Evidence of Resurrection by Dr. William Lane Craig

Christianity as a religion is grounded in history and can be investigated historically. As Christians, we can present objective evidence of our faith in Jesus Christ through the resurrection.

because He has set a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all people by raising Him from the dead.” -- Acts 17:31

In case you need to defend your faith, here are four facts about the resurrection:

1. Jesus' honorable burial by Joseph of Arimathea

After Jesus' crucifixion, Jesus was buried in a tomb by a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin named Joseph of Arimathea. This means that the location of Jesus's tomb is known in Jerusalem to both Jews and Christians alike. New Testament scholars have established the historicity of this fact by the following evidence:

    - Jesus burial is attested multiply in early independent sources like the 1 Corinthians and gospel of Mark which are both written within the first century after Jesus death;

    - As a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin(Jewish court that condemned Jesus), Joseph of Arimathea is unlikely to be Christian. It's improbable for Christians to invent a member of the court to condemn Jesus who then honors him and gave him a proper burial unless the account actually happened;

    - No other competing burial story exists.

2. The discovery of Jesus' empty tomb

On a Sunday morning following the crucifixion, Jesus' tomb was found empty by a group of His women followers.

    - The historicity of the burial account supports the empty tomb;

    - The empty tomb story has been multiply attested in early independent sources;

    - Mark's story of the empty tomb is simple and lacks sight of embellishment;

    - The fact that women's testimony was less trustworthy than men in first-century Israel counts in favor of the women's role in discovering the empty tomb;

    - The earliest Jewish allegation that the disciples had stolen Jesus' body shows that the body was in fact missing from the tomb.

"By far,  most scholars hold firmly to the reliability of the Biblical statements concerning the empty tomb."

Jacob Kramer, Austian Specialist in the resurrection

3. Jesus' post mortem appearances

On multiple occasions and under various circumstances different individuals and groups of people experienced appearances of Jesus alive after his death.

This is a fact that is universally acknowledged among New Testament scholars today for the following three reasons:

    - The list of eyewitnesses to Jesus' resurrection appearance quoted by Paul in 1 Corinthians guarantees that such appearances occurred - citing the appearance to Peter, to the twelve disciples, to the five hundred brethren, and to James, Jesus's younger brother;

    - The appearance and traditions in the gospel provide multiply independent attestation of these appearances in the book of Luke, John, Mark, and Matthew;

    - Certain appearances have earmarks of historicity. James(Jesus' brother) did become an active believer after the resurrection of Jesus in spite of his unbelief while Jesus is still alive. According to Josephus(First-century historian), James was murdered for his faith by stoning to death during the mid AD 60. He was fully convinced that his brother is the Lord that he is willing to die for the truth of that belief.

4. The origin of the disciple's belief in Jesus resurrection

The original disciples believe that Jesus was risen from the dead despite having a predisposition to the contrary. Think of the situation the disciples think following Jesus crucifixion:

    - Their leader was dead, and Jews don't have any expectation of a defeated and dying Messiah. Messiah, when he came, was supposed to throw off the yolk of Israel's enemies and re-establish David's throne in Jerusalem;

    - Jewish believes about the after-life precluded, anyone, rising from the dead to glory and immortality before the general resurrection. Confronted with Jesus's resurrection, all the disciples could have done was to preserve their master's tomb as a shrine until that day when they and all the righteous dead of Israel would be reunited by God. But despite every predisposition to the contrary, the original disciples believed in and were willing to get to their deaths for the fact of Jesus' resurrection.

Christians can maintain that the hypothesis that best explains these facts is: God raised Jesus from the dead.

In his book, "Justifying Historical Descriptions," historian C. Behan McCullagh, lists six tests that historians used in determining what is the best explanation for a given body of historical facts, and the hypothesis "God raised Jesus from the dead." passes all six of these tests.

    1. It has great explanatory scope. 

        It explains why the tomb is found empty, why the disciples saw post mortem appearances and why            the Christian faith came into being

    2. It has great explanatory power.

        It explains why the body of Jesus was gone, why people repeatedly saw Jesus alive.

    3. It is plausible.

        Given the historical context of Jesus own unparalleled life and claims, the resurrection serves as                divine confirmation of those radical claims.

    4. It is not adhoc.

        It requires only one additional hypothesis that God exists

    5. It is in accord with accepted beliefs.

        The hypothesis, "God raised Jesus from the dead." does not in any way conflict with the accepted                belief that people don't rise naturally from the dead. Christians accept that belief

    6. It far outstrips any of its rival hypothesis.

        The conspiracy hypothesis, the apparent death hypothesis, the hallucination hypothesis - all such                have been universally rejected by contemporary scholars

You can watch the full video from this Youtube post.