The empty tomb is a historical fact, most scholars agree

Most scholars, including atheist and skeptical ones, agree that the tomb of Jesus really was found empty by a group of Jesus' women followers after He really was buried there. The empty tomb is a powerful piece of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord:

http://reasonsforjesus.com/the-empty-tomb-is-a-historical-fact-most-scholars-agree/

That is one of the most idiotic article I've ever read, its full of bags of air enough to sustain life on mars, its filled with illogic and argumentum ad populum


objections to the nonsensical article


1. The supposedly empty tomb is never presented as an object or cause of resurrection faith. Quite the contrary, it is a baffling, painful symbol of Jesus's unexplained absence. Moreover, if one follows Paul's description of the resurrection body, and follows Gospel accounts of the risen Jesus's ability to disappear at will, and to pass through solid objects, then the stone rolled away from the empty tomb really becomes an embarrassment because it implies that the risen Jesus HAD to move the stone, or HAD to have God or angels move it for him. Thus, a direct contradiction to all the other NT testimony that the risen Lord "is a spirit". There is no multiple attestation for any of this as a historical event. There is later_multiple attestation from those who were "not" eyewitnesses - which attestation is, of course, utterly without historical value, because it is only later reports of earlier, non-documented tales.



2. No eyewitness evidence, either, for the "Jewish rumor" that disciples stole the body. We have no idea if resurrection faith was actually preached "to the Jews", or how they may have reacted to it. Acts says it was so preached, but he also shows that it was utterly inconsequential - none of the Jews were shocked or outraged by it, and they did not persecute Peter and other risen-Jesus preachers.


The stolen body rumor has to first depend on public knowledge of an empty tomb - which Paul never refers to...and neither do the Gospel writers., except Matthew, whose undocumented narrative mentions a connection between the "sleeping tomb guards" and the Jewish/Roman authorities. But that's only Matthew - and it is still undocumented. The empty tomb was not seen by anyone but those who were already "Jesus-believers", and thus was not a matter of public record.

BTW if the disciples were connecting an empty tomb with the continuing existence of Jesus - who was still issuing orders to them and was accessible to them - then the Jewish and Roman authorities would have arrested and/or executed the lot of them, because they were saying that 1. Jesus's execution was basically a failure, and 2. Jesus, as executed criminal, was still powerful and leading his disciples in revolt. If this story was so presented to Jewish and Roman authority, they would have done a dragnet to find and then successfully execute this false Messiah who had gotten away from Roman justice. But they never did their dragnet (except in the silly movie, 'Risen'), and the Gospels are unanimous that Rome did nothing at all to punish the disciples, or to find Jesus and bring him (back) to justice.


The empty tomb in the NT only points to fear and confusion, not to Jesus. And it is undocumented by eyewitness testimony. So the serious student of scripture should stick to the earliest resurrection testimony, that of Paul and the epistles - which does not speak at all of a risen corpse, but rather of an exalted non-material Christ manifesting from heaven.

the whole story is or was mixed with a fine blend of hearsay, subjective interpretation and utter nonsense and added to the gruel of half fact and half fiction and written down a generation or two after the event. 


enough of playing the Christian game, here are the sensible conclusions

1) There is no historical record of Jesus even existing except for CHURCH SUPPLIED DOCUMENTS.

2) The Church says he was buried, but, he might not even have existed

3) The Church says the tomb was empty, but, if he didn't exist, that is at least expected. And, yes, a missing body is not proof of resurrection (Ask Dr Frankenstien, et al, how that goes)

4) There may have not been any followers of Jesus, as Jesus is not shown to actually exist, and, historians already have shown that the "apostles" seem to have been made up/based upon composites of other people, etc.

5) The followers of Jesus did not seem to exist, and, also, the writings attributed to the alleged apostles do not appear for almost a century or so later...for the earliest, and a few centuries for the latest.

6) It was not hard a couple thousand years ago to convince people something supernatural had happened.

