A Scholastic defense of the Resurrection of Jesus

The validity of the Christian faith is not blind to reason. Unfortunately many people in the modern day have a false view of Christianity, that it is merely blind faith or blind assent to faith. But the church has always upheld reason, for example the famous motto of many Scholastic theologians states in latin: “Fides quaerens intellectum” or in english, “faith seeking understanding.” Thus we are called to test the credibility of supernatural or divine revelation, and these reasons or motivations for belief in a revelation can be called the motives of credibility.

As Fr. Matthias Scheeben writes: “Again, reason precedes in order to convince the soul of the existence and credibility of supernatural revelation, and hence of the licitness and obligation of belief in it. (Mysteries of Christianity, pg 780, Scheeben). 

Ergo, of the Christian faith, one motive of credibility or belief stands out as a foundation of the miraculous nature of it. This quite simply is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. For if Christ rose from the dead, we have the greatest obligation to follow him, but if he did not rise, it is one of the greatest deceptions ever held. As the Apostle writes: “And if Christ be not risen again, your faith is vain, for you are yet in your sins.”(I Cor xv. 17, DRA). Thus it is of immense value that we inquire into this question, for our very salvation could depend on it.

Let us briefly cover the general argument for the resurrection and afterwards shew away the errors of the modernists who have tried to refute this belief. Firstly, we know that one of the earliest historical proclamations concerning the figure of Jesus Christ is that he was killed and rose from the dead. For St. Paul writing in around the mid 50’s AD writes, “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: And that he was seen by Cephas; and after that by the eleven. Then he was seen by more than five hundred brethren at once: of whom many remain until this present, and some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen by James, then by all the apostles.” (I Cor xv. 3-7). Notice St. Paul's words at the beginning, for he says that he delivered this message to the Corinthian church which he also himself received, and what did he receive, but that Christ was crucified and resurrected from the dead. Where else did Paul receive this message but from the very disciples of Jesus. For we read in Galatians chapter two that Paul went up to Jerusalem to meet with the Apostles, and confirm the gospel that he had been preaching. To which, Peter, James and John all agreed that he had been proclaiming the true gospel. And of course, a part of Paul's gospel is the very resurrection of Jesus. Thus we know very early on that the disciples of Jesus proclaimed his resurrection.These same disciples were willing to suffer greatly on account of the faith they proclaimed.

Now think of the fact that they proclaimed the messiah, who is the messianic king, was somehow killed. This was clearly different to Jewish thought at the time, and so they were rejected and attacked for proclaiming this very message. But this suffering did not stop them from proclaiming that Christ was killed and rose three days later. 

Wherefore St. Luke writes in the book of Acts: “And they (the Apostles) indeed went from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus.” (Acts 5:40-42).  Finally, due to both scripture and the early church witness, we know that the Apostles were killed on account of their faith and proclamation. Thus does St Polycarp of Smyrna write while speaking of the recently martyred St. Ignatius, “Exercise all patience, such as you have seen [set] before your eyes, not only in the case of the blessed Ignatius, and Zosimus, and Rufus, but also in others among yourselves, and in Paul himself, and the rest of the apostles. [This do] in the assurance that all these have not run in vain, but in faith and righteousness, and that they are [now] in their due place in the presence of the Lord, with whom also they suffered.” (Polycarp to the Phillipians).

The Apostles or those who witnessed the resurrected Christ, proclaimed his resurrection as a truth, and they were willing to die for it, and truly they did suffer a martyr’s death. For as Rev. Thomas Joseph Walshe writes: “Thus finally whilst other adversaries assert that no true certitude can be founded on the appearances of Christ, it is clear that the Apostles possessed absolute certitude of this great mystery (Acts iii. 15; iv. 10-33), worked miracles in confirmation thereof, and finally shed their blood in witness of its truth.” (Principia Apologeticae Catholicae, pg 332-333). Thus we have a brief argument for the Resurrection, but what are some modern critiques? Rev. Walshe writes again: “Modernists have suggested at least four theories to explain away the Resurrection — the theories of fraud, exaggeration, hallucination and spiritual vision.”(Principia Apologeticae Catholicae, pg 330, Thomas Joseph Walshe).

Therefore let us refute each of these errors. The first is the idea of fraud, or that the disciples for example made up the resurrection account. The issue with this view is that the Apostles did not gain anything from proclaiming that Christ rose from the dead, the only thing they received was absolute scorn from their own Jewish nation and even the Roman empire. And of course, their willingness to suffer and eventually be martyred is evidence of the fact that they did not proclaim something that they thought was a lie.

The second error that the apostles merely exaggerated the resurrection also is blatantly refuted in their willingness to suffer and die, for why risk suffering and death just for them to exaggerate. It is thus clear that they truly did believe what St. Paul and the gospels proclaimed, that Jesus was resurrected from the dead and appeared to many people.

Thirdly, the hypothesis that the Apostles hallucinated makes no sense psychologically. As Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange notes: “Many people who are awake cannot simultaneously have the same sort of hallucinations involving all of the same sensory experiences so that they would all see, hear, and touch something that never took place.” (De Revelatione, vol II).

And finally the fourth critique that the Apostles experienced or witnessed a spiritual resurrection of Jesus instead of a physical one goes against the earliest witness of sacred scripture itself. For St. Paul in the very passage we read earlier, which recounts an early creed or tradition that he received, says that Christ was buried, and that he rose again on the third day. This implies that the same body that was buried, was itself then raised. Further, every gospel account and all of St. Paul’s letters imply a physical resurrection. Thus we need not fret over any of these modernist critiques.

Let us conclude with the significance of Christ's resurrection, for what is the purpose and its fittingness in Divine providence? Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange answers this for us, as he writes: “Such is the case for Christ’s Resurrection, which is at once a mystery of faith (the Resurrection of the Word) and a sensible miracle of the first rank (the glorious resurrection of a man), fulfilling a number of prophecies, providing a sign of Christ’s victory over sin (which has death as one of its consequences), an exemplar of the Church in her ability to acquire power through persecutions, and a pledge of our future beatitude (which fulfills and indeed exceeds all of our aspirations). Hence, concerning this excellent motive, St. Paul says, “If Christ be not risen again, then is our preaching vain: and your faith is also vain” (1 Cor 15:14, DR). If Christ had not been victorious over death, he therefore would not have been victorious over sin, the wages of which are death.” (De Revelatione, vol II). Therefore, since Christ truly rose by God’s holy Will, let us assent to the faith which Christ proclaimed, and let us always declare, Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat.