philippians|2:6-11|NRSV}}</ref><ref>Capes, Nelson Raymond, (2012). School of Divinity Master’s Theses and Projects. 6.</ref><ref group=web name=EB_ih>EB, </ref>{{refn|group=note|name=EB_restoration|EB: "Session at the right hand of the Father was apparently a Christian interpretation of the first verse of Psalm 110. It implied the elevation—or, as the doctrine of preexistence became clearer, the restoration—of Christ to a position of honour with God. Taken together, the Ascension and the session were a way of speaking about the presence of Christ with the Father during the interim between the Resurrection and the Second Advent."<ref group=web name=EB_ih/>}}
{| class="wikitable" style="background: #ffffff;"
|-
! style="width:20%;background: #ffdead;"| Matthew !! style="width:20%;background: #ffdead;"| Mark !! style="width:20%;background: #ffdead;"| Luke !! style="width:20%;background: #ffdead;"| John !! style="width:20%;background: #ffdead;"| Acts
|- valign="top"
| Empty tomb {{Bibleref2c|Matthew|28:1-28:7|ESV|28:1-7}} || Empty tomb {{Bibleref2c|Mark|16:1-16:7|ESV|16:1-7}} || Empty tomb {{Bibleref2c|Luke|24:1-24:7|ESV|24:1-7}} || Empty tomb {{Bibleref2c|John|20:1-20:10|ESV|20:1-10}} ||
|- valign="top"
| Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary {{Bibleref2c|Matthew|28:9-28:10|ESV|28:9-10}} || Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene {{Bibleref2c|Mark|16:9|ESV|16:9}} || || Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene{{Bibleref2c|John|20:11-20:18|ESV|20:11-18}} ||
|- valign="top"
| || Jesus appeared to two disciples {{Bibleref2c|Mark|16:12|ESV|16:12}} || Jesus appeared to two disciples {{Bibleref2c|Luke|24:13-24:31|ESV|24:13-31}} || || rowspan="2" | Jesus appeared to apostles for forty days {{Bibleref2c|Acts|1:3|ESV|1:3}}
|- valign="top"
| Jesus appeared to eleven disciples {{Bibleref2c|Matthew|28:16-28:20|ESV|28:16-20}} || Jesus appeared to eleven disciples {{Bibleref2c|Mark|16:14-16:18|ESV|16:14-18}} || Jesus appeared to disciples {{Bibleref2c|Luke|24:36-24:50|ESV|24:36-50}} || Jesus appeared to disciples;{{Bibleref2c|John|20:19-20:31|ESV|20:19-31}} Jesus appeared again to disciples{{Bibleref2c|John|21:1-21:22|ESV|21:1-22}}
|- valign="top"
| || || || || Jesus promises the Holy Spirit{{Bibleref2c|Acts|1:4-1:8|ESV|1:4-8}}
|- valign="top"
| || Jesus was taken up into heaven {{Bibleref2c|Mark|16:19|ESV|16:19}} || Jesus was taken up into heaven {{Bibleref2c|Luke|24:51|ESV|24:51}} || || Jesus was taken up into heaven{{Bibleref2c|Acts|1:9-1:11|ESV|1:9-11}}
|}


====Redemptive death====
== Extra-biblical accounts ==
{{See also|Salvation in Christianity#Atonement|Redeemer (Christianity){{!}}Redeemer}}
], 1449-1502]]


Jesus's death was interpreted as a redemptive death "for our sins", in accordance with God's plan as contained in the Jewish scriptures.{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|p=185}}{{refn|group=note|name="died for"}} The significance lay in "the theme of divine necessity and fulfilment of the scriptures", not in the later Pauline emphasis on "Jesus's death as a sacrifice or an expiation for our sins."{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|p=186}} For the early Jewish Christians, "the idea that Messiah's death was a necessary redemptive event functioned more as an apologetic explanation for Jesus's crucifixion"{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|p=186}} "proving that Jesus's death was no surprise to God."{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|p=187}}{{refn|group=note|Hurtado cites Green, ''The Death of Jesus'', p.323.{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|p=187, n.55}}}}
=== The Gospel of Peter ===
The ] is attributed to Apostle Peter that describes the trial and resurrection of Jesus.


=== The Book of Mormon === ====Call to missionary activity====
{{Main|Great Commission|Apostles|Christian mission}}
The ] contains a 37-page account of Christ's ministry after his resurrection, in which he appears to the ] and ] in ] after rising from the tomb and ascending into heaven. He appears to the people and lets them feel the prints of the nails in his hands and feet.<ref></ref> He then preaches the ] to them and establishes his church. Christ performs many ] similar to those of the New Testament.


The New Testament accounts describe the resurrected Jesus calling his followers to missionary activity in what has been traditionally labelled as the ], where he instructs them to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit."<ref>]–]</ref>
The account claims that about 2500 men, women, and children saw and heard the resurrected Jesus Christ.<ref></ref>


According to Dunn, the appearances to the disciples have "a sense of obligation to make the vision known."{{sfn|Dunn|1997|p=131}} ] states that the stories of the resurrection were originally ] in which the disciples were ] by the risen Jesus, and were later used as evidence of the event.{{sfn|Koester|2000|pp=64–65}} Biblical scholar ] argues that the resurrection is to be understood as a reviving of the self-confidence of the followers of Jesus, under the influence of the Spirit, "prompting them to resume their apostolic mission."{{sfn|Vermes|2008a|pp=151–152}}{{refn|group=note|Vermes describes are eight possible theories to explain the resurrection of Jesus, concluding that none of these six possibilities "stands up to stringent scrutiny",{{sfn|Vermes|2008a|p=149}} and then stating that the resurrection is a "resurrection in the hearts of men."{{sfn|Vermes|2008a|p=152}}}} According to ], Peter convinced the other disciples that the resurrection of Jesus signalled that the end-times were near and God's Kingdom was coming, when the dead would rise again, as evidenced by Jesus. This revitalized the disciples, starting off their new mission.{{sfn|Lüdemann|Özen|1996|pp=180–181}}{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=100}}<ref group="web" name="Ehrman.Lüdemann">Bart Ehrman (5 October 2012), </ref>
=== Other appearances ===
] recorded an experience in which the resurrected Jesus Christ and God the Father appeared to him in the spring of 1820; his experience is known today as the ].<ref>Joseph Smith—History 1:5–26; also History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter–day Saints, 1:2–8</ref>


====Leadership of Peter====
In 1832, ] and ] wrote an account in which they both claimed to have seen the resurrected Jesus Christ. They wrote, "And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony last of all, which we give of him, that he lives; for we saw him, even on the right hand of God, and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father."<ref></ref><ref></ref>
{{Main|Saint Peter|Apostolic succession}}


] claimed forcefully that Jesus appeared to him,{{sfn|Pagels|2005|p=45}}{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|pp=101–102}} and legitimised by Jesus's appearance he assumed leadership of the group of early followers, forming the Jerusalem ''ekklēsia'' mentioned by Paul.{{sfn|Pagels|2005|p=45}}{{sfn|Lüdemann|Özen|1996|p=116}} He was soon eclipsed in this leadership by James the Just, "the Brother of the Lord",{{sfn|Pagels|2005|pp=45–46}}{{sfn|Lüdemann|Özen|1996|pp=116–117}} which may explain why the early texts contain scarce information about Peter.{{sfn|Lüdemann|Özen|1996|pp=116–117}}{{refn|group=note|According to Lüdemann, in the discussions about the ] to the Jewish Law, the more conservative faction of James the Just took the overhand over the more liberal position of Peter, who soon lost influence.{{sfn|Lüdemann|Özen|1996|pp=116–117}} According to Dunn, this was not an "usurpation of power", but a consequence of Peter's involvement in missionary activities.{{sfn|Bockmuehl|2010|p=52}}}} According to ], Peter was the first who saw Jesus,{{sfn|Lüdemann|Özen|1996|pp=180–181}} noting that Peter and Mary both had appearance-experiences, but arguing that the tradition of Mary's appearance is a later development, and her appearance probably was not the first.{{sfn|Lüdemann|Özen|1996|pp=112–113}}{{refn|group=note|name=Sanders.first"|According to Sanders, "there seems to have been a competition: 'I saw him,' 'so did I,' 'the women saw him first,' 'no, I did; they didn't see him at all,' and so on."<ref name="Sanders.2007">"Jesus Christ." Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 10 January 2007</ref>}}
== Theological significance ==


According to ], Peter was the first to who Jesus appeared, and therefore the rightful leader of the Church.{{sfn|Pagels|2005|p=45}} The resurrection forms the basis of the ] and the institutional power of orthodoxy, as the heirs of Peter,{{sfn|Pagels|2005|p=43}} to whom Jesus appeared, and is described as "the rock" on which the church will be built.{{sfn|Pagels|2005|p=45}} Though the Gospels, and Paul's letters, describe appearances to a greater number of people, only the appearances to the ] count as lending authority and Apostolic succession.{{sfn|Pagels|2005|pp=47–48}}
], South Carolina.]]


===Paul – participation in Christ===
In Christian theology, the resurrection of Jesus is a foundation of the Christian faith.{{bibleref2c|1co|15:12-20||1 Cor 15:12-20}} {{bibleref2c|1Peter|1:3|HCSB|1 Pet 1:3}} Christians, through faith in the working of God{{bibleref2c|Colossians|2:12||Col 2:12}} are spiritually resurrected with Jesus, and are ] so that they may walk in a new way of life.{{bibleref2c|Rom|6:4}} As ] stated: "If Christ was not raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your trust in God is useless".{{bibleref2c|1Cor|15:14|NLT|1 Cor 15:14}} The death and resurrection of Jesus are the most important events in ]. They form the point in scripture where Jesus gives his ultimate demonstration that he has power over life and death, thus he has the ability to give people ].<ref>{{bibleref2|John|3:16}}, {{bibleref2|John|5:24}}, {{bibleref2|John|6:39-40}}, {{bibleref2|John|6:47}}, {{bibleref2|John|10:10}}, {{bibleref2|John|11:25–26}}, and {{bibleref2|John|17:3}}.</ref> Terry Miethe, a Christian philosopher at Oxford University, stated, "&thinsp;'Did Jesus rise from the dead?' is the most important question regarding the claims of the Christian faith.'&thinsp;"<ref>Terry Miethe in Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? The Resurrection Debate, ed. Terry Miethe (San Francisco: Harper and Row,1987), xi. Quoted by ], "The Resurrection as Initially Improbable". In {{cite book |title= The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond the Grave |editor1-first= Robert M.|editor1-last= Price|editor1-link= Robert M. Price |editor2-first= Jeffrey Jay|editor2-last= Lowder| year= 2005|publisher= Prometheus Books|location= Amherst|isbn= 1-59102-286-X|page= 44}}</ref> According to the ], "God raised him from the dead",<ref>{{bibleref2|Acts|2:24}}, {{bibleref2|Romans|10:9}}, {{bibleref2|1Cor|15:15}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|2:31–32}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|3:15}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|3:26}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|4:10}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|5:30}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|10:40–41}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|13:30}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|13:34}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|13:37}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|17:30–31}}, {{bibleref2|1Cor|6:14}}, {{bibleref2|2Cor|4:14}}, {{bibleref2|Gal|1:1}}, {{bibleref2|Eph|1:20}}, {{bibleref2|Col|2:12}}, {{bibleref2|1Thess|1:10}}, {{bibleref2|Heb|13:20}}, {{bibleref2|1Pet|1:3}}, {{bibleref2|1Pet|1:21|NIV|1 Pet 1:21}}</ref> he ], to the "]",<ref>{{bibleref2|Mark|16:19}}, {{bibleref2|Luke|22:69}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|2:33}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|5:31}}, {{bibleref2|Acts|7:55–56}}, {{bibleref2|Romans|8:34}}, {{bibleref2|Eph|1:20}}, {{bibleref2|Col|3:1}}, {{bibleref2|Hebrews|1:3}}, {{bibleref2|Hebrews|1:13}}, {{bibleref2|Hebrews|10:12}}, {{bibleref2|Hebrews|12:2}}, {{bibleref2|1Pe|3:22|NIV}}</ref> and will ]{{bibleref2c|Acts|1:9–11}} to fulfill the rest of ] such as the ], the ] and establishment of the ]; see also ] and ].<ref>The ‘‘Parousia’‘ is the term used in the Bible, see for details, which includes the ] Lexicon definition: "In the N.T. especially of ''the advent'', i.e.,the future, visible, ''return'' from heaven of Jesus, the Messiah, to raise the dead, hold the last judgment, and set up formally and gloriously the kingdom of God". According to the ]: "of Christ, and nearly always of his Messianic Advent in glory to judge the world at the end of this age".</ref>
{{Main|Participation in Christ}}


The appearance of Jesus to Paul convinced him that Jesus was the risen Lord and Christ, who commissioned him to be an apostle to the Gentiles.{{sfn|Donaldson|1997|p=259}}{{sfn|Dunn|2009|p=352}}{{sfn|Hultgren|2011|p=118}} According to Newbigin, "Paul presents himself not as the teacher of a new theology but as the messenger commissioned by the authority of the Lord himself to announce a new fact – namely that in the ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus God has acted decisively to reveal and effect his purpose of redemption for the whole world."{{sfn|Newbigin|1989|p=5}} The teachings of the apostle Paul form a key element of the Christian tradition and theology. Fundamental to Pauline theology is the connection between Christ's resurrection, and ].<ref>''The creed: the apostolic faith in contemporary theology'' by Berard L. Marthaler 2007 {{ISBN|0-89622-537-2}} p. 361</ref> In 1 Corinthians 15:13–14, 15:17, and 15:20–22, Paul writes:
Some modern scholars use the belief of Jesus' followers in the resurrection as a point of departure for establishing the continuity of the historical Jesus and the proclamation of the ].<ref>Reginald H. Fuller, '']'' (New York: Scribners, 1965), p. 11.</ref> ] suggests that the crucifixion-resurrection account was the forceful spiritual symbol of, literally, God-as-] becoming God-as-].<ref>], '']'' </ref>


