Resurrection of Jesus

In the Christian Gospels, the Resurrection of Jesus was the return to bodily life of Jesus after his death by crucifixion. The Resurrection of Jesus is not to be confused with the Ascension of Jesus into heaven. Christian doctrine, ritual and theology are based on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus being actual events in history.J. E. L. Newbigin, The Gospel In a Pluralist Society (London: SPCK, 1989), p.66. Most Christians accept the New Testament chronicle in all four Gospels as a historical account of Jesus' resurrection which is central to their faith. The New Testament states that after Jesus was executed by Roman crucifixion and entombed, he then was raised from the dead on the third day. His empty tomb was found by his followers. He appeared to many people over a span of forty days before his return to heaven (Ascension). Christians commemorate these events annually from Easter Sunday to Ascension Day. 
==Background==
In the Torah, the Jewish scriptures and the Old Testament of the Bible, an important concept sets the background for the significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was the promise of God to provide an eternal liberating king in the line of King David of Bethlehem.2 Samuel 7:12, Psalm 132:11, Psalm 89:3 This was the reasoning that the Apostle Peter used in his first public defense for the historicity and significance of the resurrection.Acts 2:30 The Apostle Paul also connects Jesus' death and resurrection with a fulfilment of scripture.1 Corinthians 15:3-4
In the First Century BC, there were debates between the Pharisees who believed in the future Resurrection, and the Sadducees who did not. The Sadducees did not believe in an afterlife, but the Pharisees believed in a literal resurrection of the body. The Sadducees, politically powerful religious leaders, rejected the afterlife, angels, and demons as well as the Pharisees oral law. The Pharisees, whose views became Rabbinic Judaism, 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 Life of Adam and Eve, c 100 BC, and the Pharisaic book 2 Maccabees, c 124 BC.Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985.
==Significance==
Early Christians wrote of the power of the resurrection of Jesus. Earliest resurrection texts speak about a "revolutionary change of history in the direction of justice." The New Testament claims that only if the resurrection of Christ is real is Christian faith and the forgiveness of sin "not an illusion."
As Paul the Apostle, an early proponent of Christianity, contended, "If Christ was not raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your trust in God is useless."David Marshall. He is risen indeed! http://dialogue.adventist.org/articles/15_3_marshall_e.htm The death and resurrection of Jesus are the most important events in Christian Theology. 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 eternal life., , , , , , and . According to the Bible, "God raised him from the dead,", , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , he ascended to heaven, to the "right hand of God,", , , , , , , , , , , , and will return again to fulfill the rest of Messianic prophecy such as the Resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgment and establishment of the Kingdom of God; see also Messianism and Messianic Age.The ‘‘Parousia’‘ is the term used in the Bible, see Strong's G3952 for details, which includes the Thayer's 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 Bauer lexicon: "of Christ, and nearly always of his Messianic Advent in glory to judge the world at the end of this age."
The following passage is Paul the Apostle's apologetic (defence) of the resurrection of Christ:
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 early church.Reginald H. Fuller, The Foundations of New Testament Christology (New York: Scribners, 1965), p. 11.
Most non-Christians do not accept the bodily resurrection of Jesus, considering it a myth without historical precedent. Carl Jung suggests that the crucifixion-resurrection account was the forceful spiritual symbol of, literally, God-as-Yahweh becoming God-as-Job.Jung, Carl, The Answer to Job online excerpt
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, minsters, and professors, it seems to have to have become "a cause for embarrassment or the topic of apologetics.". It has been argued that many Christians neglect the resurrection because of their understandable pre-occupation with the Cross. Warnock, Adrian Raised With Christ, Crossway 2010 http://raisedwithchrist.net However, the belief in Jesus' physical resurrection remains the single doctrine most accepted by Christians of all denominational backgrounds. 
Groups such as Jews, Muslims, Bahá'ís, 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.Lorenzen, Thorwald. Resurrection, Discipleship, Justice: Affirming the Resurrection Jesus Christ Today. Macon, Georgia: Smyth & Helwys, 2003, p. 13.