In summary,it's an historical fact because the story and the story alone doesn't sound too incredulous.

tartar9:
In summary,it's an historical fact because the story and the story alone doesn't sound too incredulous.

the article achieves a new level of idiocy

tartar9:
In summary,it's an historical fact because the story and the story alone doesn't sound too incredulous.

it's olaadegbu what do you expect

hopefulLandlord:
That is one of the most idiotic article I've ever read, its full of bags of air enough to sustain life on mars, its filled with illogic and argumentum ad populum


objections to the nonsensical article


1. The supposedly empty tomb is never presented as an object or cause of resurrection faith. Quite the contrary, it is a baffling, painful symbol of Jesus's unexplained absence. Moreover, if one follows Paul's description of the resurrection body, and follows Gospel accounts of the risen Jesus's ability to disappear at will, and to pass through solid objects, then the stone rolled away from the empty tomb really becomes an embarrassment because it implies that the risen Jesus HAD to move the stone, or HAD to have God or angels move it for him. Thus, a direct contradiction to all the other NT testimony that the risen Lord "is a spirit". There is no multiple attestation for any of this as a historical event. There is later_multiple attestation from those who were "not" eyewitnesses - which attestation is, of course, utterly without historical value, because it is only later reports of earlier, non-documented tales.



2. No eyewitness evidence, either, for the "Jewish rumor" that disciples stole the body. We have no idea if resurrection faith was actually preached "to the Jews", or how they may have reacted to it. Acts says it was so preached, but he also shows that it was utterly inconsequential - none of the Jews were shocked or outraged by it, and they did not persecute Peter and other risen-Jesus preachers.


The stolen body rumor has to first depend on public knowledge of an empty tomb - which Paul never refers to...and neither do the Gospel writers., except Matthew, whose undocumented narrative mentions a connection between the "sleeping tomb guards" and the Jewish/Roman authorities. But that's only Matthew - and it is still undocumented. The empty tomb was not seen by anyone but those who were already "Jesus-believers", and thus was not a matter of public record.

BTW if the disciples were connecting an empty tomb with the continuing existence of Jesus - who was still issuing orders to them and was accessible to them - then the Jewish and Roman authorities would have arrested and/or executed the lot of them, because they were saying that 1. Jesus's execution was basically a failure, and 2. Jesus, as executed criminal, was still powerful and leading his disciples in revolt. If this story was so presented to Jewish and Roman authority, they would have done a dragnet to find and then successfully execute this false Messiah who had gotten away from Roman justice. But they never did their dragnet (except in the silly movie, 'Risen'), and the Gospels are unanimous that Rome did nothing at all to punish the disciples, or to find Jesus and bring him (back) to justice.


The empty tomb in the NT only points to fear and confusion, not to Jesus. And it is undocumented by eyewitness testimony. So the serious student of scripture should stick to the earliest resurrection testimony, that of Paul and the epistles - which does not speak at all of a risen corpse, but rather of an exalted non-material Christ manifesting from heaven.

the whole story is or was mixed with a fine blend of hearsay, subjective interpretation and utter nonsense and added to the gruel of half fact and half fiction and written down a generation or two after the event. 


enough of playing the Christian game, here are the sensible conclusions

1) There is no historical record of Jesus even existing except for CHURCH SUPPLIED DOCUMENTS.

2) The Church says he was buried, but, he might not even have existed

3) The Church says the tomb was empty, but, if he didn't exist, that is at least expected. And, yes, a missing body is not proof of resurrection (Ask Dr Frankenstien, et al, how that goes)

4) There may have not been any followers of Jesus, as Jesus is not shown to actually exist, and, historians already have shown that the "apostles" seem to have been made up/based upon composites of other people, etc.

5) The followers of Jesus did not seem to exist, and, also, the writings attributed to the alleged apostles do not appear for almost a century or so later...for the earliest, and a few centuries for the latest.

6) It was not hard a couple thousand years ago to convince people something supernatural had happened.

Why do you plagiarize other people? Copying them word for word then presenting their thoughts as your own? You've been called out on this before and you still doing it, why?

rekinomtla:


Why do you plagiarize other people? Copying them word for word then presenting their thoughts as your own? You've been called out on this before and you still doing it, why?

KingEbukasBlog:

So even fellow atheists here on Nairaland have called him out on this before and that was last year July

rekinomtla:


Why do you plagiarize other people? Copying them word for word then presenting their thoughts as your own? You've been called out on this before and you still doing it, why?

You caught him red handed.

OLAADEGBU:


You caught him red handed.

The funny thing is that comment he plagiarized was demolished in the comments section of that website.

hopefulLandlord:
That is one of the most idiotic article I've ever read, its full of bags of air enough to sustain life on mars, its filled with illogic and argumentum ad populum

I'm starting to think you didn't even read this article you deemed "idiotic." How can you say the article commits the “argumentum ad popular” fallacy when the author explicitly says:

"Just because most scholars believe this is true does not make it true, but the reason why so many believe the tomb as found empty is because of historical evidence (which we are about to look at)."

