A Statistical Analysis of the Hallucination Hypothesis Used to Explain the Resurrection of Christ
Given the centrality of the resurrection to the Christian faith, the post-crucifixion appearances of Jesus to his disciples continue to be a central topic in historical inquiry regarding the origins of the Christian faith. While a number of hypotheses have been proposed for these post-crucifixion ap...
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MDPI AG
2025-04-01
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| author | Gerald Fudge |
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| description | Given the centrality of the resurrection to the Christian faith, the post-crucifixion appearances of Jesus to his disciples continue to be a central topic in historical inquiry regarding the origins of the Christian faith. While a number of hypotheses have been proposed for these post-crucifixion appearances, a leading naturalistic explanation suggests that these appearances are best explained by grief-induced bereavement hallucinations. Although scholars acknowledge that such hallucinations are somewhat unlikely, prior works have not provided a quantitative analysis of the hallucination hypothesis, so the question remains: Just how improbable is the hallucination hypothesis? This paper presents a statistical analysis to address this question for some of the hallucination scenarios proposed by scholars to show that the probabilities are extremely low, even given mitigating circumstances. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-86da0a5446c44ee8b2e7b1eaf00538f6 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj-art-86da0a5446c44ee8b2e7b1eaf00538f62025-08-20T03:13:45ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442025-04-0116451910.3390/rel16040519A Statistical Analysis of the Hallucination Hypothesis Used to Explain the Resurrection of ChristGerald Fudge0Department of Engineering and Technology, East Texas A&M University, Commerce, TX 77843-1248, USAGiven the centrality of the resurrection to the Christian faith, the post-crucifixion appearances of Jesus to his disciples continue to be a central topic in historical inquiry regarding the origins of the Christian faith. While a number of hypotheses have been proposed for these post-crucifixion appearances, a leading naturalistic explanation suggests that these appearances are best explained by grief-induced bereavement hallucinations. Although scholars acknowledge that such hallucinations are somewhat unlikely, prior works have not provided a quantitative analysis of the hallucination hypothesis, so the question remains: Just how improbable is the hallucination hypothesis? This paper presents a statistical analysis to address this question for some of the hallucination scenarios proposed by scholars to show that the probabilities are extremely low, even given mitigating circumstances.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/4/519resurrectionhallucinationsstatistical analysis |
| spellingShingle | Gerald Fudge A Statistical Analysis of the Hallucination Hypothesis Used to Explain the Resurrection of Christ Religions resurrection hallucinations statistical analysis |
| title | A Statistical Analysis of the Hallucination Hypothesis Used to Explain the Resurrection of Christ |
| title_full | A Statistical Analysis of the Hallucination Hypothesis Used to Explain the Resurrection of Christ |
| title_fullStr | A Statistical Analysis of the Hallucination Hypothesis Used to Explain the Resurrection of Christ |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Statistical Analysis of the Hallucination Hypothesis Used to Explain the Resurrection of Christ |
| title_short | A Statistical Analysis of the Hallucination Hypothesis Used to Explain the Resurrection of Christ |
| title_sort | statistical analysis of the hallucination hypothesis used to explain the resurrection of christ |
| topic | resurrection hallucinations statistical analysis |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/4/519 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT geraldfudge astatisticalanalysisofthehallucinationhypothesisusedtoexplaintheresurrectionofchrist AT geraldfudge statisticalanalysisofthehallucinationhypothesisusedtoexplaintheresurrectionofchrist |