==Records==
===Early creeds===
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,L. Michael White, Importance of the Oral TraditionBarnett, Paul, The Birth Of Christianity: The First Twenty Years (After Jesus)Guest, John, Jesus is Alive and show that within this timeframe Christians believed that it had happened. Some scholars suppose that these contain early Christian creeds and creedal hymns, which were included in several of the New Testament texts and that some of these creeds date to within a few years of Jesus' death and were developed within the Christian community in Jerusalem.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) Though embedded within the texts of the New Testament, these creeds are a distinct source for early Christianity.
* reads: "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: 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." This contains a Christian creed of pre-Pauline origin.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 Earlychurch: 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 The antiquity of the creed has been located by many biblical scholars to less than a decade after Jesus' death, originating from the Jerusalem apostolic community.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 (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1962) p. 96; Grass favors the origin in Damascus. Concerning this creed, Campenhausen wrote, "This account meets all the demands of historical reliability that could possibly be made of such a text,"Hans von Campenhausen, "The Events of Easter and the Empty Tomb," in Tradition and Life in the Church (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1968) p. 44 whilst A. M. Hunter said, "The passage therefore preserves uniquely early and verifiable testimony. It meets every reasonable demand of historical reliability."Archibald Hunter, Works and Words of Jesus (1973) p. 100
* : "...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."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
* : "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, this is my Gospel."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
===Gospel narratives===
According to the Gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion.; ; ; ; ; The Gospel of Matthew states that after an earthquake an angel appeared near the tomb of Jesus and announced his resurrection to Mary Magdalene and "another Mary" who had arrived to anoint the body. According to Luke there were two angels. According to Mark there was a youth dressed in white. The last section of Mark, which is considered a later addition by most biblical scholars (see Mark 16), states that on the morning of his resurrection, Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene. John states that when Mary looked into the tomb, two angels asked her why she was crying; and as she turned round she initially failed to recognize Jesus until he spoke her name. 
The Acts of the Apostles state that Jesus appeared to various people in various places over the next forty days. Hours after his resurrection, he appeared to two travellers on the road to Emmaus. To his assembled disciples he showed himself on the evening after his resurrection. Although his own ministry had been specifically to Jews, according to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is said to have sent his apostles to the Gentiles with the Great Commission and ascended to heaven while a cloud concealed him from their sight. According to Acts, Paul of Tarsus was blinded by a light and heard the voice of Jesus during his Road to Damascus conversion. Jesus promised to come again to fulfil the remainder of Messianic prophecy.Ministering to Israel: ; ascension: ; , ; Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus: , ; ; Second coming: 
===Apostolic fathers===
The Apostolic Fathers, likewise, discussed the death and resurrection of Jesus, including Ignatius (50−115),Ignatius makes many passing references, but two extended discussions are found in the Letter to the Trallians and the Letter to the Smyrnaeans. Polycarp (69−155), and Justin Martyr (100−165).
===Non-Christian===
Flavius Josephus (c. 37–c. 100), a Jew and Roman citizen who worked under the patronage of the Flavians, wrote the Antiquities of the Jews c. 93 which contains a passage known as the Testimonium Flavianum that mentions the death and resurrection of Jesus: "When Pilate, upon the accusation of the first men amongst us, condemned [Jesus] to be crucified, those who had formerly loved him did not cease [to follow him], for he appeared to them on the third day, living again, as the divine prophets foretold, along with a myriad of other marvellous things concerning him."Josephus Jewish Antiquities 18.3.3 It is widely held by scholars that at least part of the Testimonium Flavianum is an interpolation, since Josephus was not a Christian and characterized his patron Emperor Vespasian as the foretold Messiah.Josephus Jewish War 6.5.4 A few scholars have argued for the authenticity of the entire passage.Daniel-Rops, Silence of Jesus' Contemporaries p. 21. (See also Josephus on Jesus.)
