This suggestion has been made by those, like the Sadducees of Jesus' day, who do not believe in the supernatural or the possibility of physical resurrection from the grave.

According to this viewpoint, Christian faith lies in the spiritual resurrection of Christ rather than a literal, physical resurrection of Jesus from the tomb.

Problems

There are two main problems with this theory.

•  It flies in the face of the accounts in both the Gospels and Paul's Letter to the Corinthian Christians.

Paul spells it out clearly in his First Letter to the Corinthian Christians.

But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead.

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! If our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. 1 CORINTHIANS 15:12-20

•  This was not what caused all but one of the disciples to die a martyr's death for their belief in a resurrected Christ.

Ten of the apostles died martyrs' deaths for the good news that in Jesus Christ God had proved his love for suffering humanity and that in Jesus' death and resurrection he had demonstrated his victory over sin, death and satanic evil. They preached the promise of physical resurrection from the dead for all who put their faith in Jesus Christ and were  willing to die for that belief.

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