3)The resurrection is central to the Christian faith.

Luke 24:5-7: In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'

If Jesus was not raised from the dead, then Christian beliefs don't amount to much, since Jesus himself said that he would be raised from the dead on the third day. On the other hand, if Jesus did rise from the dead, all his claims are true and we can know for sure that there is life after death as He promised. A large volume of evidence exists to support the resurrection claims. In fact, there is more legal-historic evidence for the resurrection than there is for Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo. There are several reasons why those who have studied the resurrection are convinced beyond a doubt that it is true.

A) The event is well-documented by numerous reliable, historical sources.

Historians such as Josephus (c.37-110 AD), Ignatius (c.50-115 AD), Justin Martyr (c.100-165 AD) and Tertullian (c.160-220 AD) were convinced of the authenticity of the resurrection.  Their writings validate the accounts of the Gospel writers, who, according to leading biblical scholarship, recorded the event as soon as 37 AD and no later than 64 AD.  In addition, other first and second century historians including Cornelius Tacitus, Suetonius, Plinius Secundus, and Lucian of Samosata acknowledged the impact this incredible event had on the people of the time.

B) There were numerous eyewitnesses to the resurrection.

After he rose from the dead, Jesus appeared at least ten times to those who had known him and to as many as 500 people at one time.  These appearances were not hallucinations;  Jesus ate and talked with his followers and they touched his resurrected body.

Luke 24: 14, 36: Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but Him they did not see." ... While they were still talking about this, Jesus Himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."

I Corinthians 15: 3-7: For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day acording to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.  Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles.