A Brief History
On Easter Sunday, possibly April 5, 33 AD, the Christian Bible reports the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Although this resurrection is the most well known, there are of course reports of others. Here is a list of 10 of the most notable reports of human resurrection.
10. The Son of the Widow of Zarephath, date unknown.
As reported in the Bible(1 Kings 17:21), the prophet Elijah prayed over the body of the boy that God would “Let this child’s life come unto him again,” and the boy then lived again.
9. The Son of the Woman of Shunem, date unknown.
Also reported in the Bible (2 Kings 4:32) in this case Elisha prays to The Lord over the body of the boy, “putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands.” The child then sneezed 7 times and lived again.
8. The Son of the Widow Nain, circa 33 AD.
In this case cited in the New Testament (Luke 7:11) Jesus arrives at the boy’s burial and raises him from the dead, the first of 3 resurrections attributed to Jesus in the Gospels.
7. Jairus’s Daughter, circa 33 AD.
An interrelated report in 3 of the Gospels, Matthew 9:18-26 reports that Jesus is going to see the dying girl at the request of her father (Jairus), but He arrives after she has died. Jesus then “awakens” her, bringing her back to life.
6. Aristeas of Proconnesus, 7th Century BC.
A Greek poet (and reportedly miracle worker), Aristeas is reported to have “drop’t dead” while in a shop. When the shopkeeper returned with Aristeas’s family, Aristeas was gone and was not seen by them for 7 years. The story continues that 240 years after the resurrection Aristeas was in Italy where he ordered a statue of himself erected.
5. George Foster, 1803.
A condemned criminal, George Foster was hanged in England. When his body was taken down, it was transported to a college where Giovanni Galvani waited to demonstrate his ability to “resurrect” a corpse by using electricity. While observers looked on, Galvani touched electrodes to the corpse of Foster eliciting various twitches, convulsions and the opening of his eye. Of course, the body was just responding to the electrical stimuli and not really made to come back to life. Givanni was the nephew of the famous Luigi Galvani who had done similar experiments with dead frogs, showing that muscles are moved by electrical impulses. This demonstration may have been the inspiration for the Frankenstein story.
4. Dorcas, 1st Century AD.
A woman described in the New Testament as a disciple of Christ who aided the poor (Acts 9:36-42). When she died, Saint Peter was summoned from another city and raised Dorcas from the dead. An interesting note, the name Dorcas is the Greek version of the Aramaic Tabitha which means gazelle. There is an African gazelle called the Dorcas Gazelle.
3. Achilles, circa 8th Century BC.
According to some sources, Achilles, the great warrior hero of the Trojan War was taken from his funeral pyre by his mother and resurrected as an immortal, to spend his new “life” in the underworld (Elysian plains). Despite being a character in mythological literature, a historical “Achilles” may have existed with a basis from an actual great warrior in Greek history. In any event, Ancient Greeks likely believed he actually existed.
2. Lazarus of Bethany, circa 33 AD.
The third miracle of resurrection attributed to Jesus, told in the Gospel of John, Chapter 11. This time, Jesus arrives in Bethany at the behest of the sisters of Lazarus who is ill and dying. Apparently intentionally delaying his trip to Bethany, Jesus arrives after Lazarus is already dead and entombed. Jesus commands that the tomb be opened and he raises Lazarus from the dead.
1. Jesus Christ, circa 33 AD.
As described in the Good Friday article, Jesus is crucified by the Romans. He is then entombed, and on Easter Sunday (2 days later) is risen from the dead after which he continues his ministry for forty days until ascending into Heaven.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Licona, Michael R. The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. IVP Academic, 2010.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="1790 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=1790">40 Comments
So the Dorcas Gazelle is the “Gazelle” Gazelle? It is interesting to think that people were fooled into thinking the corpse had come back to life by being shocked by electricity, though I suppose it makes sense given that the event took place in 1803 as knowledge of reflexive reactions was not nearly as well known at the time.
It is interesting to hear that so many people were duped into believing that a corpse had come to life by being shocked.
I have never been one to believe in something like the practice of resurrection, but seeing how many people believe in specific resurrections does say something about the power of the idea of it. Also, I thought the only resurrection appearing in the bible was of Jesus, but I guess it was a more popular back then than i thought.
If you believe in miracles… anything is possible! — DAVID WARDLE
It’s shocking that a lot of people were coarsed into believing it, but I guess that’s what makes it so powerful. Anything is possible.
I am more of a “see it to believe it” kind of gal, and find it pretty hard to believe that anyone at all was raised from the dead, but I imagine it could be possible in some way.
