The Evidence
Historical Evidences
What people wrote down: non-Christian historians, early creeds, official records, and letters that back up the biblical account.
Apostolic Martyrdom as Evidence of Sincere Belief
Clement of Rome, writing from Rome around AD 96 within living memory of the events, records that Peter and Paul "bore testimony" and died there. Sean McDowell's 2015 study grades the whole body of martyrdom tradition and finds four deaths historically secure — Peter, Paul, James son of Zebedee, and James the brother of Jesus.
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Early Church Creedal Formulas
high confidenceEarly Church
1 Corinthians 15:3-7 is not Paul's composition — he says he "received" it, and its Aramaic name-forms, non-Pauline vocabulary and balanced clauses mark it as a fixed formula from the Jerusalem church. The highest claims about Jesus sit in the oldest material, which is the opposite of what gradual legend produces.
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Historical Reliability of the Book of Acts
high confidenceTextual Evidence
Luke names the right official by the right title in city after city — politarchs at Thessalonica, proconsul at Corinth, Asiarchs at Ephesus, protos on Malta — and inscriptions recovered centuries later have confirmed each one, including titles unattested in any other ancient text.
Non-Biblical References to Jesus
high confidenceExtra-Biblical Evidence
Tacitus, a Roman senator who called the faith "a most mischievous superstition," wrote in Annals 15.44 that "Christus" was executed by Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius. He is one of at least four non-Christian writers within ninety years of the crucifixion who name Jesus, his death, and his followers' worship of him as a god.
The Resurrection: Historical Case
high confidenceCore Evidence
Paul's list of resurrection witnesses in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 is a formula he received before he wrote it — dated by scholars across the spectrum, believing and atheist alike, to within three to five years of the crucifixion. That is far inside the window any legend requires.