My Argument
- Christ is risen and is the firstfruits of the resurrection, meaning we will be raised like him in a glorified, transformed physical body. Therefore, we are to honour God with our bodies, live holy lives, and proclaim this gospel until Jesus returns and His Kingdom will never end.
- This has big implications for what it means to be human, both in our future hope and present godly conduct.
1) How Can We Know that Christ is Risen?
The Historical Method
- The sources
- Source criticism (or historical criticism): evaluating the usefulness of the sources
- Distance of the sources (also being aware of forgeries)
- The perspective or bias of the witness (also considering the genre)
- Multiple independent attestation
- Criterion of embarrassment
- Dissimilarity: it cannot be plausibly explained by contemporary factors
- Unintentional signs of history and undesigned coincidences
- Criterion of the impact of an event
- Interpret the data (within a metaphysical framework)
- The best explanation
Historical Sources: The Genre
- The New Testament documents are generally taken to contain historical information.
- The Gospels are often viewed a form of ancient bioi.
Burridge, What Are the Gospels? 3rd ed. (2018); Keener, Christobiography (2019); Judd, Modern Genre Theory (2024), 202–21; Bond, “Biography,” in The Next Quest for the Historical Jesus (2024), 62–76.
Scripture
- i.e., 1 Cor 15:3 For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. (NET2)
1 Cor 15:3–5/7 is Probably a Creed
- Passed on and received
- Contains atypical Pauline phrases
- “Paul may have received this creed (i.e., 1 Cor 15:3–5/7) in either 32/34 CE (cf. Acts 9:9–20, 26–29) or, more likely, 35/36/37 CE (cf. Gal 1:18).” (34) “However, it could have been any time before Paul preached to the Corinthians (cf. 1 Cor 15:1; Acts 18:11) in about 49–52 CE” (Graieg, Resurrection Remembered, 34).
- “The creed itself was probably formulated shortly after Jesus’ crucifixion” (34).
Sources to Jesus’ Resurrection
Mark 16; Matthew 28; Luke 24; John 20–21; Acts 1:1–11, 22; 2:23–36; 3:15, 20, 22, 26; 4:2, 10, 33; 5:30–32; 7:52, 55–56; 9:3–5, 17; 10:39–41; 13:28–37; 17:3, 18, 31–32; 20:28; 22:6–11, 14–15; 23:6; 24:15, 21; 25:19; 26:8, 12–16, 19, 23; 1 Cor 6:14; 15; 2 Cor 4:10–11, 14; 5:15; 13:4; 1 Thess 1:10; 4:14; 5:10; Gal 1:1, 12, 16; 2:19–20; Rom 1:4; 4:24–25; 6:4–5, 9–10; 7:4; 8:11, 34; 10:9; 14:9; Phil 2:9–11; 3:10–11, 20–21; Eph 1:20; 2:5–6; 4:8–10; Col 1:18; 2:12; 2:20; 3:1–4; 1 Tim 3:16; 2 Tim 1:10; 2:8, 11; 1 Pet 1:3; 3:21; Heb 11:35; 13:20
Dating the Sources (Bernier, Rethinking the Dates of the New Testament, 2022).
| Book | Lower (Bernier) | Lower (Robinson) | Middle (Harnack) | Higher (Sturdy) |
| Matthew | 45–59 | 50 | 70–75 | 130 |
| Mark | 42–45 | 45 | 65–73 | 80 |
| Luke | 59 | 60 | 80–95 | 110 |
| John | 60–70 | 65 | 80–110 | 140 |
| Acts | 62 | 62 | 80–95 | 130 |
| Romans | winter of 56/57 | 57 | 56–57 | 50 |
| 1 Corinthians | early 56 | 55 | 56 | 50 |
| 2 Corinthians | late 56 | 56 | 56 | 50 |
| Galatians | 47–52 | 56 | 53 | 50 |
| Ephesians | 57–59 | 58 | 57–59 | 100 |
| Philippians | 57–59 | 58 | 57–59 | 50 |
| Colossians | 57–59 | 58 | 57–59 | 80 |
| 1 Thessalonians | 50–52 | 50 | 48–49 | 40 |
| 2 Thessalonians | 50–52 | 50–51 | 48–49 | 120 |
| 1 Timothy—if Pauline | 63 or 64 | 55 | n/a | n/a |
| 1 Timothy—if pseudo | 60–150 | n/a | 90–110 | 140 |
| 2 Timothy—if Pauline | 64–68 | 58 | n/a | n/a |
| 2 Timothy—if pseudo | 60–150 | n/a | 90–110 | 140 |
| Titus—if Pauline | 63 or 64 | 57 | n/a | n/a |
| Titus—if pseudo | 60–175 | n/a | 90–110 | 140 |
| Philemon | 57–59 | 58 | 57–62 | 50 |
| Hebrews | 50–70 | 67 | 81–96 | 110 |
| James | prior to 62 | 47–48 | 70–90 | 130 |
| 1 Peter | 60–69 | 65 | 81–96 | 110 |
| 2 Peter—if Petrine | 60–69 | 61–62 | n/a | n/a |
| 2 Peter—if pseudo | 60–125 | n/a | 110–120 | 150 |
| 1 John | 60–100 | 60–65 | 80–110 | 140 |
| 2 John | 60–100 | 60–65 | 80–110 | 140 |
| 3 John | prior to 100 | 60–65 | 80–110 | 140 |
| Jude | prior to 96 | 61–62 | 100–130 | 130 |
| Revelation | 68–70 | 68 | 93–96 | 150 |
1) Jesus’ Death
- Whipped, crucified, and speared (cf. Matt 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 19). For a medical perspective, see: Edwards, Gabel, and Hosmer, “On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ” JAMA 255 (1986): 1455–63.
- Tacitus, Annals 15.44, wrote in the early second century, “Their name comes from Christ, who, during the reign of Tiberius, had been executed by the procurator Pontius Pilate.”
- Josephus, Antiquities 18.63–64: “And in this time, there was a certain Jesus, a wise man,
if indeed one ought to call him a man, for he was a doer of incredible deeds[or magical deeds], a teacher of men who receive truisms with pleasure. And he brought over [or led astray] many from among the Jews and many from among the Greeks.He was [thought to be] the Christ. And, when Pilate had condemned him to the cross at the accusation of the first men among us, those who at first were devoted to him did not cease to be so,for on the third day it seemed to them that he was alive again given that the divine prophets had spoken such things and thousands of other wonderful things about him. And up till now the tribe of the Christians, who were named from him, has not disappeared.” - T. C. Schmidt, Josephus and Jesus: New Evidence for the One Called Christ, 2025; Page 211, “Josephus’ account of Jesus does not likely reflect information about Jesus that originated in 93/ 4 CE, when Josephus wrote the TF [Testimonium Flavianum]. Rather, Josephus’ information goes back many decades earlier and can be traced to those who interrogated the apostles in the 30s through 60s CE and to those who attended Jesus’ trial in 30/ 33 CE.”
2) Burial
- Multiple independent sources (cf. Matt 27:57; Mark 15:43; Luke 23:51; John 19:38; 1 Cor 15:4) indicate that Jesus’ body was buried (by Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin; embarrassment).
3) Empty Tomb
- Discovered by women (embarrassing; Talmud, Rosh Hashannah 1.8; Josephus, Antiquities 4.8.15) and others (Peter and John [Luke 24:12; John 20:3–8]).
- Jewish leaders acknowledged this fact by admitting the body was missing (cf. Matt 28:11–15; Justin Martyr, Trypho 108; Tertullian, De Spectaculis 30).
4) Belief of Appearances
- The disciples, skeptics, and enemies believed they saw appearances of Jesus (cf. 1 Cor 15:3–8; Luke 24:13–35, 34, 26–45; 50–53; Acts 1:3–11; 13:31; Matt 28:16–20; Mark 16:9–19).
- This resulted in changed lives.
