I would like to show you the hurdles that must be cleared in order for the resurrection of Jesus Christ to be a case of hallucination:

(1) There were too many eyewitnesses. Hallucinations are private, individual, subjective.

Christ appeared to Mary Magadelene, to the disciples minus Thomas, to the disciples including Thomas, to the two disciples at Emmaus, to the fishermen on the shore, to James (his "brother" or cousin), and even to 500 people at once (1 Cor 15:3-8).

And Paul says (in 1 Cor 15:3-8) that most of the 500 are still alive, inviting any reader to check the truth of the story by questioning the eyewitnesses. He could have never have done this and gotten away with it, given the power, resources and number of his enemies, if it were not true.

(2) The eyewitnesses were qualified.

They were simple, honest, moral people who had firsthand knowledge of the facts.

(3) The 500 saw Christ together, at the same time and place.

This is even more remarkable than 500 private hallucinations at different times and places of the same Jesus.

500 Elvis sightings may be dismissed, but if 500 fishermen in maine saw, touched and talked with him at once, in the same town, that would be a different matter.

(4) Hallucinations usually last a few seconds or minutes; rarely hours.

This one hung around for forty days (Acts 1:3).

(5) Hallucinations usually happen only once, except to the insane.

This one returned many times, to ordinary people (Jn 20:19-21:14; Acts 1:3).

(6) Hallucinations come from within, from what we already know, at least unconsciously.

This one said and did surprising and unexpected things (ACts 1:4, 9) - like a real person and unlike a dream.

(7) Not only did the disciples not expect this, they didn't even believe it at first.

Neither did Peter, the women, nor Thomas, nor the eleven. THey thought he was a ghost; he had to eat something to prove he was not (Lk 24:36-43).

(8) Hallucinations do not eat real food.

The resurrected Christ did, on at least two occasions (Lk 24:42-43; Jn 21:1-14).

(9) The Disciples touched him. (Mt 28:9, Lk 24:39; Jn 20:27)

(10) They also spoke with him, and he spoke back.

Figments of our imagination do not hold profound, extended conversations with us, unless we have the kind of mental disorder that isolates us.

But this "hallucination" conversed with at least eleven people at once, for forty days (Acts 1:3).

(11) The apostles could have not believed in the "hallucination" if Jesus' corpse had still been in the tomb.

This is a very simple and telling point; for if it was a hallucination, where was the corpse?

They would have checked for it; if it was there, they could not have believed.

(12) If the apostles had hallucinated and then spread their hallucinogenic story, the Jews would have stopped it by producing the body.

Unless the disciples had stolen it, in which case we are back to the "Conspiracy" theory and all its difficulties.

And why would they, after being victims to a hallucination, then decide to steal the body in the first place? What is the connection between having a hallucination and then trying to pawn it off as real?

(13) On three separate occasions this "hallucination" was not immediately recognized as Jesus (Lk 24:13-31; Jn 20:15; 21:4).

He was not recognized at first because of his new, glorified body.

(14) A hallucination would explain only the postressurection appearances.

It would not explain the empty tomb, the rolled-away stone, or the inability to produce the corpse.

No theory can explain all of these except the real resurrection.

(15) Hallucinations in and of themselves would not have lead to a belief in Jesus' resurrection on the part of the disciples.

Hallucinations as projections of the mind can contain nothing new.

Therefore, given the current Jewish beliefs about life after death, the disciples would have projections of Jesus in heaven or in Abraham's bosom, where the souls of the righteous dead were believed to abide until the resurrection.

And such visions would have not caused belief in Jesus' resurrection.

Some psychologists do subscribe to group hallucinations. Let's look at their prerequisites for that particular phenomenon:

(A) "expectation plays the coordinating role in collective hallucinations"

(B) "emotional excitement is a prerequisite"

(C) "must be informed beforehand, at least concerning the broad outlines of the phenomenon that will constitute the collective hallucination"

It is VERY clear from the gospel narratives that NONE of these conditions held true before the first appearances! Consider the data:

(A) "expectation plays the coordinating role in collective hallucinations":

The apostles abject lack of expectation (read 'faith'!) that Jesus would rise from the dead has been a source of embarrassment to the Church for centuries! Consider just a few of the verses that document their abysmal LACK of expectations:

* John 20.9: (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) NOTE: this is even at the empty tomb looking in!!!!!!

* Matt 16.21ff: From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!"

* Mark 9.9: As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what "rising from the dead" meant.

* Mark 9.31: He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise." 32 But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.

* Luke 18.33: On the third day he will rise again." 34 The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.

This condition OBVIOUSLY wasn't in place!

(B) "emotional excitement is a prerequisite":

How emotionally "excited" were the apostles after the miserable execution of their leader, in front of the entire nation?!!! EXCITED? Frenzied? or just TOTALLY filled with grief (Lk 22.62), despair, dejection, disillusionment (Luke 24.19ff), depression (Luke 24.17), numbness and skepticism (John 20.25; Mt 28.17; Luke 24:37-43), paralyzing fear (Mt 26.56; John 20.19)!!!

There is literally nothing in the narratives to even remotely suggest that these dejected, embarrassed souls had ANY 'excitement' coursing around in their veins---and the data that we DO have indicates a rather dark and despondent state for them (predictably so).

So this condition doesn't seem to be in place either.

(C) "must be informed beforehand, at least concerning the broad outlines of the phenomenon that will constitute the collective hallucination":

This is the crowning blow! Not only have we already seen above that they NEITHER understood NOR expected the resurrection, but when they were confronted with the appearances they couldn't even 'process them' correctly!

Consider:

The women at the tomb were 'confused' by the experience (not well 'informed beforehand'!) [Luke 24.4]

They were afraid when they saw Jesus (Mt 28.10)

When the women told the disciples as a group, they didn't believe them at first! (cf. Luke 28.11: But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.)

Even as they saw Jesus, some STILL doubted!!!! (some 'collective experience', eh?!)--Mat 28.17

They don't even recognize Him on a couple of occasions! (John 21.4; Luk 24.16)

They thought he was a 'ghost'--not an expected 'Risen Lord' at first (Luk 24.37)

In other words, the very description of the experiences demonstrate further that they had NO expectation of a resurrection of Christ MUCH LESS some 'broad outlines' of what to expect in terms of experiences! Their actual responses are almost embarrassing.[And not the sort of descriptions one later goes back into the document to add, to enhance one's status, let's say!]

So, this final condition doesn't seem to match either.

Hallucinations DO play a major role in religious cultures, but they are induced either by drugs or by the extreme deprivation of food, drink, and sleep (cf. E. Bourguignon, "Hallucination and Trance: An Anthropologist's Perspective," in Keup, p. 188). These factors were not present in the various appearances of the risen Christ to his disciples.

The net of this is simply that a 'collective hallucination' theory cannot mesh with the only data we have about the participants, their backgrounds, their varied mindsets, their mental state (or lack thereof!), their lack of expectations--both general and detailed, and their actual responses to those phenomena.

Would you like to choose another alternative?

I. Jesus claimed divinity
11A. He meant it literally
11111. It is True------------------------------------------He is Lord
11112. It is False
111111a. He knew it was false-------------------------He was a Liar
111111b. He didn't know it was false------------------He was a Lunatic
11B. He meant it non-literally, mystically-------------He was a Guru

II. Jesus never claimed divinity--------------------------He is a Myth

III. Jesus died
11A. Jesus rose-------------------------------------------He is Lord
11B. Jesus didn't rise
11111. The apostles were deceived--------------------He was an Hallucination
11112. The gospel writers were myth-makers-------He is a Myth
11113. The apostles were deceivers-------------------He is a Conspiracy

IV. Jesus didn't die----------------------------------------It was a case of Swoon

Here is a list of the gazillions of OT prophecies that Jesus fulfilled.

Do you still need more evidence?

Here is a quick note on "miracles".

Are you still not sure?

Review the evidences page.

Review the claims of divinity page.

A broad overview of the world's major religions.

My favorite sites .

Here's my version of the crucifixion .

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