Do people believe in resurrection?

But within a few years, the Jews who worshipped Jesus (it was a few decades before they started to see themselves as distinct from the Jews who didn’t follow Jesus, and also a while before non-Jews were invited in) were observing the Sabbath on what they now called, “The Lord’s Day,” which was the day of the resurrection. It’s hard to imagine what else would make such a cultural shift possible. There are accounts in the Bible (including the aforementioned 1 Corinthians 15) where Paul lists eyewitnesses, large groups of people who saw Jesus after he was raised from the dead.

They knew as well as we do that people can’t be crucified and then get up and walk around. We don’t need modern science to convince us that once you’re dead you’re dead. But hundreds of people claimed to have seen Jesus, the crucified one, risen from the grave.

At the end of the day, I don’t know of another compelling explanation for how the church got started, how the Sabbath day changed, and why people were willing to die for this faith unless Jesus was actually raised from the dead. The other reason I believe in the resurrection is because of the “why it matters” question. Whole books have been written on this point, by the way (see, for instance, N.T. Wright’s Surprised by Hope).

But basically, I don’t believe that the transformation of human lives is possible through anything other than rebirth in Christ. In my next post, I’ll try to explain.