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Some say, "You just have to have faith." At some point, faith is a necessary condition of salvation. The Bible is full of statements that say placing our hope and life in Jesus is what salvation is all about. However, all faith is not blind. There are many proofs of the Resurrection of Jesus.

The Famous "Minimal Facts" Argument

My Top Five Proofs for the Resurrection

1- The four biographies about the life of Jesus.

Did you know that the earliest records we have of the life of Alexandar the Great were not written until 200 years after his death? However, no one denies that he existed. The fact that the eyewitnesses of Jesus wrote down the biographies of His life within the lifetime of those who could deny their claims is historically astounding. Christians have an "embarrassment of riches" regarding historically accurate claims about Christ. In today's world, no serious scholar has denied that Jesus lived. The fact that they were written in different places, at different times, with different authors yet harmonized so well is practically a miracle.

2- The Empty Tomb.

The question remains: Where would the body be if He did not rise? The easiest thing for the critics of Christ to do would be to produce a body. The case would be closed. The Qur'an says Jesus did not die. This is silly when you realize how a Roman Crucifixion was carried out. Another criticism is that the disciples stole the body. Which disciples? Do you mean the ones who self-admittedly were hiding out while the women went to anoint Jesus' body? Another criticism is the Pharisees moved the body. There is no logical reason for this. The answer has never been given adequately to satisfy the empty tomb's reality.

3- 1 Corthinians 15:6: 500 Eyewitnesses.

Many eyewitnesses saw Jesus for forty days after He rose from the dead. In total, over 500 saw Jesus. Have you ever tried to keep a secret between two people? It's almost impossible. How could you convince 500 people to lie and say they did not see Jesus? There is a criticism that claims a mass hallucination. The problem is there is no proof of this, nor is there any reliable time in history when this can be proven to have happened. It would be a miracle all by itself, which would get us back to the fact that a miracle occurred in the first place.

4- The changed lives and deaths of the disciples.

Whether or not you believe in the resurrection, you cannot deny the disciples thought they saw Jesus. The resulting change in their lives is unmistakable. Before the resurrection, they were hiding. After the resurrection, they were bold and never recanted their story that Jesus was alive. Others criticize that many people have died for something they believed in. That's true. But no one dies for something they know is a lie. The original disciples faced gruesome deaths that could have been prevented if they had been willing to recant their testimony. However, they were all willing to die rather than say Jesus had not risen from the dead.

5- The lives of all who have come after.

Let's say you do not believe the Bible. Let's say you discount the lives of the disciples. Let's say you discount the empty tomb. Fine. What do you do with all the lives that have been changed and who have embraced the Lordship of Christ? Some critics say, "This is what happens when you give yourself to an ideology. Many people have relief from trouble when they hold to an ideology." Here is my response to that. First, prove it. Show me someone who embraced atheism, and it filled them with awe and hope. I'll wait. Second, I'm not talking about an ideology. I'm talking about a living relationship with a transcendent, omnipresent, omnipotent, omnibenevolent God. This is not a set of beliefs. It's a living relationship.