[Apologetics] Short argument: "Jesus the Resurrection and the Way" Assignment (86/100, 7/31/2025)

Introduction

          One of the central messages of the evangelical Christianity is the resurrection of Jesus, which has been attacked for its veracity and authenticity from the moment it was claimed to have taken place. By sufficiently breaking down and analyzing one of the opponents’ arguments into several rebuttals, Jesus’ resurrection will be then defended and proven for its truthfulness and plausibility, if not for the necessity of it, for those who firmly support and believe its occurrence.

Crazy Argument against the Resurrection

         One common argument against the resurrection of Jesus is that Jesus never actually died on the cross; in other words, the faction of skeptics argued that he merely appeared to have died on the cross, but escaped the apparent death, had his body taken and placed in the tomb half-dead or nearly dead, still alive, only to be resuscitated later. This wild, crazy-sounding theory facilitates the presence and help of the co-conspirators to accomplish, most likely the Roman soldiers who inspected his death, his disciples, and other people of means since Jesus by himself was physically incapable of carrying out such a daring rescue mission. This hypothetical theory, however, had some followers, as Gould et al write, “Somewhat popular in the nineteenth century, the claim that Jesus physically survived his crucifixion (traditionally called the “swoon” theory) is almost universally rejected today.”[1] As unreal as the now-largely discarded swoon theory may sound, the more creative version of Jesus faking his own death has come out lately as John Warwick Montgomery writes, “Schonfield’s Passover Plot argues that Jesus induced His own crucifixion, drugging Himself so as to survive just long enough in the tomb to convince the fuddled disciples that He had risen.”

       As the largely politically-motivated academic climate may dictate lately, anyone can propose any theory for the public consumption in spite of the apparent absurdity of it as someone by the name of Von Daniken speculated, “It was the product of a close encounter of the third kind: Jesus was a kind of Martian cleverly dressed in a Jesus suit who knew a few tricks such as how to appear to rise from the dead.”[2] This statement not only sounds sacrilegious but also incredible and incriminating in the light of the person Von Daniken is as Montgomery reveals the checkered past of ET theorist as once incarcerated “for embezzlement, fraud, and forgery”, a law-breaker of ill repute and malicious intent.

Lucid Argument Against the Swoon Theory in Defense of the Resurrection

       The argument for Jesus’ account of Resurrection while countering the Swoon Theory can be built upon the following five premises: 1) Roman authority’s acknowledgement; 2) Jewish leadership’s own acknowledgement; 3) historian’s attestation; 4) eyewitnesses’ testimony; 5)  medical evidence; 6) OT study cases of previous resurrection.

        First, it is clear that Jesus was fully human just like any one of us; there are several biblical accounts which testify to the very fact; he was thirsty (John 19:28), weary (Matthew 8:24)), emotional (John 11:35), sweaty, (Luke 22:44) and bloody (John 19:34) as when pierced  by a spear his side poured out the red crimson blood and the bodily liquids as expected of a normal man. There was no doubt as to Jesus’ full humanity.

        The amount of bodily wear and tear the passion week had already subjected Jesus to leading up to the moment of his arrest, brutal interrogation (as he was unable to carry his own cross the crucifixion site and eventual crucifixion on the cross at Calvary at the hands of Roman soldiers--unbearable for any human being, even for a man in his early thirties like Jesus who seemed have been built strong, muscular and powerful and resilient (cf. Mark 6:3, “lifetime carpenter”; Matthew 21:12-13, “chasing out a group of money changers, and mercenaries out of a temple” with sheer force) all rendered to his short stint on the cross as he expired in six hours (Luke 23:44-46). The Roman soldiers, a centurion and the Jewish religious leaders all confirmed his death on the cross as Pilate wondered, “So soon?” upon hearing the report of his death. Fool the Roman authority or in conspiracy with them? Not possible as Gould points out, “Beyond the virtual impossibility of surviving a scourging of such severity followed by crucifixion, this suggestion would require that the Roman executioners were mistaken in declaring Jesus dead.”[3] Preposterous, wild and unreasonable are the swoon theory.

