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The Son Rises

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Is the Christian message of Jesus Christ and his resurrection true? Using ten lines of historical evidence, Dr. Craig defends the probability that Jesus was resurrected following his crucifixion. He examines the origin of the Christian movement, and more provocative subjects, such as the Shroud of Turin, parapsychological phenomena and hallucinations.

156 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

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About the author

William Lane Craig

137 books851 followers
William Lane Craig is Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California. He and his wife Jan have two grown children.

At the age of sixteen as a junior in high school, he first heard the message of the Christian gospel and yielded his life to Christ. Dr. Craig pursued his undergraduate studies at Wheaton College (B.A. 1971) and graduate studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (M.A. 1974; M.A. 1975), the University of Birmingham (England) (Ph.D. 1977), and the University of Munich (Germany) (D.Theol. 1984). From 1980-86 he taught Philosophy of Religion at Trinity, during which time he and Jan started their family. In 1987 they moved to Brussels, Belgium, where Dr. Craig pursued research at the University of Louvain until assuming his position at Talbot in 1994.

He has authored or edited over thirty books, including The Kalam Cosmological Argument; Assessing the New Testament Evidence for the Historicity of the Resurrection of Jesus; Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom; Theism, Atheism and Big Bang Cosmology; and God, Time and Eternity, as well as over a hundred articles in professional journals of philosophy and theology, including The Journal of Philosophy, New Testament Studies, Journal for the Study of the New Testament, American Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophical Studies, Philosophy, and British Journal for Philosophy of Science.

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5 stars
118 (52%)
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73 (32%)
3 stars
24 (10%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
Profile Image for Matthew McGinnis.
40 reviews
April 8, 2023
Great little book written by Craig. This is a relatively short overview of the Christian arguments for the resurrection (though there is certainly more to the story - philosophically speaking) as to why one believes. This work mainly covers the historical aspects.

Overall, helpful refresher.
Profile Image for Michael Miller.
215 reviews30 followers
June 16, 2021
A very useful compendium of arguments and evidence for the resurrection presented (as is usually for Craig) in a very well-organized manner. He covers major objections and the evidence touted to “refute” the historicity of the resurrection.

This is an early book of his, and it could use some updating. For example, he uses the shroud of Turin as evidence. Craig has changed his position on this in the intervening years – as far as I can tell – and no longer makes this argument, admitting that it likely from the Medieval period. I am glad he has, but this book needs to be edited to remove that. Frankly, it makes us look somewhat gullible and naïve to make this argument, and thereby lessens the impact of the other arguments.

My primary criticism of the book is Craig's dogmatic certainty about many things with little proof to warrant that level of certainty. Though he employs probabilistic arguments, he concludes them as if he has deductively proven them.

He also makes some audacious statements about exactly what people would or would not or could not have thought. A few examples from a couple of pages in the last chapter:

1. The disciples would never have come up with such an idea as Jesus’ resurrection.
2. They would never have projected Him as literally risen from the dead.
3. They would have had a vision of Jesus in glory.
4. They would have concluded only that Jesus had been translated.

His proof for these statements seemed pretty flimsy to me, but they are his opinions, not deductively proven facts. Good probabilistic evidence. It would be a stronger book if he made that clear.


Profile Image for Daniel.
Author 16 books99 followers
January 2, 2023
William Lane Craig is a theological mess owing to his Molinism, theistic mutualism, and (albeit less seriously) even his glib rejection of infant baptism. Still, his heart is often in the right place and I love him as an apologist and philosopher. This book is an excellent defence of the historical evidence for the resurrection of Christ, which, despite the author's academic credentials, may be easily digested by the average reader. Anyone who rejects the evidence presented by Dr Craig should admit, if they are honest, to engaging in credulity and wishful thinking.

In the final chapter wherein he remonstrates with the reader not to be content to intellectually accept Christianity through historical faith but to savingly embrace Christ, we see the heart of Dr Craig for the conversion of sinners. Regretfully, his manner of expressing himself is not always the best, as he puts exercising faith before being born again, and dismisses infant baptism as out of accord with the biblical model. The most charitable thing that I can say is that Dr Craig perhaps needed to spend more time in systematic theology to supplement his outstanding philosophical mind and apologetic brilliance. Notwithstanding these issues, the book is both really good and very easy to read.
Profile Image for Professor Kirke.
30 reviews2 followers
February 12, 2026
The book is quite repetitive and frankly not very well-written. I found only a few of the arguments really good, and felt they could've been presented in a more focused manner. For a book this short it was quite a slog to get through because of unnecessary re-phrasings and poor formatting.

