Explanations for the Empty Tomb
by Kenny Chumbley
via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 3, September 1995
Paul’s belief in the resurrection, shared by early Christianity, was absolute and categorical; nevertheless, the apostle’s exuberant faith has not been universally shared, and a literal resurrection of Jesus’ body has been denied not only by non-Christians but also by liberal theology. The opposition stems from this basic argument: a physical resurrection, like the other so-called miracles in the Bible, could never have happened, since natural laws simply cannot be suspended. The dead are not raisable today, nor then.
Since, however, something must have taken place that morning after the Sabbath to ignite the spiritual explosion called Christianity, critics have advanced the following hypotheses to explain some of the phenomena of the first Easter.
The stolen-body theory
This is the oldest and simplest explanation for an empty tomb. Jesus’ body was removed by the disciples either in order to protect it from possible desecration or to hatch the myth of a risen Christ. Perhaps Joseph of Arimathea, who had first hastily buried Jesus in a cave near the execution site, later gave the body a permanent, secret burial in his own tomb. Conversely, he may have had second thoughts about his charitable action in burying a criminal and therefore removed the body so it would not contaminate his tomb. Or Pontius Pilate may have ordered its secret removal to forestall any cult of martyrdom at the grave.
The wrong-tomb theory
Because of Jesus’ hasty burial and the dim morning light, the women were not sure which of the many rock-hewn tombs in the area was Joseph’s. When they examined the wrong one, which was empty, they were startled by the gardener or grave worker (whom they thought was an angel) who guessed their mission and tried to correct their mistake. *He is not here,’ the gardener advised, and then pointed to the correct sepulcher, ‘See the place where he lay.’ But the women panicked, fled, and later announced an empty tomb.
The 'lettuce' theory
The ‘lettuce’ theory is an alternative to the above. The gardener was so piqued at curiosity-seekers trampling over lettuce seedlings he had planted in the garden around Joseph’s tomb that he removed the body of Jesus and reinterred it elsewhere. Crude as this hypothesis sounds, it was, in fact, one of the early non-Christian explanations for the resurrection.
The psychological or hallucination theory
The various visions or appearances of Jesus were merely the psychic effects of profound wish fulfillment. When one of the women claimed to have seen the resurrected Jesus, the experience became contagious, and soon others ‘saw’ him. Jesus’ prophecies of his triumph over death had primed his followers to expect exactly that, and so the whole myth began with the visions of a half-frantic woman, according to Celsus.
Others, such as the nineteenth-century German scholar David Strauss, have suggested that one of the disciples, perhaps Peter, sustained the original hallucination. According to this scenario, the Eleven fled Galilee after the crucifixion, where they finally calmed down and reflected on Jesus. The impulsive Peter, in particular, was meditating on his dead master when suddenly he had a sensation or vision of Jesus’ surviving presence. Peter himself could not know that this was just a fantasy of his own imagination. He would have been unable to distinguish between a real incursion from another dimension and a subjective hallucination. Peter’s enthusiasm quickly became contagious, and when confused and exaggerated reports came in from the women in Jerusalem, the disciples, clutching at every resurrection rumor, returned joyfully to the Holy City and proclaimed the new faith. They did all this, not as frauds or liars, but in good faith.
The twin-brother theory
Jesus had an exact twin brother who occasionally substituted for him but generally stayed out of sight. When Jesus truly died on Friday, the twin emerged triumphantly from seclusion on Sunday, and people beheld the risen Lord."
This article is taken from The Historical Jesus by Gaalyah Cornfeld, a Jewish historian and writer. Cornfeld does not believe Jesus was raised from the dead, but after listing these alternative hypotheses for the empty tomb, he is at least honest enough to write:
"Certainly these various theories stand as tributes to human ingenuity. And they have surely stood the test of time: although all of them are still in current use, nearly all were advanced in one form or another many centuries ago. The different explanations also have this in common: they all require at least as much faith to believe in their validity as in the resurrection itself. For the overpowering weight of all the sources, all circumstantial evidence from the first Easter, and logic itself stand against them."
