7.5 The Resurrection & conclusion

Reading Time: 7 minutes We’ve seen how badly the standard explanations of the empty tomb, the postmortem appearances, and the origin of the disciples’ faith stand when assessed by standard criteria for testing historical theory. They’re especially weak when it comes to explanatory scope and power and are often highly implausible. But does the Read more…

7.4 Hallucination theory

Reading Time: 4 minutes Explanatory scope The hallucination theory has narrow explanatory scope. It says nothing to explain the empty tomb. Therefore, one must either deny the fact of the empty tomb (and, therefore, the burial as well) or else conjoin some independent theory to the hallucination theory to account for the empty tomb. Read more…

7.3 Apparent death theory (swoon)

Reading Time: 2 minutes Explanatory scope The apparent death theory also provides explanations for the empty tomb, postmortem appearances, and origin of the disciples’ belief in Jesus’ resurrection.  Explanatory power  Here the theory begins to crumble. Some versions of the apparent death theory were really variations on the conspiracy theory. Instead of stealing the Read more…

7.2 Evaluating the Fraud/conspiracy theory

Reading Time: 3 minutes Explanatory scope This theory meets the condition pretty well, it offers explanations of the empty tomb (the disciples stole the body), the postmortem appearances (the disciples lied about these), and the origin of the disciples’ (supposed) belief in Jesus’ resurrection (again, they lied). Explanatory power Here doubts begin to arise. Read more…