Resurrection in Paganism and the Question of an Empty Tomb in 1 Corinthians 15

Abstract

On the basis of the semantics of ἀνίστημι and ἐγείρω and the nature of resurrected bodies in ancient Judaism and ancient paganism, one can conclude that Paul could not have conceived of a resurrection of Jesus unless he believed the tomb was empty.

Wilhelm Bousset, one of the original members of the religionsgeschichtliche Schule, in his discussion of 1 Cor 15.3–5, wrote: ‘Here it is now extraordinarily important that the Apostle says nothing either concerning the empty tomb or concerning the witness of the women about the empty tomb. What he does not say, one cannot wish to read between the lines.’ ¹ This is an argumentum ex silentio and as such is logically invalid. Nevertheless, Bousset's approach has become programmatic for many scholars in the discipline. ² My thesis is that Paul could not have conceived of a resurrection of Jesus unless he believed his tomb was empty. The intention of the article is certainly not to prove the historicity of the empty tomb – a pointless exercise after the arguments of David Hume. ³

The argument schema for the thesis is as follows:

1. 1. ἀνίστημι and ἐγείρω, when used to describe resurrection, imply a physical movement upward.

2. 2. In ancient Judaism (from the second century bce on), the existing evidence demonstrates that individuals viewed resurrection as physical (i.e. bodily). Clearly some ancient Jews believed in other versions of the afterlife such as the immortality of the soul or the future exaltation of the spirit.

3. 3. In ancient paganism, texts from classical Greece, the Roman Republic and the Empire all envisioned cases of resurrection as physical.

4. 4. Given the semantics of ἀνίστημι and ἐγείρω and this ‘cultural encyclopedia’ of resurrection, one can conclude that Paul and his readers, Jewish or pagan, would have assumed that a tradition about the burial of Christ and his resurrection on the third day presupposed an empty tomb.

1. Some Methodological Reflections

By ‘physical resurrection’ I mean a resurrection in which the body of a dead individual returns to life in some sense (e.g. a return to mortal life or immortal life). ‘Physical’ or ‘bodily resurrection’ is consistent with a transformation of the earthly body (e.g. into a σῶμα πνευματικόν). The evidence, by necessity, for resurrection in paganism is from widely diverse chronological eras and appears in diverse contexts in the authors who preserve the traditions. Nevertheless, one can discern patterns in the pagan narratives of resurrections that are clearly analogous to resurrection in ancient Judaism and early Christianity. Jonathan Z. Smith's distinction between analogy and genealogy ⁴ in the history of religions can serve to illuminate the comparisons to be made below: they are analogies and not genealogies. My goal is not, for example, to demonstrate pagan influence (a genealogical method) on Paul and early Christianity or vice versa. In the discussion of Greco-Roman divinities below I have dispensed with the concept of the annual resurrection of vegetation deities. ⁵

2. The Semantics of ἀνίστημι and ἐγείρω

James Ware, in a recent analysis of ἐγείρω, distinguishes three senses, the first two of which are closely related: (1) ‘awaken, raise from sleep’ or ‘wake up, rise from sleep’; (2) ‘rouse up, stir up’; and (3) ‘raise up, set up right’ or ‘rise up, stand upright’. ⁶ In the first and third senses ‘the basic semantic meaning of getting up or arising to stand is present’. ⁷ This seems correct in general, although there are usages such as Homer, Il. 2.41 where ἔγρετο δ’ ἐξ ὕπνου (‘he woke from sleep’) is followed by ἕζετο δ’ ὀρθωθείς in 2.42 (‘he sat up straight’). In such a text, one cannot demonstrate that the meaning ‘arising to stand’ is necessarily present in ἔγρετο. On the whole, however, Ware is accurate. One could argue that Il. 2.42 simply clarifies the action of ‘getting up’ that is implied by ἔγρετο.