While "an argumentum ad populum is a fallacious argument that concludes that a proposition is true because many or most people believe it: "If many believe so, it is so."

OP stop telling lies. Most scholars do NOT agree that the empty tomb is a historical fact. Only christian scholars agree that the empty tomb is historical. Jews, Muslims, atheist and other scholars that look at it all disagree.

The empty tomb is not a historical fact . What we have for the empty tomb are ONLY MYTHICAL stories written many decades after the alleged events. Do you know what a historical fact is?

I know you guys can't stop telling lies for Jesus.

Batman visited me secretly. Then he died, resurrected and went to another galaxy. I have an empty coffin as proof.

Mtewwwwwww, stupid theist

Martinez19:
Batman visited me secretly. Then he died, resurrected and went to another galaxy. I have an empty coffin as proof.

Mtewwwwwww, stupid theist

At least you have an empty coffin. In the case of Jesus there is no empty tomb that exist anywhere. Nobody has ever shown where his empty tomb is only empty stories that where formulated decades after he allegedly resurrected.

rekinomtla:


Why do you plagiarize other people? Copying them word for word then presenting their thoughts as your own? You've been called out on this before and you still doing it, why?

Why do you accuse him of plagiarism? You posted a link to where he allegedly plagiarized the materials only for me to go there and see nothing at all. This is your link below.

https://disqus.com/home/discussion/channel-globalreligions/turns_out_jesus_really_did_rise_from_the_dead/


Not even a word of what he wrote down can be found on the link you posted.

dalaman:


Why do you accuse him of plagiarism? You posted a link to where he allegedly plagiarized the materials only for me to go there and see nothing at all. This is your link below.

https://disqus.com/home/discussion/channel-globalreligions/turns_out_jesus_really_did_rise_from_the_dead/


Not even a word of what he wrote down can be found on the link you posted.

Sound familiar?

rekinomtla:


Sound familiar?

Correct the link you posted then cos this isn't what is found in the link you provided.

dalaman:


Correct the link you posted then cos this isn't what is found in the link you provided.

It is, go to the comments section at the bottom of page.

rekinomtla:


It is, go to the comments section at the bottom of page.

Ohh ok.

dalaman:

Ohh ok.

You just worsened it for the poor hopefulLandlord .

rekinomtla:


Sound familiar?

Good job, bro.

OLAADEGBU:


The empty tomb is a historical fact, most scholars agree

Most scholars, including atheist and skeptical ones, agree that the tomb of Jesus really was found empty by a group of Jesus' women followers after He really was buried there. The empty tomb is a powerful piece of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord:

http://reasonsforjesus.com/the-empty-tomb-is-a-historical-fact-most-scholars-agree/

By James Bishop| Was Jesus' tomb really found empty, or is this just a myth? The empty tomb is absolutely central to the Christian faith because the entire truth of Christianity rests upon Jesus having been raised from the dead. This makes inquiry into this historical question all the more important.

As it turns out, the empty tomb is widely considered to be an established fact of the ancient world. Not all scholars agree as to what caused the tomb to become empty, but as far as the tomb itself actually being left without the body of Jesus, this is pretty well-established even among critical scholars.

http://reasonsforjesus.com/the-empty-tomb-is-a-historical-fact-most-scholars-agree/

OLAADEGBU:


By James Bishop| Was Jesus' tomb really found empty, or is this just a myth? The empty tomb is absolutely central to the Christian faith because the entire truth of Christianity rests upon Jesus having been raised from the dead. This makes inquiry into this historical question all the more important.

As it turns out, the empty tomb is widely considered to be an established fact of the ancient world. Not all scholars agree as to what caused the tomb to become empty, but as far as the tomb itself actually being left without the body of Jesus, this is pretty well-established even among critical scholars.

That part in bold remains a LIE. Where are the ancient Roman documents that establish the mythical empty tomb as a historical "fact"?

dalaman:
OP stop telling lies. Most scholars do NOT agree that the empty tomb is a historical fact. Only christian scholars agree that the empty tomb is historical. Jews, Muslims, atheist and other scholars that look at it all disagree.

The empty tomb is not a historical fact . What we have for the empty tomb are ONLY MYTHICAL stories written many decades after the alleged events. Do you know what a historical fact is?

I know you guys can't stop telling lies for Jesus.

