The Historical Perspective vs. The Theological Perspective on the Resurrection: Are Both Valid?

About this episode

Dr. Mike Licona and Laura Robinson discuss the differing historical and theological perspectives on the resurrection of Jesus.

This episode is a discussion between Dr. Mike Licona and then PhD candidate Laura Robinson on the Capturing Christianity podcast. While both scholars are Christians who claim belief in the resurrection of Jesus, they differ in what they believe can historically be shown about it. Robinson questions the wisdom and validity of applying the historical perspective to this topic as she contends that our evidence is not as strong as Christians claim. Rather than focusing on what happened, this scholar promotes a theological account of the resurrection, interpreting the resurrection narratives after the fact. Licona disagrees, stating that their discussion comes down to the differing approaches of historians and theologians.

People in this episode

Host: Mike Licona

Guest: Laura Robinson

Topics covered

• resurrection
• historical perspective
• theological perspective
• Christianity
• scholarly debate

Keywords

• resurrection
• historical evidence
• theological interpretation
• Christian belief
• scholarly discussion

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Capturing Christianity

More episodes of Risen Jesus

• Licona and Pagels on the Gospel of Thomas · March 25, 2026 · 14 min
• Who Wrote the Gospels? Michael Licona vs. Bart Ehrman - Part 2 · March 18, 2026 · 1h 20m
• Who Wrote the Gospels? Michael Licona vs. Bart Ehrman - Part 1 · March 11, 2026 · 1h 2m
• The Resurrection Standoff: Licona vs. Ehrman on the Unbelievable Podcast · October 22, 2025 · 1h 13m
• Do Christians Need to Believe that Jesus was Raised Bodily from the Dead? Licona vs. Patterson · October 15, 2025 · 1h 60m
• After the Crucifixion, was Jesus Resurrected or Rescued? Licona vs. Ally · October 8, 2025 · 2h 2m