A text (probably first or early second century ce) attributed to Ammonius the grammarian distinguishes between the two verbs: ἠγέρθη καὶ ἀνέστη διαφέρει. ἠγέρθη, μέν, λεκτέον ἀπὸ ὕπνου, ἀνέστη δὲ ἀπὸ κλίνης (‘ἠγέρθη and ἀνέστη differ. Ἠγέρθη (he/she rose) is, on the one hand, to be said “from sleep”, but ἀνέστη (he/she rose) is to be said “from that on which one lies”’). ⁸ Clearly Ammonius perceives a physical meaning in both verbs. In another text, Ammonius writes: ἀναστῆναι καὶ ἐγερθῆναι διαφέρει. ἀναστῆναι μὲν ἐπὶ ἔργον, ἐγερθῆναι δὲ ἐξ ὕπνου (‘ἀναστῆναι and ἐγερθῆναι differ. Ἀναστῆναι is, on the one hand, to rise for a task, but ἐγερθῆναι is to rise from sleep’). ⁹ In another work dedicated to ‘incorrect phraseology’ (περὶ ἀκυρολογίας), the grammarian distinguishes the verbs so: ἀναστῆναι τοῦ ἐγερθῆναι διαφέρει. ἀναστῆναι ἐγρηγορότως, ἐγερθῆναι τὸ ἐξ ὕπνου (‘ἀναστῆναι differs from ἐγερθῆναι. One rises (ἀναστῆναι) while awake, but one rises (ἐγερθῆναι) from sleep’). ¹⁰ Grammatical rules are occasionally broken, as in Ps.-Plato's Axiochus: Ἀγαμήδης γοῦν καὶ Τροφώνιος … κοιμηθέντες οὐκέτ’ ἀνέστησαν (‘Agamedes and Trophonius indeed going to sleep no longer rose up’). ¹¹ A text of Eupolis the comic has a similar usage: τίς οὑξεγείρας μ’ ἐστὴν οἰμώξει μακρά· | ὁτιή μ’ ἀνέστησ’ ὠμόϋπνον (‘Who was it that waked/raised me? You will wail aloud | because you raised [or “woke”] me from my unfinished sleep’). ¹² In general, it is true that classical Greek texts do not use the verb ἀνίστημι to mean ‘rise (from sleep)’. Both verbs imply a physical motion upward from the state of sleep, lying down or death – in contexts where individuals are sleeping, lying down or dead.

LXX and NT usage of the verbs for resurrection has roots in classical usage. A chorus in Sophocles’ Electra tells her that she will never raise her father from the lake of Hades, which is common to all, by wailing or by prayers (ἀλλ’ οὔτοι τόν γ’ ἐξ Ἀίδα | παγκοίνου λίμνας πατέρ’ ἀν|στάσεις οὔτε γόοισιν, οὐ λιταῖς). ¹³ There are a number of examples of the verb used in this way in classical literature. ¹⁴ Examples of ἐγείρω and its cognates are more difficult to find. In Aeschylus’ Choephoroe, Orestes asks his dead father: ἆρ’ ἐξεγείρηι τοῖσδ’ ὀνείδεσιν, πάτερ; (‘Father, are you roused up by such taunts?’). Electra adds: ἆρ’ ὀρθὸν αἴρεις φίλτατον τὸ σὸν κάρα; (‘Are you raising up your beloved head erect?’). ¹⁵ If Ammonius is correct, then both lines are essentially referring to the same motion. Apollodorus describes Heracles’ raising of Theseus (who was bound near the gates of Hades) using the same verb: ὁ δὲ Θησέα μὲν λαβόμενος τῆς χειρὸς ἤγειρε, Πειρίθουν δὲ ἀναστῆσαι βουλόμενος τῆς γῆς κινουμένης ἀφῆκεν (‘Taking Theseus by the hand he raised him up, but although he wanted to raise Pirithous, when the earth quaked, he let him go’). ¹⁶ Theodoret presumably quotes Apollodorus (the second-century bce historian) accurately, when the latter writes that Asclepius raised some who had died (τινας τῶν τετελευτηκότων ἐγείρειν). ¹⁷ In the case of the resurrections/awakenings of Tyrian Heracles and Dionysus the verb ἐγείρω was also used. ¹⁸ Physical motion upward (usually ‘standing up’) is implied in all these texts. Clearly the verb is not equivalent to ‘exalting’ (for which an ancient Greek author would use ὑψόω). ¹⁹

3. Resurrection in Ancient Judaism

From the second century bce onward clear traces of resurrection can be found in some Jewish texts. ²⁰ Claudia Setzer summarises the ambivalent views of ancient Judaism admirably:

… Jewish materials from the second century bce through the first century ce exhibit a range of understandings of the afterlife. Fairly explicit claims of bodily resurrection appear in texts like 1 Enoch (51), ²¹ 2 Maccabees, ²² 4Q521, ²³ and Sibylline Oracle 4. ²⁴ A mix of concepts of resurrection of the body and immortality of the soul appear in 1 Enoch (91, 103), ²⁵ 1QH, ²⁶ 4 Ezra, ²⁷ 2 Baruch ²⁸ and Pseudo-Phocylides. ²⁹ Ambiguity prevails in works that nevertheless imply resurrection, such as ‘the Book of the Watchers’ [1–36] in 1 Enoch, The Testament of Judah, ³⁰ Psalms of Solomon, ³¹ and CD 2:7–12. ³²

Ironically, the sinners taunt the righteous with the concept of the resurrection of the body in 1 Enoch 102.8: ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν ἀναστήτωσαν καὶ σωθήτωσαν (‘Henceforth let them arise and be saved’) – and then they proceed to deny its reality. ³³ Daniel 12 should be added to the list, despite the reservations of some. ³⁴ The Greek translations clearly indicate physical resurrection (Dan 12.2 LXX: ἀναστήσονται; Theod.: ἐξεγερθήσονται). John J. Collins classifies the view of afterlife in Jub. 23.26–31 as ‘resurrection, or exaltation, of the spirit’ to heaven. ³⁵ Jub. 23.30, however, only asserts that the Lord's servants ‘will rise (yetnaššʾu) ³⁶ and see great peace’, and the phrase is a reference to the ‘prosperity of the living not the resurrection of the dead’. ³⁷ ‘Exaltation of the spirit’ is acceptable in certain cases, ³⁸ but ‘resurrection of the spirit’ is a category mistake, ³⁹ not appropriate for Jewish or pagan texts, as a close analysis of the verbs for resurrection (such as ἀνίστημι and ἐγείρω) indicates. Spirits do not rise from the dead in ancient Judaism, people do.

4. Resurrections in Paganism

No cultural encyclopedia of resurrection in antiquity would be complete without a review of the traditions in paganism.

4.1 Resurrections Performed by Asclepius, Polyidus and Heracles

Asclepius, Polyidus and Heracles were known for their abilities to raise individuals from the dead. Philodemus (ca. 110–40/35 bce), ⁴⁰ in his treatise On Piety, has a tradition of Asclepius’ resurrections:

Zeus struck down Asclepius with a thunderbolt, as the one who wrote the Naupactica [Hesiod's era] affirms and Telestes [4^th c. bce] in the Asclepius and the lyric poet Cinesias [ca. 450–390 bce], because after being entreated by Artemis, he raised Hippolytus [from the dead] (ὅ[τι τὸ]ν Ἱππόλυτον [παρα]κληθεὶς ὑπ᾽ Ἀρ[τέμι]δος ἀνέστ[η]σε[ν]); but Stesichorus [ca. 600–555 bce] in the Eriphyle wrote that it was because of Capaneus and Lycurgus. ⁴¹

Ps.-Eratosthenes (second century ce) notes that Asclepius’ transgressions included raising the dead by the art of the physician, and that his last resurrection was that of Hippolytus, son of Theseus (τούτου τέχνῃ ἰατρικῇ χρωμένου, ὡς καὶ τοὺς ἤδη τεθνηκότας ἐγείρειν, ἐν οἷς καὶ ἔσχατον Ἱππόλυτον τὸν Θησέως). ⁴² There are numerous testimonies to resurrections accomplished by Asclepius. ⁴³

Palaephetus (fourth century bce?) tells the story of Glaucus as an example of an impossible event:

καὶ οὗτος ὁ μῦθος παγγέλοιος, ὡς δὴ τοῦ Γλαύκου ἐν πίθῳ μέλιτος ἀποθανόντος ὁ Μίνως ἐν τῷ τύμβῳ κατώρυξε τὸν Κοιράνου Πολύιδον (ὃς ἦν ἐκ τοῦ Ἄργους), ὃς ἰδὼν δράκοντα ἑτέρῳ δράκοντι τεθνεῶτι πόαν ἐπιθέντα καὶ ἀναστήσαντα αὐτόν, καὶ αὐτὸς ταὐτὸ ποιήσας τῷ Γλαύκῳ, ἀνέστησεν αὐτόν. ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἀδύνατον, ἀποθανόντα ἄνδρα ἀναστῆσαι ἢ ὄφιν, ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ ἄλλο ζῷον.

And this tale is utterly ridiculous, that when Glaucus had died in a jar of honey, Minos buried Polyidus son of Koiranos (who was from Argos) in the tomb, who seeing a serpent place an herb on another dead serpent and raise it, also did this to Glaucus and raised him. This very thing is impossible: to raise a dead man or serpent or any other animal. ⁴⁴

Palaephetus proceeds to give a rational explanation for the account.

Agatharchides (second century bce) includes Alcestis among those whom Heracles raised:

And Alcestis, Protesilaus and Glaucus who died rose again (καὶ τὴν μὲν Ἄλκηστιν καὶ Πρωτεσίλαον καὶ Γλαῦκον τετελευτηκότας πάλιν ἀναστῆναι), the one being brought up by Heracles (τὴν μὲν ὑφ’ Ἡρακλέους ἀναχθεῖσαν), the other because of his love for his wife, and the last because of the prophecy about the one buried with him. ⁴⁵

In all the examples above, individuals’ material bodies are raised (i.e. there is no statement that their corpses were left in tombs).

