In this monograph, Bruce Chilton looks beyond the question of whether Jesus was raised from the dead and explores the question of how his followers believed God had raised him. An obsession with whether the resurrection happened has, according to Chilton, obscured the variety of different ways in which Jesus’ followers came to experience and understand him as risen from the dead.

Part I explores the background of resurrection and immortality in antiquity. Chilton treats ancient non-Israelite myths concerning death and immortality in chapter 1, before showing in chapter 2 how early Israelite religion simultaneously distanced itself from these myths and agreed with them that, with very few exceptions (e.g. Enoch and Elijah) death was the destiny of all. Nonetheless, the Second Temple period, and the Maccabean period in particular, saw a rise in hope beyond death, something which, according to Chilton, sped up ‘the true democratization of afterlife in antiquity’ (p. 44). This growing hope is picked up in chapter 3, where Chilton notes five different understandings of resurrection present in Second Temple texts, each of which fit within a particular cosmology. These accounts range from resurrection of the Spirit to resurrection of the flesh.

With this background in mind, Chilton proceeds in part II to explore the different traditions concerning Jesus’ resurrection in the New Testament. His methodology is to use the list of witnesses in 1 Corinthians 15:1–11 as a framework for highlighting different resurrection sciences, beginning with Paul's in chapter 4. Paul's anthropology, Chilton argues, envisages the spiritual body as the only mode of existence which participates in God's life. So it is as spiritual body Jesus was seen by Paul, but this ‘reality was personal and interior’ (p.83). Chapter 5 explores the science of traditions linked with Cephas/Peter and the Twelve. Peter's experience of the risen Christ was linked intimately with forgiveness, both as something he received and as an imperative: he is to extend this forgiveness to others. For the Twelve, Chilton argues, there is an imperative is to pass on Jesus’ teaching, to make talmidin (i.e. disciples), since it is in his teaching that the living Jesus’ presence continues. In the tradition concerning the more than 500 (discussed in chapter 6) the risen Jesus is apprehended through the giving of the Spirit in baptism and with the inclusion of the Gentiles. For James, Chilton argues, ‘Jesus’ angelic presence signalled the achievement of purity, a vital step in any process that involved, as the More Than Five Hundred mandated, the inclusion of the gentiles’ (p. 132). Finally, chapter 7 explores the traditions linked with ‘all of the apostles’ (1 Cor 15:7). Here, Chilton attributes other understandings of the resurrection to other apostolic figures: Silas with apocalypticism and physicality, Barnabas with an emphasis on Jesus’ presence in the scriptures and the breaking of bread, and Mary Magdalene with apprehending Jesus by vision.

In part III, Chilton explores how these different traditions have been used and their bearing on the question of the historicity of the resurrection. Chapter 8 shows how the synoptic Gospels utilise these different traditions to set forth their preferred emphases, whether of vision (Mark), apocalypticism (Matthew) or chronology and history (Luke). In chapter 9, Chilton begins by treating John's Gospel, noting that, although John shares with Luke a concern for physicality and the empty tomb, he presents ‘resurrection, ascension, and exaltation as unconditioned by time’ (p. 179). In the final section of this chapter, Chilton deals with the question of history. The resurrection itself cannot be considered historical. However, Jesus’ ‘followers’ responses to their experiences were and remain powerfully historical’ (p. 200).

This is a wide-ranging and bold contribution to the study of Jesus’ resurrection and covers a huge amount of ground. Many have already drawn attention to the diversity within the New Testament on the resurrection, but Chilton's use of the witnesses in 1 Corinthians 15:1–11 as a framework for exploring different accounts provides a fresh angle. His treatment makes for fascinating reading and, to my knowledge, is highly original. Readers may find that some of Chilton's claims about certain traditions are a bit speculative and need a little more evidence. For example, it is a bold claim to associate Barnabas with miraculous feeding stories in the Gospels because of his disagreement with Paul over food in Antioch (p. 143). That said, it is often these bold suggestions that make Chilton's work so original and this book certainly opens up fresh questions for scholars to explore, whether or not they agree with his conclusions.