Previous article:Why Do You Believe?

Posted on Mar 10, 2025 by Mike LeDuke

Jesus conquered death.

That’s what we believe. We believe that though he was crucified, he rose again on the third day. Christianity is founded upon this premise. Consider what the apostle Paul wrote about the resurrection:

“But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:13,14).

Our faith revolves around the resurrection. Without that, we have no hope. Christ’s resurrection is the beginning, and we too hope to follow him in resurrection. But if he hasn’t been raised, then we won’t be either. There’s no hope.

Yet, not only do we believe in the resurrection, we can prove it. The apostles were all sure of this. When Luke wrote his gospel, this is how he described Jesus’s resurrection:

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. (Acts 1:1-3).

Initially, Jesus’s disciples were skeptical. That’s why we have the story of “doubting Thomas.” They had committed their lives to this man, and then he appeared to die. What had happened? They didn’t want to risk something like that again. Thus, when Christ rose, he proved his resurrection to them. He spent 40 days with them, emphasizing the fact that he was alive again.

Thus, not only can we believe the Bible in general, as the last post claimed, but we can believe the resurrection. But how? Well, we have circumstantial evidence. Clearly, the disciples all believed that Jesus rose from the dead. If they didn’t, they certainly put themselves through terrible circumstances to stand for something that they knew wasn’t true. They believed that they had seen him. They referred to themselves as his “witnesses” (Acts 1:22; 2:32). Paul claims that hundreds of believers saw him and believed (1 Corinthians 15:6).

But is that good enough? In some ways, this brings us to the point of either saying that the disciples were right about the resurrection, or they were delusional. There are definitely people who are convinced of things, and yet, those things seem impossible. Some people claim to have seen evil spirits, or ghosts. Some people claim to see the Virgin Mary in pieces of bread. Should we believe those people too, simply because they are convinced that they are right?

There’s got to be more proof than just what eyewitnesses said. Their testimony is a good place to start, and certainly serves as solid evidence, but is there more? That will be, God willing, the subject of our next installment!

— Jason Hensley, PhD