The hallucination theory

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        The hallucination theory does not fit what we know of the disciples' expectations. As I 
        have said earlier, the disciples were not expecting Christ to rise from the dead. They had 
        no concept in Judaism of the Messiah rising physically from the dead with the same body, a 
        body they could touch and interact with. Nor do the descriptions given in the gospels 
        reflect the kind of vagueness that makes up an hallucination. What they experienced was 
        concrete. They could recall and explain it clearly. And because many of them experienced 
        the same thing, separately and together, they could confirm their experiences with each 
        other.
      
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<p>

      
        The hallucination theory also fails to explain one other fact: the empty tomb. Had the 
        disciples, and many others, hallucinated Jesus' appearances, the commotion they were 
        causing in Jerusalem could have been easily stopped by producing the body. This is an 
        argument from silence. In other words, there is nothing said in history about whether the 
        Romans and Jews tried to produce Jesus' body. But it is crucial in this case that there is 
        nothing said in recorded history about what happened to Jesus' body other than what we 
        find in the gospels. Had Jesus' body been exhumed by the Jews or Romans and presented to 
        the mass of people who were deluded about his resurrection, it is hard to believe that the 
        early church could have gotten started. But the movement did start and the resurrection of 
        Jesus was the grounds on which it began. 
      
      
        
      
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