The Case for Easter: A Journalist Investigates Evidence for the Resurrection

by Lee Strobel

I had spent the first part of our interview peppering Craig with objections and arguments challenging the empty tomb. But I suddenly realized that I hadn’t given him the opportunity to spell out his affirmative case. While he had already alluded to several reasons why he believes Jesus’ tomb was unoccupied, I said, “Why don’t you give me your best shot? Convince me with your top four or five reasons that the empty tomb is a historical fact.” Craig rose to the challenge. One by one he spelled out his arguments concisely and powerfully. “First,” he said, “the empty tomb is definitely implicit in the early tradition that is passed along by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, which is a very old and reliable source of historical information about Jesus. “Second, the site of Jesus’ tomb was known to Christian and Jew alike. So if it weren’t empty, it would be impossible for a movement founded on belief in the resurrection to have come into existence in the same city where this man had been publicly executed and buried. “Third, we can tell from the language, grammar, and style that Mark got his empty tomb story—actually, his whole passion narrative—from an earlier source. In fact, there’s evidence it was written before AD 37, which is much too early for legend to have seriously corrupted it. “A. N. Sherwin-White, the respected Greco-Roman classical historian from Oxford University, said it would have been without precedent anywhere in history for legend to have grown up that fast and sign...