Introduction here‘s no shame in it. Everybody dies. Even great historical figures. Even Jesus. No one will deny that — at least if one believes there was an historical Jesus in the first place — but that‘s another can of worms! The issue is, did he stay dead? Everybody else does. Why should Jesus be an exception? But the Christian claim is that Jehovah did make an exception in his case — handing him over to the Grim Reaper, yes, but then snatching him back before his corpse was scarcely cool. How does one evaluate such a claim? Insofar as its proponents urge it upon us as a datum of history, we must evaluate the resurrection creed in historical terms. And the verdict I must then return is the title of this book. It is not quite so simple, but I do not want to obfuscate the issue with a haze of religious sentimentality as many do. In the present collection I have assembled some of my best writing and thinking on the resurrection (and in a couple of cases, closely related issues). ―East