Theologians Discuss the Resurrection of Jesus

Some of the most respected scholars and leading theologians from all rungs of the theological spectrum were featured on 20/20’s news special last week to discuss the resurrection of Jesus

Some of the most respected scholars and leading theologians from all rungs of the theological spectrum were featured on 20/20’s news special last week to discuss the resurrection of Jesus.

The story of Easter Sunday retold for two millenniums is one of the foundational beliefs of Christianity that is still debated.

Some believe in the resurrection of the physical body, some believe in the spiritual resurrection, and still others believe in both. There are also those who say the resurrection is a dream or a visionary event. In all cases, what precedes the question about the resurrection of Jesus is the question of the empty tomb.

The Empty Tomb

"It's discovered that the body is not there. And that's the point of major importance. That's where it all begins," said Daniel Schwartz, professor of history at Jerusalem's Hebrew University.

According to Jewish scholar Albert Baumgarten of Jerusalem's Bar Ilan University, the question of debate is not so much with the validity of the empty tomb, but it lies within the question “why?”

"Christians said the tomb was empty because Jesus had been resurrected and Jews said that the tomb was empty because the disciples stole the body, and they did that as kind of a plot to fool people," said Baumgarten.

Lee Strobel, the best-selling Christian author and host of PAX television's "Faith Under Fire,” countered the view of Jews by saying the disciples did not intend to take the body away.

"The disciples weren't about to steal the body and then willingly die for a lie. The Romans weren't about to steal it. They wanted Jesus dead. So I think that idea is easily dismantle," said Strobel, a skeptic until he became an evangelical Christian in 1981.

Paul Meier, Russell H. Seibert Professor of Ancient History in Western Michigan University, contends that if the body had been discovered, there would be no Christian church today.

“It [Chrisitianity] would have died out as a little sect in the Judean wilderness probably and everybody would have laughed about a crucified criminal being the son of God, come on," said Meier.

The retired Episcopal Bishop Emeritus John Shelby Spong of Newark, N.J. doesn’t believe in the historicity of resurrection. However, he believes strongly the resurrection was a definite and empowering event that caused the people to see Jesus in a new way.

"I don't think there would have been a New Testament or a Jesus movement had there not been some astonishing experience of power," said Spong.

Was It Physical?

The Rev. Richard McBrien, the Crowley-O'Brien Professor of Roman Catholic Theology at the University of Notre Dame, says given that the belief in resurrection is the central core to Christian faith, the heart of the matter is what kind of resurrection it is.

"The first question is, do you believe in the Resurrection? My answer is, if you don't ... you're not a Christian. But that's the easy question. The second question is well, what do you mean by the Resurrection? That's where the difference of opinions come in," said McBrien.

William Lane Craig, research professor at Talbot School of Theology in La Miranda, CA. described the resurrected Jesus as being physical, and tangible.

“Jesus took off the grave clothes and unbound himself," said Craig. "He probably would've literally got up and … and shed these grave clothes and walked out of the tomb. He would be palpable, he would be physical. He would be tangible."

Was It Spiritual?

Spong, who believes the resurrection was a spiritual event, definitely believes it was a resurrection.

"I think it's real. I think it took place in Galilee. I think Peter stood in the center of it. I think it has something to do with the breaking of bread. He was made known to us in the breaking of the bread," he said. "I don't know exactly what that is. But it is clear to me that there was something that opened their eyes to see a dimension of reality that I believe is beyond the boundaries of normal."

Karen King, Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Harvard Divinity School does not believe it was a physical resurrection exactly the way the body is understood in today's world.

"The kind of resurrection body that the Gospels talk about -- the Gospel of John, for example, where Jesus appears in a room with locked doors is not physical in our understanding of the body," said King. "Those kinds of experiences suggest not the kind of physical body that we would see today. But something that we -- if we have to use our categories would look much more like a visionary experience."

Something Happened

Nevertheless, one point that the historians can agree on is that something powerful did happen.

"I think definitely something happened. I don't know how they convinced themselves. But the historical fact is, you've got people who are convinced he was resurrected," said Schwartz.

The historians pointed out that there were other leaders claiming to be the messiah around Jerusalem in the first century, whose movement died out when they were crucified by the Romans.

"There were lots of executions. There were lots of people who claimed in one way or other to be redeemers of the world," said Baumgarten.

"The people who crucified Jesus and wanted him removed were almost certainly working on the assumption, which is, if you have a movement like this, and you get rid of the leader, eventually the movement collapses," he said, adding that the fact that this movement did not collapse is what makes the story of Jesus so interesting.

The conclusion is this: the disciples who had abandoned Jesus underwent a dramatic change -- from cowardly fleeing after his crucifixion to boldly proclaiming Jesus as the messiah.

Strobel sees the amazing transformation of himself is the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus that allows him to testify to others.

“It [resurrection] gives me hope that as Jesus was resurrected from the dead, so I will someday be too. It gives me confidence in the teachings of Jesus, that I can apply them to my life, that they’ll make a difference in my life,” said Strobel.

“It also means that I want to spend my life helping other people see the evidence for the resurrection, that they too may experience what I’ve experienced, which is a 180-degree life change from my days as an atheist, to my days as a Christian.”