Conclusion
Conclusion
However we understand or explain it, a major historical impetus for the spread of Jesus’ movement after his martyrdom was a pivotal event that his disciples virtually unanimously (along with at least a few former detractors) understood as his resurrection. Whatever one does with the more controversial question of divine causation, the best evidence suggests that the first witnesses believed that they had seen Jesus alive from the dead. They interpreted Jesus’ current life as resurrected life — a foretaste of the new order, not at all comparable with mere ghost apparitions. Moreover, they were convinced enough as to the nature of this life as to stake the rest of their own lives, both in the current age and in the coming one, on Jesus’ resurrection. For them, Jesus’ resurrection cohered with his message: God was establishing a new order, and Jesus its proclaimer held first place in it. Whether we choose to agree with their faith or not, we cannot easily doubt the depth of their conviction.