Anything for Jesus

OLAADEGBU:


The empty tomb is a historical fact, most scholars agree

Most scholars, including atheist and skeptical ones, agree that the tomb of Jesus really was found empty by a group of Jesus' women followers after He really was buried there. The empty tomb is a powerful piece of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord:

http://reasonsforjesus.com/the-empty-tomb-is-a-historical-fact-most-scholars-agree/

Academic Consensus

According to a comprehensive survey of New Testament scholars, it is large consensus (roughly 75%) that Jesus' tomb somehow became empty (1). A study by New Testament scholar Gary Habermas published in the peer-reviewed Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus found that:

APPROXIMATELY 75% FAVOUR ONE OR MORE OF THESE ARGUMENTS FOR THE EMPTY TOMB, WHILE APPROXIMATELY 25% THINK THAT ONE OR MORE ARGUMENTS OPPOSE IT. THUS, WHILE FAR FROM BEING UNANIMOUSLY HELD BY CRITICAL SCHOLARS, IT MAY SURPRISE SOME THAT THOSE WHO EMBRACE THE EMPTY TOMB AS A HISTORICAL FACT STILL COMPRISE A FAIRLY STRONG MAJORITY.

Just because most scholars believe this is true does not make it true, but the reason why so many believe the tomb as found empty is because of historical evidence (which we are about to look at). The point being, one needs to explain how Jesus' tomb became empty, and then why the disciples, and the skeptics James and the enemy Paul, claimed that Jesus had appeared to them in his resurrected body.

Paul informs us in his early creed that Jesus also appeared to 500 others. This is a belief that several early followers were martyred for and never, as far as our historical data tells us, recanted their faith that Jesus' had in fact appeared to them. Whatever the case, they certainly believed it.

The Austrian scholar Jacob Kremer informs us that "By far most exegetes hold firmly to the reliability of the biblical statements concerning the empty tomb" (2). Likewise, scholar Van Daalen argues that:

"IT IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO OBJECT TO THE EMPTY TOMB ON HISTORICAL GROUNDS; THOSE WHO DENY IT DO SO ON THE BASIS OF THEOLOGICAL OR PHILOSOPHICAL ASSUMPTIONS" (3).

Exegete, apologist, and professional philosopher William Craig concludes that there is "powerful evidence that the tomb of Jesus was actually found empty on Sunday morning by a small group of his women followers. As a plain historical fact this seems to be amply attested" (4)

http://reasonsforjesus.com/the-empty-tomb-is-a-historical-fact-most-scholars-agree/

OLAADEGBU:
The empty tomb is a historical fact, most scholars agree

Most scholars, including atheist and skeptical ones, agree that the tomb of Jesus really was found empty by a group of Jesus' women followers after He really was buried there. The empty tomb is a powerful piece of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord:

http://reasonsforjesus.com/the-empty-tomb-is-a-historical-fact-most-scholars-agree/

The empty tomb is attested in early, independent sources

All our canonical gospels (Mark 16, Matthew 28, Luke 24, John 20) mention the empty tomb, Paul implies it in an early creed (1 Cor. 15:1-11), and it is further implied by Peter’s sermon in Acts. There are as many as three, or even four independent traditions within the Gospels that attest to the empty tomb. This certainly heightens the probability of the tomb being found empty.

Scholar Gary Habermas captures this well saying that Jesus' "empty tomb is reported in at least three, if not four, of these Gospel sources. This helps to understand why these items are taken so seriously by contemporary critical scholars" (5). One tradition can be found within Mark, known as the pre-Markan Passion Narrative, "The idea of a pre-Markan passion narrative continues to seem probable to a majority of scholars" (6).

According to William Craig this source is likely dependent on eyewitness testimony, "The burial account is part of Mark's source material for the story of Jesus’ Passion. This is a very early source which is probably based on eyewitness testimony and dates to within several years of Jesus' crucifixion." (7).

It likewise attests to the empty tomb, "Mark's Passion source didn't end with Jesus' burial, but with the story of the empty tomb, which is tied to the burial account verbally and grammatically."

http://reasonsforjesus.com/the-empty-tomb-is-a-historical-fact-most-scholars-agree/

Arguments for the tomb being found empty

1. Women witnesses
Women

It's quite remarkable that the authors of the Gospels penned that women were the ones to first discover and report the empty tomb. At that time and in that culture, the testimony of women was not seen to be as credible as the testimony of men. If they were making this up and wanted people to believe it, they wouldn’t have cited Jesus’ women followers as being the ones to discover the empty tomb.

"In fact, the Jewish historian Josephus says that women weren't even permitted to serve as witnesses in a Jewish court of law. Now in light of this fact, how remarkable it is that it is women who are the discoverers of Jesus' empty tomb" ⁸.

