Resurrection of Jesus

===Burial===
{{Main|Burial of Jesus}}

An often noted argument in favour of a decent burial before sunset is the Jewish custom, based on Deuteronomy 21:22–23,<ref>{{Bibleverse|Deuteronomy|21:22-23|NRSV}}</ref> which says the body must not be left exposed overnight, but must be buried that day. This is also attested in the Temple Scroll of the Essenes, and in [[Josephus]]' ''Jewish War'' 4.5.2§317, describing the burial of crucified Jewish insurgents before sunset.{{sfn|Brown|1973|p=147}}{{sfnp|Dijkhuizen|2011|pp=119–120}}{{sfnp|Dunn|2003b|p=782}}{{sfnp|Evans|2005}}{{sfnp|Magness|2005}} Reference is made to the [[Digest (Roman law)|Digesta]], a Roman Law Code from the 6th century AD, which contains material from the 2nd century AD, stating that "the bodies of those who have been punished are only buried when this has been requested and permission granted."{{sfnp|Evans|2005|p=195}}{{sfnp|Allison|2021|p=104}} Burial of people who were executed by crucifixion is also attested by archaeological finds from [[Jehohanan]], a body of an apparently crucified man with a nail in the heel which could not be removed who was buried in a tomb.{{sfnp|Magness|2005|p=144}}{{sfnp|Dunn|2003b|p=782}}

Contra a decent burial, [[Martin Hengel]] has argued that Jesus was buried in disgrace as an executed criminal who died a shameful death,{{sfnp|Magness|2005|p=141}}{{sfnp|Hengel|1977}} a view which is "now widely accepted and has become entrenched in scholarly literature."{{sfnp|Magness|2005|p=141}} [[John Dominic Crossan]] argued that Jesus's followers did not know what happened to the body.{{sfnp|Allison|2021|p=94}}{{refn|group=note|Allison refers to "Crossan, Historical Jesus, 391–4; idem, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1994), 123–58; idem, Who Killed Jesus? Exposing the Roots of Anti-Semitism in the Gospel Story of the Death of Jesus (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1996), 160–77))"}} According to Crossan, Joseph of Arimathea is "a total Markan creation in name, in place, and in function",{{sfnp|Allison|2021|p=94, note 4}}{{refn|group=note|Allison refers to Crossan (1996), ''Who Killed Jesus?''}} arguing that Jesus's followers inferred from Deut. 21:22–23 that Jesus was buried by a group of law-abiding Jews, as described in Acts 13:29.

New Testament scholar Dale Allison writes that this story was adapted by Mark, turning the group of Jews into a specific person.{{sfnp|Allison|2021|p=94-95}} Roman practice was often to leave the body on the stake, denying an honourable or family burial, stating that "the dogs were waiting."{{sfnp|Allison|2021|p=95}}{{sfnp|Crossan|2009|p=143}} Archaeologist Byron McCane argues that it was customary to dispose of the dead immediately, yet concludes that "Jesus was buried in disgrace in a criminal's tomb".{{sfnp|McCane|2003|p=89}} British New Testament scholar [[Maurice Casey]] also notes that "Jewish criminals were supposed to receive a shameful and dishonourable burial,"{{sfnp|Casey|2010|p=451}} and argues that Jesus was indeed buried by Joseph of Arimathea, but in a tomb for criminals owned by the [[Sanhedrin]].{{sfnp|Casey|2010|p=451}} He therefore rejects the empty tomb narrative as legendary.{{sfnp|Casey|2010}}

