This is a careful, critical attempt, by a highly qualified British judge, to examine the evidence concerning the resurrection from the dead of Jesus of Nazareth.
After a review of the basic legal principles involved regarding the use of evidence (What standard of proof is acceptable? Are we dealing with history or myth? What are our preconceptions?), this succinct but powerful document considers:
- The testimony of individuals involved (Paul, James, Peter)
- The various resurrection accounts, their inconsistencies, and their value as evidence
- Possible sites for Jesus' tomb
- Sources from outside the gospels, such as Josephus, Tacitus and Pliny
- Logical alternatives to the resurrection
- The opinions of experts in the fields of history, literary history, paleography and law.
Could this most improbable story be, at heart, true? What are the implications?
After a distinguished career as a solicitor, specialising in civil litigation, Graeme Smith became a full-time District Judge of High Court and County Court in 2003. In 2012 he was appointed a Crown Court Recorder. An accredited Methodist local preacher, he and his wife Helen currently attend an Assemblies of God church.