The Resurrection of Jesus: Apologetics, Polemics, History

The earliest traditions around the narrative of Jesus' resurrection are considered in this landmark work by Dale C. Allison, Jr, drawing together the fruits of his decades of research into this issue at the very core of Christian identity. Allison returns to the ancient sources and earliest traditions, charting them alongside the development of faith in the resurrection in the early church and throughout Christian history. Beginning with historical-critical methodology that examines the empty tomb narratives and early confessions, Allison moves on to consider the resurrection in parallel with other traditions and stories, including Tibetan accounts of saintly figures being assumed into the light, in the chapter "Rainbow Body". In the final section, Allison considers what might be said by way of results or conclusions on the topic of resurrection, offering perspectives from both apologetic and sceptical viewpoints. In his final section of "modest results" he considers scholarly approaches to the resurrection in light of human experience suggesting that a detective-novel approach is perhaps not the best answer to a mystery that has had so great an impact on humanity. In so-doing Allison adds a fresh element of nuance to a debate that has often been characterised in overly simplistic terms of 'it happened' or 'it didn't'.