Theories against the view that the bodily resurrection of Jesus was an historical event

Some short notes on four of the main theories against the view that the bodily resurrection of Jesus was an historical event.

The Swoon theory

Modern doctors have been known to miss a faint heartbeat & shallow breathing and declared people dead that were not dead, could this have happened to Jesus?

Evidence: Jesus died quicker than usual crucifixees, Pilate was surprised Jesus was already dead.
Against: There were no known survivors of Crucifixion – Jesus would be the first to live through the horrific event. The spear that pierced his side must have been large enough to admit a hand (noted in John’s gospel), and the water from the “blood and water” is likely to have come from the membrane surrounding his heart, thus it was a significant wound to someone at least nearing death. Roman executors were trained killing machines. All earliest secular and biblical records accept that Jesus actually died. Even if Jesus had survived to make it to the tomb, the cold tomb and strong odour of the aromatics would have killed an unconscious person. To deceive people about the resurrection would have been against Jesus’ life & teaching, and Jesus would have strongly discouraged his disciples from proclaiming something they thought to be a lie if it had not happened. Finally, the dramatic change in the life of the disciples demands that they believed an event as radical as the resurrection had taken place – they would not willingly give up their lives to become martyrs for something they believed to be a lie.

The drugged theory is similar – the plant-drug raserpine is able to put a human into a death-like state for several days, but there is no evidence to support that Jesus or his disciples knew of raserpine and could obtain it, nor does it refute the arguments against the swoon theory.

The Theft theory

This is theory that someone stole Jesus’ body – probably the disciples, but possibly the Jewish leaders of the day too.

For: The Roman soldiers guarding Jesus’ tomb claimed the disciples had stolen the body.
Against: The religious authorities did not have Jesus’ body as they would have produced it to refute the disciples’ claims of Christ’s resurrection & ascension – they saw Jesus and his followers as a threat to their position, beliefs and the precarious position of Israel under Rome. The disciples could not have stolen the body because they did not have the courage or power to overcome trained Roman soldiers (the guards did not look to have been beaten, but instead said they were asleep). The character of the disciples too – to steal the body in order to foster the idea of a resurrection would:

• be based on a desire to deceive
• be of no benefit to them who now have to reject all that they have believed concerning Christ.
• involve their willingness to die for what they know to be a lie – they simply had no personal motive.

The guards themselves could expect death for falling asleep while on watch and so they made their confession knowing that it could cost their lives – they had to come up with something. Yet if they fell asleep what evidence could they give to support their idea that it was the disciples who stole the body as the guards would not have seen them.

The Hallucination theory

The idea that the disciples corporately imagined Jesus to have appeared in front of them, and the other 500 people that Jesus appeared to.

A corporate illusion of over 500 people across multiple locations and occasions is difficult to take seriously – it would certainly be the first known instance of it ever happening in history. Secular sources substantiated witness accounts of Jesus’ appearing (eg, Josephus). Importantly, this idea does not fit with any known hallucination profile:

• Jesus appeared to varied people very different psychological make ups – not an individual psychological type or just the ones with a disposition to hallucination.
• The meeting places where they met the risen Jesus had no nostalgic value that is often found in hallucinations – again, they too were varied.
• Hallucinations sometimes a projection of ones deep desire. However the disciples were clearly not prepared for Jesus’ resurrection – it only made sense retrospectively when they put his previous sayings together – they certainly did not anticipate his resurrection: their faith had been shattered; the women who found the empty tomb had come to anoint a dead body, not rejoice in a resurrection.
• Hallucinations typically occur over a long period of time with regularity – they either re-occur more frequently or fade away over time – there were no more appearances of Jesus after his ascension.

The Wrong Tomb

The idea that they just went to the wrong tomb and that the two who said “he is not here” were merely guessing their errand and suggesting they look elsewhere for whatever body the women were looking for.

Objections: Luke records that the women saw where the body had been laid. Peter and John, and presumably the angel must also therefore have visited the wrong tomb. Jesus was buried in a private burial ground, not a public cemetery – there would probably only be one (or perhaps two) tomb(s) in a private burial area – and so difficult to misplace a tomb. The Sanhedrin would have produced the body by going to the right tomb to defeat the claims by Jesus’ disciples that He had been resurrected and thus put an end to Christianity.

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