{{blockquote|If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain ... If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile ... But Christ really has been raised from the dead. He is the first of all those who will rise. Death came because of what a man did. Rising from the dead also comes because of what a man did. Because of Adam, all people die. So because of Christ, all will be made alive.{{sfn|Vermes|2008b|p=xv}}<ref>{{bibleref2|1 Corinthians|15:13–14}}, {{bibleref2-nb|1 Corinthians|15:17}}, {{bibleref2-nb|1 Corinthians|15:20–22}}</ref>}}
The apostle Paul wrote that: "If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain... If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile".{{Bibleref2c|1cor|15:13-17||1 Cor 15:13–14, 17}} <ref>{{cite book |title= The Resurrection: History and Myth |last= Vermes|first= Geza|year= 2008|publisher= Doubleday|location= New York|isbn= 978-0-7394-9969-6|page= xv}}.</ref> Many scholars have contended that in discussion on the resurrection, the apostle Paul refers to a rabbinic style transmission of an early authoritative tradition that he received and has passed on to the church at Corinth. For this and other reasons, it is widely believed that this creed is of pre-Pauline origin.<ref>Neufeld, ''The Earliest Christian Confessions'' (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964) p. 47; Reginald Fuller, ''The Formation of the Resurrection Narratives'' (New York: Macmillan, 1971) p. 10; Wolfhart Pannenberg, ''Jesus—God and Man'' translated Lewis Wilkins and Duane Pribe (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1968) p. 90; Oscar Cullmann, ''The Early Church: Studies in Early Christian History and Theology'', ed. A. J. B. Higgins (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1966) p. 64; Hans Conzelmann, ''1 Corinthians'', translated James W. Leitch (Philadelphia: Fortress 1969) p. 251; Bultmann, ''Theology of the New Testament'' vol. 1 pp. 45, 80–82, 293; R. E. Brown, ''The Virginal Conception and Bodily Resurrection of Jesus'' (New York: Paulist Press, 1973) pp. 81, 92</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">Most Fellows of the Jesus Seminar concluded that this tradition dates to before Paul's conversion, ''c'' AD 33. ] and the ]. ''The acts of Jesus: the search for the authentic deeds of Jesus.'' HarperSanFrancisco. 1998. "Empty Tomb, Appearances & Ascension" p. 449-495.</ref> ] writes that the creed is "a tradition he has inherited from his seniors in the faith concerning the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus".<ref>Geza Vermes (2008) ''The Resurrection''. London, Penguin: 121-2</ref> The creed's ultimate origins are within the Jerusalem apostolic community having been formalised and passed on within a few years of the resurrection.<ref>see Wolfhart Pannenberg, ''Jesus—God and Man'' translated Lewis Wilkins and Duane Pribe (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1968) p. 90; Oscar Cullmann, ''The Early church: Studies in Early Christian History and Theology'', ed. A. J. B. Higgins (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1966) p. 66–66; R. E. Brown, ''The Virginal Conception and Bodily Resurrection of Jesus'' (New York: Paulist Press, 1973) pp. 81; Thomas Sheehan, ''First Coming: How the Kingdom of God Became Christianity'' (New York: Random House, 1986) pp. 110, 118; Ulrich Wilckens, ''Resurrection'' translated A. M. Stewart (Edinburgh: Saint Andrew, 1977) p. 2; Hans Grass, ''Ostergeschen und Osterberichte'', Second Edition (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1962) p. 96; Grass favors the origin in Damascus.</ref> Paul Barnett writes that this creedal formula, and others, were variants of the "one basic early tradition that Paul "received" in Damascus from Ananias in about 34 " after his conversion.<ref name=Barnett182>{{cite book |last=Barnett |first=Paul William |year=2009 |authorlink= |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=KPMIYtpKtDwC&pg=PA182#v=snippet&q=from%20Ananias%20in%20about&f=false |title=Finding the Historical Christ (Volume 3 of After Jesus) |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=978-0802848901 |page=182}}</ref>


The '']'' of 1 Corinthians 15:3 states that "Christ died for our sins."{{refn|group=note|name="died for"}} The meaning of that ''kerygma'' is a matter of debate, and open to multiple interpretations. Traditionally, this ''kerygma'' is interpreted as meaning that Jesus's death was an atonement or ransom for, or propitiation or expiation of, God's wrath against humanity because of their sins. With Jesus's death, humanity was freed from this wrath.{{sfn|Briscoe|Ogilvie|2003}}<ref group=web name="Peterson">David G. Peterson (2009), {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321181957/http://davidgpeterson.com/atonement/atonement-in-pauls-writings/ |date=21 March 2019 }}</ref>{{refn|group=note|name="atonement.Paul"|Atonement:<br>* Briscoe and Ogilvie (2003): "Paul says that Christ's ransom price is his blood."{{sfn|Briscoe|Ogilvie|2003}}<br>* Cobb: "The question is whether Paul thought that God sacrificed Jesus to atone for human sins. During the past thousand years, this idea has often been viewed in the Western church as at the heart of Christianity, and many of those who uphold it have appealed to Paul as its basis ... In fact, the word 'atonement' is lacking in many standard translations. The King James Translation uses 'propitiation', and the Revised Standard Version uses 'expiation.' The American Translation reads: 'For God showed him publicly dying as a sacrifice of reconciliation to be taken advantage of through faith.' The Good News Bible renders the meaning as: 'God offered him, so that by his sacrificial death he should become the means by which people's sins are forgiven through their faith in him.' Despite this variety, and the common avoidance of the word 'atonement', all these translations agree with the New Revised Standard Version in suggesting that God sacrificed Jesus so that people could be reconciled to God through faith. All thereby support the idea that is most directly formulated by the use of the word 'atonement.'"<ref group=web name="Cobb">John B. Cobb, </ref>}} In the classical Protestant understanding, which has dominated the understanding of Paul's writings, humans partake in this salvation by faith in Jesus Christ; this faith is a grace given by God, and people are justified by God through Jesus Christ and faith in Him.{{sfn|Stubs|2008|pp=142–143}}
<blockquote>But Christ really has been raised from the dead. He is the first of all those who will rise. Death came because of what a man did. Rising from the dead also comes because of what a man did. Because of Adam, all people die. So because of Christ, all will be made alive.<ref>(as in ])</ref></blockquote>


More recent scholarship has raised several concerns regarding these interpretations. According to ], who initiated the so-called "]", Paul saw the faithful redeemed by participation in Jesus's death and rising. Though "Jesus's death substituted for that of others and thereby freed believers from sin and guilt", a metaphor derived from "ancient ] theology",<ref group=web name="EB.Paul">E. P. Sanders, , ]</ref><!-- **START OF NOTE** -->{{refn|group=note|name="sacrifice"|According to '']'' (1906), "The Mishnah says that sins are expiated (1) by sacrifice, (2) by repentance at death or on Yom Kippur, (3) in the case of the lighter transgressions of the positive or negative precepts, by repentance at any time ... The graver sins, according to Rabbi, are apostasy, heretical interpretation of the Torah, and non-circumcision (Yoma 86a). The atonement for sins between a man and his neighbour is an ample apology (Yoma 85b)."<ref group=web name="JE.SIN">'']'', </ref><br><br>The Jewish Virtual Library writes: "Another important concept is the element of substitution. The idea is that the thing being offered is a substitute for the person making the offering, and the things that are done to the offering are things that should have been done to the person offering. The offering is in some sense 'punished' in place of the offerer. It is interesting to note that whenever the subject of Karbanot is addressed in the Torah, the name of G-d used is the four-letter name indicating G-d's mercy."<ref group=web>Jeewish Virtual Library, </ref><br><br>''The Jewish Encyclopedia'' further writes: "Most efficacious seemed to be the atoning power of suffering experienced by the righteous during the Exile. This is the idea underlying the description of the suffering servant of God in Isa. liii. 4, 12, Hebr. ... of greater atoning power than all the Temple sacrifices was the suffering of the elect ones who were to be servants and witnesses of the Lord (Isa. xlii. 1-4, xlix. 1–7, l. 6). This idea of the atoning power of the suffering and death of the righteous finds expression also in IV Macc. vi. 27, xvii. 21–23; M. Ḳ. 28a; Pesiḳ. xxvii. 174b; Lev. R. xx.; and formed the basis of Paul's doctrine of the atoning blood of Christ (Rom. iii. 25)."<ref group=web name="JE.ATONEMENT">'']'' (1906), </ref>}}<!-- **END OF NOTE** --> the essence of Paul's writing is not in the "legal terms" regarding the expiation of sin, but the act of "participation in Christ through ]."{{sfn|Charry|1999|p=35}}{{refn|group=note|Jordan Cooper: "Sanders sees Paul’s motifs of salvation as more participationist than juristic. The reformation overemphasized the judicial categories of forgiveness and escape from condemnation, while ignoring the real heart of salvation, which is a mystical participation in Christ. Paul shows this in his argument in his first epistle to the Corinthians when arguing against sexual immorality. It is wrong because it affects one’s union with Christ by uniting himself to a prostitute. Sin is not merely the violation of an abstract law. This participationist language is also used in Corinthians in the discussion of the Lord’s Supper wherein one participates in the body and blood of Christ."<ref group=web name="Cooper.2014">Jordan Cooper, </ref>}} According to Sanders, "those who are baptized into Christ are baptized into his death, and thus they escape the power of sin ... he died so that the believers may die with him and consequently live with him."<ref group=web name="EB.Paul"/> Just as Christians share in Jesus's death in baptism, so they will share in his resurrection.<ref name ="Ehrman 2006">Ehrman, Bart. Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend. Oxford University Press, US. 2006. {{ISBN|0-19-530013-0}}</ref> ] notes that Paul "prefers to use the language of participation. One died for all, so that all died.<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Corinthians|5:14}}</ref> This is not only different from ], it is the opposite of it."<ref group=web name="McGrath.2007"/>
Paul's views went against the thoughts of the Greek philosophers to whom a bodily resurrection meant a new imprisonment in a corporeal body, which was what they wanted to avoid—given that for them the corporeal and the material fettered the spirit.<ref>''Meditation and Piety in the Far East'' by Karl Ludvig Reichelt, Sverre Holth 2004 ISBN 0-227-17235-3 page 30</ref> At the same time, Paul believed that the newly resurrected body would be a heavenly body; immortal, glorified, powerful and pneumatic in contrast to an earthly body, which is mortal, dishonored, weak and psychic.<ref> with commentary by Dale B. Martin, ''The Corinthian Body'', Yale University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-300-08172-3 p. 126 in particular.</ref> According to theologian ], the resurrection of Jesus was different from the ] as: "In the case of Lazarus, the stone was rolled away so that he could walk out... the raised Christ didn't have to have the stone rolled away, because he is transformed and can appear anywhere, at any time".<ref></ref>


Paul insists that salvation is received by the grace of God; according to Sanders, this insistence is in line with Judaism of {{circa|200 BC|AD 200|lk=off}}, which saw God's covenant with Israel as an act of grace of God. Observance of the Law is needed to maintain the covenant, but the covenant is not earned by observing the Law, but by the grace of God.<ref group=web name="Cooper.2014"/>
According to international scholar Thorwald Lorenzen, the first Easter led to a shift in emphasis from faith "in God" to faith "in Christ". Today, Lorenzen finds "a strange silence about the resurrection in many pulpits". He writes that among some Christians, ministers and professors, it seems to have to have become "a cause for embarrassment or the topic of apologetics".<ref name="Lorenzen" />{{Rp|pp.3–4}} It has been argued that many Christians neglect the resurrection because of their understandable pre-occupation with the Cross.<ref name="Warnock">Warnock, Adrian, , Crossway 2010</ref> However, the belief in Jesus' physical resurrection remains the single doctrine most accepted by Christians of all denominational backgrounds.


===Church Fathers – atonement===
== Views of other religions ==
{{Main|Ransom theory of atonement}}


The ], discussed the death and resurrection of Jesus, including ] (50–115),<ref>Ignatius makes many passing references, but two extended discussions are found in the ] and the ].</ref> ] (69–155), and ] (100–165). The understanding of the ] of the death and resurrection of Jesus as an atonement is the "classic paradigm" of the ],{{sfn|Weaver|2001|p=2}}{{sfn|Beilby|Eddy|2009|pp=11–20}} who developed the themes found in the New Testament.<ref name="ODCC.Atonement">Cross, F. L., ed. ''The Oxford dictionary of the Christian Church'', p. 124, entry "Atonement". New York: Oxford University Press. 2005</ref>
Groups such as ], ], ]s, and other non-Christians, as well as some ], dispute whether Jesus actually rose from the dead. Arguments over death and resurrection claims occur at many religious ]s and ].<ref name="Lorenzen">Lorenzen, Thorwald. ''Resurrection, Discipleship, Justice: Affirming the Resurrection of Jesus Christ Today.'' Macon, Georgia: Smyth & Helwys, 2003, p. 13.</ref>


During the first millennium AD, the ransom theory of atonement was the dominant metaphor, both in eastern and western Christianity, until it was replaced in the west by Anselmus's satisfaction theory of atonement.{{sfn|Oxenham|1865|p=114}} The ransom theory of atonement says that Christ liberated humanity from slavery to sin and ], and thus death, by giving his own life as a ] ] to Satan, swapping the life of the perfect (Jesus), for the lives of the imperfect (humans). It entails the idea that God deceived the devil,{{sfn|Pugh|2015|p=5}} and that Satan, or death, had "legitimate rights"{{sfn|Pugh|2015|p=5}} over sinful ]s in the ], due to the fall of man and ].
=== Gnostics ===


The ransom theory was first clearly enunciated by ] (c. 130–c. 202),{{sfn|Oxenham|1865|pp=xliv, 114}} who was an outspoken critic of ], but borrowed ideas from their dualistic worldview.{{sfn|Pugh|2015|p=4}} In this worldview, humankind is under the power of the ], a lesser God who has created the world. Yet, humans have a spark of the true divine nature within them, which can be liberated by ] (knowledge) of this divine spark. This knowledge is revealed by the ], "the very mind of the supreme God", who entered the world in the person of Jesus. Nevertheless, the Logos could not simply undo the power of the Demiurge, and had to hide his real identity, appearing as a physical form, thereby misleading the Demiurge, and liberating humankind.{{sfn|Pugh|2015|p=4}} In Irenaeus' writings, the Demiurge is replaced by the devil, while ] had already equated Jesus and the Logos.{{sfn|Pugh|2015|p=4}}
Some ] did not believe in a literal physical resurrection. "For the gnostic any resurrection of the dead was excluded from the outset; the flesh or substance is destined to perish. 'There is no resurrection of the flesh, but only of the soul', say the so-called ], a late gnostic group in Palestine".<ref>Kurt Rudolph, ''Gnosis: The Nature & History of Gnosticism'', page 190 (T & T Clark Ltd, 1970, second and expanded edition, 1980; 1998). ISBN 0-567-08640-2</ref>


] (184–253) introduced the idea that the devil held legitimate rights over humans, who were bought free by the blood of Christ.{{sfn|Pugh|2015|pp=5–6}} He also introduced the notion that the devil was deceived in thinking that he could master the human soul.{{sfn|Pugh|2015|p=6}}
] in ], called the ''Anastasis'' ("Resurrection"), which contains the remains of a ] that Helena and Macarius identified as the burial site of Jesus.]]


