Question 2b) Did Jesus REALLY resurrect from the dead?
Answer 2b) Nope… SYKE!!! Yeah he did. The answer is a bit more complicated than that and surprisingly for many people there is an academic argument for it. I am actually a bit nervous on attempting some sort of answer but once again, I will only try to explain as much as I feel comfortable with, the rest is up to you to research and find for yourself.
One of the important rules I learned in my New Testament course was that you must do your history before you do your theology. In order for us to understand what the scriptures are saying, in order for us to believe in the validity of what’s being said, we need to understand the context and culture in which the Bible is written. If we understand the culture and speech, then we can begin to see why they spoke the way they spoke which opens our eyes to what the meaning is behind the words and stories.
If we look at the Jewish history, there have been several people who were deemed as the messiah. Several people came along and it seemed several times as if the Jewish hope had finally arrived. The problem was that those people always died and usually the movement would have died with them. If the movement was to somehow move on, a sibling or someone extremely close would take up the position of the messiah and keep the movement alive (although this was probably not very effective). If this Jesus guy was as famous as the Bible claims and he actually died, those people would have either stopped believing in this movement or James/Judas (brothers) would have taken up the messiah role. But for some odd reason, people continued to follow this Jesus guy. They even claimed that he resurrected!
Although this does not seem significant to us, we must remember that Jesus died on the cross. The cross to Roman culture was a humiliating death reserved only for the worst criminals. The cross to the Jews signified the person being cursed by God. For Jews or Romans who followed Christ, their faith in him would have been dead at the cross for multiple reasons.
It is also traditionally believed that every disciple of Christ except for John was martyred. John by the way was boiled alive and somehow survived. It is understandable if they lied about Jesus’ death to gain fame and wealth but this was not the case. Being a part of this movement did not bring the disciples luxury rather it brought them death. They did not recant but they held on to the end after living lives of poverty and persecution. There was no logical reason for the disciples to actually have gone on with the Christian movement the way they did unless there was some reason to believe that Christ really rose from the dead.
There are many more arguments and the arguments I listed go much more in depth. There is a nearly 800 page book by NT Wright called The Resurrection of the Son of God which defends the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is also The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel which many people have relied on in the past. There is a lecture where NT Wright presents his argument. The lecture is actually too long to post so here's the link:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4647007557713600669#
This is a very weighty question and should be taken into serious consideration. Please do not take this lightly. If this is real, it has great implications for your life. If this event is true, the reality that God loves you and wants you to be in relationship with Him becomes a reality. The love of God becomes real! The reality that God took the initiative to bring you to Him becomes a reality rather than a theory. Please study this topic carefully.
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