Section 09
Six pillars
Six historical facts are accepted by more than 95 percent of NT scholars. The resurrection hypothesis explains all six.
Gary Habermas surveyed ~3,400 academic publications on the resurrection from 1975 forward. Twelve facts are accepted by >95 percent of scholars in the field. The site uses six.
One: Jesus died by crucifixion. Two: the disciples believed he had risen. Three: the disciples were transformed. Four: proclamation began very early in Jerusalem. Five: Paul converted on his own report of seeing the risen Jesus. Six: James, the skeptical brother of Jesus, also converted on his own report.
Six independent data points. One hypothesis explains all of them.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day, and that he appeared.
Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:3 to 5, transmitting a creed dated within 5 years of the crucifixion.
By the numbers
- Habermas database
- ~3,400 publications
- Scholarly acceptance
- >95 percent
- Independent witnesses (1 Cor 15)
- Cephas, the twelve, the 500, James, all the apostles, Paul
Strongest counter position
A small minority (Robert Price, Richard Carrier) reject one or more of the minimal facts. They are at the edge of the field; the >95 percent figure refers to broad mainstream including agnostic, Jewish, atheist, and Christian scholars.
What this does not prove
The >95 percent figure is Habermas’s measurement of his sample of academic publications. It measures consensus among working specialists in NT historiography.
Citations
- 1 Corinthians 15:3 to 8.
- Galatians 1:18 to 19, 2:9.
- John 7:5.
- Acts 9, 22, 26.
- Habermas and Licona, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, 2004.
Goes deeper