Resurrection of Jesus Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Empty tomb=== {{Main|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 body hypothesis|stolen from the grave]].{{sfnp|Dunn2003b|p=836}} Other suggestions, not supported in mainstream scholarship, are that Jesus had [[swoon hypothesis|not really died on the cross]], was [[Lost body hypothesis|lost due to natural causes]],{{sfnp|Ehrman|2014|p=88}} or was [[Substitution hypothesis|replaced by an impostor]].<ref>e.g. https://www.christianpost.com/voices/jesus-twin-brother-and-the-truth-about-easter.html or in [[The Gospel of Afranius]]</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 [[Guy Stroumsa|Gedaliahu Stroumsa]], 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 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.{{refn|group=note|Bultmann dismisses the empty tomb story as "an apologetic legend."{{sfnp|Bultmann|1963|p=287}}}} Allison, however, finds this argument from silence unconvincing.{{sfn|Allison|2005|p=306}} 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{{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 [[Criterion of Embarrassment]] in recent years.{{sfn|Dunn|2003b|pp=843}}<ref>[[Richard Bauckham]], ''Gospel Women, Studies of the Named Women in the Gospels'' (2002), pages 257-258</ref> According to [[Dale Allison]], 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}} ====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"{{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}} [[Dale Allison]] argues for an empty tomb that was later followed by visions of Jesus by [[Apostles in the New Testament|the Apostles]] and Mary Magdalene, while also accepting the historicity of the resurrection.{{sfn|Allison|2021|pp=3, 337, 353}} Religion professor [[Dag Øistein Endsjø]] points to how the notion of an empty tomb would fit with the [[Ancient Greek religion|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 (mythology)|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|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.{{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 [[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.{{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, "[t]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}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! 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