===Late Antiquity and early Middle Ages===
=== Judaism ===
Following the ] and the ] in 313, the ] of the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries, that focused on ], helped shape the Christian understanding of the redemptive nature of the resurrection, and influenced both the development of its iconography and its use within Liturgy.<ref>''The resurrection and the icon'' by Michel Quenot 1998 {{ISBN|0-88141-149-3}} p. 72</ref>
{{main|Judaism's view of Jesus}}


Belief in bodily resurrection was a constant note of the Christian church in antiquity. ] accepted it at the time of his conversion in 386.<ref>''Augustine: ancient thought baptized'' by John M. Rist 1996 {{ISBN|0-521-58952-5}} p. 110</ref> Augustine defended resurrection, and argued that given that Christ has risen, there is resurrection of the dead.<ref>''Augustine and the Catechumenate'' by William Harmless 1995 {{ISBN|0-8146-6132-7}} p. 131</ref><ref>''Augustine De doctrina Christiana'' by Saint Augustine, R. P. H. Green 1996 {{ISBN|0-19-826334-1}} p. 115</ref> Moreover, he argued that the death and resurrection of Jesus was for the salvation of man, stating: "to achieve each resurrection of ours, the savior paid with his single life, and he pre-enacted and presented his one and only one by way of sacrament and by way of model."<ref>''The Trinity'' by Saint Augustine (Bishop of Hippo.), Edmund Hill, John E. Rotelle 1991 {{ISBN|0-911782-96-6}} p. 157</ref>
Christianity split with Judaism in the 1st century AD, and the two faiths have differed in their theology since. According to the '']'', the body of Jesus was ] in the same night by a gardener named Juda, after hearing the disciples planned to steal the body of Jesus.<ref>Michael J. Cook, "Jewish Perspectives on Jesus", in Delbert Burkett (editor), ''The Blackwell Companion to Jesus'', pages 221-223 (Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2011). ISBN 978-1-4051-9362-7</ref><ref>Gary R. Habermas, ''The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ'', page 205 (Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2008). ISBN 0-89900-732-5</ref> However, ''Toledot Yeshu'' is not considered either canonical or normative within ].<ref>Dan, Joseph (2006). "Toledot Yeshu". In Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik. Encyclopaedia Judaica. 20 (2nd ed.) pp. 28–29</ref> Van Voorst states that ''Toledot Yeshu'' is a medieval document set without a fixed form which is "most unlikely" to have reliable information about Jesus.<ref>Van Voorst, Robert E (2000). ''Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence'' WmB Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 0-8028-4368-9 page 128</ref> The Blackwell Companion to Jesus states that the ''Toledot Yeshu'' has no historical facts as such, and was perhaps created as a tool for warding off conversions to Christianity.<ref>Michael J. Cook ''Jewish Perspectives on Jesus'' Chapter 14 in the "The Blackwell Companion to Jesus" edited by Delbert Burkett 2011 ISBN 978-1-4443-2794-6</ref>


The 5th-century theology of ] provides an insight into the development of the Christian understanding of the redemptive nature of resurrection. The crucial role of the sacraments in the mediation of salvation was well accepted at the time. In Theodore's representation of the ], the sacrificial and salvific elements are combined in the "One who saved us and delivered us by the sacrifice of Himself". Theodore's interpretation of the Eucharistic rite is directed towards the triumph over the power of death brought about by the resurrection.<ref>''Adventus Domini: eschatological thought in 4th-century apses and catecheses'' by Geir Hellemo 1997 {{ISBN|90-04-08836-9}} p. 231</ref>
=== Islam ===
{{main|Islamic view of Jesus' death}}


The emphasis on the salvific nature of the resurrection continued in Christian theology in the next centuries, e.g., in the 8th century Saint ] wrote that: "...&nbsp;When he had freed those who were bound from the beginning of time, Christ returned again from among the dead, having opened for us the way to resurrection" and Christian iconography of the ensuing years represented that concept.<ref>Vladimir Lossky, 1982 ''The Meaning of Icons'' {{ISBN|978-0-913836-99-6}} p. 189</ref>
] believe that ] (Jesus) son of ] (Mary) was a holy prophet with a divine message. The ] is that Jesus was not crucified and will return to the world at the end of times. "But ] raised him up to Himself. And Allāh is Ever All-Powerful, All-Wise".<ref>], ]:158</ref> The ] says in Surah An-Nisa "And because of their saying, "We killed Messiah ʿĪsā, son of Mariam, the Messenger of Allāh", – but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but it appeared so to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts".<ref name="Qur'an, Sura 4:157">], ]:157</ref>


===Present-day===
Furthermore, in Islam, it is believed that when Jesus returns at the end of the world, he will kill the pigs, break the crosses and abolish the ] tax.
Thorwald Lorenzen finds "a strange silence about the resurrection in many ]s". He writes that among some Christians, ministers and professors, it seems to have become "a cause for embarrassment or the topic of apologetics".{{sfn|Lorenzen|2003|pp=3–4}} The idea of a bodily resurrection remains controversial.<ref>Wright, N. T. "The Surprise of Resurrection."." Craig A. Evans and NT Wright, Jesus, the Final Days: What Really Happened, ed. Troy A. Miller (2009): p=75</ref>


According to psychiatrist and author Adrian Warnock, many Christians neglect the resurrection because of their understandable preoccupation with the Cross.<ref name="Warnock">Warnock, Adrian, {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091112105429/http://raisedwithchrist.net/ |date=12 November 2009 }}, Crossway 2010</ref>
"The Hour will not be established until the son of Mary (i.e. Jesus) descends amongst you as a just ruler, he will break the cross, kill the pigs, and abolish the Jizya tax. Money will be in abundance so that nobody will accept it (as charitable gifts)." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 43: Kitab-ul-`Ilm (Book of Knowledge), Hâdith Number 656)


=== Baha'i Faith === ===Denominations===
==== Roman Catholic Church ====
] taught that Christ's resurrection was a spiritual resurrection and that the accounts in the Gospels are parables. 'Abdu'l-Baha wrote: "...we say that the meaning of Christ’s resurrection is as follows: the disciples were troubled and agitated after the martyrdom of Christ. The Reality of Christ, which signifies His teachings, His bounties, His perfections and His spiritual power, was hidden and concealed for two or three days after His martyrdom, and was not resplendent and manifest. No, rather it was lost, for the believers were few in number and were troubled and agitated. The Cause of Christ was like a lifeless body; and when after three days the disciples became assured and steadfast, and began to serve the Cause of Christ, and resolved to spread the divine teachings, putting His counsels into practice, and arising to serve Him, the Reality of Christ became resplendent and His bounty appeared; His religion found life; His teachings and His admonitions became evident and visible. In other words, the Cause of Christ was like a lifeless body until the life and the bounty of the Holy Spirit surrounded it." <ref>http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/ab/SAQ/saq-23.html</ref>
The resurrection of Jesus is the good news that the Roman Catholic Church proclaims:<ref></ref> "the revelation in Jesus Christ of God's mercy to sinners."<ref></ref> The importance of the resurrection is connected to the incarnation of Jesus: by becoming incarnate God has assumed every human unto himself, for his humanity is made of every human (just as a temple is made of stones), and by resurrecting himself God has also resurrected every human.<ref></ref>


By rising from the dead, Jesus is the beginning of the resurrection of the dead on Judgment Day and the beginning of the spiritual resurrection (justification or "new life") of sinners,<ref></ref> since Jesus is the first human resurrected by God, as the head of the human race as God incarnate, whereby in him all people have already been resurrected and justified, since his resurrection is the principle of the resurrection of the dead and justification of sinners.<ref></ref>
Bahais believe the ]'s statement: "And because of their saying, "We killed Messiah ʿĪsā, son of Mariam, the Messenger of Allāh", – but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but it appeared so to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts".<ref name="Qur'an, Sura 4:157"/> means that Jesus's Spirit didn't die on the cross, however Bahais uphold that Jesus was actually crucified in the flesh.


The resurrection is a historical yet transcendent event. The historical resurrection transcends spacetime by affecting every human, from Adam and Eve's repentance after the fall to the resurrection of Lazarus (who returned to an earthly life) to the conversion of Saint Paul to the resurrection of the dead on Judgment Day.<ref></ref>
== Gallery of art ==


By rising from the dead, Jesus shows what the risen bodies of the saints (i.e., justified sinners) will be like. From the moment of his incarnation, Jesus' soul experienced the ], because he is true God and true man,<ref></ref> and from the moment of his resurrection Jesus' body shared in his soul's experience of the beatific vision. At the resurrection, Jesus' whole humanity was deified, and so, shares in the personal mode of existence of the Second Person of the Trinity.<ref></ref> ] includes four properties: impassibility (freedom from evil, i.e., temptation, sin, suffering, error, inconvenience, boredom, Satan, and death), subtility (freedom from restraint by the laws of science, which includes ], ], ], control over nature, and superhuman senses and prowess), agility (one's body will not act faster than one's mind or give in to emotion and impulse, for the body will be as obedient to the soul as the soul is to God), and clarity (resplendent beauty and the ]).<ref></ref>
: ''For a larger gallery, please see'': ]
<gallery mode="packed" heights=" 145px" caption=" ">
File:Rottenhammer Resurrection of Christ.jpg| Resurrection of Christ by Hans Rottenhammer
File:Hans Memling - Resurrection - WGA15008.jpg| Resurrection of Christ by ]
File:Luca Giordano - Resurrection - WGA09020.jpg|Resurrection by ]
File:Hans Multscher - Resurrection - WGA16328.jpg |Resurrection by Hans Multscher
File:Dieric Bouts - Resurrection - WGA02963.jpg |Resurrection by Dieric Bouts
File:Marco Basaiti - Resurrection of Christ - WGA01398.jpg |Resurrection by Marco Basaiti


== Easter ==
File:Resurrection.JPG|], 15th century
{{Main|Easter}}


Easter is the preeminent Christian ] that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, and according to Susan J. White is "clearly the earliest Christian festival".<ref>''Foundations of Christian Worship'' by Susan J. White 2006 {{ISBN|0-664-22924-7}} p. 55</ref> According to James Dunn, "In Easter we celebrate man become God ... that in the death and resurrection of Christ God has broken the stranglehold of human selfishness, has proved the enduring and conquering strength of divine love."{{sfn|Dunn| 2003|p=268}} According to Thorwald Lorenzen, the first Easter led to a shift in emphasis from faith "in God" to faith "in Christ".{{sfn|Lorenzen|2003|pp=3–4}} According to Raymond Harfgus Taylor, Easter "focuses upon the consummation of the ] of God in the death/resurrection of Jesus Christ."<ref>''Mercer Dictionary of the Bible'' by Watson E. Mills, Roger Aubrey Bullard 1998 {{ISBN|0-86554-373-9}} p. 224</ref>
File:Alonso López de Herrera - The Resurrection of Christ - Google Art Project.jpg|The Resurrection of Christ, ]


Easter is linked to the ] and ] recorded in the ] through the ] and crucifixion that preceded the resurrection. According to the New Testament, Jesus gave the ] a new meaning, as he ] for his death in the ] during the Last Supper. He identified the loaf of bread and cup of wine as ] soon to be sacrificed and ] soon to be shed. 1 Corinthians 5:7 states, "Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast{{snd}}as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed";<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Corinthians|5:7|NIV}}</ref> this refers to the Passover requirement to have no yeast in the house and to the allegory of Jesus as the ].<ref>{{bibleref2||John|1:29}}, {{bibleref2||Revelation|5:6}}, {{bibleverse|1 Peter|1:19}}, {{bibleverse|1 Peter|1:2}}, and the associated notes and Passion Week table in {{Cite book|editor=Barker, Kenneth|title=Zondervan NIV Study Bible|publisher=]|location=]|year=2002|isbn=0-310-92955-5|page=1520}}</ref> The Jewish feast of ] is regarded by ] as foreshadowing its fulfilment in the resurrection of Jesus based on 1 Corinthians 15:20 "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Clarence |title=Dispensational Truth, Or God's Plan and Purpose in the Ages |date=2010 |publisher=Cosimo, Inc. |isbn=978-1-61640-266-2 |page=159 |edition=Scanned copy of 1918 book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D4x4ftJlu_QC |access-date=19 December 2022}}</ref>
File:Der-Auferstandene 1558.jpg|], 1558

Whilst the fact that the crucifixion is remembered on ] and Easter celebrated two days later may appear to contradict biblical accounts that Jesus rose on the third day, in Semitic tradition any part of a 24-hour period could be called "a day and a night".<ref>{{cite web |last=Köstenberger |first=Andreas |author-link=Andreas J. Köstenberger |title=Did Jesus Rise on the Third Day? |url=https://biblicalfoundations.org/raised-on-the-third-day/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240204094439/https://biblicalfoundations.org/raised-on-the-third-day/ |archive-date=February 4, 2024 |website=Biblical Foundations |date=9 April 2023 |access-date=March 31, 2024}}</ref>

== In Christian art ==
{{Main|Resurrection of Jesus in Christian art}}
] with a wreath symbolizing the victory of the Resurrection, above Roman soldiers, c. 350 AD]]

In the ], artists indirectly hinted at the resurrection by using images from the Old Testament such as the ] and ]. Depictions prior to the 7th century generally showed secondary events such as the ] at the tomb of Jesus to convey the concept of the resurrection. An early symbol of the resurrection was the wreathed ] (Greek letters representing the word "Khristos" or "Christ"), whose origin traces to the victory of ] at the ] in 312, which he attributed to the use of a cross on the shields of his soldiers. Constantine used the Chi Rho on his standard and his coins showed a ] with the Chi Rho killing a serpent.<ref>''Understanding early Christian art'' by Robin Margaret Jensen 2000 {{ISBN|0-415-20454-2}} p. 149</ref>

The use of a wreath around the Chi Rho symbolizes the victory of the resurrection over death, and is an early visual representation of the connection between the crucifixion of Jesus and his triumphal resurrection, as seen in the 4th-century sarcophagus of Domitilla<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www1.georgetown.edu/centers/liturgy/envisionchurch/40399.html |title=Cross and Crucifix in the Christian Assembly – Part I (The Early Christian Period: Crux Invicta, Crux Gemmata) |access-date=24 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100624144232/http://www1.georgetown.edu/centers/liturgy/envisionchurch/40399.html |archive-date=24 June 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> in Rome. Here, in the wreathed Chi Rho the death and Resurrection of Christ are shown as inseparable, and the Resurrection is not merely a happy ending tucked at the end of the life of Christ on earth. Given the use of similar symbols on the ], this depiction also conveyed another victory, namely that of the Christian faith: the Roman soldiers who had once arrested Jesus and marched him to ] now walked under the banner of a resurrected Christ.<ref>''The passion in art'' by Richard Harries 2004 {{ISBN|0-7546-5011-1}} p. 8</ref>

The cosmic significance of the resurrection in Western theology goes back to ], who in the 4th century said that "The universe rose again in Him, the heaven rose again in Him, the earth rose again in Him, for there shall be a new heaven and a new earth".<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf210.iv.iii.iii.html#iv.iii.iii-p220| title = Ambrose, ''On the Belief in the Resurrection'', 102}}</ref><ref name="Sherry2005">''Images of redemption: art, literature and salvation'' by Patrick Sherry 2005 {{ISBN|0-567-08891-X}} p. 73</ref> This theme developed gradually in the West, later than in the East where the resurrection had been linked from an earlier date to redemption and the renewal and rebirth of the whole world. In art, this was symbolized by combining the depictions of the resurrection with the ] in icons and paintings. A good example is from the ] in Istanbul, where ], ] and other figures are also present, depicting that Christ was not alone in the resurrection.<ref name="Sherry2005"/> The depiction sequence at the 10th-century ] shows Christ as he pulls Adam from his tomb, followed by Eve, signifying the salvation of humanity after the resurrection.<ref>''Heaven on Earth: art and the Church in Byzantium'' by Linda Safran 1998 {{ISBN|0-271-01670-1}} p. 133</ref>

=== Gallery of art ===
: ''For a Commons gallery see'': ]

<gallery mode="packed" heights="200px">
File:Hans Memling - Resurrection - WGA15008.jpg|''Resurrection of Christ'', by ], 15th century
File:Luca Giordano - Resurrection - WGA09020.jpg|''Resurrection'', by ], after 1665
File:Hans Multscher - Flügel-Innenseite des Wurzacher Altars (rechts unten) - Google Art Project.jpg |''Resurrection'', by ], 1437
File:Dieric Bouts - Resurrection - WGA02963.jpg |''Resurrection'', by ], {{circa|1450–1460}}
File:Der-Auferstandene 1558.jpg|''Der Auferstanden'', by ], 1558
File:Resurrection.JPG|], 15th century
File:Alonso López de Herrera - The Resurrection of Christ - Google Art Project.jpg|''The Resurrection of Christ'', {{interlanguage link|Alonso López de Herrera|es}}, {{circa|1625}}
File:Brooklyn Museum - The Resurrection (La Résurrection) - James Tissot.jpg|''The Resurrection'' (La Résurrection), by ], c. 1890, ]
File:Berliner Dom - Altarraum 4 Fenster Auferstehung.jpg|''Resurrection of Jesus'', by ], ]
File:Resurrected Jesus two Maries.jpg|Stained glass depiction with two Marys, ], South Carolina
File:Fra Angelico - Resurrection of Christ and Women at the Tomb (Cell 8) - WGA00542.jpg|''Women at the empty tomb'', by ], 1437–1446
</gallery> </gallery>


== See also == == Relics ==
{{Main|Acheiropoieta|Shroud of Turin|Veil of Veronica}}
]'s 1898 negative of the image on the ] has an appearance suggesting a positive image. It is used as part of the devotion to the ].]]