This is not to say I disagree with his thesis or even the arguments themselves, I just think they could've been presented more elegantly. As it is, I cannot imagine a sceptic being convinced by anything in here, which seems to be the goal of this book.

WLC's heart seems to be in the right place despite his sometimes messy theology but I don't see myself picking up another one of his books anytime soon.
Profile Image for Ian Hammond.
243 reviews19 followers
April 7, 2018
I would give this 3.5 stars if I could. This is a good summary of the historical research that Dr. Craig produced on the resurrection of Jesus during his 2 years of research at the University of München and at Cambridge. I think his arguments are quite strong, but as I was reminded in a discussion with a friend, they lead only to probabilities, which is the nature of historical knowledge. The strongest argument in this book was found in his chapter on the origin of the Christian faith. Dr. Craig points out that the resurrection of Jesus in history is what Christianity is all about and, at the same time, entirely unexpected by the OT and 2nd Temple Judaism. Ressurection would be at the end of time, and it would include "all" the righteous. It is only after the resurrection of Jesus that OT messianic texts are illuminated for interpreters. So where did this belief originate but in the unexpected actual resurrection of Jesus? The only problem is that Dr. Craig did not address the hypothesis that the mid-history bodily resurrection of the Messiah was due to pagan influence. I was excited to discover that N.T Wright addresses this somewhat dated hypothesis in his work, which I plan to read in the near future. The last chapter in which Dr. Craig invites his readers to personal faith in Jesus, he articulates an Arminian soteriology (yeah, I know he is a Molinist but he holds to Arminian soteriology it seems), and he also takes a jab at covenant baptism, which offends my Presbyterian sensibilities ;)
Profile Image for Jeremiah.
175 reviews
Read
May 15, 2009
Craig's first chapter is original to resurrection studies because he explores the absurdity of life without God, and what it means for the Christian idea of bodily resurrection to give contextual meaning for our lives.
Profile Image for Chris.
6 reviews
July 31, 2010
I highly recommend this book to anyone with an analytical mind and who is skeptical of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This book is concise (only 156 pages) yet thorough. It is a bit tedious at times, but I would rather it error on this side than to gloss over some details. Highly recommended!
Profile Image for Kate.
178 reviews24 followers
March 27, 2020
Overly simplistic and repetitive. Maybe a good introduction for someone who has never read anything on the subject before and isn't prepared for more academic work (who also isn't a hardened sceptic). Unfortunately, there's also some bad American theology at the end.
Profile Image for Taylor Simpson.
65 reviews3 followers
February 25, 2021
If it is true, then the Cosmic Orphan has found his home; for the resurrection of Jesus give him both God and immortality at once. If it is not true, then he lapses back into his lonely search. Therefore, the paramount question that we must now address is: Did Jesus of Nazareth really rise from the dead?

Even having not read all of the popular-level books out there about the resurrection of Jesus, I am extremely confident I have already read the preeminent work that every person needs to read on the subject. I say this bold claim, again, fully aware that my reading purview on this particular subject is narrow so far, and in full acknowledgement of my bias in favor of the author--but, guys, c'mon. This is the book for regular ol' people like me who want to know the evidence in favor of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and who want to know it quickly and in clear terms.

The Son Rises (TSR) by William Lane Craig is not sexy, it's not flashy, it's not dramatic, or an exciting page-turner. It is straight-up factual smackdown for ~160 pages. Yes, it's slim and concise. People have written literal tomes about the resurrection--even Craig himself has written hundreds of pages on the topic elsewhere--but TSR is not going for depth, or even breadth. It's the Detective Columbo gambit of 'Just the facts, ma'am', but applied to the most important question anyone could ask. Craig wastes no time and few words getting to the information you need, and it's all incredibly fascinating.

