Is the Resurrection a Myth? 3 Historical Proofs Jesus Rose

Hey, thanks again for sending in questions related to our recent sermons. This last Sunday, we not only celebrated Easter, but we also studied Romans 6, which discusses the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The question this week asks: how do we know this really happened? How do we know this isn’t just a myth or a fairy tale?

One of the strengths of Christianity is how well-documented the resurrection actually is. Much of that evidence comes from the New Testament — but the New Testament isn’t just one book. It’s a collection of books written by many different authors. So let’s look at some of the credible evidence for the resurrection.

First, the books of the New Testament were written by eyewitnesses, or by those who directly interviewed eyewitnesses, and they were written while other eyewitnesses were still alive. That matters, because it means the accounts could be fact-checked and verified. You’ll notice little details throughout the New Testament — like the name of the man who carried Jesus’ cross and where he was from. That’s how sources were cited in ancient literature. The idea was that you could go to that town, find that person, and ask him directly. It was written as reportage — as a news story — not as a fable.

Now, there were mythologies in that time period, but that is simply not how the New Testament reads. C.S. Lewis, who was a professor of ancient literature at Oxford, made a fascinating observation about this. He noted that the New Testament reads like what we might call modern realistic fiction — grounded, detailed, and historically situated. But here’s the problem: that category didn’t exist yet. The fiction of the ancient world was not written anything like the New Testament. So Lewis argued that if the New Testament is modern realistic fiction, then its authors didn’t just write it — they invented an entirely new literary genre. And then, strangely, that genre disappeared and didn’t resurface for another thousand or more years. That’s an extraordinary claim. It’s far more likely that the New Testament is exactly what it appears to be: an honest account of real events.

Second, the New Testament contains details that no one fabricating a story would have included. The clearest example is the role of women as the first eyewitnesses to the resurrection. In the ancient world, women’s testimony was not even admissible in court. So if you were making this story up, you would never have written it that way — it would have immediately undermined your credibility. The only reason to include it is because that’s what actually happened. The authors wrote it that way because it was true.

Third, consider what happened to Jesus’ earliest disciples. Every one of them either died or was exiled for proclaiming that he had risen from the dead. They received no fame, no wealth, no power — only persecution. And here’s the thing: people don’t die for something they know to be a lie. If you’re holding onto a false story and someone threatens to execute you for it, you let it go. But not one of these men recanted. You might expect that under enough pressure, at least one of them would have broken — but none of them did.

Taken together, this evidence gives us good reason to trust that what we read in the New Testament is true. We hope this is helpful and encourages your confidence in the credibility of Scripture. We’ll see you next time.