Within weeks of the crucifixion, a new movement emerged in Jerusalem proclaiming that a crucified criminal was the risen Lord. Within decades, this movement had spread throughout the Roman Empire. Within centuries, it had conquered Rome itself. The origin of the Christian church is a historical phenomenon that demands explanation. What caused devout Jewish monotheists to worship a man as God? What launched a movement that would transform the world? The best explanation is the resurrection.
The Puzzle of Christian Origins
The emergence of Christianity is, historically speaking, extraordinary. Consider what we must explain:
A Crucified Messiah
Crucifixion was the most shameful form of execution in the ancient world. The Romans reserved it for the worst criminals and rebellious slaves. For Jews, it carried additional horror: "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree" (Galatians 3:13, citing Deuteronomy 21:23).
A crucified Messiah was a contradiction in terms. The Messiah was supposed to conquer Rome, not be executed by Rome. He was supposed to reign in glory, not die in shame. No Jew expected a suffering, dying, cursed Messiah.
Yet within weeks, Jesus' followers were proclaiming Him as Messiah and Lord—precisely because He had been crucified. They transformed the cross from a symbol of shame into a symbol of salvation. This remarkable reversal requires explanation.
The Scandal of the Cross
Modern Christians are so familiar with the cross that we forget how shocking it was. Imagine a religion today centered on someone executed in an electric chair or by lethal injection. The cross was that offensive—more so, because it was public, prolonged, and agonizing.
Paul acknowledged the scandal: "We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles" (1 Corinthians 1:23). Why would anyone invent a crucified savior? The early Christians proclaimed the cross because they couldn't deny it—and because resurrection had transformed its meaning.
Worship of Jesus
The first Christians were Jews—strict monotheists who recited the Shema daily: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one" (Deuteronomy 6:4). Worshiping anyone or anything besides the one God was the gravest sin, punishable by death.
Yet these Jewish monotheists began worshiping Jesus alongside the Father. They prayed to Him, sang hymns to Him, baptized in His name, and called Him Lord—the title reserved for God Himself in the Greek Old Testament. This happened not gradually over centuries but within the first years of the movement.
Historian Larry Hurtado calls this "one of the most remarkable religious phenomena in history." How did monotheists come to worship a man? Not through natural religious evolution—that takes generations. Something dramatic happened that convinced them Jesus deserved worship.
Radical Life Transformation
The disciples were transformed from frightened fugitives into fearless proclaimers. Peter, who had denied knowing Jesus to a servant girl, stood before the Sanhedrin and refused to be silenced. Thomas, who had doubted the resurrection, eventually died as a missionary in India. Paul, who had persecuted the church, became its greatest champion.
These transformations require explanation. What changed these men? They all pointed to the same answer: they had seen the risen Christ.
Explosive Growth
Christianity spread with remarkable speed. From a handful of disciples in Jerusalem, it grew to thousands within weeks (Acts 2:41), spread throughout the Roman Empire within decades, and became the dominant religion of the West within centuries.
This growth happened despite persecution. Christians were imprisoned, beaten, and killed. Yet the movement continued to spread. Something powerful must have been driving it.
What Caused the Church?
Historians agree that the Christian church began after Jesus' crucifixion. The question is: What caused it? Several factors are commonly cited, but each ultimately points back to the resurrection.
The Disciples' Faith
The church began because the disciples believed Jesus had risen. Their preaching centered on the resurrection: "With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 4:33).
But this raises the question: Why did they believe? They didn't expect resurrection—Jewish hope was for a general resurrection at the end of history, not the resurrection of an individual within history. They were devastated after the crucifixion, not anticipating a comeback. Something must have convinced them.
The disciples said what convinced them was seeing the risen Jesus. Their faith was not baseless hope but response to evidence—the empty tomb and the appearances. The church's origin traces back to the disciples' conviction that Jesus had risen.
The Empty Tomb
The empty tomb was part of the earliest proclamation. The disciples preached the resurrection in Jerusalem, where the tomb was located. They couldn't have preached resurrection if the tomb was occupied—their enemies would have produced the body.
But the empty tomb alone doesn't explain the church. A missing body could have many explanations. What convinced the disciples wasn't merely an empty tomb but encounters with the risen Jesus.
The Appearances
The appearances explained why the disciples believed the tomb was empty because Jesus had risen rather than for some other reason. They saw Him. They talked with Him. They ate with Him. They touched Him. The appearances provided the content of resurrection faith.
Taken together—empty tomb plus appearances plus transformed disciples—we have a powerful explanation for the church's origin. The disciples saw the risen Jesus, which explained the empty tomb and transformed their lives. Their testimony launched the Christian movement.
"We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen."
— Acts 10:39-40
Specific Features Requiring Explanation
Several specific features of earliest Christianity point to the resurrection:
Sunday Worship
The first Christians—all Jews—shifted their primary day of worship from Saturday (the Sabbath) to Sunday. For Jews, the Sabbath was sacred, commanded by God at creation and confirmed at Sinai. Changing the holy day was radical—blasphemous, even.
Why Sunday? Because that was the day of resurrection. The first day of the week became "the Lord's Day" because it was the day the Lord rose. This shift makes sense only if something momentous happened on Sunday—something that created a new creation, a new exodus, a new beginning.
Baptism and Lord's Supper
The church practiced two central rituals from the beginning: baptism and the Lord's Supper. Both are connected to the resurrection:
Baptism symbolizes death and resurrection with Christ (Romans 6:3-4). It assumes Jesus died and rose.
The Lord's Supper proclaims Christ's death "until he comes" (1 Corinthians 11:26). It assumes the one who died is now alive and will return.
These rituals are not later developments but appear in our earliest sources. They show that resurrection faith shaped Christian practice from the beginning.
