Current scholarship holds that the disciples, James (the historical Jesus’ skeptical brother), Paul (the former Pharisee and early church persecutor before conversion to the Jesus movement), and Peter (Jesus closest of the twelve disciples), were certain that Jesus had “risen” from the dead and had appeared to them, convincing them of these purported events (1).

Gary Habermas has examined 3,400 academic articles authored by critical scholars over the last half-century on the historical Jesus and found that the resurrection appearances are one of several facts that “are so strongly attested historically that they are granted by nearly every scholar who studies the subject, even the rather skeptical ones” (2).

The late atheist scholar and historian of early Christianity, Gerd Ludemann (1946–2021), stated that on the basis of historical evidence, “it may be taken as historically certain that Peter and the disciples had experiences after Jesus’s death in which Jesus appeared to them as the risen Christ” (3). According to James Crossley, “the resurrection appearances are some of the hardest, best evidence we have” (4). Rudolph Bultmann conceded that “All that historical criticism can establish is that the first disciples came to believe the resurrection” (5). Bart Ehrman states that,

“Historians, of course, have no difficulty whatsoever speaking about the belief in Jesus’ resurrection, since this is a matter of public record. For it is a historical fact that some of Jesus’ followers came to believe that he had been raised from the dead soon after his execution” (6).

What are the reasons for these views?

Early Attestation

One of the criteria used by historians to determine what’s likely historical is early attestation. As a criterion, this considers those sources that are early (dated to within close proximity of the events they describe) and, if the historian is lucky, independent (that the narratives described come from the author and were not borrowed or derived from other earlier sources).

For the resurrection, there are also early materials, one of which is a creed the Apostle Paul (4 BCE–64 CE), the earliest Christian writer, received that dates within five years of Christ’s crucifixion, death, and burial. According to Ludemann, this creed can be dated to just three years of the crucifixion,

“…the elements in the tradition are to be dated to the first two years after the crucifixion of Jesus…not later than three years…the formation of the appearance traditions mentioned in 1 Cor. 15:3-8 falls into the time between 30 and 33 C.E.” (7)

This creed is stipulated in 1 Corinthians 15:3–7 and is possibly the earliest material in the New Testament. The content is important because it records that a number of people, including Peter, the disciples, 500 witnesses, James, and the Apostle Paul, had experiences where the resurrected Christ appeared to them, convincing them that he had been raised from the dead.

Paul made at least two trips to Jerusalem during his ministry after his unusual conversion. According to his letter, he interviews the disciples about the gospel and later writes that they preach the same message (1 Cor. 15:11). This indicates that the disciples, Paul, and possibly other anonymous Christians were preaching the resurrection from the earliest moments after the death of Christ.

To add to this, the resurrection appearance narratives of Christ to his disciples are recorded in sources referring to early events, such as the sermon summaries of the Acts of the Apostles, a text also authored by the writer of the Gospel of Luke, which locates the resurrection as the earliest, central message of the Jesus followers (1:21–22; 2:22, 24, 32; 10:39–41, 43; 13:30–31, 34a, 37; 17:2-3, 30-31; 24:21; 26:22–23). This suggests that the resurrection teaching was present at the beginning and not a later development attributed to the early members of the Jesus movement.

According to this datum, the resurrection was an early teaching. It was taught by the Apostle Paul, the disciples, and the movement from the beginning. This challenges claims that the resurrection teachings and beliefs were just a product of later Christian theology or are explainable by mythological or legendary embellishments that accrued over time.

Multiple and Independent Attestation

The New Testament contains several sources that independently attest to Jesus’ resurrection appearances. The idea here is that the more historical sources, especially independent ones, that refer to events in ancient history, the better. The historian would prefer having three sources instead of just one, for example.

All four canonical gospels independently attest to the resurrection. The appearance to Peter is independently attested by Luke, and the appearance to the disciples is attested by Luke and John. There is also independent witness to the Galilean appearances in Mark, Matthew, and John, as well as to the women in Matthew and John (8).

The Apostle Paul attests to the resurrection throughout his authentic epistles, one of which, as we already noted, contains a very early creed. Likewise, early sermons are reported in Acts which confirms that the resurrection message was central to early preaching.

