EASTER MYTHS & MISCHIEF: Huge Problems With Skeptics’ Claim The Disciples Faked Jesus’ Resurrection
Among theories critics of Christianity have advanced over the years is some variation on the claim that Jesus really was not in fact resurrected, as claimed by His disciples; actually, they stole his body and hid it, then claimed the astounding miracle had happened.
There are multiple problems with such claims, beginning with this undeniable fact – with the possible exception of one – none of the disciples had military training or experience. There was no standing national Jewish military, only isolated bands of rebels.
It is possible that one of the disciples, Simon the Zealot, had links with such a group, as they were sometimes referred to as zealots. But the military training provided by such groups was nowhere comparable to that of the Roman Legion.
This book is a comprehensive presentation of the evidence for the truth of the Bible, the Resurrection of Christ, and the Christian life.
Here’s why this is significant – Jesus’ tomb was almost certainly guarded by a detachment of the Roman Legion known as a “Kustodia.” The members of such a unit were highly trained, well-disciplined soldiers. They knew if one of them failed in their duty, all would suffer punishment.
So, is it reasonable to speculate that the disciples were capable of subduing a crack unit of the Roman Legion, moving the stone likely weighing between one and two tons out of the way and taking Christ’s dead body to be reburied and never found? A reasonable conclusion is that such speculation is highly unrealistic.
But what if somehow they did manage to do so? Is it reasonable, given some basic facts about Jesus and His original disciples, to think they would? Here’s why the answer to those questions is a hard no:
First, in ancient Jewish culture, students of a Rabbi sought to be like their teacher in every way possible. Jesus nowhere taught that it is acceptable to use deception or lies to advance His truths. The disciples would likely have been horrified by the suggestion they use deception to create and perpetuate a lie as “proof” that He was resurrected from the dead.
Second, all of the disciples (except Judas the betrayer) did as Jesus commanded them to do, to “go and make disciples of all nations,” the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20. Peter remained in Judea, others went to Samaria, still others to points east, north and west.
Would You Die For A Lie?
Every one of the disciples died terrible deaths in the course of their missionary efforts. Not one of them ever recanted the resurrection. There is no evidence anywhere that any of them confessed to being part of a conspiracy to fool the world by faking the resurrection.
Is it likely they would have been willing to die horrendously for what they knew to be a lie? Men do die for what they think to be true – Islamic terrorists are an all-too familiar feature of modern life – but why would anybody die for something they knew was a fairy tale because they helped manufacture it?
If you are interested in pursuing this line of inquiry, check out “More Than A Carpenter” by Josh and Sean McDowell. It’s a compact little paperback that is full of facts and logic that point to the literal truth of the resurrection. If you would like a free copy of “More Than A Carpenter,” email me at mark.tapscott@hillfaith.org and I’ll get one to you ASAP.
Also check out Jeremiah Johnson’s “Deceit Theories of the Resurrection,” a chapter from his “Body of Proof.” You can read the chapter on Substack or you can buy the book on Amazon.
For those seeking a more in-depth dig into the evidence for and against the literal resurrection of Christ, the father-and-son team of McDowell’s also have a tremendous resource in their “Evidence That Demands A Verdict,” a nearly 800-page collection that looks at all of the issues concerning the reliability of the Bible, the truth of the resurrection, the deity of Christ and much, much more.
Their chapter entitled “The Resurrection: Hoax or History?” (pages 232-302) is a comprehensive treatment that is at once scholarly and accessibly organized and presented. The Kindle version is just $3.99. Highly, highly recommended.
Finally, there is Lee Strobel’s “The Case for Easter,” a work that especially appeals to me as an investigative journalist because that’s what Strobel was when he wrote this book. He had been an atheist, but when his wife became a Christian, he set out to apply his investigative skills to the claims of Christ. Also highly, highly recommended.
What kind of support for the guarding of Christ’s tomb do we find outside of Scriptures?
Let’s assume for the purposes of discussion that there isn’t any. What significance would you attach to that?
Peter ended up in Rome. St. Peter’s Basilica is built over his remains.
If willingness to suffer persecution and death makes someone believable, then why shouldn’t we believe the Jews, who suffered centuries of persecution and death at the hands of Christians for keeping faith with God’s covenant — rejecting Jesus as a false prophet?
You are conflating the horrendous suffering of the Jews in the Holocaust, which was imposed on them by force, with the determination of the disciples to not deny the Resurrection in order to save their lives. Or put another way, you are conflating the disciples willingness to die because they would not deny what they had witnessed, the resurrected Christ, with the lack of choice given the Jews by the Nazis.
By “centuries of persecution and death at the hands of Christians for keeping faith with God’s covenant,” I clearly was not referring to the Holocaust, which, though fueled by the long legacy of religious persecution, was uniquely evil.
I’m afraid my analogy stands. The Jews, like the Apostles, could have renounced their beliefs and spared themselves. Indeed, coerced conversions (however sincere or not) did occur over the centuries. But the vast majority of Jews — vastly more than the handful of purported resurrection witnesses — kept their faith and did not accept Jesus as Messiah. Why not believe them?
You are correct, I misunderstood your comment re the Holocaust and the prior centuries of persecution aimed at the Jews everywhere they went. But your analogy does not stand because the Jews were/are persecuted for who they are, not for what they know to be true. The disciples were persecuted because they refused to renounce what they had witnessed – the resurrected Christ – not because of their ethnic identity.
While religious difference may not be the only factor behind anti-Judaism, it is the root cause. To deny that Jews have suffered persecution and martyrdom specifically for their religious convictions is a shocking distortion. It certainly is worth asking whether their faithfulness is not at least as credible and praiseworthy as that of the purported resurrection witnesses.
Let me be as clear as possible on your point – Western Jews have indeed unjustly suffered religious persecution for centuries but, for whatever reason, not all persecution of Jews has been by people claiming to be Christians (the Medieval church, for example, and far too many Protestants as well). The Holocaust by the Nazis was due to secular causes, as Hitler said “You can be a Nazi or you can be a Christian, but you can’t be both.” The 6 million Jews Hitler had murdered could not have avoided death simply by renouncing their religious beliefs, because they would still be Jews and thus the so-called “inferior race” that Hitler hated.
As a follower of Christ, I deplore all forms of persecution of Jews for any reason, as does anybody else who may be accurately described as a Christian. All of that said, A Friend, my point still stands – the disciples died because they refused to deny what they had seen with their own eyes, the resurrected, living, breathing, speaking Jesus Christ. The persecution of Jews by the Medieval church or those associated with the Reformation is not the same thing.