About this topic
Resurrection evidence, miracle testimony, naturalistic alternatives, and the limits of historical proof of supernatural events.
Debates are grouped by their main question. Scores assess the reasoning presented, not the truth of a position. Read the assessment method.
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Jonathan McLatchie vs Paulogia — Christianity’s Origins and the Resurrection · 2023
McLatchie wins narrowly by offering the more developed comparative explanation, while Paulogia exposes serious unresolved dependence on Gospel proximity, transmission, and source-specific reliability.
Jonathan McLatchie: 83 · Paulogia: 80. Scores assess the reasoning in this debate.
David Wood vs Shabir Ally — Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? · 2018
Wood’s cumulative historical case leads, while Ally’s critical challenges expose narrative tensions without establishing his conditional survival-and-ascension alternative.
David Wood: 82 · Shabir Ally: 77. Scores assess the reasoning in this debate.
Sean McDowell vs Paulogia — Apostolic Martyrdom and the Resurrection · 2020
McDowell argues costly apostolic persistence supports sincere resurrection belief, while Paulogia accepts key individuals but challenges group scope, death evidence, and the move from sincerity to truth.
Sean McDowell: 86 · Paulogia: 86. Scores assess the reasoning in this debate.
Michael Shermer vs Luuk Vandeweghe — Are the Miracles of Jesus Unbelievable? · 2019
Shermer wins by pressing claim-specific evidence and comparative religious testimony, while Vandeweghe offers substantive but incompletely connected historical witness arguments.
Michael Shermer: 82 · Luuk Vandeweghe: 75. Scores assess the reasoning in this debate.
Mike Licona vs Richard Carrier — Did Jesus rise from the dead? · 2004
Licona narrowly prevails through cumulative historical breadth, while Carrier’s Pauline, visionary, source-critical, and prior-probability challenges keep every decisive inference closely contested.
Mike Licona: 82 · Richard Carrier: 81. Scores assess the reasoning in this debate.
Michael Licona vs Bart Ehrman: Can Historians Prove the Resurrection? · 2008
Ehrman prevailed 79–78 by narrowly pairing strong source criticism and public-evidence burdens against Licona’s comparatively sophisticated but incompletely warranted resurrection inference.
Michael Licona: 78 · Bart Ehrman: 79. Scores assess the reasoning in this debate.
Resurrection Evidence and Naturalistic Alternatives: William Lane Craig vs. Richard Carrier · 2009
Craig organized burial, appearances, and belief into a cumulative resurrection case, while Carrier challenged Gospel independence and preserved ordinary alternatives; their contrasting strengths produced a tie.
William Lane Craig: 80 · Richard Carrier: 80. Scores assess the reasoning in this debate.
Gary Habermas vs Antony Flew: Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? · 2000
Habermas assembled convergent historical and bodily evidence, while Flew pressed source limitations, natural underdetermination, and the need for justified theological priors.
Gary Habermas: 87 · Antony Flew: 86. Scores assess the reasoning in this debate.
Shabir Ally vs Michael Licona: Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? · 2004
Licona presented a cumulative bodily-resurrection inference; Ally narrowly prevailed by sustaining uncertainty about death, physical appearances, empty-tomb implications, and narrative development.
Michael Licona: 83 · Shabir Ally: 85. Scores assess the reasoning in this debate.
William Lane Craig vs Bart Ehrman: Is There Historical Evidence for the Resurrection? · 2006
Craig defended resurrection through cumulative explanatory comparison; Ehrman challenged source reliability, supernatural inference, and whether historical standards can distinguish bodily resurrection from alternatives.
William Lane Craig: 84 · Bart Ehrman: 83. Scores assess the reasoning in this debate.
Matt Dillahunty vs Jonathan McLatchie: Is There Strong Evidence for the Resurrection? · 2020
McLatchie built a cumulative resurrection case from early testimony; Dillahunty prevailed by challenging source independence, testability, alternative explanations, and evidential thresholds.
Dr Jonathan McLatchie: 78 · Matt Dillahunty: 83. Scores assess the reasoning in this debate.