There is independent attestation in extra-biblical Christian writings. Clement of Rome, writing in the 90s CE, says that Christians have “complete certainty caused by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ… (9)” Clement was writing quite early, likely at the same time as the book of Revelation (around 95 CE). Likewise, Polycarp, around 110 CE, refers to the resurrection and the beliefs of the disciples (10).

Historians have a significant number of historical source materials that reference the resurrection appearances of Jesus. There are eight in total: Mark, Matthew, Luke, John, Acts, Paul, Clement of Rome, and Polycarp. Of these, several are early: Mark’s gospel (70 CE) and the Apostle Paul’s creed (1 Cor. 15:3–8).

James, Jesus’ Brother, Experiences Resurrection Appearances

According to early tradition, James was the skeptical brother of Jesus. He rejected what Jesus taught about himself but soon converted after being convinced that he witnessed the risen Jesus.

James is presented as a skeptic who rejected his brother initially (Mark 3:21; 6:2-4, 6; John 7:5; 19:25-27). According to Ludemann, “James had no religious link with his brother during Jesus’ lifetime” (19).

However, James is later seen with the disciples, becomes a leader in the early Jesus movement, and is martyred for these efforts. He is recorded as being among the disciples after Jesus had appeared to him (Acts 1:14). He is mentioned first in the list of disciples by the Apostle Paul (Gal. 2:9), which underscores his importance. Evidently, James went from a skeptic to a disciple and then to a leader in the church.

There are a few reasons for accepting James’ conversion as a fact of ancient history.

It passes the criterion of embarrassment. This criterion is a tool historians use and says that the early writers would not have made up an embarrassing detail or story that would have made them, Jesus, or the disciples look foolish if it had not actually occurred. As a rule of thumb, when writers committed to a historical figure, movement, or cause mention details that are embarrassing to themselves, their leader, and their movement, it is likely to be historical and suggestive of an honest attempt to report events as they happened.

This is present in James’ conversion. According to theologian Chris Price,

“James didn’t believe in his brother during Jesus’ earthly ministry, an embarrassing detail the Gospel writers wouldn’t have made up. In fact, John 7:5 just states, “For even his own brothers didn’t believe in him.” But we also know as a matter of history that James becomes a leader in the early church (Galatians 1, Acts 15), worshiping his brother as messiah and Lord to the point of eventually dying for that belief” (20).

James rejected Jesus and later came to believe that his brother was truly the Messiah, which would have been a big embarrassment for him. James somehow put his doubts behind him to become an important figure in the early  movement.

James’ initial rejection of his brother’s claims was serious and widely known. Habermas explains that “For it to be remembered over many decades, James’ unbelief was probably rather staunch” (21).

The early creed of 1 Cor. 15:3–7 has already been discussed above and is relevant to James since it mentions him. As Ludemann articulates, “Because of 1 Cor. 15:7 it is certain that James ‘saw’ his brother” (22). The Apostle Paul also had direct access to James and spoke with him regarding the gospel on at least two occasions (Galatians 1-2).

As just noted, James was willing to suffer and die for his faith. It is likely that he did die a martyr, as recorded by the historian Josephus Flavius, the authoritative writer mentioning first-century events in Roman-occupied Palestine. According to Josephus, James “the brother of Jesus, who was called the Christ… was delivered to be stoned” (23). This passage is the second reference to Jesus in Josephus’ writing and is “universally acknowledged” as authentic (24)

James’ death for his belief that his brother had somehow appeared to him would suggest sincerity. It is a struggle for ulterior motives to explain his change.

One might argue that James only claimed to have seen the risen Christ to increase his chances of becoming a leader in the early movement. If so, one might expect him to recant his false faith in the face of being stoned to death.

Neither would becoming a member of the early movement provide material benefits.  No member of this obscure movement was going to become rich or famous. In fact, the early Christian and Roman sources make it clear that the Christians at the time were suppressed, persecuted, threatened, and sometimes murdered.

It is more likely that the movement would attract members who were sincere in their belief in Jesus as the resurrected Messiah. The late biblical scholar Reginald Fuller found James’ conversion impressive in light of these details, writing that “it might be said that if there were no record of an appearance to James the Lord’s brother in the New Testament we should have to invent one in order to account for his post-resurrection conversion and rapid advance” (27).

