The resurrection of Jesus has been denied by those espousing atheism since he died 2000 years ago.

One of the main reasons for denying the resurrection is the belief that there is no God. Connected to this stance is the belief that there are no living incorporeal beings. This was discussed in the posts about minor gods.

Below are some of the arguments against the resurrection as stated by non believers.

There are those who say Jesus was removed from his tomb and taken to another location so a resurrection could be claimed. This argument however is not valid. The chief priests and the Pharisees knowing that Jesus had said he would be resurrected in three days and that the disciples might remove his body, asked Pilate to secure the tomb. Pilate then ordered the tomb sealed and guarded by soldiers. As related in the scriptures, Jesus was resurrected while the soldiers were at the tomb and so they knew they were in trouble. They went to the chief priests and the priests paid them to lie and say the disciples came and stole him away while they slept. See Mathew, chapter 28. The basic fact here is that Jesus resurrected and has been alive ever since, as is recorded in many places in the New Testament.

Another argument, to try to deny the resurrection, is that Jesus did not really die on the cross but survived the crucifixion and the tomb. This, of course, is fiction. Before releasing Jesus body, Pilate wanted to know whether Jesus was dead. A Roman soldier, to be sure of Jesus death, thrust a spear into his side. Then he was released to Joseph of Arimathea who with Nicodemus prepared his body for burial. See John, chapter 19.  Another pertinent fact is that the Romans were experts at crucifying people so it is doubtful that anyone ever got off a cross alive.

Someone has argued that Marymagdalene and the other Mary and later Peter and John, on the first day of the week, meant to go to Jesus tomb but in fact by mistake went to another tomb that was empty and thought Jesus had resurrected. There was no mistake.When Joseph of Arimathea placed Jesus body in the tomb Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting in front of the tomb. So, on the first day of the week they for sure knew where the correct tomb was. Also, the angel appeared at the tomb and one can be sure no mistake was made by the angel See Mathew chapter 27 and 28.

A further issue raised is that Jesus had a twin sibling, and someone else suggested  a brother, and in both cases when Jesus died they got into the act by playing the role of Jesus. My guess would be that that would be impossible given that they were not deity as Jesus claimed to be before his death and was seen to be after his resurrection and ascension.

Finally, there is an opinion that the many sightings of Jesus after his resurrection were due to hallucinations. These sightings, according to scripture, were more than 500. See 1 Corinthians 15:6. How 500 plus people would all hallucinate, the same way, about the same person, at the same time, and at various times, is inexplicable and simply not so. There is no logical reason to believe that the people who saw Jesus were hallucinating or suffered from some mental malady.

All human individuals who founded a religion died and are somewhere permanently buried. The exception to this is Jesus of Nazareth who was resurrected three days after dying on the cross. There is no tomb and there is no dead body, because he is alive.

In reference to Jesus, scripture in Revelation 1:17-18 says,… “do not be afraid, I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore….

A lot of changes occurred when Jesus was resurrected. For one, you can talk to him whenever you want. More about such topics in the posts ahead.

Thanks for visiting.

H…….