Source: “On the Resurrection: volume 1”: Evidences, 2024 by Gary Habermas Published by B&H Academic Brentwood, Tennessee.
This podcast examines the historical evidence for the empty tomb of Jesus, drawing from a broad spectrum of academic viewpoints. It highlights several major arguments favoring the historicity of the empty tomb, such as the unanimous testimony of women as the first witnesses in the Gospels, despite the societal bias against female testimony in the ancient world. The podcast also emphasizes the significance of the Jerusalem location of early Christian preaching and the multiple attestations of the empty tomb accounts across independent Gospel sources and early Christian traditions. Finally, it notes a surprising shift among contemporary critical scholars, with a significant majority now conceding the historicity of the empty tomb, even if they personally reject the resurrection itself.
For billions of people, the story of Jesus’s empty tomb is a cornerstone of faith—the pivotal event that defines Christianity. It is often treated as a matter of theological belief, separate from the domain of objective, critical history. But what do secular and even skeptical historians think about it? Is there a case to be made for the empty tomb that stands on historical grounds alone?
Over the last half-century, a surprising shift has occurred in academic circles. A growing number of critical scholars from diverse backgrounds—including atheists, agnostics, and self-identified non-Christians—have concluded that the evidence for the tomb being empty on the first Easter morning is historically compelling. This conclusion doesn't necessarily affirm a supernatural event, but it does suggest that the earliest followers of Jesus were responding to a real, unexplained vacancy where his body was supposed to be.
This post will explore five of the most counter-intuitive and powerful historical arguments that have led many scholars to this unexpected conclusion. These are not arguments from faith, but from the rigorous application of historical-critical methods to the ancient texts.