For a brief, skeletal layout of the book, Craig begins with a chapter laying out the necessity of finding an answer to the question of Jesus' fate. Even as someone who is very familiar with Craig's work, the content of this chapter is extremely moving and convicting. In essence, Craig explains the predicament humanity finds itself in: we're a 'cosmic orphan' drifting through a potentially purposeless and infinitely indifferent universe. Without a transcendent God and the reality of immortality, what hope is there for anyone? The quotations from existential philosophers--who were all seemingly in dire need of a psychiatrist--and Craig's poignant prose really drive home the urgency of the moment for every individual: does God exist or are we doomed to despair? One potential recourse offered (as the quote at the top of this review says) is found in the person and fate of Jesus.

The next chapter is kind of a large broom one would use to sweep away the dirt and trash from the floor before doing a thorough mopping. Craig take some time at this point to brush aside the more obviously wanting and ridiculous suggestions regarding the fate of Jesus that some have offered in past 2,000 years. He refers to the these as 'dead ends', as they offer no help to those who would want to avoid some kind of miraculous intervention in the death of Jesus. These include the suggestion that Jesus' followers were professional conspirators and orchestrated the greatest hoax in history for...nothing, the idea that Jesus didn't really die on the cross, and the suggestion that his followers had the wrong tomb and founded the entirety of Christianity on that mistake. These things are indeed silly dead ends, and Craig lays out some solid defeaters for them before moving on to the meat of the book.

The next three chapters are each an exploration of three historical facts surrounding the death and fate of Jesus that even nontheistic scholars accept as historically likely: Jesus's tomb was found empty, his followers at least believed they had experienced appearances from him after his death, and the Christian faith got 'off the ground' somehow. Craig meticulously plots a course through each of these three facts, demonstrates their historicity, and then examines a few prominent attempts to explain these points of data.

Finally, Craig concludes with a chapter in which he calls the reader to consider the implications of the resurrection of Jesus. Emphasis is placed here on the immense ramifications of Jesus being who he said he was and accomplishing what he said he was going to accomplish; namely, he effected the real possibility of reconciling humanity with God. Craig lays out how one can personally experience that reality.

My opinion on this book should already be clear.
It's fantastic. It's perfect, maybe--I don't know. I might just be an idiot.

Considering the possibility I'm not that big of an idiot, I think it is safe to reaffirm my charge that this is the best an author can do in explicating the importance and implications of the resurrection of Jesus in a short, clear, and compelling book.

I've heard and read Craig expound this information in other books and in numerous lectures and debates. Sometimes, more information is presented on one aspect of the topic, sometimes on another. Sometimes, the information is presented in one order, sometimes in another order. Over the years and throughout the various iterations of the information I've been exposed to, however, the information has remained virtually unchallenged and unchanged. I'm not suggesting the data is so ineffably clear and infallible in support of the resurrection of Jesus that it will never be proven wrong, but it is clear, and there is much in support of its historicity. Craig lays out the meat and potatoes here for virtually anyone who wants to see for themselves.

I would literally recommend this book to any person who wants more information on the positive case for the resurrection of Jesus. This book might serve as a springboard for those who really want to dive into the wealth of historical data we have available to us on this subject--to read some of those tomes I mentioned above. However, this book can also very easily serve as the last and ultimate source of confidence someone has in the reality of Jesus' resurrection. Craig does that good of a job with TSR.

I am dead serious when I say every Christian needs this book in their library or in their Kindle collection; and every non-Christian needs to read seriously consider the information in it. Not every Christian will maybe be as entranced by the strength of the evidence as I have been; maybe not every non-Christian will be suddenly moved to belief in Jesus or God's existence as as result. At the very least, however, no reader of this book will be able to overlook the severity and significance of the historical evidence of the resurrection of Jesus. We all have to do something with this information. What are you going to do?
Profile Image for Nick Katenkamp.
1,608 reviews1 follower
May 1, 2019
This was a really quick read and pretty much sums up the Christian historical perspective of the resurrection. Definitely a popular level book and not a scholarly one, which makes it a good introductory tool.
Profile Image for Harvey.
Author 1 book3 followers
December 26, 2019
The arguments are clear and compelling. The resurrection of Jesus Christ best explains the historical data:
1. The empty tomb
2. The appearance of Jesus
3. The emergence of the Christian faith