The Apostle Paul, the Early Persecutor, Experiences a Resurrection Appearance

The Apostle Paul was previously known by the name Saul, and his testimony is similar to James’. Paul, we learn from the early Christian writings and from his own, played a role in the early persecution of the Christian movement that emerged after Jesus’ death. Having later converted to be a member of this movement and also changing his name to Paul, he expresses shame and embarrassment for his role in the persecution of the early Jesus followers.

Paul refers to himself as “the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God” (1 Cor. 15:9). This must be viewed as an honest statement of self-indictment, as at this stage, Paul occupied an essential leadership role in the Jesus movement at the time of writing this letter. Paul is essentially saying to his audience(s) that he does not deserve to be a follower of Jesus or known as such because of the crimes he committed against the early Jesus followers via his persecutions of them. To the best of the historian’s knowledge, Paul appears sincere in what he says and believes he witnessed at the time.

There is, however, an important distinction between the conversion testimonies of James and Paul. James was a skeptic and an unbeliever in Jesus, his brother. Paul, on the other hand, was skeptical but also an active persecutor of the early Jesus movement.

Paul witnessed the murder and persecution of early Jesus followers and apparently approved of it, as according to the author of the Acts of the Apostles, “Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison” (8:3).

Paul also apparently approved of the stoning of Stephen, who has the unfortunate reputation of probably being the first martyr in Christian history (Acts 8:1-2). Clearly, then, Paul’s opposition was radical, to the point of wishing to eliminate the blasphemous teachings of Jesus and his followers entirely.

The fact that Paul persecuted the early church is well attested historically. Not only is it mentioned on various occasions by him in several of his authentic epistles (1 Cor. 15:9–10; Gal. 1:12–16, 22–23; Phil. 3:6-7), it is also confirmed by attestation in the book of Acts of the Apostles, which means the historian has two independent traditions, with one of these coming from Paul himself.

Paul’s persecution efforts satisfy the criterion of embarrassment. As already noted in the words of 1 Corinthians 15:9 above, Paul felt shame for the role he played in the persecution, no doubt a huge source of embarrassment to him as a leader of the early Church. It is highly unlikely that Paul would have attributed to himself this very unpleasant and embarrassing series of events and beliefs.

Paul’s authentic epistles are the strongest evidence for his conversion. Scholarship divides Paul’s letters into two main categories: authentic and disputed. The authentic letters are those legitimately authored by Paul himself, either from his own hand or through dictation to a scribe. Those letters that are disputed concern authorship attributed to Paul but were likely authored by someone else. Although both disputed and authentic letters matter, it is the latter that is most important for gaining insight into the historical Paul.

Paul’s conversion is described in the Acts of the Apostles, according to which Paul (then Saul) was journeying with a company to Damascus to persecute the Jesus followers there. Jesus, however, appears to Paul in a vision while on the road and asks him why he is persecuting him (meaning his followers). Paul then “fell upon the ground and he heard a voice which said to him: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (9:4).

Like James, Paul lived a new life as a Jesus follower with the willingness to suffer and be persecuted for this cause. Paul transitioned from a position of power as a religious authority and persecutor to a follower and leader of the nascent Jesus movement, which afforded significantly less power. Paul’s experienced various abuses and later martyrdom.

He was incarcerated and endured beatings (2 Cor. 11:24–27), the Jews with whom he spoke tried to kill him (Acts 9:29), he was persecuted (Acts 13:50, 1 Cor. 4:12, 2 Cor. 4:9, 2 Tim. 3:11, Phil. 1:12–30), stoned and dragged out of the city (Acts 14:9), beaten with rods (Acts 16:22), endured trial (Acts 18:12), verbally abused by crowds (Acts 21:36, 22:22), and incarcerated (2 Tim. 2:9). Clement of Rome also refers to these events: “[Paul] after being seven times thrown into captivity, compelled to flee, and stoned… and suffered martyrdom under the prefects” (32). Polycarp refers to Paul’s martyrdom (33), as does Tertullian, according to whom one learns that “Paul was beheaded” (34).

A good number of independent first-century sources present Paul’s willingness to suffer hardship and pain for his newfound faith, as described in his authentic letters (2 Corinthians and Philippians), a disputed letter (2 Timothy), Acts, and Clement of Rome.