4.2 The Resurrection Narratives of Naumachius

Proclus (410/12–85 ce) describes certain individuals who apparently rose from the dead:

καὶ γὰρ ἐφ’ ἡμῶν τινες ἤδη καὶ ἀποθανεῖν ἔδοξαν καὶ μνήμασιν ἐνετέθησαν καὶ ἀνεβίωσαν καὶ ὤφθησαν οἳ μὲν ἐγκαθήμενοι τοῖς μνήμασιν, οἳ δὲ καὶ ἐφεστῶτες.

Because in our time certain individuals who were thought to have been already dead and who had been buried in their tombs came to life again and appeared (were seen), some lying on their tombs and others standing up. ⁴⁶

Proclus gives several examples from an individual named Naumachius:

And Naumachius of Epirus, who lived in the time of my grandparents, records that Polycritus, one of the most distinguished of the Aetolians who had obtained the office of Aetoliarch, died and came to life again in the ninth month after his death (ἀποθανεῖν καὶ ἀναβιῶναι μηνὶ μετὰ τὸν θάνατον ἐνάτῳ); and he came to the public assembly of the Aetolians and advised them on the best course of action to take concerning affairs that they were deliberating. Among the witnesses to these events were Hieron the Ephesian and other historians who wrote about what happened to Antigonus the king and other friends of theirs who were not present during the events. ⁴⁷

It is a bodily resurrection.

Proclus quotes Naumachius for the account of another individual named Eurynous from Nicopolis:

But there was not only this individual (Polycritus). In Nicopolis, among those who did not live long ago, a certain person named Eurynous experienced the same thing. After being buried by his relatives outside the city, he returned to life on the fifteenth day after his burial (καὶ ταφέντα πρὸ τῆς πόλεως ὑπὸ τῶν προσηκόντων ἀναβιῶναι μετὰ πεντεκαιδεκάτην ἡμέραν τῆς ταφῆς) and said that he had seen and heard many amazing things under the earth but that he had been ordered to keep everything secret (unspoken). And he lived not a short time afterwards and appeared to be more just after his return to life than before (καὶ ἐπιβιῶναι χρόνον οὐκ ὀλίγον καὶ ὀφθῆναι δικαιότερον μετὰ τὴν ἀναβίωσιν ἢ πρότερον). ⁴⁸

Eurynous rises again and leaves his tomb.

Naumachius continues with a description of an individual named Rufus of Philippi who lived near his own time:

He adds still another account of an individual who, as he says, lived recently: a certain Rufus from Philippi in Macedonia who had been honoured with the revered high priesthood of Thessalonica. For when this person died he came to life again on the third day and coming to life said that he had been sent by the chthonic gods (τοῦτον γὰρ ἀποθανόντα τριταῖον ἀναβιῶναι καὶ ἀναβιοῦντα εἰπεῖν, ὅτι ὑπὸ τῶν χθονίων ἀναπεμφθείη θεῶν) to furnish certain spectacles for the people, which he had happened to promise, and living until their completion he immediately died. ⁴⁹

Naumachius, in Proclus’ excerpts, gives no explanation for these events other than the hint that the ‘chthonic gods’ were responsible. Proclus himself believes they were near-death experiences, in which a spark of life remained in the apparently dead bodies. ⁵⁰

4.3 Resurrections of Greco-Roman Divinities

The discussions below must necessarily be short, but that should not detract from their accuracy.

4.3.1 Osiris and Horus

The most ancient depiction of the resurrection of a divinity is that of Osiris. The Pyramid Texts are unambiguous. Resuscitation is clearly expressed in this Pyramid Text:

Osiris awakes: the god once slack rouses, the god stands up, the god takes control of his body. This Pepi (II) ⁵¹ Neferkare awakes; the god once slack rouses, the god stands up, the god takes control of his body. Horus stands up that he might array this Pepi Neferkare with the woven cloth that comes from him … ⁵²

Apparently the Netherworld (Dewat), where Osiris reigns, is occasionally located in the sky. ⁵³ In a Ptolemaic-Roman temple at Denderah, Osiris is depicted in several pertinent scenes (see Fig. 1): in one he is lying dead and being ‘mourned by Isis and Nephtys’ (Fig. 1a). In another he is depicted ‘rising from his bed in a floating position’ (Fig. 1b). ⁵⁴ Plutarch, who identifies Dionysus and Osiris, refers to the dismemberment, resurrection and rebirth of Osiris:

ὁμολογεῖ δὲ καὶ τὰ Τιτανικὰ καὶ Νυκτέλια τοῖς λεγομένοις Ὀσίριδος διασπασμοῖς καὶ ταῖς ἀναβιώσεσι καὶ παλιγγενεσίαις.

The narratives of the Titans and of the Night Festivals (the Titanika and Nuktelia) correspond with the so-called dismemberments, returns to life and rebirths of Osiris. ⁵⁵

Figure 1. Depictions of Osiris from a Ptolemaic-Roman temple at Denderah: (a). Osiris being mourned by Isis and Nephtys; (b). The resurrection of Osiris. Drawing from A. Mariette, Dendérah, vol. iv (Paris: A. Franck, 1873) Plate 90, digitally scanned by the Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg and available at: http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/mariette1873bd4/096.

Although Plutarch uses plurals, he probably does not intend the reader to understand a cyclical series of dismemberments and so forth. J. Gwyn Griffiths believes that the rebirth may refer to Osiris’ incarnation (reincarnation) as Apis, where Apis is conceived as being the ‘image of the soul of Osiris’. ⁵⁶ It is bodily resurrection, and there is no question of Osiris’ body being left in the tomb.

According to Diodorus Siculus, Isis raised Horus from the dead using a ‘medicine of immortality’:

εὑρεῖν δ’ αὐτὴν καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀθανασίας φάρμακον, δι’ οὗ τὸν υἱὸν Ὧρον, ὑπὸ τῶν Τιτάνων ἐπιβουλευθέντα καὶ νεκρὸν εὑρεθέντα καθ’ ὕδατος, μὴ μόνον ἀναστῆσαι, δοῦσαν τὴν ψυχήν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ἀθανασίας ποιῆσαι μεταλαβεῖν.

Furthermore, she discovered also the drug which gives immortality, by means of which she not only raised from the dead her son Horus, who had been the object of plots on the part of Titans and had been found dead under the water, giving him his soul again, but also made him immortal. ⁵⁷

Horus rises bodily.

4.3.2 Dionysus

Although there are many Dionysi, ⁵⁸ there exist several intriguing versions of his resurrection after the dismemberment he suffered at the hands of the Titans. In one version (the non-Orphic) his members were put back together. Philodemus has this version: [δι]/ασπασθεὶς ὑπὸ | τῶν Τιτάνων Ῥέ[ας] τὰ | μέλη συνθε[ίσης] | ἀνεβίω[ι] (‘torn apart by the Titans, Rhea put his members together, and he returned to life’). ⁵⁹ Plutarch refers to Thyiads (female devotees) who awaken/raise the Liknites (God of the Mystic Basket):

Similar agreement is found too in the tales about their sepulchres (τὰς ταφάς). The Egyptians, as has been stated, point out the tombs (θήκας) of Osiris in many places, and the people of Delphi believe that the remains of Dionysus rest with them close beside the oracle; and the Holy Ones offer a secret sacrifice in the shrine of Apollo whenever the (female) devotees of Dionysus wake the God of the Mystic Basket (Liknites) (ὅταν αἱ Θυιάδες ἐγείρωσι τὸν Λικνίτην). ⁶⁰

Martin Nilsson argues that the passage gives one the impression ‘that Plutarch has in mind not the awakening of a sleeping god but the raising of him from the dead’. ⁶¹

The people and council of Rhodes (after 212 ce) honoured a priest of Bacchus/Dionysus who had given 360 drachmas to the individual charged with ‘waking’ Dionysus:

… having given to the hydraulic organist who wakes the god (τῷ ἐπεγείροντι [τὸ]ν θεόν) 360 drachmas, and to those who sing hymns to the god each month 40, and for the two descents/returns of the god (ταῖς τοῦ θεοῦ δὲ καθόδοις δυσί) … ⁶²

Nilsson believes that the two ascents are Dionysus’ ‘rebirth after his being dismembered by the Titans and his ascent with Semele’. ⁶³ Given the tradition of Dionysus’ resurrection, it is doubtful that the reference here is merely to a ceremony to reanimate a statue, particularly since the text refers to his descents/ascents.

In the Orphic version Athena saves Dionysus’ heart, from which his body is refashioned. ⁶⁴ Proclus writes that Athena preserves Dionysus ‘immaculate’ (διὸ καὶ σῴζει μὲν τὸν Διόνυσον ἄχραντον). ⁶⁵ In both versions of Dionysus’ resurrection or awakening it is his body that rises (even if it had to be remade from his heart). Philodemus, for example, makes it clear that his body was put back together. This conception of Dionysus’ resurrected body is patently material.

4.3.3 Adonis

Theocritus (third century bce), in his idyll on the Adonia in Alexandria, describes Aphrodite rejoicing with her husband (νῦν μὲν Κύπρις ἔχοισα τὸν αὑτᾶς χαιρέτω ἄνδρα), although he leaves the next day, and the chorus mourns: ⁶⁶

ἕρπεις, ὦ φίλ’ Ἄδωνι, καὶ ἐνθάδε κἠς Ἀχέροντα

ἡμιθέων, ὡς φαντί, μονώτατος.

