Section 08
The tomb was empty
The tomb where Jesus was buried was found empty on the third day. Attested in all four Gospels, presupposed by the earliest preaching, accepted by ~75 percent of working scholars.
The first eyewitnesses were women. In first century Jewish legal context, women’s testimony carried lower weight. If the early church had invented the resurrection narrative, they would not have invented women as witnesses.
Joseph of Arimathea, named as the man who provided the tomb, was a member of the Sanhedrin. A late legend would not place a known opponent at the centre of the burial story.
The earliest Jewish counter narrative (Matthew 28:11 to 15) admits the empty tomb. The earliest opponents did not deny it. They explained it differently.
The historian, of whatever persuasion, has no option but to affirm both the empty tomb and the meetings with Jesus as historical events.
N. T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, 2003, p. 710.
By the numbers
- Empty tomb attestation
- all 4 Gospels
- Scholarly acceptance
- ~75 percent
- First witnesses
- women, contrary to expectation
Strongest counter position
A minority of scholars hold that the empty tomb is a later legendary development absent from the earliest Pauline material. The site responds: 1 Corinthians 15:4 says Christ "was buried" and "was raised on the third day," presupposing the empty tomb.
What this does not prove
The empty tomb has slightly weaker consensus (~75 percent) than the appearances and the crucifixion.
Citations
- Mark 16:1 to 8.
- Matthew 28:1 to 10, 28:11 to 15.
- Luke 24:1 to 12.
- John 20:1 to 10.
- N. T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, 2003.
Goes deeper