Why Nobody Should Believe that Jesus Rose from the Dead

First of all, extradordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, but there is only weak evidence that Jesus rose from the dead:

  1. The evidence that Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem and died on the cross on the same day he was crucified is weak.
  2. The evidence that Jesus was alive and walking around in Jerusalem less than 48 hours after he was crucified is weak.
  3. IF the evidence that Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem and died on the cross on the same day he was crucified is weak and the evidence that Jesus was alive and walking around in Jerusalem less than 48 hours after he was crucified is weak, THEN the evidence that Jesus rose from the dead is weak.
  4. IF the evidence that Jesus rose from the dead is weak, THEN it is unreasonable to believe that Jesus rose from the dead.

THEREFORE:

5. It is unreasonable to believe that Jesus rose from the dead.

Nobody should believe that Jesus rose from the dead, because there is insufficient evidence for the claim that Jesus rose from the dead.

The problem with the claim that “Jesus rose from the dead” is not just that the evidence for this claim is weak.  There is also good reason to believe that Jesus did NOT rise from the dead: Jesus was a false prophet.

  1.  Jesus was a false prophet.
  2. IF Jesus was a false prophet and God exists, THEN God exists and God would not have raised Jesus from the dead nor allowed some other being to raise Jesus from the dead.
  3. IF Jesus was a false prophet and God does not exist, THEN God does not exist and we don’t know of any existing person who could have raised Jesus from the dead.
  4. EITHER God exists OR God does not exist.
  5. IF God exists and God would not have raised Jesus from the dead nor allowed some other being to raise Jesus from the dead, THEN Jesus did not rise from the dead.
  6. IF God does not exist and we don’t know of any existing person who could have raised Jesus from the dead, THEN Jesus is not the incarnation of God and it is unlikely that Jesus rose from the dead.

THEREFORE:

7. EITHER Jesus did not rise from the dead OR Jesus is not the incarnation of God and it is unlikely that Jesus rose from the dead.

If somebody claimed that “God raised Hitler from the dead” we would have good reason to disbelieve this claim, because God, if God exists, would not raise such an evil person from the dead.   The fact that Hitler was evil and insane did not stop people from following Hitler as if he was a prophet from God.  So, raising Hitler from the dead would have  just confirmed the already widespread delusion that Hitler was a leader who ought to be followed and obeyed.  God would not raise Hitler from the dead, because Hitler was evil and because doing so would have involved God in a great deception.

Jesus was not evil or insane like Hitler, but Jesus promoted worship of, and obedience to, a person who was very much like Hitler, and thus Jesus was a false prophet.  Jesus promoted worship and obedience to the deity known as Jehovah (or Yahweh), and Jehovah was as evil and as insane as Hitler.  Thus, God (if God exists) would never have raised Jesus from the dead nor allowed some other being to raise Jesus from the dead, because that would involve God in a great deception. God being perfectly good and perfectly just would not be involved in encouraging people to accept the view of a false prophet that they ought to worship and obey the evil deity named Jehovah (or Yahweh).

It is clear that Jesus was a false prophet, because Jesus encouraged his followers to worship and to obey Jehovah, and Jehovah was an evil person.  It is clear that God, if God exists, would never raise such a false prophet from the dead, nor would God allow some other person to raise such a false prophet from the dead.  Therefore, we can be confident that EITHER Jesus did not rise from the dead, OR Jesus was not the incarnation of God and it is unlikely that Jesus rose from the dead.