Like the previous article, never heard of any of these people except Jesus and Achilles, but I never even Knew Achilles supposedly ressurected
just the idea of someone being able to be brought back from the dead kind of creeps me out
Does not surprise me that most of these resurrection stories are told in the Bible.
The only ones that I have ever heard were the ones from the Bible. I learned them growing up in Sunday School and have taught some of them to the kids in my class at church. I think that someone would be resurrected, but only through the power of Jesus Christ. I don’t know how I would react if I saw someone come back to life.
It just seems insanely silly to think that someone can rise from the dead. Whether it be Jesus, Achilles, or whoever. It’s a nice after thought but it’s almost comical.
Found it interesting that more than half are from the Bible. In a way it doesn’t surprise me.
I haven’t heard about most of these beside Jesus and Lazarus but found them very interesting.
This does not surprise me at all…. Most are related to Jesus … He did amazing things … And still does
The most interesting resurrection on this list is the resurrection of Aristeas. Appearing 240 years later would surely scare the common folk of that time.
I find it interesting that four out of the ten on this list involve Jesus. George Foster is the most entertaining to me.
The concept of people being raised from the dead is an interesting thing.
After reading the possible resurrections, I wonder which could have possibly have happened and if Jesus was actually involved in them all
Has anyone ever had this feeling that if people say something is true enough times that it might be true? I’m not trying to suggest that many of these resurrections potentially didn’t happen, but I find it pretty cool how such a trend has been around since long before Jesus Christ. Being of the Jewish faith, the idea of resurrection comes from Hellenistic Greece and reading this article is pretty cool since it gives me a historical basis for the possibility of that belief. I wonder who the first person to suggest that resurrection happens was? I’d be interested in studying this idea and exactly how far it dates back and if it has truly religious roots.
I think it’s really interesting how there was more than 1 resurrection. The only one that I knew of was Jesus.
I knew that Jesus and Lazarus were raised from the dead, but I didn’t know that there were other legitimate claims of other people throughout history rising from the dead.
I never realized that Jesus raised three people from the dead. The only one I knew about was Lazarus. I also never realized that there were other accounts of people supposedly being raised from the dead.
I’m glad there were other resurrection stories besides those from the Bible. Being a Catholic school kid, I have heard those stories so many times. This article was an interesting collection of stories
I was unaware that there were other claims of resurrections besides Jesus. The resurrection of Achilles was fascinating to read because he was such a prominent figure in ancient Greek history.
The number of resurrection stories is not surprising given humanity’s fear of death and fascination with life after death.
I believe people believe in resurrection or ‘life after death’ to give them hope of something after dying so they don’t live their lives depressed.
I believe people are afraid of what happens after we die. People are afraid because they do not, and cannot know.
I think its cool that most of these resurrections had something to do with the number one resurrection of Jesus Christ.
I believe in an after life because that is just what i was grown up believing and do believe in resurrection, after hearing to many different stories, it just makes me believe it even more. Very educational and interesting story!
I actually had no idea that there were other accounts of resurrections. I have only heard of Jesus being resurrected.
The story about using electricity was fascinating, especially how people believed the dead was actually brought back to life.
I have never heard of most of these. The resurrection of Jesus is what I’m most familiar with. Interesting videos though!
i have learned some of these different kinds becasuse of mythology class but they all seem to have a similar resurecttion story. Interesting videos
A phenomenon known as “Lazarus syndrome” is very rare, but it is very real. People have been pronounced dead but through some form of autoresuscitation are able to move and talk coherently.
On a more religious note, the late Richard John Neuhaus wrote a book called “As I Lay Dying: Meditations Upon Returning,” which I recommend.
Resurrections are a cool story, and any account of them will make people believe in a religion. Because of this, it is no wonder so many resurrection stories have arose in history.
I remember in school learning about Lazarus and Jesus and I thought Resurrection was a remarkable thing. The Bible has many great miracles that it talks about and Resurrection to me is the most impressive miracle of them all.
The resurrection story of Achilles confuses me. The Elysian Fields were in the underworld, and was reserved as the place where heroes would sped their afterlife. Is it really considered being resurrected if their staying in the land of the dead anyway? Why do you need to be immortal at that point, wouldn’t being dead already have the same result?
I understand why so many people beliece in resurrection since everyone in human culture fears death so much.
The videos were so cool!!
I completely agree with Cody. I believe it is a way to make a positive spin on life. It is also a great way to cope with death since this is a nightmare for those who fear the unknown.