        Historian such as Josephus who lived right after Jesus wrote about Jesus and his death on the cross. Josephus is an important figure whose historicity and reliability are beyond questionable. He is an incredible and invaluable source for authenticity and validity into the historicity surrounding person named Jesus.

      One of the strongest opponents of Jesus’ resurrection from the late nineteenth century was David F. Strauss (1808-1874); he even strongly discredited the swoon theory by the following words, “It is impossible that a being who had stolen half-dead out of the sepulcher, who crept about weak and ill, wanting medical treatment, who required bandaging, strengthening and indulgence, and who still at last yielded to his sufferings, could have given to the disciples the impression that he was a Conqueror over death and the grave, the Prince of Life….Such a resuscitation could only have weakened the impression which he had made upon them in life and in death…but could by no possibility have changed their sorrow into enthusiasm, have elevated their reverence into worship.”[4] He singlehandedly destroyed the swoon theory and put that to a rest.

        How would you discount the faithful eyewitnesses’ account of his death and resurrection? Hundreds of people testified to the fact, of which many perished via gruesome means for their undying steadfast belief in the very conviction and belief of his death and eventual resurrection. No one would have followed Jesus to death had he faked his own death, deceived and fooled people, the least of which his own followers had it been the case. The faction would have disintegrated, and self-destructed instantaneously. Was Jesus a fake and liar? On the contrary.

       Obviously, the nature of his gruesome nature makes it impossible for the swoon theory to hold. Crucifixion was one of the most brutal means of executing a person, and the Romans perfected it. There is zero medical chance of Jesus’ surviving from such torturous and horrendous execution half-dead and later faking his own resurrection.

        Lastly, the case for Jesus’ resurrection can be argued on a  set of previous cases of resurrection which is described in the Bible: Jesus is not the only one who was raised from the dead according to the Bible. The Old Testament prophets Elijah and Elisha were able to raise people from the dead as depicted in 1 Kings 17 and 2 Kings 4, respectively. This type of argument can be made in the court of law! Why then make such a fuss and raise a raucous about Jesus’ own resurrection account but not behoove and get mesmerized if not praise it? Jesus also raised two people from the dead as was the case with Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5) and Lazarus (John 11).  Didn’t Jesus perform so man wondrous miracles so that no books on earth would ever be able to contain all of them had all His deeds were recorded? The Man is a miracle worker. Why so little faith as to vehemently reject to His resurrection before looking into it earnestly?

Conclusion

       Swoon theory or any fake death theory against Jesus’ resurrection does not hold water when investigated logically, reasonably and intelligently from several layers of inquires as it appears more than plausible and even quite possible that Jesus did actually die on the cross but was raised from the dead on the third as many eyewitnesses and a few irrefutable historical facts which cannot be discredited seem to validate it.

Bibliography

Paul M. Gould, Travis Dickinson and R. Keith Loftin, Apologetics and the Brilliance of the      Gospel: Stand Firm, (Brentwood, TN: B&H Academic: 2018).

Khaldoun A. Sweis and Chad V. Meister, Christian Apologetics: An Anthology of Primary Sources., 348

Habermas, Gary. On the Resurrection, Volume 1 : Evidences, B&H Publishing Group, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central, 350-351, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/liberty/detail.action?docID=31060975.

[1] Khaldoun A. Sweis and Chad V. Meister, Christian Apologetics: An Anthology of Primary Sources, (Grand Rapids, MI: 2012), 348.

[2] Khaldoun A. Sweis and Chad V. Meister, Christian Apologetics: An Anthology of Primary Sources., 348.

[3] Paul M. Gould, Travis Dickinson and R. Keith Loftin, Apologetics and the Brilliance of the Gospel: Stand Firm, (Brentwood, TN: B&H Academic: 2018), 120.

[4] Habermas, Gary. On the Resurrection, Volume 1 : Evidences, B&H Publishing Group, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/liberty/detail.action?docID=31060975.