According to the apostle Paul, whether one will live eternally in heaven depends on whether one believes that God raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 10:9). Paul also asserted this:
17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. 19 If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15:17-19)
The alleged death of Jesus on a cross, and his alleged resurrection a couple of days later, are the most important events in human history, from a Christian point of view.
So, if it turns out that either (a) Jesus did not die on the cross, or that (b) Jesus died on the cross but stayed dead, then the Christian faith is worthless, and Christian believers are to be pitied for foolishly believing in Jesus' alleged death and resurrection.
If you want to figure out whether Jesus actually rose from the dead, you should probably read and study some cases for the resurrection of Jesus written by leading Christian defenders of the resurrection of Jesus, and also read and study some well-informed skeptical views on this question.
The best case for the resurrection of Jesus currently available in the English language is presented by Dr. Gary Habermas in the first two volumes of his series On the Resurrection, Volume 1: Evidences, and Volume 2: Refutations.[1] The first volume makes a positive case, and the second volume focuses on responses to skeptical objections, especially responses to alternative theories that attempt to explain the relevant historical evidence in terms of natural causes (by non-supernatural, non-miraculous explanations).
However, On the Resurrection, Volume 1 is over a thousand pages! And On the Resurrection, Volume 2 is over 850 pages. Most people are not going to read, study, and think critically about a case for the resurrection of Jesus that is nearly 2,000 pages long.
Fortunately, there is a shorter case for the resurrection of Jesus that was written by Gary Habermas along with another Christian scholar named Michael Licona. So, you can get a good feel for the best case by Habermas by reading, studying, and thinking critically about The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, which is a little over 200 pages (not including a long Appendix and a long End Notes section).
For those who are unsure whether to invest the time and effort to read, study, and think critically about the 218-page case by Habermas and Licona, you can dip your toes in the water by continuing to read this article, where I will summarize their case, and also present some skeptical objections and skeptical evaluations of it.
END NOTES
1. See my post on this at The Secular Frontier: Gary Habermas is the Leading Defender of the Resurrection of Jesus
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