The Appearance to the 500

Turning again to the Pauline creed, which scholars date to within a few years of Jesus’ crucifixion and death, the historian finds its relevance to the resurrection since it describes various appearances of Jesus in it. Dan Wallace explains that Paul “defends physical resurrection as part of the passed-on tradition he received when he became a Christian, beliefs he reports in the AD 50s but that reach back to his conversion in the 30s” (36).

The creed describes the resurrected Jesus appearing to a group of 500. One would agree that the reliability of this detail depends on Paul’s trustworthiness as a member of the Jesus movement. Already noted above was Paul’s sincerity in what he informs his readers about his conversion. There is little reason why one should doubt Paul’s sincerity in passing down this early creed with the claim that 500 people witnessed the resurrected Jesus.

A few reasons compel one to accept this view. Paul’s reputation was again on the line. This claim about the 500 witnesses is extraordinary (even for those open to the possibility of miracles) and would subject Paul’s reputation to scrutiny. If it turned out he was lying about Jesus’ appearance to the 500, it is not unlikely it would have been discovered. The New Testament contains many details regarding disputes in the nascent Jesus movement between important members within it. Catching Paul out in a lie and fabrication would possibly be discovered.

“It is agreed upon by all teaching scholars in the western world (6000+) that Paul believed that Jesus appeared to these more than 500 eyewitnesses… Paul’s credibility was on the line with many false teachers in Corinth and so if these more than 500 could not be corroborated it would have greatly hurt Paul’s reputation” (39).

The Disciples and Peter’s willingness to suffer for the risen Jesus

We can now look at some of the evidence pointing to the conviction of the other disciples and Peter that Christ appeared to them after his death.

Here it is important to acknowledge Peter’s denial of Jesus during his ministry. According to the gospels, Jesus foresaw Peter’s denial (Mark 14:29-31; Matt. 26: 33-35, Luke 22:33-34, John 13:36-38) and later, after Jesus is captured, Peter does deny him (Luke 22:54-57, Mark 14:69-70; Matthew 26:73-75; John 18:13-27).

This event passes the criterion of independent attestation as it is reported in two independent gospels. Peter’s denial also satisfies the criterion of embarrassment as he would later become a leader in the early church. It is unlikely that the gospel authors would make an important leader of the church deny the very person, believed by them to be Lord and Savior, it is built upon if the denial did not actually happen. It was surely a shameful and embarrassing event for Peter who denied Jesus out of fear for his life to then later become a bold proclaimer of Jesus’ message of salvation.

It is further important to acknowledge the prior state of the disciples before Jesus’ appearance to them.

According to John’s gospel, the disciples went into hiding behind locked doors following the arrest and crucifixion (20:19) and were afraid to publicly talk about Jesus (7:13). During Jesus’ arrest, the disciples fled (Mark 14:50; Matt. 26:56).

Yet the disciples showed an unusual transformation. They were subsequently proclaiming the risen Jesus in Acts of the Apostles, with the resurrection being their central message.

Both Peter and John are imprisoned for this (Acts 4), and the apostles are arrested, imprisoned, and flogged (ch. 5). Acts 12 speaks of the martyrdom of James (the brother of John) and another imprisonment of Peter. Stephen was stoned to death after his testimony before the Sanhedrin (chs. 6–8).

Persecution of the early Christians is attested in other sources, such as by two Roman historians, in the form of Publius Cornelius Tacitus and his account of the statewide persecution of Christians under Emporer Nero in 64 CE (Annals 15.44:2–5), and Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (Nero 16.2).

Although persecution was sporadic and local, from the beginning of the Jesus movement and its subsequent centuries of development, members could be arrested and killed for their beliefs.

According to the New Testament book of Revelation, John is said to be in Patmos, where he was possibly exiled (1:9).

Clement of Rome attests to the persecution and martyrdom of both Peter and Paul. “Peter, through unrighteous envy, endured not one or two, but numerous labors and when he had at length suffered martyrdom, departed to the place of glory due to him” (41). Referring to Paul in the same passage,

Owing to envy, Paul also obtained the reward of patient endurance, after being seven times thrown into captivity, compelled to flee, and stoned. After preaching both in the east and west, he gained the illustrious reputation due to his faith, having taught righteousness to the whole world, and come to the extreme limit of the west, and suffered martyrdom under the prefects. Thus was he removed from the world, and went into the holy place, having proved himself a striking example of patience

