The question of the historicity of Jesus‘ resurrection has been repeatedly probed, investigated and debated. And the results have varied widely. Perhaps some now regard this issue as the burned-over district of New Testament scholarship. Could there be any new and promising approach to this problem?
Yes, answers Michael Licona. And he convincingly points us to a significant deficiency in approaching this question: our historiographical orientation and practice. So he opens this study with an extensive consideration of historiography and the particular problem of investigating claims of miracles. This alone is a valuable contribution.
But then Licona carefully applies his principles and methods to the question of Jesus‘ resurrection. In addition to determining and working from the most reliable sources and bedrock historical evidence, Licona critically weighs other prominent hypotheses. His own argument is a challenging and closely argued case for the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus, the Christ. Any future approaches to dealing with this ‚prize puzzle‘ of New Testament study will need to be routed through The Resurrection of Jesus.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
1 Important Considerations on Historical Inquiry
Pertaining to the Truth in Ancient Texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
1.1. Introductory Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
1.2. Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
1.2.1. Considerations in the Philosophy of History . . . . .31
1.2.2. Horizons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
1.2.3. On the Possibility of Transcending Horizon . . . . .50
1.2.4. The Role of a Consensus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62
1.2.5. The Uncertainty of Historical Knowledge . . . . . . .67
1.2.6. Postmodernist History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70
1.2.7. Problems with Postmodernist History . . . . . . . . .79
1.2.8. What Is Truth? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89
1.2.9. What Is a Historical Fact? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93
1.2.10. Burden of Proof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94
1.2.11. Theory and Historians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
1.2.12. Is History a Science? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
1.2.13. What Historians Do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
1.3. Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
1.3.1. From Theory to Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
1.3.2. Arguments to the Best Explanation . . . . . . . . . 108
1.3.3. Arguments from Statistical Inference . . . . . . . . 114
1.3.4. Spectrum of Historical Certainty . . . . . . . . . . 120
1.3.5. Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
1.3.6. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129
1.3.7. Confessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
2 The Historian and Miracles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133
2.1. Introductory Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134
2.2. David Hume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
2.3. C. Behan Mc Cullagh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
2.4. John P. Meier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
2.5. Bart D. Ehrman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
2.6. A. J. M. Wedderburn/James D. G. Dunn . . . . . . . . . 183
2.7. A Turning Point for Historians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
2.8. Burden of Proof in Relation to Miracle-Claims . . . . . . 192
2.8.1. Risk Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
2.8.2. Legal System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
2.8.3. Sagan’s Saw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
2.9. Summary and Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
3 Historical Sources Pertaining to the Resurrection of Jesus . . . . . 199
3.1. Introductory Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199
3.2. Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
3.2.1. Canonical Gospels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
3.2.2. The Letters of Paul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208
3.2.3. Sources that Potentially Antedate
the New Testament Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
3.2.3.1. Q . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
3.2.3.2. Pre-Markan Tradition . . . . . . . . . . .215
3.2.3.3. Speeches in Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
3.2.3.4. Oral Formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .220
3.2.3.4.a. Romans 1:3b-4a . . . . . . . . . . . . .220
3.2.3.4.b. Luke 24:33-34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
3.2.3.4.c. Other Formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . .222
3.2.3.4.d. 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 . . . . . . . . . . . 223
3.2.4 Non-Christian Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
3.2.4.1. Josephus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
3.2.4.2. Tacitus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .242
3.2.4.3. Pliny the Younger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
3.2.4.4. Suetonius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
3.2.4.5. Mara bar Serapion . . . . . . . . . . . . .244
3.2.4.6. Thallus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
3.2.4.7. Lucian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
