Of all the historical events described in the Bible, none is more important than the resurrection of Jesus.  It is necessary to the truth of Christianity and as Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15:14, “if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”  If such an incredible event had occurred, there would surely be a host of historical and archaeological evidence to support it.  Is that what we find?

A Basic Recap

Logic and Light has reviewed the basic historical evidence for Christ’s resurrection on multiple occasions.  We will not take the time to repeat these facts in detail here, but instead provide a quick summary:

• Eight independent and otherwise reliable New Testament writers testify to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, including at least four who were witnesses of the risen Christ.
• Approximately a dozen non-biblical sources confirm Jesus’ existence and corroborate many of the details of the gospels including his life, teachings, performance of unexplained feats, execution, and presumed resurrection.
• There are dozens of Old Testament prophecies about the future Messiah that are only fulfilled in Jesus.
• Despite years of persecution, imprisonment, and eventual execution, all of Jesus’ apostles went to their deaths proclaiming the risen Christ. All but John were executed for their beliefs while he died in exile.
• Jesus’ tomb was unquestionably empty and no body was ever produced to prove he remained dead. Even the enemies of the early Christians (Jewish and Roman authorities) admitted the empty tomb and created counter-narratives to explain it away.
• Paul, by his own admission, was a pharisaical Jew that persecuted the church but became a dedicated Christian after an interaction with the risen Jesus. Like the other apostles, Paul was executed without recanting his faith.
• James, the brother of Jesus, did not believe He was the Messiah until after a post-resurrection experience with Christ. James then became a committed Christian, the leader of the Jerusalem church, and a martyr for the faith.
• Despite countless other Messianic figures in Israel and throughout the centuries, none except Jesus amounted to anything historically. He is by far the most influential person of all time.  This fact would only have occurred if the early Christians had compelling evidence to support their claims.

Caesar’s Decree

Additional archaeological support for the biblical assertions that Christ’s tomb was empty and that the authorities claimed Jesus’ disciples had stolen the body is found in an unusual decree from Emperor Claudius.  The edict is from ~41 AD and specifically prohibits moving or stealing bodies from stone sealed tombs with “wicked intent” and declares that such an act is offensive to the gods.¹ The decree seems to have been issued in Judea or Galilee and specifically targets the type of tomb in which Jesus was buried.  This fact is especially telling since Romans were typically cremated and not buried in the type of tombs mentioned.² Given the decree’s content and timing, it is almost certainly in response to the spreading stories of Christ’s resurrection within the Roman empire, Caesar’s belief that the disciples had stolen the body, and his attempt to prevent similar actions in the future.

A Lesson from Watergate

As evidenced from Caesar’s decree and the claims of Jewish and Roman authorities, the primary counter-narrative to the resurrection is the contention that the disciples stole Jesus’ body and lied about His return.  This scenario is unlikely for many reasons, as we have discussed in a prior post.

However, there is an event from recent history that further discredits the theory the disciples knowingly conspired to lie about the resurrection.  According to Charles Colson, the 1972 Watergate scandal proves that the disciples actually witnessed the risen Christ.

Colson is one of the convicted conspirators involved in Watergate and served jail time for his role in the crime.  He was able to witness firsthand how people behave during a conspiracy.  He observed that some of the “most powerful men in America” who were “intensely loyal” to the President only lasted two weeks before turning on one another to save themselves.³ These powerful men, facing merely personal embarrassment and limited prison time, lasted only two weeks. However, the disciples were just common, everyday men with no power or influence who faced rejection, prison, torture, and execution.  And they unanimously maintained the truth of the resurrection for decades without a single one recanting.  Colson observes:

“Every single one of the disciples insisted, to their dying breaths, that they had physically seen Jesus bodily raised from the dead. Don’t you think that one of those apostles would have cracked before being beheaded or stoned? That one of them would have made a deal with the authorities? None did.⁴”

Such actions by the disciples prove they were not merely lying to uphold some made-up conspiracy.  They truly believed, with every fiber of their beings, they had interacted with the risen Christ.  Since they were in the position to know for certain whether they had actually seen Jesus or not, we have to take their unanimous testimony very seriously.