Twelve sources in total refer to the willingness of the apostles and early Jesus followers to suffer and risk a horrible death for their belief in the resurrection: Paul, Luke, Acts of the Apostles, Josephus, Clement of Rome, Clement of Alexandria, Polycarp, Ignatius, Dionysius of Corinth, Tertullian, Origen, and Hegesippus. Most important are Luke, Paul, Josephus, and Clement of Rome, all dating within the first century CE. According to historian E. P. Sanders (1937-2022), “Many of the people in these lists [of witnesses] were to spend the rest of their lives proclaiming that they had seen the risen Lord, and several of them would die for their cause” (44).-

Eight sources testify to the disciples’ proclamation that Jesus rose from the dead and had appeared to them: Paul (including 1 Cor. 15:3-8), The Sermon Summaries in Acts of the Apostles (ch. 2), the gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John, as well as Clement of Rome, and Polycarp. New Testament scholar Craig Keener writes that “These disciples plainly believed that Jesus had risen; and not only that, but that they had seen him alive” (46).

Christianity’s Uniqueness Based on the Resurrection of Jesus

The early Jesus movement contrasts noticeably with the other messianic movements of the first century. Jewish messianic movements believed that the coming of the messiah, believed to be a particular individual, would overthrow the might of Rome, which controlled Jerusalem and Palestine at that time, which the Jews strongly disliked.

Other than the messianic movement established by Jesus, these other movements were destroyed after their leaders were slaughtered in battle by the ruling Roman authorities. This was the fate of figures such as Judas the Galilean (an early first century leader of the radical Zealots), Simon bar-Giora (a rebel who revolted against Rome in the 70s CE), and Bar Kochbar (d. 135 CE).

The Jesus movement, however, survived the death of its founder, Jesus himself. He was put to death in a shameful manner on a Roman cross, and later, rather than his movement dying with him there, it grew based on the resurrection proclamation being spread by his earliest followers (48).

Scholar Luke Timothy Johnson remarks that “Some sort of powerful, transformative experience is required to generate the sort of movement earliest Christianity was” (50).

The Unlikely Conception of a Resurrected Messiah.

The early conception of a resurrected Messiah calls out for explanation given the first-century Jewish context in which it emerged. The general Jewish concept of a resurrection was an event that would occur in the future at the general resurrection. The general resurrection is the resurrection of all people and it did not hold that one person would be resurrected before others. Jewish scholar Vermes writes that “But above all… neither they [the disciples] nor anyone else expected a resurrection” (51). The resurrection of a single individual in Jesus is therefore a striking teaching for this context. Theologian William Craig explicates,

“The disciples would have been completely un-Jewish to adopt language of resurrection from the dead to express their experience, and there were other categories of Jewish thought and vocabulary that could have been used to express their experience, and resurrection – which had reference solely to the raising up of the dead body in the tomb to new life – was not one of them” (52).

Likewise scholar N. T. Wright states that,

“Nobody was expecting this kind of thing; no kind of conversion-experience would have generated such ideas; nobody would have invented it, no matter how guilty (or how forgiven) they felt, no matter how many hours they pored over the scriptures. To suggest otherwise is to stop doing history and to enter into a fantasy world of our own” (53).

Jewish beliefs about the afterlife precluded anyone’s rising from the dead to glory and immortality before the general resurrection at the end of the world (54). In light of this, it must have been the case that the disciples and early Christians had an experience of what they believed to have been the resurrected Jesus.

Conclusions

It is time to draw conclusions. Firstly, the vast majority of historians and scholars agree that the disciples, Peter, Paul, and James were convinced that the risen Jesus had appeared to them. We observed why this is the case. Particularly, we saw how the conversions based on the appearances satisfied several criteria, including early and independent attestation, and the criterion of embarrassment. The resurrection proclamation was also preached early as demonstrated in the early creed, Paul’s authentic and disputed epistles, and the sermons in the book of Acts. The conversions and willingness to suffer by James, Paul, and the disciples were noted, as were the martyrdoms. The best explanation is that these people had experiences of a resurrected Jesus who appeared to them convincing them that he had been raised from the dead. The final points reviewed the early Christian resurrection conception’s uniqueness in the context of the Jewish background.

References:

1. Habermas, G. The Minimal Facts Approach to the Resurrection of Jesus: The Role of Methodology as a Crucial Component in Establishing Historicity. Available.

