Christianity uniquely grounded in historical proof

The secular community has trouble understanding how evangelical Christians can claim to be certain of their faith. After all, faith can be critically evaluated only when extraordinary physical evidence stands behind a central spiritual idea, such as a miracle. By testing the veracity of the physical aspects of miracles, one

can establish the validity of the associated spiritual components and thus comment on the underlying faith.

I have not extensively studied other religions, but I know for Christianity there is one miracle that can make or break the faith, depending on whether it is true: the resurrection of Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 15:17, the apostle Paul writes, “And if Christ has not been raised [from the dead], your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”

If similarly important miracles can be found in other traditions, then it is possible to compare religions by comparing the evidence for these miracles. However, most people believe that all miracles on which people base their faith have the same weight of evidence behind them and that it is impossible to decide anything by this method.

Because I have not extensively studied other religions, I cannot say whether all miracles are equally well supported, but I can say that the evidence for Jesus’ resurrection is solid, although even most Christians remain unfamiliar with it.

Eyewitness testimony of the resurrection taken from many people, not all of whom were supportive of Jesus’ ministry, establishes the resurrection’s public nature, but it does little to convince the skeptic. Rather, the strongest evidence for the resurrection comes from the witnesses’ behavior following the event. All of the people who claimed they saw the risen

Jesus — Jesus’ disciples and followers, his begrudging brother James and his enemy Saul (later called Paul) — made drastic lifestyle changes as a result of their experiences.

Immediately after Jesus’ crucifixion, his followers were dejected by his death and were fearful of being pursued by Jewish leaders. Both Christian and secular historical sources bear witness to what happened next: Jesus’ followers suddenly became jubilant, openly proclaiming Jesus as the risen Messiah in front of the Jewish authorities they had once feared and claiming the reality of Jesus’ resurrection even as they faced execution.

Jesus’ brother James was opposed to Jesus’ ministry while he was alive, but both Christian and Jewish historical records show that after Jesus’ death James became a leader of the early church and was executed for proclaiming his brother as the resurrected Messiah. Saul of Tarsus began his career as a fervent persecutor of early Christians but then underwent a complete reversal to become another leader of the early church after, according to Saul, Jesus appeared to him physically alive and convinced Saul of his divinity. Saul was also eventually martyred for his beliefs. History clearly tells us that all of these people were willing to throw away everything and face death because of what they saw.

It would have been easy for the opponents of early Christianity to destroy all faith in the resurrection by pointing to a tomb that contained Jesus’ body. However, no historical record ever shows the Jewish authorities contesting the assertion that Jesus’ tomb was empty. Only explanations of the empty tomb are found. Christianity’s earliest opponents took for granted the fact of Jesus’ empty tomb, and their tacit acknowledgement of it stands as powerful testimony.

There are many diverse theories surrounding these events, but every proposed explanation fails to account for the incredible behavior of the witnesses or the fact of the empty tomb, except the witnesses’ own explanation: that Jesus physically rose from the dead and physically appeared to them. Faith is still required to accept Jesus’ resurrection, but in light of the evidence, faith is no longer a leap but a step.

I have no doubt that people’s lives have been radically changed by the teachings of other religions. However, I am not talking about teachings but about the direct effects of a specific miracle on recorded history. If the same evidence exists for miracles reported by other religions, then I challenge the Rice community to make that evidence known so we can all come to an

informed conclusion.

Bill Reus is a Wiess College senior.

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