Resurrection
Coming back to bodily life, never to die again — central to the Easter story.
A little more
Resurrection is not the same as a ghost appearing, or someone’s spirit living on. Christians believe Jesus was physically raised from death in a transformed body — able to eat and be touched, yet no longer bound by death.
Historians broadly agree Jesus’ early followers sincerely believed they had encountered the risen Jesus, and that this belief transformed a small, frightened group into a movement willing to suffer for it. Whether the resurrection itself actually happened is a matter of Christian faith, not something history alone can settle either way.
Christians also believe Jesus’ resurrection is a preview of what awaits all believers — bodily resurrection, not just a disembodied afterlife.
Read it for yourself
- Mark 16:1-8Mark’s account of the empty tomb on the first Easter morning.