3.2.4.8. Celsus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
3.2.4.9. Rabbinic Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . .246
3.2.5. Apostolic Fathers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .248
3.2.5.1. Clement of Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
3.2.5.2. Polycarp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
3.2.5.3. Letter of Barnabas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .256
3.2.6. Other Noncanonical Christian Literature . . . . . . 257
3.2.6.1. Gospel of Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .257
3.2.6.2. Gospel of Peter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
3.2.6.3. Gospel of Judas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .271
3.2.6.4. Revelation Dialogues . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
3.2.6.4.a. Epistle of the Apostles (Epistula
Apostolorum or Dialogue of the Savior) . . . . . .272
3.2.6.4.b. Treatise on the Resurrection
(Letter to Rheginus) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
3.2.6.4.c. Apocryphon of James
(Letter of Peter to James) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
3.2.6.5. Pseudo-Mark (Mark 16:9-20) . . . . . . .273
3.3. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
4 The Historical Bedrock Pertaining to the Fate of Jesus . . . . . . . 277
4.1. Introductory Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .277
4.2. The Historical Bedrock Pertaining to Jesus‘ Life . . . . .281
4.2.1. Jesus the Miracle-Worker and Exorcist . . . . . . . 281
4.2.2. Jesus: God’s Eschatological Agent . . . . . . . . . . 283
4.2.3. Jesus‘ Predictions of His Death and Vindication/
Resurrection: Just Outside of the Historical
Bedrock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
4.2.3.1. Six Arguments for the Historicity of Jesus’
Passion and Vindication/Resurrection
Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
4.2.3.2. Three Arguments Against the Historicity
of Jesus‘ Passion and Resurrection Predictions . . 295
4.3. The Historical Bedrock Pertaining to Jesus‘ Fate . . . . . 302
4.3.1. Jesus‘ Death by Crucifixion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
4.3.2. Appearances to the Disciples . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
4.3.2.1. Appearances in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 . . . . 318
4.3.2.1.a. Length of the tradition . . . . . . . . . 318
4.3.2.1.b. Two especially controversial
appearances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
4.3.2.1.c. The three-day motif . . . . . . . . . . . 324
4.3.2.1.d. The tradition and the nature of the
appearances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
4.3.2.1.e. Paul and the empty tomb . . . . . . . . . 333
4.3.2.2. Appearances as Legitimizing Support
for the Authority of the Recipients . . . . . . . . 339
4.3.2.3. Mark and Resurrection Appearances . . . . 343
4.3.2.4. Women as Eyewitnesses . . . . . . . . . . 349
4.3.2.5. Appearance to the Emmaus Disciples . . . 355
4.3.2.6. Those Who ‚Doubted‘ in
Matthew 28:17-18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
4.3.2.7. Fates of the Apostles . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
4.3.2.8. Conclusion Pertaining to the Appearances
to the Disciples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
4.3.3. The Conversion of the Church Persecutor Paul . . . 373
4.3.3.1. Pauline Texts on Paul’s Conversion
Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
4.3.3.1.a. Galatians 1:11-19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
4.3.3.1.b. 1 Corinthians 9:1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
4.3.3.1.c. 1 Corinthians 15:8 . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
4.3.3.1.d. 2 Corinthians 4:6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
4.3.3.1.e. 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 . . . . . . . . . . . 381
4.3.3.2. Acts Texts on Paul’s Conversion
Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
4.3.3.2.a. Acts 9:3-20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
4.3.3.2.b. Acts 22:6-16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
4.3.3.2.c. Acts 26:12-18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
4.3.3.3. Similarities Between Paul and Acts Texts .386
4.3.3.4. Differences among the Acts Texts . . . . .387
4.3.3.5. Addressing Others . . . . . . . . . . . . .394
4.3.3.6. The Fate of Paul . . . . . . . . . . . . . .397
4.3.3.7. Parallels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398
4.3.3.8. Conclusions Related to the Appearance
to Paul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
4.3.3.9. What Did Paul Believe About Jesus‘
Resurrection? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
4.3.3.9.a. Romans 8:11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .400
4.3.3.9.b. 1 Corinthians 15:42-54 . . . . . . . . . . 403
4.3.3.9.c. Philippians 3:21 . . . . . . . . . . . . .423
4.3.3.9.d. Colossians 2:9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .424
4.3.3.9.e. 2 Corinthians 4:16–5:8 . . . . . . . . . . 425
4.3.3.9.f. Galatians 1:11-19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
4.3.3.10. Why Is Paul So Important to Historians
Interested in Jesus‘ Resurrection? . . . . . . . .437
4.3.4. The Conversion of James the Skeptical
Brother of Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .440
4.3.4.1. Evidence of James’s Skepticism from the
Canonical Gospels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .440
4.3.4.1.a. Mark 3:20-35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440