The resurrection of Jesus has long been central to the Christian faith and appears within diverse elements of the Christian tradition, from feasts to artistic depictions to religious relics. In Christian teachings, the ]s derive their saving power from the passion and resurrection of Christ, upon which the salvation of the world entirely depends.<ref>''The encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 5'' by Erwin Fahlbusch, Jan Milic Lochman, Geoffrey William Bromiley, John Mbiti 2008 {{ISBN|0-8028-2417-X}} p. 490</ref>
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* Tomb of Jesus:
** The ], the ground on which the church stands is venerated by most Christians as ], the ], where the ] says that ] was ]. This tomb is venerated as the tomb of Christ by the ], ], and ].
** The ], discovered in the 19th century, considered the actual site of Jesus' grave by some Protestant Christians.
** ], discovered in 1980, subject of the controversial documentary '']''
* '']''


An example of the interweaving of the teachings on the resurrection with Christian relics is the application of the concept of "]" at the moment of resurrection to the ]. Christian authors have stated the belief that the body around whom the shroud was wrapped was not merely human, but divine, and that the image on the shroud was miraculously produced at the moment of resurrection.<ref>Charles S. Brown, 2007 ''Bible "Mysteries" Explained'' {{ISBN|0-9582813-0-0}} p. 193</ref><ref>Peter Rinaldi 1972, ''The man in the Shroud'' {{ISBN|0-86007-010-7}} p. 45</ref> Quoting ]'s statement that the shroud is "the wonderful document of His Passion, Death and Resurrection, written for us in letters of blood" author Antonio Cassanelli argues that the shroud is a deliberate divine record of the five stages of the Passion of Christ, created at the moment of resurrection.<ref>Antonio Cassanelli, 2001 ''The Holy Shroud: a comparison between the Gospel narrative of the five stages of the Passion'' {{ISBN|0-85244-351-X}} p. 13</ref>
== Notes ==
{{refbegin}}


== Views of other religions ==
: ''a.''{{Not label|A|a|none}} In a note, Kirby states, "A very abbreviated list of twentieth-century writers on the NT who do not believe that the empty tomb is historically reliable: ], ], ], ], ], ], Stevan Davies, ], ], Hans Grass, Charles Guignebert, ], Randel Helms, Herman Hendrikx, Roy Hoover, ], ], ], ], Willi Marxsen, ], ], ], Marianne Sawicki, ], Howard M. Teeple, and John T. Theodore".<ref>{{cite book |title= The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond the Grave |editor1-first= Robert M.|editor1-last= Price|editor1-link= Robert M. Price |editor2-first= Jeffrey Jay|editor2-last= Lowder| year= 2005|publisher= Prometheus Books|location= Amherst|isbn= 1-59102-286-X|pages= 256–257}}</ref>
Groups such as ], ], ], and other non-Christians, as well as some ], dispute whether Jesus actually rose from the dead. Arguments over death and resurrection claims occur at many religious ]s and ]s.{{sfn|Lorenzen|2003|p=13}}
: ''b.''{{Note label|B|b|none}} Cavin continues "...&nbsp;even on the assumption of their complete historical reliability&nbsp;... This assumption, of course, is rightly dismissed in light of contemporary New Testament scholarship".
: ''c.''{{Note label|C|c|none}} ] points to the accounts of ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and others.<ref>], "The Empty Tomb: Introduction; The Second Life of Jesus". In {{cite book |title= The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond the Grave |editor1-first= Robert M.|editor1-last= Price|editor1-link= Robert M. Price |editor2-first= Jeffrey Jay|editor2-last= Lowder| year= 2005|publisher= Prometheus Books|location= Amherst|isbn= 1-59102-286-X|pages= 14–15}}</ref>
{{refend}}


== References == === Judaism ===
{{further|Judaism's view of Jesus}}
{{Reflist|2}}


] in the 1st century AD, and the two faiths have differed in their theology since. According to the '']'', the body of Jesus was ] on the same night by a gardener named Juda, after hearing the disciples planned to steal the body of Jesus.<ref>Michael J. Cook, "Jewish Perspectives on Jesus", in Delbert Burkett (editor), ''The Blackwell Companion to Jesus'', pp. 221–223 (Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2011). {{ISBN|978-1-4051-9362-7}}</ref><ref>Gary R. Habermas, ''The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ'', p. 205 (Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2008). {{ISBN|0-89900-732-5}}</ref> However, ''Toledot Yeshu'' is not considered either canonical or normative within ].<ref>Dan, Joseph (2006). "Toledot Yeshu". In Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik. Encyclopaedia Judaica. 20 (2nd ed.) pp. 28–29</ref> Van Voorst states that ''Toledot Yeshu'' is a medieval document set without a fixed form which is "most unlikely" to have reliable information about Jesus.<ref>Van Voorst, Robert E (2000). ''Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence'' WmB Eerdmans Publishing. {{ISBN|0-8028-4368-9}} p. 128</ref> The Blackwell Companion to Jesus states that the ''Toledot Yeshu'' has no historical facts as such, and was perhaps created as a tool for warding off conversions to Christianity.<ref>Michael J. Cook ''Jewish Perspectives on Jesus'' Chapter 14 in "The Blackwell Companion to Jesus" edited by Delbert Burkett 2011 {{ISBN|978-1-4443-2794-6}}</ref>
== Bibliography ==


=== Gnostics ===
* {{Cite book|last=Newbigin|first=Lesslie|title=The Gospel In a Pluralist Society |publisher=Eerdmans|year=1989|url=http://books.google.com/?id=q6tEnRYaHI8C|isbn=2825409715}}
] in ], called the ''Anastasis'' ("Resurrection"), which contains the remains of a ] that Helena and Macarius identified as the burial site of Jesus]]


Some ] did not believe in a literal physical resurrection. "For the gnostic any resurrection of the dead was excluded from the outset; the flesh or substance is destined to perish. 'There is no resurrection of the flesh, but only of the soul', say the so-called ], a late gnostic group in Palestine".<ref>Kurt Rudolph, ''Gnosis: The Nature & History of Gnosticism'', p. 190 (T & T Clark Ltd, 1970, second and expanded edition, 1980; 1998). {{ISBN|0-567-08640-2}}</ref>
* {{Cite book|last=Allison|first=D.C.|title=Matthew: A Shorter Commentary|publisher=T&T Clark|year=2004|url=http://books.google.com/?id=m_OShrBh0I0C |isbn=0567082490}}


=== Islam ===
* {{Cite book|last=France|first=R.T|title=The Gospel of Matthew|publisher=Eerdmans|year=2007|url=http://books.google.com/?id=0ruP6J_XPCEC&pg=PA11#v=onepage&q&f=false|isbn=9780802825018}}
{{main|Islamic view of Jesus' death|Jesus in Islam}}
] believe that ] (Jesus) son of ] (Mary) was a holy prophet with a divine message. The ] is that Jesus was not crucified and will return to the world at the end of times. "But ] raised him up to Himself. And Allāh is Ever All-Powerful, All-Wise".<ref>], ]:158</ref> The ] says in Surah An-Nisa "And because of their saying, 'We killed Messiah ʿĪsā, son of Maryam, the Messenger of Allāh',{{snd}}but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but it appeared so to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts".<ref name="Qur'an, Surah 4:157">], ]:157</ref>

=== Islam Ahmadiyya ===
] believe that, as Jesus is the Messiah to the ]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ali |first=Sher |date=1954 |title=Holy Qur'an - Arabic text and English translation |url=https://alislam.org/quran/3:50 |url-status=dead |website=Alislam |access-date=26 March 2022 |archive-date=18 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201218055344/https://www.alislam.org/quran/3:50 }}</ref> his objective was to gather their following. For this reason, Ahmadis believe that Jesus survived the crucifixion, as supported by the Qur'an,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ali |first=Sher |date=1954 |title=Holy Qur'an - Arabic text and English translation |url=https://alislam.org/quran/4:158 |url-status=dead |website=Alislam |access-date=26 March 2022 |archive-date=16 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116062614/https://www.alislam.org/quran/4:158 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ali |first=Sher |date=1954 |title=Holy Qur'an - Arabic text and English translation |url=https://alislam.org/quran/4:159 |url-status=dead |website=Alislam |access-date=26 March 2022 |archive-date=18 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118160402/https://www.alislam.org/quran/4:159 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ali |first=Sher |date=1954 |title=Holy Qur'an - Arabic text and English translation |url=https://alislam.org/quran/4:160 |url-status=dead |website=Alislam |access-date=26 March 2022 |archive-date=3 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203050103/https://www.alislam.org/quran/4:160 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ali |first=Sher |date=1954 |title=Holy Qur'an - Arabic text and English translation |url=https://alislam.org/quran/61:15 |url-status=dead |website=Alislam |access-date=26 March 2022 |archive-date=2 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200402211113/https://www.alislam.org/quran/61:15 }}</ref> as a death on the cross would be a cursed one, supported by the ].<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Deuteronomy 21:23 |url=https://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-23.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=2022-03-27 |website=Biblehub |archive-date=12 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212123930/https://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-23.htm }}</ref> This belief is held as Jesus had other "sheep" to tend to.<ref>{{Cite web |title=John 10:16 |url=https://biblehub.com/john/10-16.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=2022-03-27 |website=Biblehub |archive-date=26 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326151743/https://biblehub.com/john/10-16.htm }}</ref>

After surviving the crucifixion, Jesus and his mother migrated to another land<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ali |first=Sher |date=1951 |title=Holy Qur'an - Arabic text and English translation |url=https://alislam.org/quran/23:51 |url-status=dead |website=Alislam |access-date=26 March 2022 |archive-date=30 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330003627/https://www.alislam.org/quran/23:51 }}</ref> where he continued his mission.

== See also ==
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
** The ground on which the ] stands is venerated by most Christians as ], the ], where the New Testament says that Jesus was crucified. This tomb is venerated as the tomb of Christ by the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox churches, and Oriental Orthodox churches.
** ], discovered in the 19th century, is considered the actual site of Jesus's grave by some Protestant Christians.
** ], discovered in 1980, subject of the controversial 2007 documentary '']''

== Notes ==
{{reflist |group="note"|refs=
<!-- L -->
<-- last days -->
{{refn|group=note|name=last days|Ushering in the last days and the Kingdom of God:
* James Dunn (2006), The Theology of Pual the Apostle, p.240: "...the resurrection of Jesus was understood by Paul (as those before him) as ushering in a new age, even the last days."
* Paula Fredriksen (2018), When Christians Were Jews, p.86-87: "The Kingdom truly was at hand. Jesus' own resurrection was for them meaningful as the first of a cascade of anticipated Endtime events."
* {{harvtxt|Wright|2003|p=272}}: "He believed himself to be living at a new stage in the eschatological timetable: the 'age to come' had already begun, precisely with the Messiah's resurrection."}}
}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
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*{{Cite book|last = Van Voorst|first = Robert E.|chapter = Eternal Life|editor1-last = Freedman|editor1-first = David Noel|editor2-last = Myers|editor2-first = Allen C.|title = Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible|publisher = Eerdmans|year = 2000
|chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&q=%22in+Jesus+the+resurrection+of+the+dead+has+moved+from+the+end+of+time%22&pg=PA430|isbn = 978-9053565032}}
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* {{Citation | last =Ware | first =James | year =2014 | title =The Resurrection of Jesus in the Pre-Pauline Formula of 1 Cor 15.3–5 | journal =New Testament Studies |volume=60 |issue=4 |pages=475–498 |doi=10.1017/S0028688514000150 |issn=0028-6885}}
* {{Citation | last =Ware | first =James | year =2014b | title =Paul's Understanding of the Resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15: 36–54 | journal =Journal of Biblical Literature |volume=133 |issue=4 |pages=809–835}}
* {{Citation | last =Weaver | first =J. Denny | year =2001 | title =The Nonviolent Atonement | publisher =Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing}}
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* {{Citation | last =Wright | first =N.T. | year =2003 | title =The Resurrection of the Son of God | place =Minneapolis | publisher=Fortress Press | isbn =978-0-8006-2679-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Wright|first=N. T.|year=2009|author-link=N. T. Wright|title=The Challenge of Easter}}
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Foundational Christian doctrine that states that Jesus rose from the dead

Resurrection of Jesus Christ (Kinnaird Resurrection) by Raphael, 1502
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The resurrection of Jesus (Biblical Greek: ἀνάστασις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, romanized: anástasis toú Iēsoú) is the Christian event that God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion, starting – or restoring – his exalted life as Christ and Lord. According to the New Testament writing, Jesus was firstborn from the dead, ushering in the Kingdom of God. He appeared to his disciples, calling the apostles to the Great Commission of forgiving sin and baptizing repenters, and ascended to Heaven.

For the Christian tradition, the bodily resurrection was the restoration to life of a transformed body powered by spirit, as described by Paul and the Gospel authors, that led to the establishment of Christianity. In Christian theology, the resurrection of Jesus is "the central mystery of the Christian faith". It provides the foundation for that faith, as commemorated by Easter, along with Jesus's life, death and sayings. For Christians, his resurrection is the guarantee that all the Christian dead will be resurrected at Christ's parousia (second coming).

Secular and liberal Christian scholarship asserts that religious experiences, such as the visionary appearances of Jesus and an inspired reading of the Biblical texts, gave the impetus to the belief in the exaltation of Jesus as a "fulfillment of the scriptures", and a resumption of the missionary activity of Jesus's followers.

Scholars of Jesus as a historical figure tend to generally avoid the topic, since many believe the matter to be about faith, or lack thereof.

Biblical accounts

See also: Overview of resurrection appearances in the Gospels and Paul (table)
Resurrection of Christ, Noël Coypel, 1700, using a hovering depiction of Jesus

The conviction that Jesus was raised from the dead is found in the earliest evidence of Christian origins.

