03/21/2026

 

Samuel Clifford

 

The Hallucination Theory tries to account for the testimony to the resurrection of Jesus by claiming the 500 people Jesus appeared to had hallucinations. Today I’ll be refuting this theory.

 

Did 500 people really claim to see Jesus?

 

First, we must look to 1 Corinthians 15 and create a basis for 500 people seeing Jesus. 

 

“After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthians 15:6 KJV

 

Micheal Martin, an athiest, states that because this passage is the only place in literature in which the 500 is mentioned, that one must conclude “it is extremely unlikely this event occurred.” He later states this therefore, “indirectly casts doubt on Paul as a reliable source.” 

 

Gary Habermas has three objections to Micheal’s claim:

 

1. Even though it’s only reported in one passage of scripture, it happens to be found in 1 Corinthians which is one of the earliest and best-authenticated passages of all.

 

2. According to Habermas, “Paul apparently had some proximity to these people.” Most of whom were still living when Paul was writing Corinthians, although some had died. The reason this gives credibility to the 500 witnesses is that Paul would never include this phrase unless he was absolutely confident that these folks would confirm that they really did see Jesus alive. Paul was virtually inviting people to check it out for themselves. 

 

3. Now criticizing Micheal’s claim directly, Gary Habermas states, “When you only have one source, you can ask, ‘Why aren't there more?’ But you cant say, ‘this one source is crummy on the grounds that someone else didn’t pick up on it.’ You can’t downgrade this source that way.” In other words, you cannot discredit Paul’s claim based on if any other piece of literature corroborates his words. You can only do that when a source contradicts his words, in which none do.

 

Now that we have created our basis we must now refute the Hallucination Theory, the question is, could hallucinations be responsible for the appearances of Jesus to the disciples and the 500?

 

The answer to this question is no as it is improbable for 500 people to have the same hallucination. Gary Collins, a psychologist, stated this concerning the hallucination theory, “Hallucinations are individual occurrences. By their very nature only one person can see a given hallucination at a time. They certainly aren’t something which can be seen by a group of people. Neither is it possible that one person could somehow induce an hallucination in somebody else. Since an hallucination exists only in this subjective, personal sense, it is obvious that others cannot witness it.”

 

Gary Collins’ words creates a big problem for the hallucination theory, since there are repeated accounts of Jesus appearing to multiple people who reported the same thing.

 

Another problem with the hallucination theory is that the disciples were fearful, doubtful, and in despair after the Crucifixion of Jesus, whereas people who hallucinate need a fertile mind of expectancy or anticipation. Gary Habermas says, “Peter was hardheaded, for goodness’ sake; James was a skeptic” meaning that they wouldn’t be candidates for seeing a hallucination. 

 

Also, hallucinations are comparably rare. Hallucinations are usually caused by two things, one being drugs and the other being bodily deprivation. There aren’t many hallucinations caused by something different yet this theory states that over the course of weeks, people from all sorts of backgrounds and in various places all received the same hallucinations.

 

The hallucination theory also doesn't account for the Jerusalem factor which states, if the tomb was not empty, the Jewish leaders and Roman Government would be able to produce the body of Jesus and make Christianity a hoax. Yet, the tomb was empty and they could not do this. The Hallucination theory cannot account for this at all.

 

Sources:

 

Strobel, Lee. The Case for Christ. Zondervan, 1998.

 

Habermas, Gary R., and Michael R. Licona. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus. Kregel Publications, 2004.