The Role of Women
Women played a surprisingly prominent role in earliest Christianity—as first witnesses to the resurrection, as prominent church members (Romans 16), and as co-workers with apostles. This was countercultural in a patriarchal society.
The prominence of women as resurrection witnesses is particularly striking. As we've seen, women's testimony was discounted in ancient culture. The fact that women were remembered as first witnesses is best explained if women actually were the first witnesses.
The Conversion of Skeptics
Some early converts had been skeptics or opponents:
James, Jesus' brother, did not believe during Jesus' ministry (John 7:5) but became a church leader after seeing the risen Christ (1 Corinthians 15:7).
Paul was actively persecuting the church when he encountered the risen Jesus on the Damascus road (Acts 9). He became Christianity's greatest missionary.
These conversions are hard to explain without the resurrection. Why would skeptics and enemies convert? They said they encountered the risen Christ.
Paul's Transformation
Paul's conversion is particularly dramatic. He was a Pharisee, zealous for the law, convinced that Christians were blaspheming by worshiping Jesus. He was "ravaging the church" (Acts 8:3), going house to house to drag believers to prison.
Then something happened. Paul went from persecutor to preacher, from enemy to apostle. He spent the rest of his life proclaiming the Christ he had once opposed, enduring persecution, imprisonment, and eventually execution.
What caused this transformation? Paul's answer was consistent: "He appeared also to me" (1 Corinthians 15:8). The risen Christ confronted him, and everything changed.
Alternative Explanations
Social/Psychological Factors
Some suggest the church arose from social or psychological dynamics—grief processing, group reinforcement, desire for community, or revolutionary fervor.
Problems:
These factors can explain why a movement continues, not why it starts. Something had to convince the disciples that Jesus had risen before any social dynamics could operate.
Such factors typically produce movements that gradually evolve. Christianity emerged with its distinctive features already in place—resurrection faith, worship of Jesus, distinctive practices.
Social dynamics don't explain the empty tomb, the appearances, or the conversions of skeptics like Paul and James.
Borrowing from Mystery Religions
Some have suggested Christians borrowed the idea of a dying and rising god from pagan mystery religions.
Problems:
The earliest Christians were Jews, resistant to pagan ideas. Syncretism would have been abhorrent to them.
The parallels to dying and rising gods are exaggerated and mostly date from after Christianity, not before.
None of the alleged parallels involves a historical person who died and rose in recent memory within a datable historical context.
This theory has been largely abandoned by scholars as the alleged parallels have been examined more carefully.
Jesus Didn't Really Die
Some suggest Jesus survived the crucifixion, explaining His later appearances without resurrection.
Problems:
Roman executioners were professionals who knew death when they saw it. They confirmed Jesus was dead (John 19:33-34).
A barely-alive Jesus would hardly inspire worship as the conquering Lord of life.
This theory has been abandoned by virtually all scholars.
The Best Explanation
When we consider all that must be explained—the empty tomb, the appearances, the disciples' transformation, the church's origin, Sunday worship, the sacraments, women witnesses, conversion of skeptics—the resurrection emerges as the best explanation.
Each piece of evidence reinforces the others:
The empty tomb is explained by the resurrection.
The appearances explain why the disciples believed in resurrection.
The disciples' transformation is explained by their encounter with the risen Christ.
The church's origin is explained by the disciples' proclamation of what they had witnessed.
The distinctive features of Christianity—Sunday worship, sacraments, women's roles—are explained by resurrection faith.
The resurrection provides a unified explanation for all the data. Alternative theories must explain each fact separately, often with multiple ad hoc hypotheses. The resurrection is simpler, more powerful, and more comprehensive.
"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah."
— Acts 2:36
From Evidence to Faith
The historical evidence for the resurrection is strong. The empty tomb, the appearances, and the origin of the church all point to the same conclusion: Jesus rose from the dead.
But historical evidence, however strong, doesn't automatically produce faith. Faith involves not just intellectual assent but personal trust—committing oneself to the risen Christ. Evidence removes obstacles and provides reasons, but faith goes beyond evidence to embrace the One the evidence reveals.
The early disciples didn't just believe Jesus had risen; they staked their lives on Him. They worshiped Him, followed Him, and died for Him. Their example invites us to move from evidence to faith, from investigation to commitment, from acknowledging that Christ is risen to confessing Him as our Lord and our God.
Conclusion: The Church Exists Because He Rose
The Christian church exists because Jesus rose from the dead. This is the unanimous testimony of the earliest Christians, and it remains the best explanation for the historical evidence. The empty tomb, the appearances, and the dramatic transformation of the disciples converge on a single conclusion: Christ is risen.
This conclusion has implications. If Jesus rose:
His claims are validated. He really is who He said He was—the Son of God, the way of salvation, the Lord of all.
His death is effective. The sacrifice was accepted, the debt was paid, salvation is accomplished.
Death is defeated. Because He rose, we too can rise. The grave is not the end.
He reigns as Lord. The risen Christ is enthroned at God's right hand, ruling now and forever.
He will return. The one who rose will come again to judge the living and the dead and to make all things new.
The church began because Jesus rose. It continues because He lives. And it awaits the day when He will return in glory—the day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."
— 1 Peter 1:3
Discussion Questions
- The early Christians were Jewish monotheists who began worshiping Jesus as God. Why is this so historically remarkable? What could have caused such a radical shift?
- The lesson identifies several features of early Christianity that require explanation: Sunday worship, baptism, Lord's Supper, women's prominence, and the conversion of skeptics. How does the resurrection explain each of these?
- How do the three pieces of evidence—empty tomb, appearances, and origin of the church—work together to form a cumulative case for the resurrection? Why is a cumulative case stronger than any single piece of evidence alone?