Paul and the first Christians

See also: Pauline Christianity, Jewish Christian, and Paul the Apostle and Jewish Christianity

The moment of resurrection itself is not described in any of the canonical gospels, but all four contain passages in which Jesus is portrayed as predicting his death and resurrection, or contain allusions that "the reader will understand". The New Testament writings do not contain any descriptions of a resurrection but rather accounts of an empty tomb and appearances of Jesus.

One of the letters sent by Paul the Apostle to one of the early Greek churches, the First Epistle to the Corinthians, contains one of the earliest Christian creeds referring to post-mortem appearances of Jesus, and expressing the belief that he was raised from the dead, namely 1 Corinthians 15:3–8. It is widely accepted that this creed predates Paul and the writing of First Corinthians. Scholars have contended that in his presentation of the resurrection, Paul refers to this as an earlier authoritative tradition, transmitted in a rabbinic style, that he received and has passed on to the church at Corinth. Geza Vermes writes that the creed is "a tradition he has inherited from his seniors in the faith concerning the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus". The creed's ultimate origins are probably within the Jerusalem apostolic community, having been formalised and passed on within a few years of the resurrection. Hans Grass argues for an origin in Damascus, and according to Paul Barnett, this creedal formula, and others, were variants of the "one basic early tradition that Paul "received" in Damascus from Ananias in about 34 " after his conversion.

For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and 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 and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

In the Jerusalem ekklēsia (Church), from which Paul received this creed, the phrase "died for our sins" probably was an apologetic rationale for the death of Jesus as being part of God's plan and purpose, as evidenced in the scriptures. For Paul, it gained a deeper significance, providing "a basis for the salvation of sinful Gentiles apart from the Torah." The phrase "died for our sins" was derived from Isaiah, especially 53:4–11, and 4 Maccabees, especially 6:28–29. "Raised on the third day" is derived from Hosea 6:1–2:

Come, let us return to the Lord;
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.

Paul, writing to the members of the church at Corinth, said that Jesus appeared to him in the same fashion in which he appeared to the earlier witnesses. In 2 Corinthians 12 Paul described "a man in Christ who ... was caught up to the third heaven", and while the language is obscure, a plausible interpretation is that the man believed he saw Jesus enthroned at the right hand of God.

The many Pauline references affirming his belief in the resurrection include:

  • Romans 1:3–4: "...concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and designated the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord".
  • 2 Timothy 2:8: "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead... this is my gospel for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained...".
  • 1 Corinthians 15:3–7: "...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..."

Gospels and Acts

Main articles: Mark 16, Matthew 28, Luke 24, Acts 1, and John 20 See also: Gospel harmony, Passion of Jesus, Burial of Jesus, Empty tomb, and Myrrhbearers
Germain Pilon (French, d. 1590), Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Marble, before 1572

Jesus is described as the "firstborn from the dead", prōtotokos, the first to be raised from the dead, thereby acquiring the "special status of the firstborn as the preeminent son and heir". His resurrection is also the guarantee that all the Christian dead will be resurrected at Christ's parousia.

After the resurrection, Jesus is portrayed as calling the apostles to the Great Commission, as described in Matthew 28:16–20, Mark 16:14–18, Luke 24:44–49, Acts 1:4–8, and John 20:19–23, in which the disciples receive the call "to let the world know the good news of a victorious Saviour and the very presence of God in the world by the spirit". According to these texts, Jesus says that they "will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you", that "repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem", and that "if you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained".

The shorter version of the Gospel of Mark ends with the discovery of the empty tomb by Mary Magdalene, Salome, and "Mary the mother of James". A young man in a white robe at the site of the tomb announced to them that Jesus has risen, and instructed them to "tell Peter and the disciples that he will meet them in Galilee, 'just as he told you'" (Mark 16).

In the Gospel of Matthew, an angel appeared to Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb, telling her that Jesus is not there because he has been raised from the dead, and instructing her to tell the other followers to go to Galilee, to meet Jesus. Jesus then appeared to Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" at the tomb; and next, based on Mark 16:7, Jesus appeared to all the disciples on a mountain in Galilee, where Jesus claimed authority over heaven and earth, and commissioned the disciples to preach the gospel to the whole world. In this message, the end times are delayed "to bring the world to discipleship".

The three Marys at the Tomb of Christ (1470) at the west portal of Konstanz Minster, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

In the Gospel of Luke, "the women who had come with him from Galilee" come to his tomb, which they find empty. Two angelic beings appeared to announce that Jesus is not there but has been raised. Jesus then appeared to two followers on their way to Emmaus, who notify the eleven remaining Apostles, who respond that Jesus has appeared to Peter. While they were describing this, Jesus appeared again, explaining that he is the messiah who was raised from the dead according to the scriptures "and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem". In Luke–Acts (two works from the same author) he then ascended into heaven, his rightful home.

In Acts of the Apostles, Jesus appeared to the apostles for forty days and commanded them to stay in Jerusalem, after which Jesus ascended to heaven, followed by the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and the missionary task of the early church.

Jewish-Hellenistic background

Five-part resurrection icon, Solovetsky Monastery, 17th century

Jewish

See also: Jewish eschatology and Resurrection of the dead

In Judaism, the idea of resurrection first emerges in the 3rd century BC Book of Watchers and in the 2nd century BC Book of Daniel, the later possibly as a belief in the resurrection of the soul alone, which was then developed by the Pharisees as a belief in bodily resurrection, an idea completely alien to the Greeks. Josephus tells of the three main Jewish sects of the 1st century AD, that the Sadducees held that both soul and body perished at death; the Essenes that the soul was immortal but the flesh was not; and the Pharisees that the soul was immortal and that the body would be resurrected to house it. Of these three positions, Jesus and the early Christians appear to have been closest to that of the Pharisees. Steve Mason notes that for the Pharisees, "the new body is a special, holy body", which is different from the old body, "a view shared to some extent by the ex-Pharisee Paul (1. Cor. 15:35ff)".

The evidence from Jewish texts and from tomb inscriptions points to a more complex reality: for example, when the author of the Book of Daniel wrote that "many of those sleeping in the dust shall awaken", religion scholar Dag Øistein Endsjø believes he probably had in mind a rebirth as angelic beings (metaphorically described as stars in God's Heaven, stars having been identified with angels from early times); such a rebirth would rule out a bodily resurrection, as angels were believed to be fleshless. Other scholars hold that Daniel exposes a belief in a bodily resurrection. Other texts range from the traditional Old Testament view that the soul would spend eternity in the underworld, to a metaphorical belief in the raising of the spirit. Most avoided defining what resurrection might imply, but a resurrection of the flesh was a marginal belief. As Outi Lehtipuu states, "belief in resurrection was far from being an established doctrine" of Second Temple Judaism.

Greco-Roman

Main article: Immortality § Ancient Greek religion

The Greeks traditionally held that a number of men and women gained physical immortality as they were translated to live forever in either Elysium, the Islands of the Blessed, heaven, the ocean, or literally right under the ground. While some scholars have attempted to trace resurrection beliefs in pagan traditions concerning death and bodily disappearances, the attitudes towards resurrection were generally negative among pagans. For example, Asclepius was killed by Zeus for using herbs to resurrect the dead, but by his father Apollo's request, was subsequently immortalized as a star. According to Bart Ehrman, most of the alleged parallels between Jesus and pagan deities only exist in the modern imagination, and there are no "accounts of others who were born to virgin mothers and who died as an atonement for sin and then were raised from the dead."

From Hellenistic times on, some Greeks held that the soul of a meritorious man could be translated into a god in the process of apotheosis (divinization) which then transferred them to a special place of honour. Successors of Alexander the Great made this idea very well known throughout the Middle East through coins bearing his image, a privilege previously reserved for gods. The idea was adopted by the Roman emperors, and in the Imperial Roman concept of apotheosis, the earthly body of the recently deceased emperor was replaced by a new and divine one as he ascended into heaven. These stories proliferated in the middle to late first century.

The apotheosised dead remained recognisable to those who met them, as when Romulus appeared to witnesses after his death, but as the biographer Plutarch (c. AD 46 – c. 120) explained of this incident, while something within humans comes from the gods and returns to them after death, this happens "only when it is most completely separated and set free from the body, and becomes altogether pure, fleshless, and undefiled".

Burial and empty tomb

Scholars differ on the historicity of the empty tomb story and the relation between the burial stories and the postmortem appearances. Scholars also differ on whether Jesus received a decent burial. Points of contention are (1) whether Jesus's body was taken off the cross before sunset or left on the cross to decay, (2) whether his body was taken off the cross and buried specifically by Joseph of Arimathea, or by the Sanhedrin or a group of Jews in general, and (3) whether he was entombed (and if so, what kind of tomb) or buried in a common grave.

Burial

Main article: Burial of Jesus

An often noted argument in favour of a decent burial before sunset is the Jewish custom, based on Deuteronomy 21:22–23, which says the body must not be left exposed overnight, but must be buried that day. This is also attested in the Temple Scroll of the Essenes, and in Josephus' Jewish War 4.5.2§317, describing the burial of crucified Jewish insurgents before sunset. Reference is made to the Digesta, a Roman Law Code from the 6th century AD, which contains material from the 2nd century AD, stating that "the bodies of those who have been punished are only buried when this has been requested and permission granted." Burial of people who were executed by crucifixion is also attested by archaeological finds from Jehohanan, a body of an apparently crucified man with a nail in the heel which could not be removed who was buried in a tomb.

Contra a decent burial, Martin Hengel has argued that Jesus was buried in disgrace as an executed criminal who died a shameful death, a view which is "now widely accepted and has become entrenched in scholarly literature." John Dominic Crossan argued that Jesus's followers did not know what happened to the body. According to Crossan, Joseph of Arimathea is "a total Markan creation in name, in place, and in function", arguing that Jesus's followers inferred from Deut. 21:22–23 that Jesus was buried by a group of law-abiding Jews, as described in Acts 13:29.

New Testament scholar Dale Allison writes that this story was adapted by Mark, turning the group of Jews into a specific person. Roman practice was often to leave the body on the stake, denying an honourable or family burial, stating that "the dogs were waiting." Archaeologist Byron McCane argues that it was customary to dispose of the dead immediately, yet concludes that "Jesus was buried in disgrace in a criminal's tomb". British New Testament scholar Maurice Casey also notes that "Jewish criminals were supposed to receive a shameful and dishonourable burial", and argues that Jesus was indeed buried by Joseph of Arimathea, but in a tomb for criminals owned by the Sanhedrin. He therefore rejects the empty tomb narrative as legendary.

New Testament historian Bart D. Ehrman writes that it cannot be known what happened to Jesus's body; he doubts that Jesus had a decent burial, and also thinks that it is doubtful that Jesus was buried by Joseph of Arimathea specifically. According to Ehrman, "what was originally a vague statement that the unnamed Jewish leaders buried Jesus becomes a story of one leader in particular, who is named, doing so." Ehrman gives three reasons for doubting a decent burial. Referring to Hengel and Crossan, Ehrman argues that crucifixion was meant "to torture and humiliate a person as fully as possible", and the body was normally left on the stake to be eaten by animals. Ehrman further argues that criminals were usually buried in common graves; and Pilate had no concern for Jewish sensitivities, which makes it unlikely that he would have allowed Jesus to be buried.

A number of Christian authors have rejected the criticisms, taking the Gospel accounts to be historically reliable. John A.T. Robinson states that "the burial of Jesus in the tomb is one of the earliest and best-attested facts about Jesus." Dale Allison, reviewing the arguments of Crossan and Ehrman, finds their assertions strong, but "find it likely that a man named Joseph, probably a Sanhedrist, from the obscure Arimathea, sought and obtained permission from the Roman authorities to make arrangements for Jesus’s hurried burial." James Dunn states that "the tradition is firm that Jesus was given a proper burial (Mark 15.42-47 pars.), and there are good reasons why its testimony should be respected."

Dunn argues that the burial tradition is "one of the oldest pieces of tradition we have", referring to 1 Cor. 15.4; burial was in line with Jewish custom as prescribed by Deut. 21:22–23 and confirmed by Josephus War; cases of burial of crucified persons are known, as attested by the Yehohanan burial; Joseph of Arimathea "is a very plausible historical character"; and "the presence of the women at the cross and their involvement in Jesus's burial can be attributed more plausibly to early oral memory than to creative story-telling." Craig A. Evans refers to Deut. 21:22-23 and Josephus to argue that the entombment of Jesus accords with Jewish sensitivities and historical reality. Evans also notes that "politically, too, it seems unlikely that, on the eve of Passover, a holiday that celebrates Israel's liberation from foreign domination, Pilate would have wanted to provoke the Jewish population" by denying Jesus a proper burial. Andrew Loke, after replying to various objections against the historicity of the guards at the tomb, argues that "the presence of guards at the tomb would imply that Jesus was buried in a well-identified place (contrary to unburied hypothesis)."

According to religion professor John Granger Cook, there are historical texts that mention mass graves, but they contain no indication of those bodies being dug up by animals. There is no mention of an open pit or shallow graves in any Roman text. There are a number of historical texts outside the gospels showing the bodies of the crucified dead were buried by family or friends. Cook writes that "those texts show that the narrative of Joseph of Arimethaea's burial of Jesus would be perfectly comprehensible to a Greco-Roman reader of the gospels and historically credible."

Empty tomb

Main article: Empty tomb

Skepticism about the empty tomb narrative

Early on, the stories about the empty tomb were met with skepticism. The Gospel of Matthew already mentions stories that the body was stolen from the grave. Other suggestions, not supported in mainstream scholarship, are that Jesus had not really died on the cross, was lost due to natural causes, or was replaced by an impostor.

The belief that Jesus did not really die on the cross but only appeared to do so is found in a wide variety of early texts, and probably has its historical roots in the earliest stages of Christianity. According to Israeli religion scholar Gedaliahu Stroumsa, this idea came first, and later, docetism broadened to include Jesus was a spirit without flesh. It is probable these were present in the first century, as it is against such doctrines that the author of 1 and 2 John seems to argue.

The absence of any reference to the story of Jesus's empty tomb in the Pauline epistles and the Easter kerygma (preaching or proclamation) of the earliest church has led some scholars to suggest that Mark invented it. Allison, however, finds this argument from silence unconvincing. Most scholars believe that the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of John contain two independent attestations of an empty tomb, which in turn suggests that both used already-existing sources and appealed to a commonly held tradition, though Mark may have added to and adapted that tradition to fit his narrative. Other scholars have argued that instead, Paul presupposes the empty tomb, specifically in the early creed passed down in 1 Cor. 15. Christian biblical scholars have used textual critical methods to support the historicity of the tradition that "Mary of Magdala had indeed been the first to see Jesus", most notably the Criterion of Embarrassment in recent years. According to Dale Allison, the inclusion of women as the first witnesses to the risen Jesus "once suspect, confirms the truth of the story."

Empty tomb and resurrection appearances

N. T. Wright emphatically and extensively argues for the reality of the empty tomb and the subsequent appearances of Jesus, reasoning that as a matter of "inference" both a bodily resurrection and later bodily appearances of Jesus are far better explanations for the empty tomb and the 'meetings' and the rise of Christianity than are any other theories, including those of Ehrman. Raymond E. Brown concurred, stating "...in my judgment, the evidence for the bodily resurrection of Jesus is strong...", and critiqued skeptical objections. James DG Dunn writes that the majority of scholars of the Bible believe that the evidence shows that the Resurrection of Jesus is historical. Dale Allison argues for an empty tomb that was later followed by visions of Jesus by the Apostles and Mary Magdalene, while also accepting the historicity of the resurrection. While he acknowledges contradictions in the Gospels' narratives, he argues that they agree on the important themes and that the differences are inconsequential when judging the historical event as a whole. Allison has endorsed David Graieg's work on the Resurrection appearances, which also argues that early Christians remembered Jesus as having physically risen from the dead. Graieg argues that Paul in First Corinthians remembered Jesus as having bodily risen from the dead and that the resurrection was of core importance to early Christians using a methodology based on memory theory. Graieg argues that Jesus physically rose from the dead and that he was remembered by Christians as having risen in a metamorphized form. Religion professor Dag Øistein Endsjø points to how the notion of an empty tomb would fit with the ancient Greek beliefs that any case of immortalization always required absolute physical continuity. A vanished body could consequently be an indication of someone having been made immortal, as seen for instance in the case of Aristaeus, the Trojan prince Ganymede, and princess Orithyia of Athens, whose mysterious disappearances were seen as the result of their being swept away to a physically immortal existence by the gods, Heracles whose lack of bodily remains after his funeral pyre was considered proof of his physical immortalization, and Aristeas of Proconnesus who was held to have reappeared after his body vanished from a locked room, which Endsjø interprets as something like a resurrection.

Smith argues that Mark has integrated two traditions, which were first separate, on the disappearance (from the tomb, interpreted as being taken to heaven) and appearance (post-mortem appearances), into one Easter narrative. According to Géza Vermes, the story of the empty tomb developed independently from the stories of the post-resurrection appearances, as they are never directly coordinated to form a combined argument. While the coherence of the empty tomb narrative is questionable, it is "clearly an early tradition." Vermes notes that the story of the empty tomb conflicts with notions of a spiritual resurrection. According to Vermes, "he strictly Jewish bond of spirit and body is better served by the idea of the empty tomb and is no doubt responsible for the introduction of the notions of palpability (Thomas in John) and eating (Luke and John)." Ehrman rejects the story of the empty tomb, and argues that "an empty tomb had nothing to do with it ... an empty tomb would not produce faith." Ehrman argues that the empty tomb was needed to underscore the physical resurrection of Jesus.

Resurrection of a transformed body

Géza Vermes notes that the story of the empty tomb conflicts with notions of a spiritual resurrection. According to Vermes, "he strictly Jewish bond of spirit and body is better served by the idea of the empty tomb and is no doubt responsible for the introduction of the notions of palpability (Thomas in John) and eating (Luke and John)."

Both Ware and Cook argue, primarily from Paul's terminology and the contemporary Jewish, pagan and cultural understanding of the nature of resurrection, that Paul held to a physically resurrected body (sōma), restored to life, but animated by spirit (pneumatikos) instead of soul (psuchikos), just like the later Gospel accounts. The nature of this resurrected body is a matter of debate. In 1 Corinthians 15:44, Paul uses the phrase "spiritual body" (sōma pneumatikos), which has been explained as a "Spirit-empowered body", but also as a "celestial body", made of a finer material than the flesh.

In the Epistle to the Philippians Paul describes how the body of the resurrected Christ is utterly different from the one he wore when he had "the appearance of a man", and holds out a similar glorified state, when Christ "will transform our lowly body", as the goal of the Christian life – "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (I Corinthians 15:50), and Christians entering the kingdom will be "putting off the body of the flesh" (Colossians 2:11). Paul opposed the notion of a purely spiritual resurrection, as propagated by some Christians in Corinth, which he addresses in 1 Corinthians. The developing Gospel tradition emphasized the material aspects to counter this spiritual interpretation.

Paul's views of a bodily resurrection went against the thoughts of the Greek philosophers to whom a bodily resurrection meant a new imprisonment in a corporeal body, which was what they wanted to avoid – given that, for them, the corporeal and the material fettered the spirit.

James Dunn notes that there is a great difference between Paul's resurrection appearance, and the appearances described in the Gospels. Where "Paul's seeing was visionary ... , 'from heaven'", in contrast, the Gospel accounts have a "massive realism" to them, as seen for example in Luke having Jesus insisting that he was of "flesh and bones", and John having Jesus asking Thomas to touch his wounds. Dunn contends that the "massive realism' ... of the appearances themselves can only be described as visionary with great difficulty – and Luke would certainly reject the description as inappropriate." According to Dunn, most scholars explain this as a "legendary materialization" of the visionary experiences, "borrowing the traits of the earthly Jesus." Yet, according to Dunn, there was both "a tendency away from the physical ... and a reverse tendency towards the physical." The tendency towards the material is most clear, but there are also signs for the tendency away from the physical, and "there are some indications that a more physical understanding was current in the earliest Jerusalem community."

According to Wright, there is substantial unanimity among the early Christian writers (first and second century) that Jesus had been bodily raised from the dead, "with (as the early Christians in their different ways affirmed) a 'transphysical' body, both the same and yet in some mysterious way transformed." According to Wright, Paul "believed he had seen the risen Jesus in person, and ... his understanding of who this Jesus was included the firm belief that he possessed a transformed but still physical body."

Significance in Christianity

Main article: Salvation in Christianity
Right wing of the winged triptych at the Church of the Teutonic Order, Vienna, Austria. The artwork depicts Christ's crucifixion and burial (left), and resurrection (right).

Foundation of Christian faith

In Christian theology, the death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus are the most important events, and the foundation of the Christian faith. The Nicene Creed states: "On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures". According to Terry Miethe, a Christian philosopher at Oxford University, the question " 'Did Jesus rise from the dead?' is the most important question regarding the claims of the Christian faith." According to John R. Rice, a Baptist evangelist, the resurrection of Jesus was part of the plan of salvation and redemption by atonement for man's sin. According to the Roman Catechism of the Catholic Church, the resurrection of Jesus causes and is the model of the resurrection of all the dead, as well as the cause and model of repentance, which the catechism calls "spiritual resurrection." Summarizing its traditional analysis, the Catholic Church states in its Catechism:

Although the Resurrection was an historical event that could be verified by the sign of the empty tomb and by the reality of the apostles' encounters with the risen Christ, still it remains at the very heart of the mystery of faith as something that transcends and surpasses history.

For orthodox Christians, including a number of scholars, the resurrection of Jesus is taken to have been a concrete, material resurrection of a transformed body. Scholars such as Craig L. Blomberg and Mike Licona argue there are sufficient arguments for the historicity of the resurrection.

In secular and liberal Christian scholarship, the post-resurrection appearances are often interpreted as being subjective visionary experiences in which Jesus's presence was felt, as articulated in the vision theory of Jesus's appearances. In the twenty-first century, modern scholars such as Gerd Lüdemann have proposed that Peter had a vision of Jesus, due to severe grief and mourning. Ehrman notes that "Christian apologists sometimes claim that the most sensible historical explanation for these visions is that Jesus appeared to the disciples."

First ekklēsia

Main article: Jewish Christian

The belief in the resurrection by Jesus's early followers formed the proclamation of the first ekklēsia (lit. "assembly"). The "visions of the resurrected/exalted Christ" reinforced the impact Jesus and his ministry had on his early followers, and interpreted in a scriptural framework they gave the impetus to Christ-devotion and the belief in the exaltation of Jesus. Jesus's death was interpreted in light of the scriptures as a redemptive death, being part of God's plan. The subsequent appearances led to the resumption of the missionary activity of Jesus's followers, with Peter assuming the leadership role in the first ekklēsia (which formed the basis for the Apostolic succession).

In the Antiquities of the Jews, a 1st-century account of Jewish history by Josephus, believers of the resurrection are discussed. However, this reference to the resurrection is widely believed to have been added by a Christian interpolator. Within the non-canonical literature of Gospel of Peter, there is a retelling of the resurrection of Jesus.

Ushering in the last days

Jesus's followers expected God's Kingdom to come soon, and Jesus's resurrection was the first event of the Endtime. As Borg and Crossan note, "For Mark the kingdom of God is already here because the Son of Man is already present".

Exaltation and Christology

See also: Ascension of Jesus, Session of Christ, and Christology
Christ-devotion

The New Testament writings contend that the resurrection was "the beginning of His exalted life" as Christ and Lord. Jesus is the "firstborn of the dead", prōtotokos, the first to be raised from the dead, thereby acquiring the "special status of the firstborn as the preeminent son and heir". Gregory Beale writes:

"Firstborn" refers to the high, privileged position that Christ has as a result of the resurrection from the dead ... Christ has gained such a sovereign position over the cosmos, not in the sense that he is recognized as the first-created being of all creation or as the origin of creation, but in the sense that he is the inaugurator of the new creation by means of his resurrection.

Hurtado notes that soon after his death, Jesus was called Lord (Kyrios), which "associates him in astonishing ways with God". The term Lord reflected the belief that God had exalted Jesus to a divine status "at God's 'right hand'". The worship of God as expressed in the phrase "call upon the name of the Lord " was also applied to Jesus, invocating his name "in corporate worship and in the wider devotional pattern of Christian believers (e.g., baptism, exorcism, healing)".

According to Hurtado, powerful religious experiences were an indispensable factor in the emergence of Christ-devotion. Those experiences "seem to have included visions of (and/or ascents to) God's heaven, in which the glorified Christ was seen in an exalted position." Those experiences were interpreted in the framework of God's redemptive purposes, as reflected in the scriptures, in a "dynamic interaction between devout, prayerful searching for, and pondering over, scriptural texts and continuing powerful religious experiences." This initiated a "new devotional pattern unprecedented in Jewish monotheism", that is, the worship of Jesus next to God, giving Jesus a central place because his ministry, and its consequences, had a strong impact on his early followers. Revelations, including those visions, but also inspired and spontaneous utterances, and "charismatic exegesis" of the Jewish scriptures, convinced them that this devotion was commanded by God.

Ehrman notes that both Jesus and his early followers were apocalyptic Jews, who believed in the bodily resurrection, which would start when the coming of God's Kingdom was near. According to Ehrman, "the disciples' belief in the resurrection was based on visionary experiences", arguing that visions usually have a strong persuasive power, but also noting that the Gospel-accounts record a tradition of doubt about the appearances of Jesus. Ehrman's "tentative suggestion" is that only a few followers had visions, including Peter, Paul and Mary. They told others about those visions, convincing most of their close associates that Jesus was raised from the dead, but not all of them. Eventually, these stories were retold and embellished, leading to the story that all disciples had seen the risen Jesus. The belief in Jesus's resurrection radically changed their perceptions, concluding from his absence that he must have been exalted to heaven, by God himself, exalting him to an unprecedented status and authority.

While the vision theory has gained support among critical scholars since the last quarter of the 20th century, conservative Christian scholars who believe in a bodily resurrection reject the visionary theories in favor of a literal interpretation of the textual accounts of a physical resurrection.

Low and High Christology
See also: Early High Christology and Preexistence of Christ

It has long been argued that the New Testament writings contain two different Christologies, namely a "low" or adoptionist Christology, and a "high" or "incarnation Christology". The "low Christology" or "adoptionist Christology" is the belief "that God exalted Jesus to be his Son by raising him from the dead", thereby raising him to "divine status", as in Romans 1:4. The other early Christology is "high Christology", which is "the view that Jesus was a pre-existent divine being who became a human, did the Father’s will on earth, and then was taken back up into heaven whence he had originally come", and from where he appeared on earth. The chronology of the development of these early Christologies is a matter of debate within contemporary scholarship.

According to the "evolutionary model" c.q. "evolutionary theories", as proposed by Bousset, followed by Brown, the Christological understanding of Christ developed over time, from a low Christology to a high Christology, as witnessed in the Gospels. According to the evolutionary model, the earliest Christians believed that Jesus was a human who was exalted, c.q. adopted as God's Son, when he was resurrected, signalling the nearness of the Kingdom of God, when all dead would be resurrected and the righteous exalted. Later beliefs shifted the exaltation to his baptism, birth, and subsequently to the idea of his eternal existence, as witnessed in the Gospel of John. Mark shifted the moment of when Jesus became the son to the baptism of Jesus, and later still Matthew and Luke shifted it to the moment of the divine conception, and finally John declared that Jesus had been with God from the beginning: "In the beginning was the Word".

Since the 1970s, the late datings for the development of a "high Christology" have been contested, and a majority of scholars argue that this "High Christology" existed already before the writings of Paul. This "incarnation Christology" or "high Christology" did not evolve over a longer time, but was a "big bang" of ideas which were already present at the start of Christianity, and took further shape in the first few decades of the church, as witnessed in the writings of Paul.

According to Ehrman, these two Christologies existed alongside each other, calling the "low Christology" an "adoptionist Christology, and "the "high Christology" an "incarnation Christology." While adoptionism was declared heresy at the end of the 2nd century, it was adhered to by the Ebionites, who regarded Jesus as the Messiah while rejecting his divinity and his virgin birth, and insisted on the necessity of following Jewish law and rites. They revered James the brother of Jesus (James the Just); and rejected Paul the Apostle as an apostate from the Law. They show strong similarities with the earliest form of Jewish Christianity, and their specific theology may have been a "reaction to the law-free Gentile mission."

In the "pre-existence" Christology, Christ's resurrection and exaltation was a restoration of the exalted status he already had, but had not grasped at, as described in Philippians|2:6-11.

Redemptive death

See also: Salvation in Christianity § Atonement, and Redeemer

Jesus's death was interpreted as a redemptive death "for our sins", in accordance with God's plan as contained in the Jewish scriptures. The significance lay in "the theme of divine necessity and fulfilment of the scriptures", not in the later Pauline emphasis on "Jesus's death as a sacrifice or an expiation for our sins." For the early Jewish Christians, "the idea that Messiah's death was a necessary redemptive event functioned more as an apologetic explanation for Jesus's crucifixion" "proving that Jesus's death was no surprise to God."

Call to missionary activity

Main articles: Great Commission, Apostles, and Christian mission

The New Testament accounts describe the resurrected Jesus calling his followers to missionary activity in what has been traditionally labelled as the Great Commission, where he instructs them to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

According to Dunn, the appearances to the disciples have "a sense of obligation to make the vision known." Helmut Koester states that the stories of the resurrection were originally epiphanies in which the disciples were called to a ministry by the risen Jesus, and were later used as evidence of the event. Biblical scholar Géza Vermes argues that the resurrection is to be understood as a reviving of the self-confidence of the followers of Jesus, under the influence of the Spirit, "prompting them to resume their apostolic mission." According to Gerd Lüdemann, Peter convinced the other disciples that the resurrection of Jesus signalled that the end-times were near and God's Kingdom was coming, when the dead would rise again, as evidenced by Jesus. This revitalized the disciples, starting off their new mission.