You alone of the demigods, as they say, beloved Adonis, go both here (to this world) and also to Acheron. ⁶⁷

The scholiast to Theocritus writes that Adonis spends six months with Aphrodite and six months with Persephone:

It is said that after death Adonis spent six months in the arms of Aphrodite and six more in the arms of Persephone (λέγεται δὲ περὶ τοῦ Ἀδώνιδος, ὅτι καὶ ἀποθανὼν ὁ Ἄδωνις ἓξ μῆνας ἐποίησεν ἐν ταῖς ἀγκάλαις τῆς Ἀφροδίτης, ὥσπερ καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἀγκάλαις τῆς Περσεφόνης). This which is said is real, because Adonis, that is, the grain which is sown, passes six months in the ground after the sowing, and Aphrodite has him for six months, which is the mildness of the open air. And after that people harvest him. ⁶⁸

Lucian apparently witnessed this ritual in the temple of Byblian Aphrodite:

ἐπεὰν δὲ ἀποτύψωνταί τε καὶ ἀποκλαύσωνται, πρῶτα μὲν καταγίζουσι τῷ Ἀδώνιδι ὅκως ἐόντι νέκυι, μετὰ δὲ τῇ ἑτέρῃ ἡμέρῃ ζώειν τέ μιν μυθολογέουσι καὶ ἐς τὸν ἠέρα πέμπουσι.

After they have finished beating their breasts and lamenting, they first make offerings to Adonis as to the dead, and afterwards, on the next day, they claim [or ‘recite the myth’] that he lives and send him into the air. ⁶⁹

Jane L. Lightfoot draws attention to the parallel between Ps.-Nonnos's ἀναβεβιωκέναι τὸν Ἄδωνιν (‘Adonis had come to life again’) and Lucian's ζώειν τέ μιν μυθολογέουσι. ⁷⁰ Brigitte Soyez argues that any attempt to reduce ‘he is alive’ to a theatrical scene, the erection of a pillar symbolising Adonis, irony or a mystical illusion is simply a fundamental misconstrual of the meaning of the text. ⁷¹ Lightfoot thinks that ‘alive’ refers to the ‘sharing arrangement with six months in either world’. ⁷² Adonis’ body is physically present with Persephone and Aphrodite and this corresponds closely with resurrected bodies in Christian tradition.

4.3.4 Tyrian Heracles

A number of individuals in the ancient Mediterranean identified Tyrian Heracles with Melqart. ⁷³ An illuminating passage from Josephus refers to Menander's account of Hiram of Tyre's reign: ⁷⁴

Moreover he went off and cut timber from the mountain called Libanos for the roofs of the temples, and pulled down the ancient temples and erected new ones to Heracles and Astarte; and he was the first to celebrate the awakening of Heracles in the month of Peritius (πρῶτός τε τοῦ Ἡρακλέους ἔγερσιν ἐποιήσατο ἐν τῷ Περιτίῳ μηνί). ⁷⁵

There is a parallel text in the Contra Apionem:

He demolished ancient temples and built new ones, both to Heracles and to Astarte. He initiated the ‘Awakening’ of Heracles, in the month of Peritios (πρῶτόν τε τοῦ Ἡρακλέους ἔγερσιν ἐποιήσατο ἐν τῷ Περιτίῳ μηνί) … ⁷⁶

John M. G. Barclay notes that the Latin translator and others have understood the text to mean ‘“erection” of a temple’. ⁷⁷ He argues that ‘it is not clear why Heracles’ temple should be so singled out (L wrongly adds a reference to Astarte's as well …) nor why it should be dated so precisely. Menander is probably referring to the institution of an annual festival of the “Awakening” of the God …’ ⁷⁸ ‘Resuscitation’ or ‘resurrection’ would probably be good translations for ἔγερσιν in the texts in Josephus. ⁷⁹

An inscription is relevant, which mentions an individual named Martas from Philadelphia/Amman, who is ἐγερσε|[ίτην τοῦ] Ἡρακλέ/ου[ς] [βουλ]ε[υ]τὴν καὶ | πρ[όεδρο]ν (‘resuscitator of Heracles, councillor and proedros (president)’). ⁸⁰ Ἐγερσείτης was probably a cultic term (Erwecker des Herakles ‘awakener of Heracles’) and not a term meaning ‘temple constructor’. Corinne Bonnet argues that each year in February and March there was a festival of Egersis, which comprised the burning of Melqart (Tyrian Heracles), the subsequent mourning, and his awakening or resurrection. ⁸¹ If this interpretation (and reconstruction) of ἐγερσείτης is correct, then there were individuals associated with the resuscitation of Tyrian Heracles/Melqart.

