Resurrected or Resuscitated?
Aug 24, 2008
As I said before, whatever explanation of the resurrection you adopt, it must be able to explain: 1) How the unique doctrine of the Resurrection arose among Christians, 2) Why the stories are the way they are, 3) Why the Resurrection took center stage in Christian writing/preaching 4) Why the disciples literally died for this belief; 5) How the muddled, frightened disciples with their Messiah defeated became the bold proclaimers of faith in Christ and literally conquered the Roman Empire.
One attempt to explain this data, sometimes called the "swoon theory," denies Jesus' death. On this theory, Jesus didn't really die at all. Yes, he was crucified-that much is undeniable-but he survived the crucifixion. When he was laid in the tomb he was unconscious, but alive. He then resuscitated, escaped from the tomb, and appeared to the disciples, who mistakenly thought he had been resurrected. This theory thus neatly explains the resurrection appearances without having, implausibly, to deny the crucifixion. Christians dismiss the swoon theory for a number of reasons.
First, people didn't survive crucifixion. Crucifixion was a brutal form of execution, one well-practiced by the Romans. The Romans knew what they were doing; Jesus could not have made it through the crucifixion alive. Second, even if he had made it through the crucifixion alive, Jesus would not have been in a fit state to escape from the tomb. The tomb in which he was laid, according to the Bible, was enclosed by a large boulder, and guarded by Roman soldiers. Even if he had survived crucifixion, Jesus, having been beaten, stabbed, scourged, crucified, and starved, would have been too weak to move the boulder, and wouldn't have got past the guards. Third, we have to believe that Jesus, after having done so much good for others, now begins to lie to his closest friends. Fourth, even if Jesus had survived the crucifixion and escaped from the tomb, there's no way that he would have been mistaken as someone resurrected. The rigors of crucifixion would have left him in an appalling state, yet Jesus' appearance before his disciples was such that they thought he was in a glorified, resurrection body. He moved around, cooked fish, traveled, taught, walked many miles, etc. Therefore the swoon theory cannot seriously be maintained.[1]
We'll take on a few more theories before I try to show positively and historically that resurrection is the best and only way to explain the historical facts as we have them.
[1] Adapted from www.existence-of-god.com