The Resurrection of Jesus

Term Paper # 113863

Religion and Theology > Christianity
Religion and Theology > The Bible

An analysis of the skepticism surrounding the resurrection of Jesus.

3,103 words () | 27 sources | APA | 2005 Canada

Paper Summary:

This paper strives to confront some of the challenges and claims set forth by many skeptics regarding the resurrection of Jesus, which often hinder many Christians from attaining an absolute belief in Christianity and all that it embodies. Skepticism in the resurrection of Jesus is not strictly contemporary and such doubts surrounding it are believed to have started surfacing directly proceeding the event itself. The paper briefly examines the history of this skepticism's placement in modern context (from the twentieth century and onwards), presents a retrospective reflection upon the world we live in, scrutinizes the presuppositions of scientific thought - of the world functioning strictly under naturalistic laws, interpretations of pagan myths, and analyzes a comparison of the literal and metaphorical-allegorical interpretations of the resurrection (for e.g. was the resurrection of Jesus bodily or metaphorical?).

From the Paper:

"The most recent of "scholarly" criticism of the resurrection and of the very historicity of Jesus is that of Tom Harpur's The Pagan Christ: Recovering the Lost Light. Tom Harpur makes some radical claims on the very historical existence of Jesus of Nazareth: "can we say with any authority that Jesus of Nazareth actually existed as a historical person? I have very grave doubts we can." He believes that Christianity took a wrong turn in the fourth century C.E., he then asserts that there are many parallels with the Jesus of the New Testament including his resurrection and pagan myths: "by the antecedent careers of such world saviours as Dionysus, Osiris, Horus, ... Zoraster, Krishna" . Despite the fact that if there is no historical Jesus there is no literal resurrection or any resurrection at all and quite simply no true Christianity, Harpur still argues he is a Christian, but in a new cosmic sense just as pagans were thousands of years ago. "

Sample of Sources Used:

Brown, Raymond E. The Virginal Conception and Bodily Resurrection of Jesus. New York: Paulist, 1973.
Craig, William Lane. The Historical Argument for the Resurrection of Jesus During the Deist Controversy. Texts and Studies in Religion Volume 23. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen, 1985.
Davis, Stephen T. Why the Historical Jesus Matters, (Theology News and Notes, June 1999). Online: <Http://www.wcg.org/lit/jesus/davis.htm>
Derrett, J. Duncan M. The Anastasis: The Resurrection of Jesus as an Historical Event. Warwickshire: Bloomfield, 1982.
Evans, C. F. Resurrection and The New Testament. Naperville: SCM, 1970.