History is under dispute. It is widely accepted and documented, both religiously and secularly, that Jesus of Nazareth lived and preached, was crucified on a Roman cross, and was buried in Jerusalem. The existence of Jesus as a historical figure is not what’s under scrutiny, but what happened next has been widely argued for centuries. Many theories exist, but this essay will focus upon the conspiracy theory that the 11 disciples stole the body of Christ. This essay serves to weigh objectively the evidence both for and against this theory.  The theory that the body of Jesus Christ was stolen from His gravesite is one I believe is wholly implausible, however supporters of the theory argue that grave robbers were a somewhat common problem in first century Judea, and thus must be the case here.

         The first point in argument against the stolen body hypothesis is the sealing and guarding of the tomb, as detailed by pastor Bob Reed in his sermon ‘The Resurrection of Jesus’. In the first century Roman Empire, tombs were sealed by heavy stone, which required several guards, who would’ve been very physically capable, even just to roll downhill. This heavy stone deterred graverobbers and wild animals from entering. Out of an abundance of caution and paranoia due to the prophecies of a resurrected Christ, the Romans sealing Jesus’ tomb went the extra mile, and sealed the edges of the stone with clay and wax, wrapped the tomb in cord, “[took] wax or clay, put it around that cord, … [took] a Roman seal, and impressed it into the wax or clay to verify and to show that this tomb was based upon Roman authority and if anyone were to break the seal, [they] would be defying authority of Rome and would be put to death.” (Reed 10:17). The sealed tomb was then heavily guarded by 16 highly trained military guards. These preventative measures combined would have made any breach of the tomb nearly impossible. The notion that 11 men, who spent their lives as fishermen and tax collectors, would have been able to open the tomb, remove the grave clothes from Jesus, then carry His decaying body out of the tomb, all without being caught by the guards or other potential passersby, is highly implausible. 

         The second point in disfavor of the conspiracy of the robbed grave is the minimal facts approach, developed by scholar, historian, and theologian Dr. Gary R. Habermas, and discussed in his essay ‘The Minimal Facts Approach to the Resurrection of Jesus: The Role of Methodology as a Crucial Component in Establishing Historicity’. This approach argues for the resurrection of Christ using only facts agreed upon by both religious and secular historians (15). There are a multitude of facts that could be used in this approach, but I am choosing to focus on the lives and, even more profoundly, deaths of the disciples of Jesus Christ.

         With the exception of John, who died of old age, and Judas, who hung himself, all of the original disciples, plus Matthias, who replaced Judas, were brutally martyred in the name of their faith. The only one of these deaths recorded in the Bible is that of James, son of Zebedee. The rest are documented solely secularly. Thomas, who doubted Jesus, and would not believe without seeing, transformed his life for preaching the gospel, and was stabbed to death while preaching in India. Andrew was sentenced to death for preaching the gospel in Greece, and was bound to an X-shaped cross, where he continued to preach as hung, dying, on the cross. Peter, who denied Jesus three times before His crucifixion, was killed for his faith on an upside down cross in Vatican City. Bartholomew was skinned alive in Armenia. Matthew was impaled for preaching in Ethiopia. Simon was sawed in half. Mark was dragged to death by horses. Luke was hung. Matthias was killed either by stoning or beheading. James and Jude, the brothers of Jesus, didn’t believe in Jesus as the Christ before His resurrection. After the resurrection, James wrote the Letter of James, led the Church of Jerusalem, and preached the gospel of Christ. While preaching in Jerusalem, the Pharisees told James to denounce his faith or be killed. James began preaching only more fervently, and was thrown off the pinnacle of the temple. When he survived this fall, he began praying out loud, pleading ‘Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do’ - the same words his brother had prayed less than 30 years earlier - until he was stoned and clubbed to death. Jude was also clubbed to death in the name of Christ. (MacArthur); (Bremmer); (Curtis); (“Fate of the Twelve Apostles and Matthias”). What would compel 11 seperate men to be brutally killed for something they knew was a hoax? Why would they have so much fervor and passion if they had been lying? What would drive former doubters and skeptics to be so sure of Jesus they would be violently martyred for Him? The drastic life change and explosive growth of the Christian faith following Christ’s crucifixion cannot be explained away by the possibility of a hoax or lie concocted by the disciples. The lengths the apostles went to for their faith indicates that His death was not the end. Probability trumps possibility. While it is possible that every single one of these men went to extreme measures for something that they knew was false, it is unlikely. The probable explanation is that the disciples did not steal the body of Christ, but instead witnessed something they could not explain away and could be achieved through the miraculous. 

