Why No One Can Prove the Resurrection

Episode Outline:
00:00 – Introducing the resurrection and historical method
00:44 – How Bart once argued for the resurrection as an evangelical
02:04 – Demonstrating something historically versus discussing it historically
05:52 – What historians can and cannot say about miracles
08:46 – Why history cannot prove or disprove the resurrection
11:22 – What the Gospels say about Jesus’ burial
13:16 – Why crucifixion fits the charge against Jesus
16:26 – Was Jesus buried in a known tomb?
20:27 – Problems with the Joseph of Arimathea story
22:00 – Roman crucifixion, Jewish burial, and historical plausibility
26:52 – Who first claimed Jesus was raised?
30:36 – Did the empty tomb create belief in the resurrection?
32:13 – Why visions of Jesus matter historically
38:44 – Outsmart Bart: testing Bart’s biblical knowledge
43:43 – Bart summarizes what historians can say about the resurrection

Episode Description

In this episode, Megan Lewis and Bart Ehrman tackle a fundamental question for Christian history and biblical scholarship: what can historians actually say about the resurrection of Jesus? The resurrection story stands at the heart of Christian belief, but it also presents a unique challenge for scholars who use historical methods.

Megan Lewis opens with the core issue: how do historians approach events described as "miraculous"? Should such accounts be dismissed, or can they be analyzed with the historian's toolkit? Bart Ehrman reflects on his own journey from evangelical apologist—arguing that the resurrection is the best historical explanation for the data—to a skeptical, critical historian who acknowledges the limits of historical inquiry.

The episode unpacks the difference between what can be talked about historically versus what can be demonstrated historically. Bart Ehrman emphasizes the distinction between facts that history can establish—such as the existence of Jesus, his crucifixion, or the claims of witnesses—and the supernatural intervention claimed by the resurrection.

The conversation explores analogies to drive home the point: just as historians can't establish the beauty of a poem or the validity of Einstein's theories through historical methods, they can't prove a miracle like the resurrection. History operates in the natural order.

The program takes the audience through ancient Roman practices around crucifixion and burial, scrutinizes the gospel accounts of Jesus’ burial, and delves into the plausibility of Joseph of Arimathea's role. The hosts discuss common apologetic arguments, examine what likely happened to Jesus’ body, and consider the origins of the resurrection belief.

In the bonus "Outsmart Bart" segment, listeners challenge Bart Ehrman with tough biblical trivia, testing the boundaries of his knowledge.

The episode concludes by reminding listeners that while miracles, by definition, are beyond the reach of historical proof or disproof, the historian's role is to identify what most probably occurred, not what might have occurred by divine action.

Three Key Takeaways
- History’s Limits with Miracles: Historians can only establish what probably happened in the natural world; miracles, as supernatural events, are beyond the reach of strictly historical analysis.
- Evidence for the Resurrection: While historians can argue Jesus existed, was crucified, and that followers claimed sightings and an empty tomb, they cannot historically demonstrate the miracle of resurrection itself—nor can they disprove it.
- Doubt and Diversity in the Sources: The earliest sources emphasize doubt among Jesus’s followers, ambiguous traditions about the empty tomb, and varied accounts about who first proclaimed Jesus’s resurrection, highlighting the complexity and evolving nature of these stories.

Also watch these episodes:
What Happened to Jesus' Body? Was He Buried on the Day of His Crucifixion?
What Happened to Jesus' Body? Was He Buried on the Day of His Crucifixion?

Night of the Living Dead: Matthew's Forgotten Resurrection
Night of the Living Dead: Matthew's Forgotten Resurrection

Did Jesus Predict His Own Death?
Did Jesus Predict his Own Death?