It is probable that Eudoxus of Cnidus’ reference to the resurrection of Tyrian Heracles illuminates the festival:

Eudoxus of Cnidus, in the first book of his descriptive geography of the earth, says that the Phoenicians sacrifice quails to Heracles, because when Heracles, the son of Asteria and Zeus, was going to Libya he was killed by Typhon. But when Iolaus brought him a quail and set it near him, he smelled it and came to life again (Ἰολάου δ’ αὐτῷ προσενέγκαντος ὄρτυγα καὶ προσαγαγόντος ὀσφρανθέντα ἀναβιῶναι). ⁸²

Ἀναβιῶναι in context clearly implies that Heracles was raised from the dead. Eudoxus’ account is undeniably of a material body. Menander and the inscriptions that mention an official who was the ‘raiser/awakener of Heracles’ also imply that Heracles’ body is the object of the rituals.

4.3.5 Attis

The narratives of a resurrection of Attis are late, at best. In Pausanias’ (second century ce) Lydian version of the Attis myth, Attis is either killed by a boar or goes mad during a wedding and castrates himself when Agdistis, in love with Attis, interrupts the youth's wedding:

But Agdistis repented of what he had done to Attis, and persuaded Zeus to grant that the body of Attis should neither rot at all nor decay (μήτε σήπεσθαί τι Ἄττῃ τοῦ σώματος μήτε τήκεσθαι). ⁸³

In Arnobius’ version of the myth, which is presumably based on Timotheus (‘the Athenian Eumolpid’), an author who wrote ca. 300 bce, only Attis’ little finger survives death: ⁸⁴

Jupiter refuses Acdestis’ request that Attis might come back to life (Iuppiter rogatus ab Acdesti ut Attis revivesceret non sinit). But what is possible by concession of fate, this he grants without objecting: that his body should not decay, that his hair should ever grow, that the very smallest of his fingers should live and alone react by continued motion (ne corpus eius putrescat, crescant ut comae semper, digitorum ut minimissimus vivat et perpetuo solus agitetur e motu). Satisfied with these favors, Acdestis, it is said, consecrated the body in Pessinus, and honored it with annual rites and with a sacred ministry. ⁸⁵

Smith notes the ‘second to fourth century ad reinterpretation, within some of the “mystery” cults, of archaic locative traditions of dead deities in new experimental modes which appear to testify to these deities returning to life. In the case of Attis, there are only scattered hints of this process.’ ⁸⁶

Hippolytus, in his discussion of the Naassenes, affirms a resurrection for Attis (who is called ‘Pappas’ in the text). ⁸⁷ The anonymous source (‘he’) is a ‘Gnostic’ ⁸⁸ author whom Hippolytus does not name:

λέγουσι δὲ οἱ Φρύγες <τὸν> αὐτὸν τοῦτον καὶ νέκυν, οἱονεὶ ἐν μνήματι καὶ τάφῳ ἐγκατωρυγμένον ἐν τῷ σώματι … οἱ δὲ αὐτοί, φησί, Φρύγες τὸν αὐτὸν τοῦτον πάλιν ἐκ μεταβολῆς λέγουσι θεόν· γίνεται γάρ, φησί, θεός, ὅταν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστὰς διὰ τῆς τοιαύτης πύλης εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν.

But the Phrygians say that the same one is also a ‘corpse’, having been buried in the body as in a monument or tomb … And the same Phrygians, he says again, say that this same one is by reason of the change a god. For he becomes a god when he arises from the dead and enters into heaven through the same gate [the gate of the heavens]. ⁸⁹

Firmicus Maternus also is a late witness to a resurrection of Attis. After describing Attis's death at the hands of Cybele, he says:

They (the Phrygians) advanced the claim that he whom they had buried a little while earlier had come to life again (Phryges … quem paulo ante sepelierant revixisse iactarunt); and since the woman's heart burned unbearably with overweening love, they erected temples to the dead youth … His death they interpret as the storing away of the collected seeds, his return to life as the sprouting of the scattered seeds in the annual turn of the seasons (vitam rursus quod iacta semina annuis vicibus reconduntur). ⁹⁰

The conclusion of Jan Bremmer has the strongest warrant: ‘Attis’ “resurrection” is not mentioned before the third century and seems closely connected with the rise of Christianity, just like the “resurrection” of Adonis is not mentioned before the third century’. ⁹¹ The question of analogy and genealogy in the history of religions is controversial. ⁹² The resurrection is bodily (i.e. material) in Firmicus Maternus. The buried Attis rises again. The ‘Gnostic’ Phrygians of Hippolytus, however, relate the bodily resurrection of Attis to the spiritual resurrection of the pneumatikoi who are ‘born again from the bodies of the earthly’ (τουτέστιν ἐκ τῶν σωμάτων τῶν χοϊκῶν, ἀναγεννηθέντες πνευματικοί, οὐ σαρκικοί). ⁹³