4.3.4.1.b. Mark 6:2-4, 6a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443
4.3.4.1.c. John 7:1-5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444
4.3.4.1.d. John 19:25b-27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
4.3.4.2. Additional Counterarguments . . . . . . . 451
4.3.4.3. James After the Resurrection of Jesus . . . 455
4.3.4.4. The Reason James Converted. . . . . . . . 458
4.3.4.5. Summary and Conclusion . . . . . . . . .460
4.3.5. The Empty Tomb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461
4.4. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463
5 Weighing Hypotheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465
5.1. Summary of Where We Have Been and Our Intent . . . . 466
5.2. Geza Vermes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470
5.2.1. Description of Vermes’s View . . . . . . . . . . . .470
5.2.2. Analysis and Concerns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473
5.2.3. Weighing the Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476
5.3. Michael Goulder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
5.3.1. Description of Goulder’s View . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
5.3.1.1. Peter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
5.3.1.2. Disciples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
5.3.1.3. Paul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
5.3.1.4. Appearance Traditions in the Gospels . . .481
5.3.2. Analysis and Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483
5.3.3. Weighing the Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
5.4. Gerd Ludemann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .495
5.4.1. Description of Lüdemann’s View . . . . . . . . . .495
5.4.1.1. Peter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496
5.4.1.2. Disciples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498
5.4.1.3. More than Five Hundred . . . . . . . . . . 498
5.4.1.4. James and the Brothers of Jesus . . . . . . . 499
5.4.1.5. Paul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499
5.4.1.6. Appearance Traditions in the Gospels . . .502
5.4.2. Analysis and Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505
5.4.2.1. Psychoanalysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505
5.4.2.2. Disciples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .508
5.4.2.3. More than Five Hundred . . . . . . . . . . 509
5.4.2.4. Paul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510
5.4.2.5. Symbolism and Doceticism . . . . . . . . . 512
5.4.3. Weighing the Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
5.5. John Dominic Crossan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519
5.5.1. Description of Crossan’s View . . . . . . . . . . . . 519
5.5.1.1. Six Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519
5.5.1.2. The Appearances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521
5.5.1.3. The Meaning of Resurrection . . . . . . .525
5.5.1.4. The Harrowing of Hell . . . . . . . . . . . 527
5.5.2. Analysis and Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532
5.5.2.1. Crossan’s Six Initial Concerns . . . . . . . 532
5.5.2.2. Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .540
5.5.2.3. Metaphor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543
5.5.2.4. The Harrowing of Hell . . . . . . . . . . . 546
5.5.3. Weighing the Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553
5.6. Pieter F. Craffert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557
5.6.1. Description of Craffert’s View . . . . . . . . . . . . 557
5.6.1.1. Introductory Comments . . . . . . . . . . 557
5.6.1.2. Case Study: Jesus‘ Walking on Water . . . 561
5.6.1.3. Social-Scientific Approach Applied to the
Resurrection of Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563
5.6.2. Analysis and Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565
5.6.2.1. ‚Straw-Man‘ Argument . . . . . . . . . .566
5.6.2.2. Postmodernism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 566
5.6.2.3. Naturalistic Bias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
5.6.2.4. Altered State of Consciousness (ASC) . . . 570
5.6.2.5. The Appearances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573
5.6.3. Weighing the Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580
5.7. The Resurrection Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582
5.7.1. Description of the Resurrection View . . . . . . . . 582
5.7.2. Analysis and Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584
5.7.2.1. The Challenge of Legend . . . . . . . . . . 584
5.7.2.2. Ockham’s Razor . . . . . . . . . . . . . .585
5.7.2.3. Not Enough Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . 587
5.7.2.4. Deficient Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588
5.7.3. Weighing the Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . .600
5.8. Summary and Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
Summary and Further Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
Appendix: A Review of Dale Allison on the Resurrection of Jesus . . 623
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 642
Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .698
Subject Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .701
Scripture Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 711
Über den Autor
Michael R. Licona (Ph.D., University of Pretoria) is Research Professor of New Testament at Southern Evangelical Seminary and on staff at the North American Mission Board.
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