San Francisco, CA /Christian News/ — The foundation of Christianity is centered not just on the existence of Christ but also on the truth of one particular event: Christ’s resurrection. If Christ truly did die on the cross and rise from the dead three days later as each of the writers of the gospels in the New Testament emphasized, then it stands to reason that all of Christ’s teachings are worth listening to. If the resurrection never occurred, there are those that argue that you cannot, therefore, trust anything written in the New Testament.

There are five theories about the resurrection, four of which many believe show that it never happened. But biblical experts have refuted their arguments and shown that these very theories prove that it did happen.

Theory 1: There were hundreds of eyewitnesses to the event – including Christ’s disciples who recorded what they saw in their gospels. But disbelievers claim that these were hallucinations based on emotions and wishful thinking. If this were true, the Jewish authorities could have gone to the tomb and brought out the body of Jesus for all to see. But they knew they could not because the tomb was empty.

Theory 2: The apostles made up a myth when writing their accounts of the resurrection that they did not intend to be taken literally. Any literary scholar knows that the Gospels are written in completely different styles than myths. Myths tend to be verbose and exaggerated accounts whereas the Gospels have a lot of psychological depth and are concisely written. Myths take generations to develop and be taken as fact. The Gospel accounts of the resurrection were written within years after the event occurred.

Theory 3: The disciples were deceivers. They stole Christ’s body, made up the resurrection story, and lied to people over and over again. This theory doesn’t hold up very well when you consider that no one ever confessed that the resurrection was a deliberate deception. Christ’s disciples were martyred because of their faith in Jesus and not one recanted in order to save his life. Many believers broke under torture and denied Christ to once again worship Caesar, but no one ever said that the resurrection was a conspiracy.

Theory 4: Jesus actually did not die on the cross, but was left unconscious and was therefore entombed while still alive. But hundreds of witnesses saw both blood and water flow from the wound in Christ’s chest, which indicates a punctured heart. If Christ was buried alive, why didn’t he bleed to death in the tomb and how did he have the strength to roll aside the stone?

Theory 5: The final possibility is that the story of the resurrection is completely true – that Jesus did actually die on that cross, he rose from the dead three days later, and this became the basis of Christianity as we know it.

There are a number of people who have set out to prove that the resurrection did not happen and after looking at all of the logical evidence that exists, became believers after all. They learned to think with their hearts as well as their minds.

Robert Mann is Managing Editor of the Christian news site eChristianNews.com.