Case file · Long-form · Prove All Things

Why the Cross Is the Proof

“But prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:21, Douay-Rheims

The case

Say you're making up a religion to sell to the Roman Empire. The last thing you'd do is have your God die on a cross. So why did they? Let's talk about the Resurrection. Not as a feeling. As a claim about history. Did it happen?

The evidence

Every quotation below is printed in the words of the edition named under it. Nothing is paraphrased.

“For I delivered unto you first of all, which I also received: how that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures: And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures:”

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (Douay) — read it at the source

“...of whom many remain until this present...”

1 Corinthians 15:5-6 (Douay) — read it at the source

“Then, after three years, I went to Jerusalem, to see Peter, and I tarried with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles I saw none, saving James the brother of the Lord.”

Galatians 1:18-19 (Douay) — read it at the source

“Saying: Say you, His disciples came by night, and stole him away when we were asleep.”

Matthew 28:13 (Douay) — read it at the source

“For neither did his brethren believe in him.”

John 7:5 (Douay) — read it at the source

In Scripture 'brother' can mean a kinsman; the Church holds these were relatives of Jesus, not other children of Mary (cf. Catechism 500).

“After that, he was seen by James, then by all the apostles.”

1 Corinthians 15:7 (Douay) — read it at the source

“See my hands and feet, that it is I myself; handle, and see: for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see me to have.”

Luke 24:39 (Douay) — read it at the source

“But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews indeed a stumblingblock, and unto the Gentiles foolishness:”

1 Corinthians 1:23 (Douay) — read it at the source

“Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus”

Tacitus, Annals 15.44 (Church and Brodribb, 1876, PD) — read it at the source

“the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James”

Josephus, Antiquities 20.9.1 (Whiston translation, PD) — read it at the source

“addressed a form of prayer to Christ, as to a divinity”

Pliny, Letters 10.96 (Melmoth, rev. Bosanquet, PD; Letter XCVII in that edition) — read it at the source

“But prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”

1 Thessalonians 5:21 (Douay) — read it at the source

What’s established, and what isn’t

What the sources support, claim by claim — each one checked against the sources listed at the foot of this page:

1 Cor 15:3-7 creed; Paul 'received' it; 'many remain until this present' (Douay)
Gal 1:18-19: after three years to Jerusalem to see Peter, fifteen days, saw James the brother of the Lord
Scholars including skeptical ones date the creed within a few years of the crucifixion
Matt 28:11-15: the guards were paid to say the disciples stole the body
Peter's denial; the apostles preached in Jerusalem before the council (Acts 4-5)
Paul a persecutor turned apostle; James did not believe during the ministry (John 7:5), later a leader in Jerusalem (Acts 15, Gal 2:9)
Some apostles died for the faith (e.g. James son of Zebedee, Acts 12:2; James the Just per Josephus; Peter and Paul per tradition)
They claimed to have seen, eaten with and touched the risen Jesus (Luke 24:39-43, Acts 10:41, 1 John 1:1)
Crucifixion was a slave's death — Cicero calls it the extreme and ultimate punishment of slavery
Tacitus Annals 15.44: Christ executed under Pilate
Josephus mentions Jesus twice; most scholars think the Testimonium (18.63-64) was partly interpolated; 20.200 widely accepted
Pliny Letter 10.96: prayer to Christ as to a divinity
Pilate Stone (Caesarea, 1961), Caiaphas ossuary (1990) and Pool of Siloam (2004) — each named with its source below
Ashoka pillar at Lumbini c. 249 BC marks the Buddha's birthplace; Buddhist teachings were written down centuries after his death; the Buddhist sources themselves do not present him as claiming to be God
Jesus claimed to be God; the Gospels were written in the first century, and on the traditional dating within the lifetime of eyewitnesses

Where the record stops short:

The creed in 1 Corinthians 15 is early, and scholars including skeptical ones date it within a few years of the crucifixion, but a date is not a verdict: it tells you the claim is old, not that it is true.
Josephus mentions Jesus twice. The longer passage (Antiquities 18.63-64) is widely held to have been altered by a later Christian hand; only the shorter one (20.200) is accepted with little dispute.
That the apostles died for what they claimed to have seen is reported for some by Scripture and for others only by later tradition.

For your men’s group

If you had to make the case for the Resurrection to a friend who respects evidence, which piece here would you lead with, and why that one?
Why would men who had run away at the arrest go back into the same city and say it out loud?
Where in this file does the evidence run out, and how would you say so honestly to someone who is looking for a reason not to believe?

Every source

Found an error? [email protected] — errata corrected the day they’re found.

Drafted with AI assistance, founder-directed, and checked against the sources linked here. Our editorial standards.

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