How Do We Know The Tomb Was Empty?

Critics of Christianity often try to explain away the early Christian claim that Jesus rose from the dead by saying they either hallucinated or had visions of the dead Jesus. In this video, Karlo explains why the historicity of the empty tomb deals a lethal blow to these objections.

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About Karlo Broussard:

Karlo Broussard, a native of Crowley, Louisiana, left a promising musical career to devote himself full-time to the work of Catholic apologetics. For more than a decade he has traveled the country teaching apologetics, biblical studies, theology, and philosophy. Karlo has published articles on a variety of subjects in Catholic Answers Magazine, is a regular guest on Catholic Answers Live, and is an active blogger at catholic.com.

Karlo holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in theology from Catholic Distance University and the Augustine Institute, and is currently working on his masters in philosophy with Holy Apostles College and Seminary. He also worked for several years in an apprenticeship with nationally known author and theologian Fr. Robert J. Spitzer at the Magis Center of Reason and Faith.

Karlo is one of the most dynamic and gifted Catholic speakers on the circuit today, communicating with precision of thought, a genuine love for God, and an enthusiasm that inspires.

Script:

There are many ways critics try to explain away the early Christians’ claim that Jesus rose from the dead. One way is to say they hallucinated. Another is to say that the disciples were like the boy in the movie The Sixth Sense who says, “I see dead people.”

But there’s one detail that these sorts of objections fail to consider: the empty tomb. Here are a couple reasons why we think Jesus’ empty tomb is a matter of history.

First, if the early Christians were merely hallucinating, or the appearances of Jesus were merely visions, then skeptics could have easily produced the body since it’s reasonable to think they would have known the location of Jesus’ tomb. Surely, the guards ordered to watch the tomb would have known the location. Morever, Jesus was a popular preacher and was placed in a tomb that belonged to Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin. So skeptics would have had no problem proving the tomb was not empty and falsify the claim that Jesus rose from the dead. But, of course, this didn’t happen.

Second, the empty tomb is attested to by six different sources that range in dating from six to sixty years after the reported event, which for ancient literature is gold. We have Paul’s creedal formula in 1 Cor. 15:3-5 which dates to six years after the alleged event. Paul says Jesus was buried and raised, which implies the tomb was empty. Mark’s account of the empty tomb comes from source material that scholars date to seven years after the event. Matthew and Luke’s account, along with Luke’s record of Peter preaching the resurrection in Acts 2, are right at thirty years removed. Finally, John’s Gospel makes for a sixth independent source, which dates to approximately sixty years after the event.

Since the skeptics never produced the body, and the empty tomb narrative meets the criteria of multiple attestation and early testimony, we can confidently judge, as a matter of historical inquiry, that Jesus’ tomb was empty as the New Testament records.

As to why it was empty? The early Christians said he rose from the dead. And since we have good reason to believe they weren’t lying, we can trust their testimony and profess Jesus is risen from the dead.
Can I get a hallelujah?
If you want to learn more about this topic and others like it, visit our website at catholic.com. Also, visit catholicanswersspakers.com to learn how you can bring me out to speak at your event.
For Catholic Answers, I’m Karlo Broussard. Thanks for watching.

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