5. Protesilaus the Hero

Protesilaus was the first Greek hero to die in Troy. ⁹⁴ Philostratus, in the Heroikos (a dialogue between a Phoenician and a vinedresser in Elaious), asserts that Protesilaus returned to life twice. ⁹⁵ The Phoenician asks, ‘Has he come back to life, or what has happened?’ (ἀναβεβιωκὼς ἢ τί;). After persuading his wife to return with him to Hades, he returned to life again:

Phoen.: And yet he is said to have died after he came to life again (ἀποθανεῖν γε μετὰ τὸ ἀναβιῶναι λέγεται) and to have persuaded his wife to follow him.

Vinedr.: He himself also says these things. But how he returned afterwards too, he does not tell me even though I've wanted to find out for a long time. He is hiding, he says, some secret of the Fates (Μοιρῶν τι ἀπόρρητον). His fellow soldiers also, who were there in Troy, still appear on the plain, warlike in posture and shaking the crests of their helmets. ⁹⁶

Jonathan Burgess argues that it is the ‘shade of Protesilaos’ who ‘spends time with Laodameia in Hades’ and who ‘appears to humans in Phthia and in Elaious’. ⁹⁷ This is warranted given the vinedresser's assertion, when asked to explain the nature of his association with Protesilaus and his ability to foretell the future, that

[t]o be cleansed of the body is the beginning of life for divine and thus blessed souls (ψυχαῖς γὰρ θείαις οὕτω καὶ μακαρίαις ἀρχὴ βίου τὸ καθαρεῦσαι τοῦ σώματος). For the gods, whose attendants they are, they then know, not by worshipping statues and conjectures, but by gaining visible association with them. And free from the body and its diseases (ἐλεύθεραι νόσων τε καὶ σώματος), souls observe the affairs of mortals, both when souls are filled with prophetic skill and when the oracular power sends Bacchic frenzy upon them. ⁹⁸

Antonio Stramaglia describes Protesilaus and Palamedes (Heroik. 21.6) as ‘souls that have been heroized’ (anime eroizzate). ⁹⁹ This explains why the narrative of Protesilaus’ return to life is consistent with his body being buried in the Chersonesus. ¹⁰⁰ It also explains the absence of the verbs ἀνίστημι and ἐγείρω to describe Protesilaus’ return to life, and the use of the more ambiguous ἀναβιόω – a verb avoided by the New Testament.

6. Conclusion

On the basis of the semantics of ἀνίστημι and ἐγείρω and the cultural encyclopedia of resurrected bodies, one can conclude that Paul would have assumed that the tradition about the burial of Christ and his resurrection on the third day presupposed a tradition of an empty tomb. To put it another way: Paul would have taken it for granted that the resurrection of Christ was inconceivable without an empty tomb. Consequently, according to the normal conventions of communication, he did not need to mention the tomb tradition.

The following objections may arise:

1. (1) One could assert that the semantic analysis of ἀνίστημι and ἐγείρω is wrong – that is, the verbs do not imply physical motion upward. In this case, the burden is on the scholar in question to show that in the context of resurrection, either ἀνίστημι or ἐγείρω is used to refer only and clearly to spirits, souls or astral bodies in a pagan or Jewish text. This is not to deny that there was a spiritual or metaphorical usage of resurrection words in the New Testament and early Christianity (Col 2.12; 3.1; Eph 2.5–6). The metaphorical uses in the deutero-Paulines, however, are based on the image of the resurrection of Christ.

2. (2) One can respond that some ancient Jews in the Second Temple period believed in a resurrection of the spirit. Again the burden is on such scholars to prove that verbs (e.g. the Hebrew המקים as in Sir 48.5 = ὁ ἐγείρας LXX; tanšeʾa in Ethiopic; etc.) or nouns for resurrection are combined syntactically (or semantically) with terms such as ‘spirit’ or ‘soul’. Such evidence is absent.

3. (3) One could argue that pagan attitudes towards resurrection are irrelevant for the understanding of the New Testament – in particular, of Paul's views in 1 Cor 15. However, Paul's readers from pagan backgrounds would have viewed resurrection (as opposed to the immortality of the soul) as bodily. In that respect, there is a certain continuity between ancient Judaism and paganism, which is of fundamental importance for understanding the New Testament in its ancient context.

4. (4) One could accept the truth of the three premises above and still deny the conclusion for which I have argued. After all, the argument is not deductive, but inductive. In our guild as historians one can only appeal to probability, however, and if the premises are true, then the conclusion seems unavoidable: Paul could not have conceived of a resurrection of Christ without believing that his tomb was empty.