Did Jesus Christ Really Die and Rise Again? Nine No-Resurrection Theories

My journey with Jesus first began as a family tradition from my grandmother, from my father and mother. Then in 1982, it became a personal decision. But later I doubted and questioned my Christian beliefs. I wanted to be sure mine was not blind faith. So I set out to check out the literature of other faiths Baha'i, Eckankar, Islam, and African Traditional Religion.

Then I returned to Christianity to answer one final question: Did Jesus Christ die and rise from the dead? During this quest, I came across a variety of theories, from the religious to the philosophical, that sought to explain away Christ's bodily resurrection.


1. The Stolen Body Theory: The corpse of Jesus was stolen (a) by Jewish religious leaders, (b) by the Romans, (c) by the disciples of Jesus, or (d) by Joseph of Arimathea who buried Jesus.

2. The Swoon Body Theory: Jesus did not die on the cross. The executioners only thought Jesus was dead. In the cold tomb, Jesus came to and walked out.

3. The Wrong Tomb Theory: The disciples went to the wrong tomb, found it empty, and erroneously concluded that Jesus was alive.

4. The Substitution Theory: The person who died on the cross was not Jesus. Though the crucified victim looked like Jesus, it was actually Judas Iscariot. Meanwhile God took Jesus to Heaven.

5. The Mistaken Identity Theory: The disciples mistook someone for Jesus, who remained buried.

6. The Spiritual Resurrection Theory: Jesus did rise from the dead but it was not a physical resurrection.

7. The Fabrication Theory: The disciples knowingly fabricated the lie that Jesus rose from the dead.

8. The Hallucination Theory: The disciples of Jesus hallucinated and saw what they were desperate to believe. It was all a psychological phenomenon not rooted in reality. The disciples were deceived into thinking that Jesus was alive.

9. The Legend / Myth Theory: The resurrection of Christ is merely a myth or allegory, a story with a spiritual meaning, not to be taken literally. The Gospels are a kind of spiritual novel.

After pouring over these various explanations I found them lacking in persuasion for these reasons: (a) They contradict the disciples or question the motive, sanity, integrity or intelligence of the New Testament writers without any firm or fair basis. (b) They demand from the New Testament documents what is not required of other historical documents. (c) They fail to explain why no one produced the remains of Jesus to put an end to his followers spreading the "lie" of his resurrection. (d) They fail to explain why no one has been able to locate Jesus elsewhere on the planet.

In the end, it made more sense to risk believing in Jesus and the account of the disciples as recorded in the New Testament. This choice has produced a more meaningful life than entrusting the fate and future of my soul to the mere thoughts and opinions of those who have their own agendas for disputing the bodily resurrection of Christ.

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