===Latter-day Saints===
According to records considered to be scripture by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, such as the Book of Mormon, the resurrected Christ soon appeared to other peoples of the earth, to show them that he lives and did indeed conquer death. He had told his disciples in Jerusalem that he would visit others when he said, "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." He appeared to multitudes of the Nephite people and let all who would come to feel the marks in his hands and in his feet, and in his side. Similarly to other appearances of the Savior, the voice of God the Father was heard by the people as Christ descended into their midst, giving divine witness that this was his son, Jesus Christ, their living savior and redeemer.The account is found in Chapter 11 of Third Nephi in the Book of Mormon.
==Critical analysis==
Historians use the historical method to study ancient history. In this process, the accounts of the witnesses are analyzed for their reliability, plausibility, and motive. Defending the historicity of the Biblical narrative, including that of the resurrection, is within the field of study known as Christian apologetics, and applying the historical method to the Bible (which may or may not conflict with defending historicity) is a field of study known as Biblical criticism.www.newadvent.org/cathen/04497a.htm
===Ancient prophecies===
Hundreds of years before the time of Jesus, Jewish prophets promised that a messiah would come. Apologists claim that Jesus fulfilled some of these prophecies, which they claim are nearly impossible to fulfill by chance.Peter W. Stoner, Science Speaks, Moody Pr, 1958, ISBN 0–8024–7630–9(see Jewish Messiah). Other skeptics usually claim that the prophecies are either vague, misinterpreted, or unfulfilled, or that the Old Testament writings influenced the composition of New Testament narratives.Bellinger, W. & W. Farmer (1998). Jesus and the Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53 and Christian Origins. Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International.
===Entombment===
All four Gospels state that, on the evening of the crucifixion, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus, and that, after Pilate granted his request, he wrapped Jesus' body in a linen cloth and laid it in a tomb., , , This was in accordance with Mosaic Law, which stated that a person hanged on a tree must not be allowed to remain there at night, but should be buried before sundown.R. E. Brown, The Virginal Conception and Bodily Resurrection of Jesus (New York: Paulist Press, 1973) pp. 147; cf. . In Matthew, Joseph was identified as "also a disciple of Jesus;" in Mark he was identified as "a respected member of the council (Sanhedrin) who was also himself looking for the Kingdom of God;" 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'" and in John he was identified as "a disciple of Jesus." Mark stated that, when Joseph asked for Jesus' body, Pilate was shocked that Jesus was already dead, and he summoned a centurion to confirm this before dispatching the body to Joseph. John recorded that Joseph was assisted in the burial process by Nicodemus, who brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes and included these spices in the burial cloth as per Jewish customs.
The Synoptics (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) described the burial as occurring on the "Day of Preparation," with Mark providing the explanation of this as the day before the Sabbath. The synoptics described the tomb as "hewn out of the rock," i.e., a sepulchre, with Matthew, Luke, and John stating that it was new (i.e., no one else had been buried there before), and with Matthew stating that the tomb belonged to Joseph. John stated that the tomb was located in a garden near the site of the crucifixion.
The synoptics stated that women saw where Jesus was buried; Matthew named "Mary Magdalene and the other Mary," Mark named "Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses," and Luke simply gave "the women who had come with him from Galilee." Matthew gave an account of the chief priests and Pharisees requesting that Pilate secure the tomb, lest Jesus' disciples should steal the body and proclaim Jesus to be risen from the dead, whereupon Pilate said, "you have a guard of soldiers, go, make it as secure as you can"—after which they secured the sepulchre by sealing the stone and setting a guard.
William Lane Craig argued that the guard placed at the tomb was a Jewish guard, and that Pilate's words to the chief priests and Pharisees recorded in Matthew, "You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you can," were all rebuff. In support, he observed that Roman guards would have been subject to execution if they slept during watch, and that the Jewish authorities probably could not have provided protection for Roman guards from Pilate, like they could have if the guard was Jewish; thus, he wrote, "if one were to give the story the benefit of the doubt, one would assume the guards were Jewish."W. L. Craig, "The Guard at the Tomb." New Testament Studies 30 (1984), 273–81.
Scholars; L. Michael White and Helmut Koester see the account of the guards in Matthew as an apologetic attempt of the writer to explain the Jewish claims that the disciples stole the body; which were circulating at the time.Ancient Christian Gospels Koster, Helmut; Trinity Press, (1992) pg 237.http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/symposium/historical.html
===Resurrection of Jesus===
The actual act of Jesus rising to life from a state of death is not described in canonical Scripture. Rather, the first sign of the resurrection of Jesus is the tomb being found empty by the women-—which has been called the most significant affirmation of women in the New Testament.Stagg, Evalyn and Frank. Woman in the World of Jesus. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1978, p. 144–150. The noncanonical Gospel of Peter, written some time in the first or second century,Cameron, Ron. The Other Gospels, 1982. pp. 77-78. http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/gospelpeter.html records two men coming down from the sky and the stone rolling away on its own, at which time the frightened guards run away to report the breach. Some time later, the two men from Heaven escort Jesus from his tomb, with their heads reaching to the sky, and with Jesus' head reaching even higher. They are followed out by the cross, which is asked by a Heavenly voice if it has preached to the dead, and miraculously answers "yes."The Gospel of Peter vv35-41. http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/gospelpeter-brown.html
===Tomb discovery===
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:, , , and 
#the linking of the empty tomb tradition and the visit of the women on "the first day of the week;"
#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 Mary Magdalene;
#attention to the stone that had closed the tomb
Setzer, Claudia. "Excellent Women: Female Witness to the Resurrection." Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 116, No. 2 (Summer, 1997), pp. 259–272 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. 
Apologists claim the places where the Gospels coincide consist of confirming evidence, as they show that the authors agree on what happened, while the differences between the four accounts consist of confirming evidence as they show that the authors were not colluding to propagate a falsehood, but rather, they show that each writer researched the events independently.Apologetics on the Resurrection Narratives 
====Women====
All four Gospels report that several women were the ones to find the tomb of Jesus empty. According to Mark and Luke, the announcement of Jesus' resurrection was first made to women. According to Matthew and John, Jesus actually appeared first to women (in John to Mary Magdalene alone). "Whereas others found woman not qualified or authorized to teach, the four Gospels have it that the risen Christ commissioned women to teach men, including Peter and the other apostles, the resurrection, foundation of Christianity.
In the Gospels, especially the synoptics, women play a central role as eyewitness at Jesus' death, entombment, and in the discovery of the empty tomb. All three synoptics repeatedly make women the subject of verbs of seeing,Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses (Eerdmans Publishing Company: Cambridge, 2006), p. 48. clearly presenting them as eyewitnesses.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.
The presence of women as the key witnesses who discover the empty tomb has been seen as increasing the credibility of the testimony, since, in the contemporary culture (Jewish and Greco-Roman), one might expect a fabrication to place men, and especially numerous and important men, at this critical place, rather than just "some grieving women."Ben Witherington III, What have they done with Jesus (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 2006), p. 50. C. H. Dodd considered the narrative in John to be "self-authenticating", arguing that no one would make up the notion that Jesus had appeared to the "little known woman" Mary Magdalene.C. H. Dodd, The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1953) Furthermore, some passages in the Mishnah (Yebamoth 16:7; Ketubot 2:5; Eduyot 3:6) indicate that women could give testimony if there was no male witness available. Also, JosephusJewish War, 7.389 and 4.81 and Pliny the YoungerPliny the Younger, Epistles, X.96. have used women as witnesses to their claims. In addition, Paul does not mention the women. Bart Erhmann notes that the appearance of women at the tomb fit with Mark's literary purposes claiming: 
All three Synoptics name two or three women on each occasion in the passion-resurrection narratives where they are cited as eyewitnesses: the Torah's required two or three witnesses in a statute that had exerted influence beyond legal courts and into situations in everyday life where accurate evidence was needed.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), p. 218; Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses (Eerdmans Publishing Company: Cambridge, 2006), p. 49. Among the named women (and some are left anonymous), Mary Magdalene is present in all four Gospel accounts, and Mary the mother of James is present in all three synoptics; however, variations exist in the lists of each Gospel concerning the women present at the death, entombment, and discovery. For example, Mark names three women at the cross and the same three who go to the tomb, but only two are observed to be witnesses at the burial. Based on this, and similar examples in Matthew and Luke, Richard Bauckham argued that the evangelists showed "scrupulous care" and "were careful to name precisely the women who were known to them as witnesses to these crucial events" since there would be no other reason, besides interest in historical accuracy, not to simply use the same set of characters from one scene to another.Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses (Eerdmans Publishing Company: Cambridge, 2006), pp. 50–51.
Mark's account (which in the earliest extant manuscripts) ends abruptly and claims that the women told no one. The Gospels of Matthew and Mark do not present any further involvement at the tomb. Luke describes Peter as running to the tomb to check for himself, and John adds that the Beloved Disciple did so too, the beloved disciple outrunning Peter.To answer the question of running speed: It is never explained why the disciple(s) move(s) from merely traveling to running, and it has often been speculated that running only occurred on the last stretch once the tomb had come within sight. John Calvin instead speculated that the rush was due to religious zeal. In particular, John describes the Beloved Disciple as outracing Peter, though waiting for Peter to arrive before entering the tomb, with some scholars seeing the out-racing as a metaphoric elevation of the Beloved Disciple above Peter. However, many Christian scholars object to this interpretation, instead arguing that since the Beloved Disciple is usually interpreted as a reference to the author of John, it would be necessary for him to be considerably younger than Peter, and hence his speed could be due simply to youthful vigour. Another question is why John the Beloved Disciple pauses outside the tomb. While many view it as being due to his not wanting to violate death ritual by entering a tomb, in contrast to Peter who has no such qualm and instead enters immediately, most scholars believe John is simply deferring to Peter, particularly since the Beloved Disciple enters the tomb once Peter is inside. There is some scriptural variation as to whom the women told and in what order.What happens once Mary (and Mary) has seen the occupier(s)/empty tomb is again one of the more variant parts of this narrative. According to Mark, even though the man in the tomb instructs Mary and Mary to inform the disciples ‘‘and’‘ Peter, they flee in fear and do ‘‘not’‘ tell anything to any man. Like Mark, Matthew presents Mary and Mary as being instructed by the tomb's occupant to inform the disciples, but unlike Mark's account they happily do so, and Peter has no special status amongst the others. Luke, again, merely presents Mary and Mary as telling the eleven and the rest, but presents them as doing so apparently without being instructed. John's account is quite different: John only describes Mary as informing two people—Peter and the Beloved Disciple, an individual that is usually considered to be a self-reference by the author of the gospel John. Curiously, Mary also addresses Jesus as “Lord.”John had not previously described any of the followers as using this title, and Mary also states that ‘‘we’‘ don't know where they put him, even though at this point only Mary is described as having been to the tomb. To those who believe in inerrancy, Lord is used here because Jesus only gained the title on dying, and that we is evidence that John actually agrees with the Synoptics and merely didn't regard the other women as worth mentioning. However, most textual scholars see this as a typical contradiction by John of the synoptic gospels, arguing that we is a later modification to hide the discrepancy, as evidenced by some ancient manuscripts of John which have I instead of we at this point. Brown, on the other hand, has proposed that as the remainder of the passage wasn't subjected to such harmonising, the speech by Mary must have been written by a different author from the rest of the gospel.A Harmony of the Resurrection in the New Testament That Mary refers to Jesus as Lord is not really an anachronism as Jesus Himself does so in the Synoptics before His death by quoting and (). That the "we" is possibly original is supported by the word "autois" or "them" when the angel "said to them" in the same verse. However, it is possible that the singular pronoun (I) for Mary is just a literary device, extending this to Christ only naming her; perhaps presupposes that the other women came back to the tomb with Mary, but certainly says so, omitting that this happened on after their second way to the tomb).
====Men====
Luke merely states that after seeing the vacancy of the tomb, Peter was wondering what had happened, John gives a detailed account.
John describes the beloved disciple only as making a cursory glance at the linen, Peter is described as carefully examining the scene. After making their examination, the Beloved Disciple apparently draws a conclusion.
Once Peter has entered, John describes the Beloved Disciple as entering the tomb whereupon he believed as they knew not about the scripture. What exactly the Beloved Disciple believed, and who exactly they are, and what scripture exactly is being referenced, is not explained. The word used to mean scripture is singular and most of the time this form is used to refer to single quotations. Several passages from the Old Testament have been proposed as likely candidates for this source, Psalm, Hosea and Jonah., , and Since most of the New Testament was written before the Gospel of John, candidates have also been suggested from these texts. John only indicates that Peter and the Beloved Disciple were present, but it is possible that one or both of the people named Mary may also have been there, and thus Hartmann believes they refers to Peter and Mary being in ignorance about a resurrection.
Since the only mention in John of the tomb having any content describes it only as having grave clothes, this paucity of evidence for anything more than the body being stolen would make the Beloved Disciple rather gullible if it were a resurrection he suddenly believed in. A question also arises as to why, according to John, the Beloved Disciple doesn't tell Peter and them about this. A long line of major scholars including Augustine of Hippo and John Calvin have thus argued that the Beloved Disciple simply came to believe Mary Magdalene's story that the body was gone. Unlike Hartmann and those sharing his view, most scholars regard they as referring to Peter and the Beloved Disciple, pointing to them both being ignorant about any resurrection, and pointing to the conclusion that the Beloved Disciple had come to believe some other issue.
Textual critics like Schnackenberg, however, have argued that the passage does actually refer to belief in a resurrection, but argues the reference to him believing is a later addition to the text. The version of John in the ancient Codex Bezae has the passage reading that he saw and did ‘‘not’‘ believe. Bultmann has called John 20:9 a gloss of the ecclesiastical redaction, also arguing that the verse is a later addition, particularly since it references scripture as indicating that Jesus must rise from the dead, since John almost always prefers instead to use the wording ascend from the dead.
Luke and John both have the disciple(s) return home, which probably refers to Jerusalem, but possibly also Galilee.Raymond E. Brown claims that the majority of scholars interpret home as the location that the disciple(s) had been staying in Jerusalem, and hence a substantially briefer journey.
===Resurrection appearances of Jesus===
After the discovery of the empty tomb, the Gospels indicate that Jesus made a series of appearances to the disciples, with the most notable being to the disciples in the upper room, where Thomas did not believe until he was invited to put his finger into the holes in Jesus' hands and side; along the road to Emmaus, where people talked about their failed hopes that Jesus would be the messiah before recognising Jesus; and beside the Sea of Galilee to encourage Peter to serve his followers. His final appearance is reported as being forty days after the resurrection when he ascended into heaven, where he remains with God.
Next, there are a few resurrection appearances of Jesus. One of the most widely recalled pre-ascension visions of Jesus is the doubting Thomas conversation between Jesus and Thomas the Apostle. After Jesus' death, the apostle stated that he would not believe that Jesus was resurrected until he stuck his fingers in the nail holes in Jesus' hands and spear-hole in his side. Thomas was ordered to do so when he met Jesus, but the Gospel of John does not specify if physical contact actually took place. 
Soon after, on the road to Damascus, a one time rabbi and persecutor of the early church named Paul of Tarsus converted to Christianity. A few years later, Paul became Christianity's foremost missionary, converting hundreds of people, planting dozens of churches throughout Greece and the Near East, and writing letters that would become part of Christian scripture. On one missionary journey, Paul travels to Athens and speaks at the Areopagus, where he claims that over 500 people were witnesses of the resurrected Jesus, many still alive at the time. 
For historians the resurrection story provides insight into Jesus' followers…
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that Jesus appeared after his resurrection also upon the American continent and taught them, as well as bestowed the rights of the priesthood upon twelve apostles to administer in all the affairs of the church among that people. The account is found in Third Nephi in the Book of Mormon.Book of Mormon. Third Nephi Chapter 11
===Authorship of the story===
Supporters of the authenticity of the resurrection accounts argue that the comparatively short length of time between the events and the earliest descriptions (around forty to fifty years) makes it unlikely that a deliberate fraud could have occurred. E.P. Sanders argues that a plot to foster belief in the Resurrection would probably have resulted in a more consistent story, and that some of those who were involved in the events gave their lives for their belief. However, Sanders offers his own hypothesis, different from the supporters, claiming that "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.""Jesus Christ." Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 10 Jan. 2007 
In Mark's account, the earliest manuscripts of Mark 16 break off abruptly at 16:8, where the men at the empty tomb announce Jesus' resurrection, lacking post-resurrection appearances of Jesus. The modern text of Mark 16:9–20 does not appear in the earliest manuscripts.Bruce Metzger's Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, p. 122, commentary on : "The last twelve verses of the commonly received text of Mark are absent from the two oldest Greek manuscripts (Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209), from the Old Latin Codex Bobiensis, the Sinaitic Syriac manuscript, syr(s), about one hundred Armenian manuscripts, and the two oldest Georgian manuscripts… Many modern translations of Mark 16 end at Mark 16:8 with for they were afraid, sometimes adding 16:8–20 in italics, or in a foot note; the New Revised Standard Version gives both the "long ending," i.e., 16:8–20, and another variant "short ending" after .
Those who think Paul was a Gnostic Christian hold the belief that Paul talks of the resurrection as an allegory or that Paul thought that Jesus was never a human.Pagels, Elaine, The Gnostic Paul: Gnostic Exegesis of the Pauline Letters, 1992, ISBN 0–8006–0403–2
===Non-Christian===
According to one Jewish perspective, the body of Jesus was removed in the same night.Found in the Toledoth Yeshu (text), Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho the Jew chapter CVII: "his disciples stole him by night from the tomb, where he was laid when unfastened from the cross, and now deceive men by asserting that he has risen from the dead and ascended to heaven," , Apologists see this as an acknowledgment that the tomb was empty, with an attempt to explain it away.Perman, Matt Evidence for the Resurrection The Toledoth Yeshu, however, dates from mediaeval times, and is not an early source. It was a conflation of the Talmud accounts of multiple people named Yeshu.
The Islamic perspective is that Jesus was not crucified. "But Allâh raised him up to Himself. And Allâh is Ever All-Powerful, All-Wise".Qur'an, Sura 4:158 The Quran says in Surah An-Nisa [Ch004:Verse157] "And because of their saying, "We killed Messiah 'Îsâ (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), the Messenger of Allâh," – but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but it appeared so to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts".Qur'an, Sura 4:157 Some people have interpreted this verse to mean that some other person was put on the cross, but the Quran does not give the name of any other person. This view is also given in the uncanonical Gospel of Barnabas which identifies Judas as the one crucified. Bible records on the fate of Judas Iscariot can be considered contradictory,Catholic Encyclopedia: Judas Iscariot: "Some modern critics lay great stress on the apparent discrepancies between this passage in the Acts and the account given by St. Matthew." although both diverging accounts state he died an untimely death (, ).A Harmony of the death of Judas in Matthew and Acts
The Ahmadiyya Movement believes that Jesus survived the crucifixion and traveled to Kashmir, where he died as a prophet under the name of Yuz Asaf (whose grave they identify in Srinagar, India).Ahmad, M. M. "The Lost Tribes of Israel: The Travels of Jesus", Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Retrieved April 14, 2007. This view has also been taken up by some western authors, Nicolai Notovitch in Unknown life of Saint Issa 1894, Günter Grönbold, Jesus In Indien, München: Kösel 1985, ISBN 3466202701. Norbert Klatt, Lebte Jesus in Indien?, Göttingen: Wallstein 1988.
==See also==
* Christianity
* Jesus
* Tomb of Jesus:
** The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the ground on which the church stands is venerated by most Christians as Golgotha, the Hill of Calvary, where the New Testament says that Jesus was crucified
** The Garden Tomb, discovered in the 19th century, considered the actual site of Jesus' grave by some Christians.
** Talpiot Tomb, discovered in 1980, subject of the controversial documentary The Lost Tomb of Jesus
* Islamic view of Jesus' death
* Faith and rationality
* Responsibility for the death of Jesus
* Life-death-rebirth deity
* Mythography of Jesus Christ
==Footnotes and references==
==Further reading==
*
===Pro-Resurrection===
Articles:
* Bruce, FF, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?, 1985, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press
* Catholic Encyclopedia, The resurrection of Jesus Christ
*Endsjø, Dag Øistein. Greek Resurrection Beliefs and the Success of Christianity. New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2009. 
* David Marshall (Ph.D.). "The Risen Jesus" an essay in Essential Jesus, edited by Bryan Ball and William Johnsson, and published by Pacific Press in 2002.
* Craig, William Lane, Contemporary Scholarship and the Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, 1985, Truth 1 89–95
* Yamauchi, Edwin, Easter: Myth, Hallucination, or History?, 1974, Christianity Today
* Habermas, Gary, "Resurrection Research from 1975 to the Present: What are Critical Scholars saying?" Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus, Jun2005, Vol. 3 Issue 2, p135-153
* Wright, N.T., "Resurrecting Old Arguments: Responding to Four Essays," Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus, Jun2005, Vol. 3 Issue 2, p209-231. 
Books:
* Bauckham, Richard. Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony. Wm. B. Eerdman's, 2008. 
* Habermas, Gary, The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ (College Press: Joplin, MI 1996).
* Habermas, Gary and Licona, Michael, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, Kregel Publications, 2004.
* McDowell, Josh, New Evidence that Demands a Verdict, Thomas Nelson, Inc, Publishers, 1999
* Strobel, Lee, The Case for Easter, Zondervan Publishing Company, 2004.
* Wenham, John. Easter Enigma: Do the Resurrection Stories Contradict One Another? Cambridge University Press, 1993.
* Wright, N.T., The Resurrection of the Son of God. Fortress Press. 2003 Online excerpt
===Sceptical===
Articles:
* Carrier, Richard, Why I Don't Buy the Resurrection Story, 2006 (6th ed.)
* Lowder, Jeffery Jay, The Historicity of Jesus' Resurrection, 1995
* Lowder, Jeffery Jay, Historical Evidence and the Empty Tomb Story: A Reply to William Lane Craig, 2001
* Price, Robert M., By This Time He Stinketh: The Attempts of William Lane Craig to Exhume Jesus. 1997.
* Crossley, James G.. "Against the Historical Plausibility of the Empty Tomb Story and the Bodily Resurrection of Jesus: A Response to N.T. Wright,"Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus, Jun2005, Vol. 3 Issue 2, p171-186
Books:
* Robert M. Price and Jeffery Jay Lowder, The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond the Grave (ISBN 1–59102–286-X), 2005
* Paine, Thomas, The Age of Reason, 1795
* Spong, John Shelby, Resurrection: Myth or Reality? , 1995
===Dialogues===
* Craig, William Lane, Jesus' Resurrection: Fact or Figment?: A Debate Between William Lane Craig and Gerd Ludemann
* Stewart, Robert B. The Resurrection of Jesus: John Dominic Crossan And N.T. Wright in Dialogue, 2006
* Is There Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus?: A Debate between William Lane Craig and Bart D. Ehrman (transcript) (video)
Major events in Jesus' life in the Gospels
Nativity| Childhood| Baptism| Temptation| Sermon on the Mount| Transfiguration| Last Supper| Passion| Crucifixion| Resurrection| Hell| Ascension
Category:Apocalypticism
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Category:Christian mythology
Category:Glorious Mysteries
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Category:Resurrection of Jesus
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