That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection… – Philippians 3:10, KJV

There is tremendous power in the resurrection of Christ.  As a matter of fact, the resurrection is so powerful that the entire Christian faith rests on its shoulders. If Christ rose from the dead, then He must be God, and everything He said must be true. If Christ did not arise from the dead, then our faith is a lie. The Apostle Paul argued this very same sentiment when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:19 (AMP), “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is mere delusion.”

There are many facts of history that prove Christ did indeed arise from the dead. One such fact is that the majority of the Apostles died cruel deaths for preaching Christ’s resurrection. As Apologetics Press reports:

Fox’s Book of Martyrs relates that Paul was beheaded, Peter was crucified (probably upside down), Thomas was thrust through with a spear, Matthew was slain with a halberd, Matthias was stoned and beheaded, Andrew was crucified, and the list proceeds to describe the martyr’s death of every one of the Lord’s faithful apostles except John the brother of James (Forbush, 1954, pp. 2-5).

Why are the manners of the Apostles’ deaths a proof of Christ’s resurrection? People will die for what they know is true. People will die for what they believe is true, even if what they believe is a lie. No one will die for what they know to be a lie. All of the Apostles proclaimed to the death that they had seen the resurrected Savior with their own eyes. Though many have attempted to explain away their eyewitness accounts, no such explanation can withstand the stare of scrutiny. The facts are that Jesus Christ died, that the Apostles, along with more than five hundred other believers (1 Corinthians 15:6), saw Him alive after He was crucified, and most of the Apostles died cruel deaths for proclaiming what they saw.

What should we say when someone asks the question, “How is the Christian faith different from all other faiths?” The answer is simple, “Unlike other faith founders, the Founder of our faith arose from the dead, and we can prove it.”

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