The Shroud of Turin

The Shroud of Turin is probably the most controversial piece of evidence used to support the resurrection of Jesus.  Countless books and articles have been written to either confirm or refute this particular artifact.  While the Shroud is certainly debated, Logic and Light will briefly address it here for two reasons:  1) It is unique and immensely interesting and 2) It represents a “risk-free” argument for the resurrection.  In other words, if it is ever conclusively shown to be a forgery, it does absolutely nothing to damage the case for Christ.  If, however, it is proven legitimate, it provides convincing testimony that something amazing happened.

A summary of the Shroud’s compelling evidence:

• Despite numerous academic and scientific analyses, the image on the Shroud is a mystery. Its image cannot be replicated by any known technology of the past or present.⁵
• The image is on the very surface of the fibers (only 1/500 of an inch in some areas) and does not contain any paints, pigments, or dyes.⁶
• The image inexplicably contains three-dimensional information and appears to be a photographic negative,⁷ which would have been unknown to anyone either in the time of Christ or to supposed ~14^th century forgers.
• The image reflects wounds that are medically correct and completely consistent with the biblical description of Christ’s injuries, including scourge marks on the back, punctures in the wrist and ankles, a wound to the side, swelling in the cheek (as having been struck), and marks from the crown of thorns.⁸
• The Shroud contains real human blood of type AB.⁹
• The blood stains are from clotted blood rather than freshly flowing.¹⁰ This fact is consistent with it having been applied to the body after death and removal from the cross.
• The blood is still red, despite centuries having passed. This fact is another reason some assumed the Shroud was a fake.  However, it has been discovered that the presence of bilirubin from the liver can make dried blood remain red indefinitely.  Bilirubin in secreted in response to great trauma, consistent with the torture and execution of Christ.¹¹
• In 1988, as part of the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STRP), a piece of the Shroud was Carbon-14 dated to between 1,260-1,390 AD and “proven” to be a forgery. However, there are numerous concerns with this dating:
  • The Shroud itself has been handled extensively, greatly increasing the chances of contamination.¹²
  • The Shroud is known to have been damaged by fire and repaired in the 16^th century AD. The sample used for Carbon-14 testing contained both cotton and dyes, proving it was at least partially taken from and contaminated by the later, repaired section since the Shroud is made of linen and does not contain dyes.¹³
• Subsequently, a new dating was recently performed using the more modern and accurate Wide Angle X-ray Scattering (WAXS) method. This technique returned a 1^st century AD date, consistent with the time of Christ.¹⁴
• In addition, pollen that is native to the Palestine area (and not Europe)¹⁵ and limestone dust identical to that from Jerusalem¹⁶ have been found on the Shroud, further calling the European forgery theory into question.

The Shroud of Turin’s authenticity is bolstered by the existence of another, though lesser known, blood-stained burial cloth called the Sudarium of Oviedo.  The Sudarium is smaller than the Shroud and is believed by many to be the “face cloth” from John 20:7 that is mentioned in addition to the larger linen burial clothes (i.e. the Shroud).  There are many reasons the Sudarium is interesting and reinforces the Shroud:

• The Sudarium does not have any visible images, but does contain blood stains.
• The blood is human type AB, just like the Shroud.¹⁷
• The blood stains correspond remarkably well with those on the facial area of the Shroud.¹⁸
• There are also stains from a pleural effusion, which is lubricating fluid from inside the lungs. This fluid can build-up from trauma or asphyxiation (i.e. that occurs with crucifixion) and may be expelled through the nose.¹⁹
• Pollens from the area around Jerusalem have been found on the Sudarium.²⁰
• Residues of myrrh and aloe, which were mentioned in John 19 as burial preparations, appear to be on the cloth.²¹
• Based on the visible blood and pleural stains, the nose appears to be the same size as the one on the Shroud.²²
• The available evidence suggests that the Sudarium and the Shroud were in contact with one another (same blood, similar pollen, corresponding blood stains, similar facial features, etc.).
• The Sudarium has a well-documented history,²³ with known references as far back as 570 AD when it was kept at a monastery in Jerusalem.²⁴
• The fact that the Sudarium is likely to have been in contact with the Shroud and can be traced back to the 6^th century or earlier further discredits the 1988 Carbon-14 dating and the European-hoax theory.

In total, the Shroud and Sudarium provide compelling evidence, that is 100% consistent with the biblical narratives, for the torture, death, and burial of Jesus.  The Shroud, by nature of its inexplicable and seemingly miraculous image formation, provides convincing testimony that something amazing happened to Jesus’ body after death.

Conclusion

The support for the resurrection of Christ is clear and compelling.  If there were any other historical event with even a fraction of this confirmation, it would be unquestionably accepted as true.  Every piece of actual, historical evidence we have supports the biblical narrative of Christ’s resurrection.  All the counter-theories offered to explain the empty tomb have fatal problems²⁵ and lack historical evidence.²⁶ It is they, and not the resurrection, that must be accepted on nothing more than “blind faith.”

Ultimately, the choice is pretty simple.  We can accept that God miraculously raised Jesus from the dead as He claimed He would do hundreds of years beforehand.  Or we can believe that twenty-seven historical documents from eight reliable witnesses are wrong, dozens of ancient prophecies just “got lucky,” twelve men stole Jesus’ body and suffered decades of hardship for what they knew was a lie, Paul and James both decided to reject all they believed in so they could also suffer decades of persecution for that same lie, some unknown artists centuries later decided to trick others into believing this lie by creating an elaborate hoax that is beyond any of today’s technology, and all of these folks were so successful at propagating their lies that countless thousands of people in their time and billions of people throughout history have been fooled.  Which scenario sounds more likely?

 

Notes:

1. Kennedy, Titus. Unearthing the Bible.  Harvest House Publishers 2020.  200-201.
2. Ibid, Pgs. 200-201.
3. Minton, Evan. The Evidence for Jesus’ Resurrection, Part 7: Reasoning to the Resurrection. https://crossexamined.org/the-evidence-for-jesus-resurrection-part-7-reasoning-to-the-resurrection/
4. Ibid
5. Caldwell, Duane.   Is the Shroud of Turin Authentic?  The Unconsidered Evidence.  https://rationalfaith.com/2019/09/is-the-shroud-of-turin-authentic/
6. Ibid
7. Lanser, Rick. 2022. Further Ruminations on the Shroud of Turin.  https://biblearchaeology.org/research/topics/the-shroud-of-turin/4912-further-ruminations-on-the-shroud-of-turin
8. Lanser, Rick. 2014. Some Ruminations on the Shroud of Turin.  https://biblearchaeology.org/research/topics/the-shroud-of-turin/3199-some-ruminations-on-the-shroud-of-turin
9. Ibid
10. Ibid
11. Cit. Lanser, Rick. 2022. Further Ruminations on the Shroud of Turin.
12. Cit. Caldwell, Duane.
13. Caldwell, Duane.
14. Mauro, JP.   New Technology Suggests Shroud of Turin is 2,000 Years Old.  https://aleteia.org/2022/04/22/new-technology-suggests-shroud-of-turin-is-2000-years-old/
15. Ibid
16. Cit. Lanser, Rick. 2014.  Some Ruminations on the Shroud of Turin.
17. Guscin, Mark.   The Sudarium of Oviedo:  Its History and Relationship to the Shroud of Turin.  https://www.shroud.com/guscin.htm
18. Ibid
19. Ibid
20. Ibid
21. Ibid
22. Ibid
23. Ibid
24. MacGowan, Doug. Sudarium of Oviedo.  https://www.historicmysteries.com/the-sudarium-of-oviedo/
25. Turek, Frank and Geisler, Norman. I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist.  Crossway 2004.  301-312.
26. Ibid, Pg. 313.