After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
I still remember an email that I received last year which indicated that Jesus's resurrection from the dead is "the single most documented event of ancient history". Regrettably, such a statement could not be easily backed up through research (and I did look) so it's only as someone's opinion that I could ever quote it. I like to have some proof before passing on authoritative statements like that. However, this does bring up an interesting point...
What one person may accept as 'convincing proof' of the resurrection could be dismissed by another. There's plenty of eye-witness reports of the risen Lord in scripture and Christian writings, but it all boils down to faith, at the end of the day. Do you believe it happened?
What can't be so easily dismissed is the effect that the reported death of Jesus had on the early Christians. Rather than fade away because their figurehead had gone, their movement grew by leaps and bounds. Followers would rather die than give up their faith in Jesus. There's plenty of evidence for that, both in secular and church history.
So, is that proof enough for you?
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