The book is a bit wordy and could use editing, but it’s still readable and well argued.
Profile Image for Tony Lee Ross Jr..
1 review
July 17, 2020
Dr. William Lane Craig does a good job summarizing various views. In addition to that, he goes through the strong supporting arguments for Jesus' resurrection as a historical event, while poking holes in the popular alternative theories to Jesus' resurrection, such as the stolen body hypothesis.
Profile Image for Josiah Watson.
87 reviews7 followers
October 20, 2020
Surface level

This is a great book for the layman on the resurrection. My only warning is that you do not treat this book as a one stop shop on the resurrection. Use this book as starting to study the rich evidences for the resurrection.
Profile Image for Solomon.
47 reviews
October 16, 2023
⭐⭐⭐ - Liked It

A short little book by WLC on the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. The evidence given is the empty tomb, the after death appearances, and the origin of the church. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more!
Profile Image for Shawn Hutchison.
34 reviews
June 26, 2024
An amazing look into the history surrounding the resurrection. The arguments are really well formed except for the Shroud of Turin being used as evidence, because of new info since this book came out.
10 reviews
March 23, 2019
En av de bästa böckerna jag läst. Översiktligt om varför och hur man kan veta att Jesus verkligen stod upp från de döda. Hur intressant som hälst. Hans argument visat sig oslagbara i debatt.
Profile Image for Shane Hill.
375 reviews20 followers
October 27, 2019
Excellent apologetic material here for the defense of the death, burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ! First rate stuff here in defense of orthodoxy.
Profile Image for Binoy Chacko.
73 reviews1 follower
August 1, 2021
Great book. A compelling case for the resurrection of Jesus Christ the Son of God. A brilliant defense of this core christian doctrine.
4 reviews
August 24, 2021
Useful

But would have liked more material extrinsic to the Bible. Still would recommend. Very useful survey of extant theories and research
1 review
September 13, 2024
I would give the grade of an A

just excellent
Dr. Craig gives refreshing insight into our most holy faith
when doubt arises in our hearts, this book is a needful reminder
Profile Image for Jacob O'connor.
1,659 reviews27 followers
October 18, 2024
All the clarity and depth you would expect from William Craig. A must read.
Profile Image for David English.
35 reviews2 followers
August 7, 2025
A good primer on the resurrection. A lot of statements and not a lot of footnotes. I wish more of his statements were justified by citations. Craig also is given to overstatement a lot in this book.
Profile Image for Nelson.
73 reviews
February 1, 2023
I highly recommend this book and its overall argument. When I read the Christian Greek Scriptures (also know as the ‘New Testament’), it always seemed to have that obvious ‘ring of truth’. But this book managed to put into words much of what seemed so intuitively and inexplicably true about the death and resurrection of Jesus. This book is an argument for the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus. I will be rereading this book. The argument for the historicity of Jesus’ resurrection is yet another powerful evidence for why one should have solid trust in God’s word.

The only quibble I have is that I disagree with Craig’s theology - such as that Jesus’ own body was resurrected and his belief that Jesus is God - but this doesn’t detract from his overall thesis.
Profile Image for Mike Robinson.
2 reviews1 follower
December 23, 2024
Convincing and thorough

William Lane Craig lays out a very clear set of objectives on what he is trying to accomplish to show that the resurrection of Jesus is a defensible assertion to make based on the historical evidence. This has helped my faith and confidence in the biblical narratives and boosted my belief in the events it lays out: Jesus was resurrected by the Holy Spirit power of the Father and is now eagerly waiting for the time when he returns to earth to collect his followers and begin a righteous kingdom from Jerusalem that will usher in a time of peace that this world has never known.
Profile Image for Christopher Goins.
96 reviews27 followers
December 24, 2015
Essential reading on the Resurrection of Jesus. I am strengthened by this book. Christians really have a lot going for themselves with the New Testament.

The chapter refuting the hallucination theory was excellent and stretched my understanding of the implications of a reliable New Testament historical record.

I think this book has a lot of new information for believers. Perhaps because there wasn't an overwhelming amount of new information for the seasoned reader is why I won't give it five stars, but it was great. It gets the mind juices flowing.
1 review
November 9, 2012
In a clear, easy-to-read format, the author lays down the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. An essential read!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews

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