> [!Quote] [[Perry2003-yz|Charles Colson (Went to prison in the 70's for his part in the Watergate scandal.)]] > I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Most were beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren't true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn't keep a lie for three weeks...You're telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible. After the Resurrection, the lives of the disciples changed dramatically. They were shown repeatedly failing to understand what The Son Of God had to endure. The Gospels record them running to save themselves at the time of Jesus' arrest; they were been timid, afraid, and depressed after witnessing the suffering of Jesus ([Matthew 26:31-56](https://www.bible.com/bible/59/MAT.26.31-56); [Mark 15:50](https://www.bible.com/bible/59/MRK.15.50); [John 20:19](https://www.bible.com/bible/59/JHN.20.19)). But after His resurrection, they became aggressive, bold, and full of joy. Less than 50 days after their entire lives were destroyed because of the death of Jesus, they were boldly preaching that Jesus was alive ([[Blackaby2008-ew]]), even to the point of death. ## Jesus' Disciples and his skeptics became convinced that Jesus had appeared to them after his death. The Disciples believed in the Resurrection of Jesus only after they saw him come alive. They claimed to have seen Him on several occasions for 40 days. Some of these disciples such as James, Jesus' own brother, and the famous Apostle Paul did not believe or follow Jesus while he was alive; however, after His Death, they were convinced that the Jesus that appeared to them alive was the risen Messiah. It is important to note that the disciples endured persecution, and a number of them experienced martyrdom. The strength of their conviction indicates that they were not just claiming that Jesus had appeared to them after rising from the dead - they truly believed it. They willingly endangered themselves by publicly proclaiming the risen Christ. Many scholars, even skeptical ones, agree that the disciples truly believed that Jesus was alive and had appeared to them: > [!quote] [[Ehrman1999-mr|Bart Ehrman]] > It is a historical fact that some of Jesus' followers came to believe that he had been raised from the dead soon after his execution. We know some of these believers by name; one of them, the apostle Paul, claims quite plainly to have seen Jesus alive after his death. Thus, for the historian, Christianity begins after the death of Jesus, not with the resurrection itself, but with the belief in the resurrection. ### The Death Of The Apostles These new Christians did not have money, power, or fame to gain; rather, they were persecuted from the beginning of their faith until they died >[!Failure]- Were The Apostles Really Martyed? >![[How Did The Apostles Die]] > [!quote] [[Authors_undated-ed|Gary Habermas]] > We have strong data on at least the martyrdoms of Peter, Paul, and James, the brother of Jesus, recorded by Josephus and Clement of Rome, both before the close of the First Century. Josephus, of course, was not a Christian, so we cannot argue that he wanted to make the Christians look good. Further, Roman historians like Tacitus and Suetonius, along with Roman governor Pliny the Younger also tell us that early Christians were persecuted and even killed. These were also non-Christian authors who were trying to disparage Christianity, not brag about believers. Then, just a few years later, others died for their faith, like Ignatius and Polycarp. Willing deaths show that the martyrs sincerely believed their own reports. So, just to preach Jesus in the early church context would expose the preacher to at least the possibility of death. Virtually no scholars would deny that this occurred. But please note that I generally base these points on the disciples' willingness to die, because this keeps me from having to prove the actual point and their being willing is all you need to show they were sincere. This only tells us that the early Christians believed in what they were saying, though belief does not prove the truth of a claim. People can die for something that they believe in, even if the claim itself is false ([[Little_undated-ya]], [[Moreland1987-wo]] ). Noteworthy examples of this include the Nazis [[Snyder2010-uf|"Master Race"]] conviction, the [[Eldridge2022-nj|Jonestown]], [[Swanson2015-le|Branch Davidian]] and [[Wikipedia_contributors2022-ol|Heaven's Gate]] incidents, and Japanese civilians that committed suicide rather than being taken to prison by the Americans, believing that they would be mistreated ([[Sieg2007-ey]]). As detailed in other submissions, other alternate Resurrection theories that may explain this do not hold up. ## Scholors Unanimously Report That They Were Not Lying See Also, listed taken from [[Bishop2015-bv|James Bishop]] and [Belief Map](https://beliefmap.org/jesus/resurrect/appearance/report/honesty 'Historians unanimously say "No"'): - [[Bock2010-su|Darrell L. Bock, Daniel B. Wallace]] - [[Johnson1996-ly|Luke Johnson]] - [[Bartsch1953-gm|Hans Werner Bartsch]] - [[Allison2005-xc|Dale C. Allison, Jr.]] - [[Sanders1995-vy|Ed Parish Sanders]] - [[Ludemann1995-hz|Gerd Ludemann, Alf Ozen]] - [[McDowell_undated-ji|Sean McDowell]] - [[Lapide2002-rs|Pinchas Lapide]] - [[Funk1998-at|Robert Walter Funk, Jesus Seminar]] - [[Bird2011-vg|Michael F. Bird]] - [[Orr1908-rn|William Lane Craig]] - [[Vermes2008-os|Alister McGrath]] - [[Church_undated-ev|Calvary Baptist Church]] - [[Moreland1987-wo|J. P. Moreland]] - [[Walker2000-my|Peter Walker]] - [[Bryan2011-lm|Christopher Bryan]] - [[Rauser2012-he|Randal Rauser]] - [[Warner_Wallace2013-yb|Warner Wallace, J]] - [[Morison1987-rx|Frank Morison]] - [[noauthor_2000-ps|Paula Fredriksen]] - [[Sanders1995-vy|Ed Parish Sanders]] - [[Pannenberg_undated-xo|Wolfhart Pannenberg]] - [[Carnley1993-wr|Peter Carnley]] - [[Wedderburn1999-mt|A. J. M. Wedderburn]] - Over 3400 sources also confirm this ([[Habermas2004-dg]], [[Licona2020-jj]]). The Transformed Life of the Disciples after the Resurrection of Jesus is evidenced by their willingness to endure persecution and martyrdom for their faith, and is supported by both Christian and non-Christian sources. Their conviction and the evidence of the Resurrection are strong indications that Jesus truly rose from the dead.