Theories to Explain the Data
- The story developed as a legend over time, a mere myth
- The disciples didn’t experience anything but claimed they did (false claims or no experience hypothesis)
- All experiences of Jesus were intra-mental (hallucination theory)
- What the disciples experienced was extra-mental, but was not actually Jesus (mistaken identity theory)
- The disciples extra-mentally experienced Jesus, but Jesus didn’t actually die on the cross, just fainted and revived naturally in the tomb (swoon theory) [or Jesus escaped, someone else was crucified, and Jesus later showed himself to the disciples].
- They experienced Jesus, who had died and was back from the dead (resurrection hypothesis)
See: Loke, Investigating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, 2020; Graieg, “Resurrection Misremembered?” JETS 68 (2025) [part one and two].
2) Jesus is the First Fruits
- Christ is the firstfruits of the resurrection, meaning we will be raised like him in a glorified, transformed physical body.
1 Cor 15:20–23 (NET2)
- 20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man. 22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; then when Christ comes, those who belong to him.
1 Cor 15:35–49 (NET2)
- 35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?”
- 47 The first man is from the earth, made of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 Like the one made of dust, so too are those made of dust, and like the one from heaven, so too those who are heavenly. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, let us also bear the image of the man of heaven.
1 Cor 15:51–53(NET2)
- 52 in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
A “spiritual” body (1 Cor 15:44)?
- From the eighth century B.C. to the third century A.D., the term ψυχικός “is never employed in a sense that carries the meaning of ‘physical’ or ‘material.’” (Licona)
- “Had Paul desired to do so, he could have used the contrast between σάρκινος and ἀόρατος. Paul had used the term σάρκινος only a few chapters earlier (cf. 1 Cor 9:11) and ἀόρατος in Romans 1:20. Paul also uses the terms ψυχικός and πνευματικός in 1 Corinthians 2:14–15, where it is clear he is not referring to a material or immaterial person; instead, Paul “is contrasting those governed or animated by their fleshly and sinful desires and who think in accordance with the world’s wisdom with those governed by holy desires and heavenly wisdom centered on God”” (Graieg, Resurrection Remembered, 82).
- adjectives ending in –ικός connote like
- So “the σῶμα πνευματικόν is like everything that surrounds it: characteristically imperishable, able, immortal, and heavenly” like the body of the risen Jesus” (84–5).
3) Honour God with your body
- Therefore, we are to honour God with our bodies, live holy lives, and proclaim this gospel until Jesus returns and His Kingdom will never end.
1 Cor 15:32–34 (NET2)
- 32 If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” 34 Sober up as you should, and stop sinning! For some have no knowledge of God—I say this to your shame!
1 Cor 6:14–20 (NET2)
- 14 Now God indeed raised the Lord and he will raise us by his power. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that anyone who is united with a prostitute is one body with her? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But the one united with the Lord is one spirit with him. 18 Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin a person commits is outside of the body”—but the immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.
1 John 3:2–3 (NET2)
- 2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is. 3 And everyone who has this hope focused on him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure).
Applications
- Walton, “What We Shall Be: A Look at Gender and the New Creation.” (2004): 17–28.
- “In the preceding discussion, the four logically possible views of gender and the new creation have been defined and analyzed. Each view was found to have proponents and, to some extent, to claim to have scriptural support. On closer analysis, however, the scriptural evidence for the asexual, androgynous, and monosexual views was found to be wanting. The only view that could be shown to have genuine biblical support was the sexual view, which maintains that gender distinctions will remain in the new creation.”
Practical Personal Applications
- How do you need to apply this?
- Caring for your physical health – exercise and a healthy diet
- Sexual morality – purity, fleeing the corruptions of society
- There is forgiveness.
- Have accountability.
Conclusion
- Christ is risen and is the firstfruits of the resurrection, meaning we will be raised like him in a glorified transformed physical body. Therefore, we are to honour God with our bodies, live holy lives, and proclaim this gospel until Jesus returns and His Kingdom will never end.
- So, this has big implications for what it means to be human both in our future hope and our present godly conduct.