New Testament historian [[Bart D. Ehrman]] writes that it cannot be known what happened to Jesus's body; he doubts that Jesus had a decent burial,{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=82-88}} and also thinks that it is doubtful that Jesus was buried by Joseph of Arimathea specifically.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=82}} According to Ehrman, "what was originally a vague statement that the unnamed Jewish leaders buried Jesus becomes a story of one leader in particular, who is named, doing so."{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=84}}{{refn|group=note|In an earlier publication (2003), Ehrman recognized that "Some scholars have argued that it's more plausible that in fact Jesus was placed in a common burial plot, which sometimes happened, or was, as many other crucified people, simply left to be eaten by scavenging animals," but further elaborated by stating that "[T]he accounts are fairly unanimous in saying [...] that Jesus was in fact buried by this fellow, Joseph of Arimathea, and so it's relatively reliable that that's what happened."<ref>Bart Ehrman, From Jesus to Constantine: A History of Early Christianity, Lecture 4: "Oral and Written Traditions about Jesus" [The Teaching Company, 2003].</ref>}} Ehrman gives three reasons for doubting a decent burial. Referring to Hengel and Crossan, Ehrman argues that crucifixion was meant "to torture and humiliate a person as fully as possible," and the body was normally left on the stake to be eaten by animals.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=85}} Ehrman further argues that criminals were usually buried in common graves;{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=86}} and Pilate had no concern for Jewish sensitivities, which makes it unlikely that he would have allowed Jesus to be buried.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=87}}

A number of Christian authors have rejected the criticisms, taking the Gospel accounts to be historically reliable.{{refn|group=note| {{harvtxt|Wright|2009|p=22}} argues that the burial of Christ is part of the earliest gospel traditions.}} [[John A.T. Robinson]] states that "the burial of Jesus in the tomb is one of the earliest and best-attested facts about Jesus."{{sfnp|Robinson|1973|p=131}} [[Dale Allison]], reviewing the arguments of Crossan and Ehrman, finds their assertions strong, but "find[s] it likely that a man named Joseph, probably a Sanhedrist, from the obscure Arimathea, sought and obtained permission from the Roman authorities to make arrangements for Jesus’s hurried burial."{{sfnp|Allison|2021|p=112}} [[James Dunn (theologian)|James Dunn]] states that "the tradition is firm that Jesus was given a proper burial (Mark 15.42-47 pars.), and there are good reasons why its testimony should be respected."{{sfnp|Dunn|2003b|p=781}}

Dunn argues that the burial tradition is "one of the oldest pieces of tradition we have," referring to 1 Cor. 15.4; burial was in line with Jewish custom as prescribed by Deut. 21:22–23 and confirmed by Josephus ''War''; cases of burial of crucified persons are known, as attested by the Yehohanan burial; Joseph of Arimathea "is a very plausible historical character"; and "the presence of the women at the cross and their involvement in Jesus's burial can be attributed more plausibly to early oral memory than to creative story-telling."{{sfnp|Dunn|2003b|pp=781–783}} [[Craig A. Evans]] refers to Deut. 21:22-23 and Josephus to argue that the entombment of Jesus accords with Jewish sensitivities and historical reality. Evans also notes that "politically, too, it seems unlikely that, on the eve of Passover, a holiday that celebrates Israel's liberation from foreign domination, Pilate would have wanted to provoke the Jewish population" by denying Jesus a proper burial.{{sfn|Evans|2005|pp=188–190, 195}} [[Andrew Loke]], after replying to various objections against the historicity of the guards at the tomb, argues that "the presence of guards at the tomb would imply that Jesus was buried in a well-identified place (contrary to unburied hypothesis)."{{sfn|Loke|2020|p=141}}

According to religion professor John Granger Cook, there are historical texts that mention mass graves, but they contain no indication of those bodies being dug up by animals. There is no mention of an open pit or shallow graves in any Roman text. There are a number of historical texts outside the gospels showing the bodies of the crucified dead were buried by family or friends. Cook writes that "those texts show that the narrative of Joseph of Arimethaea's burial of Jesus would be perfectly comprehensible to a Greco-Roman reader of the gospels and historically credible."<ref>Cook, J. (2011). Crucifixion and Burial. New Testament Studies, 57(2), 193-213. {{doi|10.1017/S0028688510000214}}. p. 213.</ref>
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