Mike Licona vs Matt Dillahunty: Was Jesus Raised from the Dead? · 2017
Licona defended resurrection through historical and comparative inference; Dillahunty more effectively separated reported events, unexplained anomalies, supernatural classification, and justified causal attribution.
Mike Licona: 79 · Matt Dillahunty: 88. Scores assess the reasoning in this debate.
William Albrecht vs Robert Price: Did Jesus Bodily Rise from the Dead? · 2022
Albrecht defended bodily continuity through early testimony and textual distinctions; Price narrowly prevailed by pressing historical method, provenance uncertainty, and ordinary alternative explanations.
William Albrecht: 78 · Robert Price: 80. Scores assess the reasoning in this debate.
Robert Price vs William Lane Craig: Did Jesus Rise From the Dead? · 1999
Craig built a cumulative resurrection case from early sources; Price challenged its historical foundations through analogy, literary criticism, and ordinary belief-forming mechanisms.
William Lane Craig: 83 · Robert Price: 80. Scores assess the reasoning in this debate.
Ross Douthat vs Bart Ehrman: Did Jesus Rise From the Dead? · 2026
Douthat pressed witness continuity and resurrection strangeness; Ehrman narrowly prevailed through source criticism, calibrated historical method, and a multistage visionary reconstruction.
Ross Douthat: 84 · Bart Ehrman: 86. Scores assess the reasoning in this debate.
Mike Licona vs Richard Carrier: Did Jesus Rise From the Dead? · 2010
Licona argued resurrection best explains early testimony; Carrier countered that prior probability, visionary mechanisms, and source limitations preserve stronger natural explanations.
Mike Licona: 80 · Richard Carrier: 83. Scores assess the reasoning in this debate.
Than Christopoulos vs Matt Dillahunty: Is the Resurrection a Historical Event? · 2024
Christopoulos presented a cumulative probabilistic resurrection case, while Dillahunty’s source challenges and distinctions between sincerity, likelihood, and warranted belief preserved rational uncertainty.
Than Christopoulos: 79 · Matt Dillahunty: 88. Scores assess the reasoning in this debate.
William Albrecht vs Graham Oppy: Resurrection and Ancient Christianity · 2023
Albrecht builds cumulative resurrection and ecclesial-continuity arguments, while Oppy presses visionary alternatives, transmission uncertainty, selective preservation, and early Christian plurality.
William Albrecht: 76 · Graham Oppy: 83. Scores assess the reasoning in this debate.
Mike Winger vs Matt Dillahunty: Is Belief in the Resurrection Unreasonable? · 2019
Winger builds a cumulative historical case for resurrection, while Dillahunty argues that transmitted reports and unresolved causal gaps justify withholding belief.
Mike Winger: 80 · Matt Dillahunty: 86. Scores assess the reasoning in this debate.
Trent Horn vs Alex O'Connor: Did Jesus Rise From the Dead? · 2026
Horn defended bodily continuity, appearances, sincerity, and the empty tomb, while O'Connor pressed source ambiguity, rival-testimony parity, corroboration deficits, and natural alternatives.
Trent Horn: 78 · Alex O'Connor: 86. Scores assess the reasoning in this debate.
Trent Horn vs Matt Dillahunty: Is Belief in the Resurrection Reasonable? · 2021
Horn defended resurrection belief through testimony and comparative explanation; Dillahunty narrowly prevailed by separating sincerity from accuracy and emphasizing ordinary error.
Trent Horn: 82 · Matt Dillahunty: 83. Scores assess the reasoning in this debate.
Bart Ehrman vs Justin Bass: Did Jesus of Nazareth Rise From the Dead? · 2023
Bass builds a cumulative resurrection case from appearances, unexpected belief, expansion, and visions; Ehrman answers through source criticism, ordinary alternatives, and comparative evidence.
Justin Bass: 78 · Bart Ehrman: 88. Scores assess the reasoning in this debate.
Alex O'Connor vs William Lane Craig: Did Jesus Rise From the Dead? · 2023
Craig defended resurrection through comparative explanation and early testimony, while O'Connor pressed source reliability, natural alternatives, prior probability, and evidential expectations.
William Lane Craig: 86 · Alex O'Connor: 88. Scores assess the reasoning in this debate.