Top 10 Secular Evidences for the Resurrection
This week, in honor of the world giving lip service to The Resurrection at Easter, your host Fred Williams and co-host Doug McBurney condescend to entertain secular alternatives to the bodily death, burial & resurrection of Jesus Christ by listing the top 10:
* Jesus Died by Crucifixion: The resurrection means nothing if Jesus didn’t actually die. But virtually all scholars — even skeptical ones — agree Jesus died by Roman crucifixion. Why?
The Roman method was brutal and efficient.
The Journal of the American Medical Association published a medical study affirming death by crucifixion.
Eyewitness accounts, including Roman historians like Tacitus, confirm it.
Jesus wasn’t resuscitated. He was dead. The resurrection wasn’t a near-death experience — it was a reversal of death.
* The Tomb Was Empty: The empty tomb is reported in all four Gospels, and it’s confirmed by:
Jewish leaders never produced the body. Instead, they said, “His disciples stole the body” — confirming the tomb was empty.
Even critics like atheist historian Bart Ehrman admit the tomb was likely empty — the question is why.
* The Disciples Believed They Saw the Risen Jesus: Something transformed a group of cowardly fishermen into bold proclaimers of a risen Christ.
After Jesus’ death, they were in hiding.
Then they claimed to have seen, touched, and eaten with the risen Jesus.
Many of them were martyred — not for what they believed, but for what they claimed to have seen.
People don’t generally die for a lie they made up, especially when they get nothing in return but beatings and exile.
* The Rapid Spread of Christianity: How did a tiny, persecuted sect become the largest religion in the world?
No political power. No money. No military. Just the message: He is risen.
Within weeks, thousands of Jews — fiercely monotheistic — believed Jesus was Lord and worshipped Him as God.
That doesn’t happen unless something earth-shaking occurred.
* Testimony of Enemies: Who testified to the resurrection? Not just friends — enemies.
James, Jesus’ own skeptical brother, didn’t believe in Him during His ministry. After the resurrection, James becomes a leader of the Jerusalem church and is martyred.
Paul was a violent persecutor of Christians. He had every reason to stop this movement — until he says he saw the risen Jesus himself.
Enemies don’t convert unless they believe something really happened.
*The First Witnesses Were Women: All four Gospels say women were the first to find the tomb empty. In a culture where a woman’s testimony didn’t even count in court, this detail would never be invented.
If the story were fabricated, the writers would’ve said Peter or John found the tomb.
The only reason to include women is because that’s how it happened.
This is what scholars call the criterion of embarrassment — details that are awkward but truthful.
* I Corinthians 15: Paul lists post-resurrection appearances in I Cor 15.
This shows belief in the resurrection wasn’t a legend that developed decades later — it was immediate.
He names witnesses: “He appeared to Peter… the twelve… over 500 at once… James… and last of all to me.”
Paul is essentially saying: Go ask them yourself.
* The Martyrdom of the Apostles: Nearly all of the apostles suffered and many were killed for proclaiming Christ’s resurrection.
James: Certainly Beheaded in Jerusalem.
Paul: Likely Beheaded in Rome.
Peter: Likely crucified (allegedly upside down)
Thomas: Allegedly Speared in India.
Tens of thousands of Christian martyrdoms witnessed privately by millions of average people over the past 2,0000 years, (God knows and will bring the record on Judgment Day)
They didn’t die for abstract beliefs — they died for claiming they saw or believed in the risen Jesus. Liars make poor martyrs.
* The Conversion of Saul (Paul): Paul went from persecuting Christians to becoming Christianity’s most influential missionary.
He lost status, privilege, safety.
He was beaten, imprisoned, and eventually executed.
And he writes about meeting the risen Christ with personal conviction and detail.
What changes a man like that? Something real. Something undeniable.
* Bodily Resurrection from the Dead Fits All the Fact: When you put all the evidence together, there is no plausible alternative theory:
The Swoon theory? Jesus didn’t just faint — He was executed and His heart pierced.
The Hallucination theory? Hallucinations are individual — not shared by 500 people.
The Stolen body? The disciples would’ve had no motive and no success against the Roman guards, (who witnessed the theft while asleep)?
The Legend theory? Legends take generations. Christ's Resurrection was being preached and believed among hundreds in just days and weeks.
The resurrection isn’t just plausible — it’s the only rational explanation regarding the earthly life, death ministry and legacy of Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches us that the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ was essential for the salvation of the world and the reconciliation of all things in Heaven and Earth back to God. So any other theory is to be dismissed.
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