Leadership of Peter

Main articles: Saint Peter and Apostolic succession

Peter claimed forcefully that Jesus appeared to him, and legitimised by Jesus's appearance he assumed leadership of the group of early followers, forming the Jerusalem ekklēsia mentioned by Paul. He was soon eclipsed in this leadership by James the Just, "the Brother of the Lord", which may explain why the early texts contain scarce information about Peter. According to Gerd Lüdemann, Peter was the first who saw Jesus, noting that Peter and Mary both had appearance-experiences, but arguing that the tradition of Mary's appearance is a later development, and her appearance probably was not the first.

According to Christian proto-orthodoxy, Peter was the first to who Jesus appeared, and therefore the rightful leader of the Church. The resurrection forms the basis of the Apostolic succession and the institutional power of orthodoxy, as the heirs of Peter, to whom Jesus appeared, and is described as "the rock" on which the church will be built. Though the Gospels, and Paul's letters, describe appearances to a greater number of people, only the appearances to the Twelve Apostles count as lending authority and Apostolic succession.

Paul – participation in Christ

Main article: Participation in Christ

The appearance of Jesus to Paul convinced him that Jesus was the risen Lord and Christ, who commissioned him to be an apostle to the Gentiles. According to Newbigin, "Paul presents himself not as the teacher of a new theology but as the messenger commissioned by the authority of the Lord himself to announce a new fact – namely that in the ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus God has acted decisively to reveal and effect his purpose of redemption for the whole world." The teachings of the apostle Paul form a key element of the Christian tradition and theology. Fundamental to Pauline theology is the connection between Christ's resurrection, and redemption. In 1 Corinthians 15:13–14, 15:17, and 15:20–22, Paul writes:

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain ... If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile ... But Christ really has been raised from the dead. He is the first of all those who will rise. Death came because of what a man did. Rising from the dead also comes because of what a man did. Because of Adam, all people die. So because of Christ, all will be made alive.

The kerygma of 1 Corinthians 15:3 states that "Christ died for our sins." The meaning of that kerygma is a matter of debate, and open to multiple interpretations. Traditionally, this kerygma is interpreted as meaning that Jesus's death was an atonement or ransom for, or propitiation or expiation of, God's wrath against humanity because of their sins. With Jesus's death, humanity was freed from this wrath. In the classical Protestant understanding, which has dominated the understanding of Paul's writings, humans partake in this salvation by faith in Jesus Christ; this faith is a grace given by God, and people are justified by God through Jesus Christ and faith in Him.

More recent scholarship has raised several concerns regarding these interpretations. According to E. P. Sanders, who initiated the so-called "New Perspective on Paul", Paul saw the faithful redeemed by participation in Jesus's death and rising. Though "Jesus's death substituted for that of others and thereby freed believers from sin and guilt", a metaphor derived from "ancient sacrificial theology", the essence of Paul's writing is not in the "legal terms" regarding the expiation of sin, but the act of "participation in Christ through dying and rising with him." According to Sanders, "those who are baptized into Christ are baptized into his death, and thus they escape the power of sin ... he died so that the believers may die with him and consequently live with him." Just as Christians share in Jesus's death in baptism, so they will share in his resurrection. James F. McGrath notes that Paul "prefers to use the language of participation. One died for all, so that all died. This is not only different from substitution, it is the opposite of it."

Paul insists that salvation is received by the grace of God; according to Sanders, this insistence is in line with Judaism of c. 200 BC – c. AD 200, which saw God's covenant with Israel as an act of grace of God. Observance of the Law is needed to maintain the covenant, but the covenant is not earned by observing the Law, but by the grace of God.

Church Fathers – atonement

Main article: Ransom theory of atonement

The Apostolic Fathers, discussed the death and resurrection of Jesus, including Ignatius (50–115), Polycarp (69–155), and Justin Martyr (100–165). The understanding of the Greek Fathers of the death and resurrection of Jesus as an atonement is the "classic paradigm" of the Church Fathers, who developed the themes found in the New Testament.

During the first millennium AD, the ransom theory of atonement was the dominant metaphor, both in eastern and western Christianity, until it was replaced in the west by Anselmus's satisfaction theory of atonement. The ransom theory of atonement says that Christ liberated humanity from slavery to sin and Satan, and thus death, by giving his own life as a ransom sacrifice to Satan, swapping the life of the perfect (Jesus), for the lives of the imperfect (humans). It entails the idea that God deceived the devil, and that Satan, or death, had "legitimate rights" over sinful souls in the afterlife, due to the fall of man and inherited sin.

The ransom theory was first clearly enunciated by Irenaeus (c. 130–c. 202), who was an outspoken critic of Gnosticism, but borrowed ideas from their dualistic worldview. In this worldview, humankind is under the power of the Demiurge, a lesser God who has created the world. Yet, humans have a spark of the true divine nature within them, which can be liberated by gnosis (knowledge) of this divine spark. This knowledge is revealed by the Logos, "the very mind of the supreme God", who entered the world in the person of Jesus. Nevertheless, the Logos could not simply undo the power of the Demiurge, and had to hide his real identity, appearing as a physical form, thereby misleading the Demiurge, and liberating humankind. In Irenaeus' writings, the Demiurge is replaced by the devil, while Justin Martyr had already equated Jesus and the Logos.

Origen (184–253) introduced the idea that the devil held legitimate rights over humans, who were bought free by the blood of Christ. He also introduced the notion that the devil was deceived in thinking that he could master the human soul.

Late Antiquity and early Middle Ages

Following the conversion of Constantine and the Edict of Milan in 313, the ecumenical councils of the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries, that focused on Christology, helped shape the Christian understanding of the redemptive nature of the resurrection, and influenced both the development of its iconography and its use within Liturgy.

Belief in bodily resurrection was a constant note of the Christian church in antiquity. Augustine of Hippo accepted it at the time of his conversion in 386. Augustine defended resurrection, and argued that given that Christ has risen, there is resurrection of the dead. Moreover, he argued that the death and resurrection of Jesus was for the salvation of man, stating: "to achieve each resurrection of ours, the savior paid with his single life, and he pre-enacted and presented his one and only one by way of sacrament and by way of model."

The 5th-century theology of Theodore of Mopsuestia provides an insight into the development of the Christian understanding of the redemptive nature of resurrection. The crucial role of the sacraments in the mediation of salvation was well accepted at the time. In Theodore's representation of the Eucharist, the sacrificial and salvific elements are combined in the "One who saved us and delivered us by the sacrifice of Himself". Theodore's interpretation of the Eucharistic rite is directed towards the triumph over the power of death brought about by the resurrection.

The emphasis on the salvific nature of the resurrection continued in Christian theology in the next centuries, e.g., in the 8th century Saint John of Damascus wrote that: "... When he had freed those who were bound from the beginning of time, Christ returned again from among the dead, having opened for us the way to resurrection" and Christian iconography of the ensuing years represented that concept.

Present-day

Thorwald Lorenzen finds "a strange silence about the resurrection in many pulpits". He writes that among some Christians, ministers and professors, it seems to have become "a cause for embarrassment or the topic of apologetics". The idea of a bodily resurrection remains controversial.

According to psychiatrist and author Adrian Warnock, many Christians neglect the resurrection because of their understandable preoccupation with the Cross.

Denominations

Roman Catholic Church

The resurrection of Jesus is the good news that the Roman Catholic Church proclaims: "the revelation in Jesus Christ of God's mercy to sinners." The importance of the resurrection is connected to the incarnation of Jesus: by becoming incarnate God has assumed every human unto himself, for his humanity is made of every human (just as a temple is made of stones), and by resurrecting himself God has also resurrected every human.

By rising from the dead, Jesus is the beginning of the resurrection of the dead on Judgment Day and the beginning of the spiritual resurrection (justification or "new life") of sinners, since Jesus is the first human resurrected by God, as the head of the human race as God incarnate, whereby in him all people have already been resurrected and justified, since his resurrection is the principle of the resurrection of the dead and justification of sinners.

The resurrection is a historical yet transcendent event. The historical resurrection transcends spacetime by affecting every human, from Adam and Eve's repentance after the fall to the resurrection of Lazarus (who returned to an earthly life) to the conversion of Saint Paul to the resurrection of the dead on Judgment Day.

By rising from the dead, Jesus shows what the risen bodies of the saints (i.e., justified sinners) will be like. From the moment of his incarnation, Jesus' soul experienced the beatific vision, because he is true God and true man, and from the moment of his resurrection Jesus' body shared in his soul's experience of the beatific vision. At the resurrection, Jesus' whole humanity was deified, and so, shares in the personal mode of existence of the Second Person of the Trinity. Deification includes four properties: impassibility (freedom from evil, i.e., temptation, sin, suffering, error, inconvenience, boredom, Satan, and death), subtility (freedom from restraint by the laws of science, which includes shapeshifting, teleportation, time travel, control over nature, and superhuman senses and prowess), agility (one's body will not act faster than one's mind or give in to emotion and impulse, for the body will be as obedient to the soul as the soul is to God), and clarity (resplendent beauty and the five crowns).

Easter

Main article: Easter

Easter is the preeminent Christian feast that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, and according to Susan J. White is "clearly the earliest Christian festival". According to James Dunn, "In Easter we celebrate man become God ... that in the death and resurrection of Christ God has broken the stranglehold of human selfishness, has proved the enduring and conquering strength of divine love." According to Thorwald Lorenzen, the first Easter led to a shift in emphasis from faith "in God" to faith "in Christ". According to Raymond Harfgus Taylor, Easter "focuses upon the consummation of the redemptive act of God in the death/resurrection of Jesus Christ."

Easter is linked to the Passover and Exodus from Egypt recorded in the Old Testament through the Last Supper and crucifixion that preceded the resurrection. According to the New Testament, Jesus gave the Passover meal a new meaning, as he prepared himself and his disciples for his death in the upper room during the Last Supper. He identified the loaf of bread and cup of wine as his body soon to be sacrificed and his blood soon to be shed. 1 Corinthians 5:7 states, "Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast – as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed"; this refers to the Passover requirement to have no yeast in the house and to the allegory of Jesus as the Paschal lamb. The Jewish feast of First-fruits is regarded by dispensationalists as foreshadowing its fulfilment in the resurrection of Jesus based on 1 Corinthians 15:20 "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep."

Whilst the fact that the crucifixion is remembered on Good Friday and Easter celebrated two days later may appear to contradict biblical accounts that Jesus rose on the third day, in Semitic tradition any part of a 24-hour period could be called "a day and a night".

In Christian art

Main article: Resurrection of Jesus in Christian art
The Chi Rho with a wreath symbolizing the victory of the Resurrection, above Roman soldiers, c. 350 AD

In the Catacombs of Rome, artists indirectly hinted at the resurrection by using images from the Old Testament such as the fiery furnace and Daniel in the lions' den. Depictions prior to the 7th century generally showed secondary events such as the Myrrhbearers at the tomb of Jesus to convey the concept of the resurrection. An early symbol of the resurrection was the wreathed Chi Rho (Greek letters representing the word "Khristos" or "Christ"), whose origin traces to the victory of emperor Constantine I at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312, which he attributed to the use of a cross on the shields of his soldiers. Constantine used the Chi Rho on his standard and his coins showed a labarum with the Chi Rho killing a serpent.

The use of a wreath around the Chi Rho symbolizes the victory of the resurrection over death, and is an early visual representation of the connection between the crucifixion of Jesus and his triumphal resurrection, as seen in the 4th-century sarcophagus of Domitilla in Rome. Here, in the wreathed Chi Rho the death and Resurrection of Christ are shown as inseparable, and the Resurrection is not merely a happy ending tucked at the end of the life of Christ on earth. Given the use of similar symbols on the Roman military banner, this depiction also conveyed another victory, namely that of the Christian faith: the Roman soldiers who had once arrested Jesus and marched him to Calvary now walked under the banner of a resurrected Christ.

The cosmic significance of the resurrection in Western theology goes back to Saint Ambrose, who in the 4th century said that "The universe rose again in Him, the heaven rose again in Him, the earth rose again in Him, for there shall be a new heaven and a new earth". This theme developed gradually in the West, later than in the East where the resurrection had been linked from an earlier date to redemption and the renewal and rebirth of the whole world. In art, this was symbolized by combining the depictions of the resurrection with the Harrowing of Hell in icons and paintings. A good example is from the Chora Church in Istanbul, where John the Baptist, Solomon and other figures are also present, depicting that Christ was not alone in the resurrection. The depiction sequence at the 10th-century Hosios Loukas shows Christ as he pulls Adam from his tomb, followed by Eve, signifying the salvation of humanity after the resurrection.

Gallery of art

For a Commons gallery see: Resurrection gallery

Relics

Main articles: Acheiropoieta, Shroud of Turin, and Veil of Veronica
Secondo Pia's 1898 negative of the image on the Shroud of Turin has an appearance suggesting a positive image. It is used as part of the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus.

The resurrection of Jesus has long been central to the Christian faith and appears within diverse elements of the Christian tradition, from feasts to artistic depictions to religious relics. In Christian teachings, the sacraments derive their saving power from the passion and resurrection of Christ, upon which the salvation of the world entirely depends.

An example of the interweaving of the teachings on the resurrection with Christian relics is the application of the concept of "miraculous image formation" at the moment of resurrection to the Shroud of Turin. Christian authors have stated the belief that the body around whom the shroud was wrapped was not merely human, but divine, and that the image on the shroud was miraculously produced at the moment of resurrection. Quoting Pope Paul VI's statement that the shroud is "the wonderful document of His Passion, Death and Resurrection, written for us in letters of blood" author Antonio Cassanelli argues that the shroud is a deliberate divine record of the five stages of the Passion of Christ, created at the moment of resurrection.

Views of other religions

Groups such as Jews, Muslims, Baháʼís, and other non-Christians, as well as some liberal Christians, dispute whether Jesus actually rose from the dead. Arguments over death and resurrection claims occur at many religious debates and interfaith dialogues.

Judaism

Further information: Judaism's view of Jesus

Christianity split from Judaism in the 1st century AD, and the two faiths have differed in their theology since. According to the Toledot Yeshu, the body of Jesus was removed on the same night by a gardener named Juda, after hearing the disciples planned to steal the body of Jesus. However, Toledot Yeshu is not considered either canonical or normative within rabbinic literature. Van Voorst states that Toledot Yeshu is a medieval document set without a fixed form which is "most unlikely" to have reliable information about Jesus. The Blackwell Companion to Jesus states that the Toledot Yeshu has no historical facts as such, and was perhaps created as a tool for warding off conversions to Christianity.

Gnostics

A rotunda in Church of the Holy Sepulchre, called the Anastasis ("Resurrection"), which contains the remains of a rock-cut room that Helena and Macarius identified as the burial site of Jesus

Some Gnostics did not believe in a literal physical resurrection. "For the gnostic any resurrection of the dead was excluded from the outset; the flesh or substance is destined to perish. 'There is no resurrection of the flesh, but only of the soul', say the so-called Archontics, a late gnostic group in Palestine".

Islam

Main articles: Islamic view of Jesus' death and Jesus in Islam

Muslims believe that ʿĪsā (Jesus) son of Mariam (Mary) was a holy prophet with a divine message. The Islamic perspective is that Jesus was not crucified and will return to the world at the end of times. "But Allāh raised him up to Himself. And Allāh is Ever All-Powerful, All-Wise". The Quran says in Surah An-Nisa "And because of their saying, 'We killed Messiah ʿĪsā, son of Maryam, the Messenger of Allāh', – but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but it appeared so to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts".

