The Resurrection of Jesus

and
The Martyrdom of Jesus’ Apostle
by Andre Wu
 Christianity’s Claim
I can trust the apostles’ testimonies
because eleven of those men died
martyrs’ deaths because they stood solid
for two truths: Christ’s deity and his
resurrection. These men were tortured
and flogged, and most finally suffered
death by some of the cruelest methods
then known
- Josh McDowell
The Martyrdom of Jesus’ Apostle
Date of Probability
Apostle
Martyrdom • Product B
Rating
James 44-45 A.D.
Peter c. 64 A.D.
Paul c. 67 A.D.
James the Lesser 63 A.D.
Andrew 70 A.D.
Thomas 70 A.D.
Matthew 60-70 A.D.
Simon the Zealot 74 A.D.
Philip 54 A.D.
Nathanael 70 A.D.
Judas Thaddeus 72 A.D.
Matthias 70 A.D.
 Objection:
Other Faiths Die for what They Believe

• 19 radical Muslims hijacked four planes and

crashed WTC towers, the Pentagon, killing
2,996 people.
• Tibetan Buddhists martyred by the Chinese
government for refusing to convert to atheistic
communism
• Hindus are killed for their refusal to convert to
monotheism
Origin of Other Religions
Truthfulness depends on the veracity of their founder
Islam Mormonism Buddhism

Muhammad claims he Joseph Smith, Jr. Buddhism is an Indian

was visited by the claims he received a religion attributed to
archangel Gabriel, who vision of God the teachings of the
revealed to him the instructing him to not Buddha who found the
beginnings of what to join any of the path to enlightenment
would later become the existing churches
Quran. because they were all
wrong.
Christianity’s Earliest Creed
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, in which
also you stand,
that Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures,
and
that He was buried,
and
that He was raised on the third day
according to the Scriptures,
and
that He appeared to Cephas,
then to the twelve.
After
that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time,
most of whom remain until now,
but some have fallen asleep;
then He appeared to James,
then to all the apostles;
and last of all, as to one untimely born,
He appeared to me also.
1 Corinthians 15:3-8 (ESV)
Paul Receives the Creed in Jerusalem
Then after three years [from my
conversion on the road to Damascus] I
went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas
and remained with him fifteen days.
But I saw none of the other apostles
except James the Lord's brother. (In
what I am writing to you, before God, I
do not lie!)
Gal 1:18-20 ESV

Jesus‘ Crucifixion Paul's Conversion Paul writes 1 Corinthians

(30) (34) (54-55)

(32) (37)
Stephen's Stoning Paul meets
Peter and James in Jerusalem
Creed Too Early to be Legend
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.
Gerd Lüdemann
(German NT scholar and skeptic)

The conviction that Jesus had risen from the dead had already
taken root by the time Paul was converted about 33 C.E. On the
assumption that Jesus died about 30 C.E., the time for development
was thus two or three years at most.
Robert W. Funk
(Non-Christian Biblical scholar, founder of the Jesus Seminar)

Jesus‘ Crucifixion Paul's Conversion Paul writes 1 Corinthians

(30) (34) (54-55)

(32) (37)
Stephen's Stoning Paul meets
Peter and James in Jerusalem
Centrality of the Resurrection to Christianity

If Jesus Christ has not been raised …

… if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and
your faith is in vain. (1Co 15:14)

We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we

testified about God that he raised Christ (1Co 15:15)

… if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still
in your sins. (1Co 15:17)

If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people

most to be pitied. (1Co 15: 19)

If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we
die.” (1Co 15: 32)
The Claim of Eye Witnesses
“For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we
made known to you the power and coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. ”
(2 Peter 1:16)

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard,

which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon
and have touched with our hands …”
(1 John 1:1-3)

“Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a

narrative of the things that have been accomplished
among us, just as those who from the beginning were
eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered
them to us”
(Luke 1:1-2)
Christianity is an Evidential Faith
• Christianity’s foundation is the resurrection of Jesus
• The resurrection of Jesus was:
– an empirical event vs subjective event
– a physical vs spiritual event
– a public event vs private event
• Therefore, it is a historically verifiable/falsifiable
event
• Evidential verifiability is truly a Christian distinctive
 Christianity is Alive because Her Savior is Alive
If Jesus were just posturing, pretending to be
some messianic figure, do you know what he would’ve
really said? ‘You kill me, and I will spiritually rise again.’
How do you falsify that? He said I will bodily rise again.
The corporeal claim of a literal physical bodily
resurrection made it theoretically possible to be falsifiable
if it didn’t happen. I think that claim alone of Jesus Christ
shows the legitimacy of where he was coming from,
otherwise the whole thing would’ve literally died with his
crucifixion. Ravi Zacharias