I hear there are a lot of claims being thrown around that say Christianity is based on an ancient myth. That Jesus' resurrection is itself a resurrection of a myth espoused long before Jesus was born. Leaving the credibility of the prior resurrection stories to someone else, let's look at the reliability of the claims of Christianity. There could have certainly been prior myths or fables of a resurrected one just as there were prior claims of heavenly beings (gods) having relationship with women (Roman and Greek mythology, along with one view of Genesis 6). Does that in itself mean there could be no Virgin birth? The important point is not whether the idea that Jesus resurrected was the first time it hit the earth but rather is there reason to believe what is told is true on its own merit. There can certainly be foreshadowing or prophetic revelation to enhance the truth or demonic imitation to distract or discredit the genuine. So let's look at some of the claims of the Bible.
First, did Jesus exist, or in other words, is there a Historical Jesus? We have the gospel accounts. In addition there are other "non-Biblical" references to Jesus such as Josephus or Tacitus among others. The truth of Jesus of Nazareth's existence is easily verifiable if you believe any of the writings of antiquity. That His life was remarkable is noteworthy in that we still call this year in many parts of the world 2009 A.D. (Latin-Anno Domini- in the year of the Lord). Two thousand and nine years since he was born. He left quite an impression. The real question relates to His resurrection.
He was crucified under Roman supervision since the Jews were not allowed to execute anyone on their own authority at that time. To discount Christianity in that first century, which many wanted to do, all they had to do was produce the dead body of Jesus. The Romans should have been able to do this since they performed the execution and kept watch at the burial site. If someone claimed that John F. Kennedy, for example, rose after his assasination and is really the Messiah, even now 46 years after his death we are still close enough to the event to disprove it. The Jewish leaders at that time desparately wanted to discredit this new movement (Christianty). Producing the evidence of Jesus' body would have done the trick. It didn't happen.
The remarkable prophecies in Psalm 22:16, 17 and Psalm 69:21 among others regarding His death add credibility to His place in history and the passage in Hosea 6:2 seems to prophesy of His resurrection on the third day. Here the idea is spoken of well before Jesus was born. Does that mean He could not have risen or died that way? Maybe it means that all of history was pointing in some way to this momentous occasion and He was the fulfillment.
Not only were the authorities of that generation not able to refute the account of His resurrection, all of His disciples willingly gave up their lives as principal witnesses to the fact that He indeed did rise from the dead. In Acts 1, when a successor for Judas was chosen, the main purpose was to be a witness of His resurrection (Acts 1:22). Many people will die for something they think is true. We have seen people give up their lives for religious cult beliefs thinking they would obtain some special place in eternity. However, people do not give up their lives for something they know is false. The disciples claimed to be eyewitnesses of Jesus' resurrection. If they were not, they knew they were lying. If they knew they were lying they would not have died for a cause that they knew was false. They gave up their lives because they had seen Jesus risen from the dead, a remarkable event in history. Paul said if Jesus did not rise from the dead, eat and drink for tomorrow we die which being interpreted means, you might as well party because there is nothing but this life and so live it in whatever way you want. When you're dead you're dead!!
So these two facts, that the contemporaries of Jesus could not disprove his resurrection and the fact that His disciples confessed to be eyewitnesses of the resurrection and gave up their lives for that cause give incredible credence to the claims contained in the New Testament that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead. And you know what? He's coming back in glory to take over the creation He redeemed through His death and resurrection.
Here's a random thought on the global warming controversy. When I went to school I was told there was an ice age (first I was told 3 and later told that most research would guess 1 now). And that during this time there were glaciers as far south as Wisconsin. I've been to Wisconsin. All the glaciers are gone!! Doesn't that mean that the globe has been warming even before cars and coal burning power plants? And I am actually glad Wisconsin glaciers are not to be found because the glaciers would not be conducive for cows to graze on and I really like Wisconsin Cheese. I'm sure there are fewer Polar Bears in Wisconsin, but the dairy industry really got a boost!!!