Resurrection Research From 1975 to the Present: What are Critical Scholars Saying?

An overview of resurrection research in Europe and North America during the last 30 years indicates some expected as well as some surprising trends. This study highlights six of these major research areas. The works of two representative scholars, J.D. Crossan and N.T. Wright, provide interpretive angles on these subjects. The article concludes with some comments on what is taken to be the single most crucial development at present, that after Jesus' death his followers had experiences that they thought were appearances of the risen Jesus. These early Christian experiences need to be explained viably.