2. Habermas, G. & Licona, M. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus. p. 44.

3. Ludemann, G. 1995. What Really Happened? p. 80.

4. Crossley, J. 2015. Unbelievable? New Testament listener Q&A – Gary Habermas & James Crossley

5. Bultmann, R. quoted in Philosophy, Religious Studies, and Myth (p. 42) by Robert Segal.

6. Ehrman, B. 1999. Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium. p. 231.

7. Ludemann, G. 1994. The Resurrection of Jesus: History, Experience, Theology. p. 38.

8. Craig, W. The Resurrection of Jesus. Available.

9. Clement, 1 Clement, 42.

10. Polycarp, To the Philippians, 1,2,9, and 12.

11. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.3.3

12. Tertullian, The Prescription Against Heretics, 32.

13. Antiquities, 18:3.3.

14. Feldman, L. 1997. Josephus, Judaism and Christianity. p. 55–57.

15. Craig, W. 2009. Independent Sources for Jesus’ Burial and Empty Tomb. Available.

16. Howell, M & Prevenier, W. 2001. From Reliable Sources: An Introduction to Historical Methods.

17. Habermas, G. & Licona, M. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus. p. 59.

18. Sanders, E quoted in A Serious Way of Wondering (p. 44) by Reynolds Price.

19. Ludemann, G. 1994. ibid. p. 109.

20. Price, C. 2015. Making Sense of Resurrection Data. Available.

21. Habermas, G. 2003. The Risen Jesus and Future Hope. p. 22.

22. Ludemann, G. 1994. Ibid. p. 109.

23. Josephus, F. 95 AD. Antiquities, 20.9.1.

24. Feldman, L. quoted in A Rabbi Looks at Jesus of Nazareth (p. 129) by Jonathan Bernis.

25. Hegesippus, fragments from His Five Books of Commentaries on the Acts of the Church, 1.

26. Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 2.23.

27. Fuller, R. 1980. The Formation of the Resurrection Narratives. p. 37.

28. Hengel, M. 1977. Crucifixion.

29. Ehrman, B. 2006. Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend. p. 101.

30. Collated by Stegmann, R. 2015. New Testament Foundations. p. 85.

31. Price, C. 2015. Ibid. Available.

32. Clement, 1 Clement, 5.

33. Polycarp, Epistle to the Philippians, 9.

34. Tertullian, Scorpiace, 15.

35. Eusebius quotes Dionysius of Corinth in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 2.25.8 writing that “I have quoted these things in order that the truth of the history might be still more confirmed.” Eusebius also quotes Origin regarding both Peter and Paul’s martyrdom in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 3.1.1-2

36. Bock, D. & Wallace, D. 2010. Dethroning Jesus: Exposing Popular Culture’s Quest to Unseat the Biblical Christ.

37. Moreland, J. 1987. Scaling the Secular City: A Defense of Christianity. Chapter 6.

38. Price, C. 2015. Ibid. Available.

39. Wallace, D. 2015. Fact Checking Dan Barker From our Recent Debate. Available.

40. Craig, W. Visions of Jesus: A Critical Assessment of Gerd Lüdemann’s Hallucination Hypothesis. Available.

41. Clement, 1 Clement, 5.

42. Ignatius, To the Smyrnaeans, 3.

43. Origen, Contra Celsum, 2:56; 2:77.

44. Sanders, E. 1995. The Historical Figure of Jesus. p. 279-280.

45. Habermas, G. The Resurrection Appearances of Jesus. Available.

46. Keener, C. 2009. The Historical Jesus of the Gospels. p. 342.

47. Craig, W. 2012. Stephen Law on the Non-existence of Jesus of Nazareth. Available.

48. Wright, N. Jesus Resurrection and Christian Origins. p. 615–635.

49. Bock, D & Wallace, D. 2010. Ibid.

50. Johnson, L. 1997. The Real Jesus. p. 136.

51. Vermes, G. 2011. Jesus the Jew: A Historians Reading of the Gospels. p. 40.

52. Craig, W. Doctrine of Christ (part 18). Available.

53. Wright, N. 2003. Christian Origins and the Question of God, III: The Resurrection of the Son of God. p. 707.

54. Craig, W. The Resurrection of Jesus. Available.