Islam Ahmadiyya

Ahmadi Muslims believe that, as Jesus is the Messiah to the Children of Israel his objective was to gather their following. For this reason, Ahmadis believe that Jesus survived the crucifixion, as supported by the Qur'an, as a death on the cross would be a cursed one, supported by the Bible. This belief is held as Jesus had other "sheep" to tend to.

After surviving the crucifixion, Jesus and his mother migrated to another land where he continued his mission.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ See "Why Was Resurrection on 'the Third Day'? Two Insights" for explanations on the phrase "third day". According to Ernst Lüdemann and Pinchas Lapide, "third day" may refer to Hosea 6:1–2:

    Come, let us return to the Lord;
    for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
    he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
    After two days he will revive us;
    on the third day he will raise us up,
    that we may live before him.

    See also 2 Kings 20:8: "Hezekiah said to Isaiah, 'What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?'"

    According to Sheehan, Paul's reference to Jesus having risen "on the third day ... simply expresses the belief that Jesus was rescued from the fate of utter absence from God (death) and was admitted to the saving presence of God (the eschatological future)."

  2. ^ EB: "Session at the right hand of the Father was apparently a Christian interpretation of the first verse of Psalm 110. It implied the elevation—or, as the doctrine of preexistence became clearer, the restoration—of Christ to a position of honour with God. Taken together, the Ascension and the session were a way of speaking about the presence of Christ with the Father during the interim between the Resurrection and the Second Advent."
  3. ^ These visions may mostly have appeared during corporate worship. Johan Leman contends that the communal meals provided a context in which participants entered a state of mind in which the presence of Jesus was felt.
  4. In 1 Corinthians 15:3 - 7, Paul passes on what Judaism valued as the best evidence: first-person testimony of the resurrection. According to John Kloppenborg, Paul's "argumentation in chap.15 revolves around the reality of the resurrection; the tradition adduced by Paul in support of his argument must have contained some element of proof of the resurrection (i.e., witnesses) - otherwise there would have been no reason for Paul to adduce it in the first place". That this teaching predates Paul and the New Testament book that contains it has been almost universally acknowledged. Bart Ehrman dates the text to within one to two years of the crucifixion. However, whether the pre-Pauline material is from the earliest Aramaic-speaking community or from the Jewish-Hellenistic church is disputed.
  5. Early creed:
    • Neufeld, The Earliest Christian Confessions (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964) p. 47
    • Reginald Fuller, The Formation of the Resurrection Narratives (New York: Macmillan, 1971) p. 10
    • Wolfhart Pannenberg, Jesus – God and Man translated Lewis Wilkins and Duane Pribe (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1968) p. 90
    • Oscar Cullmann, The Early Church: Studies in Early Christian History and Theology, ed. A. J. B. Higgins (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1966) p. 64
    • Hans Conzelmann, 1 Corinthians, translated James W. Leitch (Philadelphia: Fortress 1969) p. 251
    • Bultmann, Theology of the New Testament vol. 1 pp. 45, 80–82, 293
    • R. E. Brown, The Virginal Conception and Bodily Resurrection of Jesus (New York: Paulist Press, 1973) pp. 81, 92
    • Most Fellows of the Jesus Seminar also concluded that this tradition dates to before Paul's conversion, c. AD 33.
  6. Origins within the Jerusalem apostolic community:
    • Wolfhart Pannenberg, Jesus – God and Man translated Lewis Wilkins and Duane Pribe (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1968) p. 90
    • Oscar Cullmann, The Early church: Studies in Early Christian History and Theology, ed. A. J. B. Higgins (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1966) pp. 66–66
    • R. E. Brown, The Virginal Conception and Bodily Resurrection of Jesus (New York: Paulist Press, 1973) p. 81
    • Thomas Sheehan, First Coming: How the Kingdom of God Became Christianity (New York: Random House, 1986) pp. 110, 118
    • Ulrich Wilckens, Resurrection translated A. M. Stewart (Edinburgh: Saint Andrew, 1977) p. 2
  7. ^ The kerygma from 1 Corinthians 15:3–5 refers to two mythologies: the Greek myth of the noble dead, to which the Maccabean notion of martyrdom and dying for ones people is related; and the Jewish myth of the persecuted sage or righteous man, c.q. the "story of the child of wisdom." The notion of 'dying for' refers to this martyrdom and persecution. James F. McGrath refers to 4 Maccabees, "which presents a martyr praying "Be merciful to your people, and let our punishment suffice for them. Make my blood their purification, and take my life in exchange for theirs". Clearly, there were ideas that existed in the Judaism of the time that helped make sense of the death of the righteous in terms of atonement." See also Herald Gandi (2018), The Resurrection: "According to the Scriptures"?, referring to Isaiah 53, among others: " Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed ... Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the Lord shall prosper. Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities."
  8. Allison refers to "Crossan, Historical Jesus, 391–4; idem, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1994), 123–58; idem, Who Killed Jesus? Exposing the Roots of Anti-Semitism in the Gospel Story of the Death of Jesus (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1996), 160–77))"
  9. Allison refers to Crossan (1996), Who Killed Jesus?
  10. In an earlier publication (2003), Ehrman recognized that "Some scholars have argued that it's more plausible that in fact Jesus was placed in a common burial plot, which sometimes happened, or was, as many other crucified people, simply left to be eaten by scavenging animals", but further elaborated by stating that "he accounts are fairly unanimous in saying ... that Jesus was in fact buried by this fellow, Joseph of Arimathea, and so it's relatively reliable that that's what happened."
  11. Wright (2009, p. 22) argues that the burial of Christ is part of the earliest gospel traditions.
  12. Bultmann dismisses the empty tomb story as "an apologetic legend."
  13. ^ According to Christian apologist Gary Habermas, "Many scholars have spoken in support of a bodily notion of Jesus' resurrection." According to Habermas, Paul refers to a physical body in 1 Corinthians 15:44. Habermas notes that Paul doesn't use solely the word pneuma, but speaks about "spiritual body ". According to Habermas, Paul refers to a physical body, arguing that "Paul says three things in one chapter that indicates that he’s talking about a physical resurrection." The first is that Paul says that he is a Pharisee, implying that he believes in a physical resurrection. The second is that, in Philippians 3:11, Paul says "That I may attain the resurrection of the dead", using the phrase eks-anastasis ("εἰς τὴν ἐξανάστασιν") (out-resurrection), "resurrection from out among the dead ones." And third, in Philippians 3:20–21 "He Jesus will change my body to be like His body." Habermas further notes that in Philippians 3:20,21, Paul speaks of a "glorious body" which is resurrected.
  14. According to Sheehan, Paul's account of the resurrection is not meant to be taken as referring to a literal, physical rising from the grave. Paul's understanding of the resurrection, and perhaps Peter's as well, is a metaphorical one, with the stories of Jesus's (figurative) resurrection reflecting his triumphant "entry into God's eschatological presence." Sheehan:

    The word "resurrection" is a metaphor that unfortunately has been taken literally. That's where the confusion begins. In the New Testament the word for "resurrection" means literally "awakening," like waking up your kids in the morning. The New Testament says not that God "resurrected" Jesus from the dead, but that he "awoke" him. Using metaphoric language, the New Testament says God awoke Jesus from the sleep of death and brought him into God's heavenly presence. There's nothing here about an event in space and time. Resurrection doesn't mean coming back to life."

    Sheehan quotes Helmut Koester:

    "Resurrection is thus a mythological metaphor for God's victory over the powers of unrighteousness. ... The preaching of Jesus' resurrection was thus the proclamation that the new age had been ushered in": "The Structure and Criteria of Early Christian Beliefs" in Robinson and Koester, Trajectories, 223, 224.

  15. 1 Cor 15:12–20 1 Peter 1:3
  16. According to Habermas, a Christian apologist, both internal states of mind, such as hallucinations, conversion disorder, and bereavement-related visions, as well as objective phenomena such as illusions have been proposed as possible natural explanations for what the disciples believed they saw.
  17. "Gerd Lüdemann 2012: 552 (cf. 550-557); 2004: 159 (cf. 163-166); 1994: 174 (cf. 173-179). See also Bart Ehrman 2014: 183-206, although Ehrman never describes the vision he proposes. Other proponents of some form of vision hypothesis include Michael Goulder (1996, 2000, 2005) and James Crossley (2005), although Goulder proposes only a spiritual resurrection belief emerged initially, and Crossley considers Jesus’ predictions of his own death historical and a contributing factor to the resurrection belief."
  18. Ushering in the last days and the Kingdom of God:
    • James Dunn (2006), The Theology of Pual the Apostle, p.240: "...the resurrection of Jesus was understood by Paul (as those before him) as ushering in a new age, even the last days."
    • Paula Fredriksen (2018), When Christians Were Jews, p.86-87: "The Kingdom truly was at hand. Jesus' own resurrection was for them meaningful as the first of a cascade of anticipated Endtime events."
    • Wright (2003, p. 272): "He believed himself to be living at a new stage in the eschatological timetable: the 'age to come' had already begun, precisely with the Messiah's resurrection."
  19. Novakovic quotes C.E.B. Cranfield, The Epistle to the Romans, 1:62.
  20. See also Andrew Chester (2007), Messiah and Exaltation: Jewish Messianic and Visionary Traditions and New Testament Christology, Mohr Siebeck; and Larry Huratdo (11 December 2012), "'Early High Christology': A Recent Assessment of Scholarly Debate".
  21. ^ According to Sanders, "there seems to have been a competition: 'I saw him,' 'so did I,' 'the women saw him first,' 'no, I did; they didn't see him at all,' and so on."
  22. Hurtado cites Green, The Death of Jesus, p.323.
  23. Vermes describes are eight possible theories to explain the resurrection of Jesus, concluding that none of these six possibilities "stands up to stringent scrutiny", and then stating that the resurrection is a "resurrection in the hearts of men."
  24. According to Lüdemann, in the discussions about the strictness of adherence to the Jewish Law, the more conservative faction of James the Just took the overhand over the more liberal position of Peter, who soon lost influence. According to Dunn, this was not an "usurpation of power", but a consequence of Peter's involvement in missionary activities.
  25. Atonement:
    * Briscoe and Ogilvie (2003): "Paul says that Christ's ransom price is his blood."
    * Cobb: "The question is whether Paul thought that God sacrificed Jesus to atone for human sins. During the past thousand years, this idea has often been viewed in the Western church as at the heart of Christianity, and many of those who uphold it have appealed to Paul as its basis ... In fact, the word 'atonement' is lacking in many standard translations. The King James Translation uses 'propitiation', and the Revised Standard Version uses 'expiation.' The American Translation reads: 'For God showed him publicly dying as a sacrifice of reconciliation to be taken advantage of through faith.' The Good News Bible renders the meaning as: 'God offered him, so that by his sacrificial death he should become the means by which people's sins are forgiven through their faith in him.' Despite this variety, and the common avoidance of the word 'atonement', all these translations agree with the New Revised Standard Version in suggesting that God sacrificed Jesus so that people could be reconciled to God through faith. All thereby support the idea that is most directly formulated by the use of the word 'atonement.'"
  26. According to The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906), "The Mishnah says that sins are expiated (1) by sacrifice, (2) by repentance at death or on Yom Kippur, (3) in the case of the lighter transgressions of the positive or negative precepts, by repentance at any time ... The graver sins, according to Rabbi, are apostasy, heretical interpretation of the Torah, and non-circumcision (Yoma 86a). The atonement for sins between a man and his neighbour is an ample apology (Yoma 85b)."

    The Jewish Virtual Library writes: "Another important concept is the element of substitution. The idea is that the thing being offered is a substitute for the person making the offering, and the things that are done to the offering are things that should have been done to the person offering. The offering is in some sense 'punished' in place of the offerer. It is interesting to note that whenever the subject of Karbanot is addressed in the Torah, the name of G-d used is the four-letter name indicating G-d's mercy."

    The Jewish Encyclopedia further writes: "Most efficacious seemed to be the atoning power of suffering experienced by the righteous during the Exile. This is the idea underlying the description of the suffering servant of God in Isa. liii. 4, 12, Hebr. ... of greater atoning power than all the Temple sacrifices was the suffering of the elect ones who were to be servants and witnesses of the Lord (Isa. xlii. 1-4, xlix. 1–7, l. 6). This idea of the atoning power of the suffering and death of the righteous finds expression also in IV Macc. vi. 27, xvii. 21–23; M. Ḳ. 28a; Pesiḳ. xxvii. 174b; Lev. R. xx.; and formed the basis of Paul's doctrine of the atoning blood of Christ (Rom. iii. 25)."
  27. Jordan Cooper: "Sanders sees Paul’s motifs of salvation as more participationist than juristic. The reformation overemphasized the judicial categories of forgiveness and escape from condemnation, while ignoring the real heart of salvation, which is a mystical participation in Christ. Paul shows this in his argument in his first epistle to the Corinthians when arguing against sexual immorality. It is wrong because it affects one’s union with Christ by uniting himself to a prostitute. Sin is not merely the violation of an abstract law. This participationist language is also used in Corinthians in the discussion of the Lord’s Supper wherein one participates in the body and blood of Christ."

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Sources

Printed sources
Web sources
  1. ^ EB, Incarnation and humiliation
  2. ^ Justin S. Holcomb, "What Does It Mean that Jesus Is 'The Firstborn from the Dead?'"
  3. ^ Habermas (2005), Research from 1975 to the Present: What are Critical Scholars Saying?
  4. ^ James F. McGrath (2007), What's Wrong With Penal Substitution?
  5. "Jesus' Resurrection and Christian Origins, N.T. Wright". 12 July 2016.
  6. ^ Larry Hurtado (11 September 2014 ), Paul on Jesus’ Resurrection: A New Study
  7. "1 Corinthians 15:44 ". 14 May 2013.
  8. ^ Taylor S. Brown (august3, 2018), The Resurrection of the Body: Spiritual? Physical? Both, Actually.
  9. John Ankerberg and Gary Habermas (2000), The Resurrection of Jesus Christ: Was it Physical or Spiritual?
  10. ^ Ehrman, Bart D. (14 February 2013). "Incarnation Christology, Angels, and Paul". The Bart Ehrman Blog. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  11. Larry Hurtado, The Origin of "Divine Christology"?
  12. Bouma, Jeremy (27 March 2014). "The Early High Christology Club and Bart Ehrman – An Excerpt from 'How God Became Jesus'". Zondervan Academic Blog. HarperCollins Christian Publishing. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  13. Larry Hurtado (10 July 2015 ), "'Early High Christology': A 'Paradigm Shift'? 'New Perspective'?"
  14. Bart Ehrman (5 October 2012), Gerd Lüdemann on the Resurrection of Jesus
  15. David G. Peterson (2009), Atonement in Paul's writing Archived 21 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine
  16. John B. Cobb, Did Paul Teach the Doctrine of the Atonement?
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  18. The Jewish Encyclopedia, "SIN"
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  21. ^ Jordan Cooper, E.P. Sanders and the New Perspective on Paul

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