Joe Rogan Explores the Evidence for Jesus’ Resurrection with Apologist Wesley Huff
The resurrection of Jesus took center stage on Joe Rogan's podcast this week as Christian apologist Wesley Huff joined the show, exploring the historical and biblical evidence for the cornerstone of the Christian faith. Huff is a writer and speaker who is on staff with Apologetics Canada Ministries, where he participates in public dialogues and debates about the Christian faith. For The Joe Rogan Experience, though, Huff and Rogan explored questions of faith with a debate-free, relaxed tone.
The discussion spanned more than three hours. On YouTube, it already has nearly 2 million views.
"What is your personal belief when it comes to the resurrection?" Rogan asked. "Do you have a belief, or do you just try to interpret the text and try to see what is the message?"
"You have a guy who objectively lived, He objectively died, and then individuals close to His inner circle, claim that they see Him not dead," Huff answered.
"It's very difficult," Rogan interjected, "for anybody who thinks of themselves as an intelligent person, who's secular, to even entertain the possibility that someone died and come back to life," Rogan said.
Huff then noted that Rogan had previously acknowledged there is more to the world than "matter and motion." He encouraged Rogan not to intellectually exclude the possibility of the resurrection.
"The gospels are written in the lifetime of the eyewitnesses, and they're written in this period of time where you have groups of individuals who could have fact-checked those things," Huff said.
"How many people saw His body?" Rogan asked.
"Paul says that 400 people saw Him all at once," Huff answered. Luke, he noted, "says that Jesus was walking around teaching them for 40 days after He was resurrected from the dead."
"Do you think it's possible that He didn't die?" Rogan asked. "And do you think it's possible that they thought He was dead?"
"We know a lot about Roman crucifixions, and we know that they did their job well," Huff answered, noting that even secular scholars believe Jesus would not have survived on the cross.
"The Romans were pretty brutal," Huff said.
The evidence for Jesus' life on Earth, Huff asserted, is overwhelming.
"The interesting thing about Jesus is that we have more evidence from different writings in the ancient world than we probably should have for someone of his stature," Huff said. "We have Matthew, Mark and Luke, and John, these four biographies. There's really only one other person around that time that can claim to have that much kind of independent testimony of their life, and it's the Roman emperor Tiberius. So the Roman emperor, who's the most famous powerful person at the time, has a similar amount of historiographical evidence, biographically, for his lifetime that Jesus does."
Huff then turned to apologetics.
"How do you explain it going from 11 scared disciples in an upper room to [them] being willing to go out and die for the proclamation that you believe that Jesus rose from the dead, and you saw Him, and you touched Him, and you ate with Him. You know He wasn't a ghost. You actually ate fish with the resurrected Jesus."
Rogan also asked Huff about the biblical canon and why some texts were excluded. The New Testament, Huff explained, is composed of books that can be "tied to either someone who knew Jesus, or someone who knew someone who knew Jesus."
In the show's final moments, Huff asked Rogan, "What do you think of the historical person of Jesus?" Rogan was noncommittal, although he did acknowledge the impact of Christianity on the world.
"If you do live like a Christian, and you do follow the principles of Christ, you will have a richer, more love-filled life," Rogan said. "But you have to submit to this concept that this guy was the child of God who came down to earth, let Himself be crucified, came back from the dead, explained a bunch of stuff for people, and then said, Alright, see you when I come back."
WATCH: Wesley Huff Gives Historical Take on the Death and Resurrection of Jesus
The Joe Rogan Experience is the most popular podcast in the United States, with more than 11 million listeners per episode.
Photo Credit: ©YouTube/JRE Clips
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Listen to Michael's Podcast! He is the host of Crosswalk Talk, a podcast where he talks with Christian movie stars, musicians, directors, and more. Hear how famous Christian figures keep their faith a priority in Hollywood and discover the best Christian movies, books, television, and other entertainment. You can find Crosswalk Talk on LifeAudio.com, or subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an interview that will be sure to encourage your faith.
Originally published January 08, 2025.