        The third point against this theory is the eyewitnesses of Christ and the historical records that coincide with them. The gospels note the first eyewitnesses of Christ were women. In first century Jerusalem, women were considered to be second class citizens, and, according to Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, were not capable of testifying as witnesses in court, stating in his book Antiqities of the Jews, “But let not the testimony of women be admitted, on account of the levity and boldness of their sex, nor let servants be admitted to give testimony on account of the ignobility of their soul” (Josephus 4.8.15). The recording of women as the first witnesses to the resurrection of Christ directly contradicts the belief that the disciples fabricated the event. If the event had really been a hoax, why wouldn’t men have given themselves the glory and recognition of being the first to witness the risen Christ? Why, in such a patriarchal society structure, would women be given that credit? The historic account of the resurrection directly juxtaposes the social norms of the time, further deviating from the theory that the apostles stole the body of Christ to gain recognition through fooling those around them into believing that Jesus had rose again. (Minton)

          The fourth and final point disproving this theory is the fact that anti-Christians presuppose the vacancy of the grave by claiming that the body was stolen. According to author and apologist Evan Minton in “The Evidence for Jesus’ Resurrection, Part 4: Fact (2) The Empty Tomb”, “When a child tells his teacher that the dog ate his homework, that presupposes that the homework is not in the child’s possession. When the enemies of Christianity have to resort to accusing the disciples of stealing the body, that presupposes that there is no body in the tomb.” If Jesus’ body was still in the tomb, the stolen body hypothesis would never have circulated, pointing to the fact that the grave is, in fact, empty. This, combined with the previous evidence against the disciples having stolen the body of Jesus, presents a damning account in favor of the resurrection of Christ. The evidence of points against the possibility of someone having entered the tomb, but towards Jesus having left the tomb, pointing to a supernatural or miraculous event as a probable cause.

           While evidence in opposition to the stolen body hypothesis is extensive, no theory arises without evidence to support it, and the conspiracy of the robbed grav eid no exception. While there is less proof pointing towards the disciples stealing the body than there is pointing away from it, the evidence still exists, and it is imperative that both sides of an argument are weighed.

            The first point in favor of this theory is that Joseph of Arimathea, who prepared the body and laid Jesus to rest in his family tomb, possibly could have accessed the body and removed it from the grave. After the crucifixion of Jesus, Joseph asked Pilate if he could prepare Jesus’ body for burial, and his request was granted. He and Nicodemus prepared the body, wrapping it in linen and cloth, before laying Him in the tomb that, while unoccupied, belonged to Joseph. It is argued that Joseph had access to the body and the tomb, seeing as he had been the one to prepare the body and the tomb was his to begin with. Joseph was a respectable man, and it is believed by some supporters of the stolen body hypothesis that he may have thought better of having the body of a criminal in his tomb, and removed the body and buried him elsewhere. (Stewart); (“Did Joseph of Arimathea Move the Body?”)

            The second point in favor of the stolen body hypothesis is that graverobbers were a known problem in first century Judea. Graverobbers would break into tombs to steal valuables and, while it was extremely rare, sometimes stole bodies. It is argued that the body of Christ may have been stolen to perform rituals, which were not uncommon at the time. An example of one of the aforementioned rites involved putting a scroll into the mouth of a dead body and asking it questions (Carrier 350). These practices lead supporters of the stolen body hypothesis to believe that Jesus’ body was removed from the tomb by graverobbers. 

           Overall, when the evidence for and against the stolen body hypothesis is weighed, the theory begins to crumble in on itself. The evidence in favor of the conspiracy cannot withstand or refute the evidence against it. While a simple pro/con paper cannot sufficiently prove in its entirety Jesus as risen king and savior, this presentation of evidence both in favor and in disfavor of the conspiracy aims to illuminate the facts in a way that drives critical thinking and independent decision-making. “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” - Romans 1:20