As scholar Gary Habermas says:

"By far the most popular argument favouring the Gospel testimony on this subject is that, in all four texts, women are listed as the initial witnesses. Contrary to often repeated statements, First Century Jewish women were able to testify in some legal matters. But given the general reluctance in the Mediterranean world at that time to accept female testimony in crucial matters, most of those scholars who comment on the subject hold that the Gospels probably would not have dubbed them as the chief witnesses unless they actually did attest to this event."

In other words, if the authors were simply making up fictional tales then they would have almost certainly put men as the discovers of the empty tomb. This persuasively suggests that the authors are exercising fidelity when it comes to their report of history.

http://reasonsforjesus.com/the-empty-tomb-is-a-historical-fact-most-scholars-agree/

2. Enemy Attestation


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_krLRRnk-c

Secondly, there is enemy attestation. Evidence found in Matthew 28:11-15 and reports by Justin Martyr and Tertullian tell us that the Jewish leaders tried to explain that the tomb was empty because Jesus' disciples stole His body. This suggests that the Jewish authorities acknowledged the fact that Jesus' body was no longer in the tomb.

They didn't object to the tomb being empty, they tried to explain this fact away, which suggests to us it really was empty. Historian Paul Maier explains that this early Jewish anti-Christian polemic is:

"POSITIVE EVIDENCE FROM A HOSTILE SOURCE. IN ESSENCE, IF A SOURCE ADMITS A FACT THAT IS DECIDEDLY NOT IN ITS FAVOUR, THE FACT IS GENUINE" (9).

http://reasonsforjesus.com/the-empty-tomb-is-a-historical-fact-most-scholars-agree/

3. The empty tomb account lacks embellishment

Thirdly, in its primitive form the empty tomb narrative is theologically unadorned. This means that the story lacks later theological motifs that a late legend might be expected to contain. This suggests that the empty tomb account is early and more probably than not factual.

According to William Craig the empty tomb is credible as "it was not an apologetic device of early Christians…" There is no significant theological or religious embellishment, no signs of legendary development, and no exaggerations. What we see is a couple women followers discovering the empty tomb and being told by someone (who they perceived to be an angel) that Jesus is no longer there.

This kind of simplicity, given how crucial the empty tomb is to Christian doctrine, is evidence of this being a historical fact as opposed to a mythologized tale.

http://reasonsforjesus.com/the-empty-tomb-is-a-historical-fact-most-scholars-agree/

SALAM ALEIKUM

4. Christianity would be debunked if someone had reported the tomb still contained the body of Jesus

Fourthly, one of the most powerful arguments that favours Jesus' empty tomb is the location and events surrounding it. Our gospels all agree that Jesus was buried in a tomb that was located in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the place that most scholars agree was where early Christian preaching first took place, and thus subsequently led to the birth of the church.

However, any Christian preaching at this very early time would run into a bit of an issue if Jesus' tomb was not empty. If Jesus' body was still in the tomb then Christianity would have buckled before it could have even got going. The easiest way to disprove the early Christian message of a resurrected Saviour would be to go to the tomb where Jesus was laid, and expose it.

Jerusalem would have been the last place that Christianity would have taken off if Jesus was still in His grave. Paul Althaus comments that the resurrection proclamation:

"COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MAINTAINED IN JERUSALEM FOR A SINGLE DAY, FOR A SINGLE HOUR, IF THE EMPTINESS OF THE TOMB HAD NOT BEEN ESTABLISHED AS A FACT FOR ALL CONCERNED" (10).

Through a historical analysis of weighing the evidence and arguments, one is on good grounds in accepting the historicity of Jesus' empty tomb. The empty tomb fits naturally with the earliest accounts we have available, seems to be more plausible than not given the surrounding circumstances, and is further supplemented by early and independent attestation in historical sources.

So here is someone who claimed to be the Son of God, was seen working miracles, healing the sick, raising the dead, who prophesied His own death and resurrection, was crucified, and then after three days His tomb was found empty. What is the best explanation for the historical fact of the empty tomb of Jesus?

The best explanation comes from the testimonies of the eyewitnesses themselves. That Jesus of Nazareth had risen from the dead, leaving an empty tomb behind.

http://reasonsforjesus.com/the-empty-tomb-is-a-historical-fact-most-scholars-agree/

Get Connected To Hope: Feasting after the Famine at Deeper Life National December Retreat 2018


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRyhcRiyTmw