The Disciples Were Mistaken About Jesus's Death

Could the disciples have been mistaken about Jesus’s death?

A common argument against the resurrection of Jesus, is to claim he never died. The proposed claim is this: “Jesus survived the beating and crucifixion and appeared to the disciples after he recovered.”

 

Here is why this common claim can be easily refuted:

 

P1: Many first century and second century unfriendly Roman sources (Thallus, Tacitus, Mara Bar-Serapion, and Phlegon) including Jewish sources (Josephus and the Babylonian Talmud) affirmed and acknowledged that Jesus was crucified and died.

 

Non-Biblical Sources

 

P2: The Roman guards faced death if they allowed a prisoner to survive crucifixion. They wouldn’t be careless enough to remove a living person.

 

P3: Jesus would have to control his blood loss from the beatings, crucifixion, and stabbing in order to survive, but since he was pinned to the cross it would be impossible to do this.

 

P4: Jesus displayed wounds following the resurrection but was not observed to behave as he was wounded, although he appeared days after his beating, crucifixion, and stabbing.

 

P5: Jesus disappeared from the historical record following his reported resurrection and ascension and was never sighted again (as one might expect if he recovered from his wounds and lived much longer than age thirty-three).

 

C: These evidences directly oppose the idea that the disciples were mistaken about Jesus’ death, it is inconclusive to suggest that they could have been mistaken.

 

Source: J Warner Wallace