Pascua y memoria: construcción de la resurrección en el cristianismo primitivo

This study examines the resurrection of Jesus from a historical-critical perspective, focusing on the diversity of early Christian interpretations rather than on the verification of the event itself. The earliest sources, particularly the letters of Paul of Tarsus, present the resurrection in terms of appearances (ōphthē), suggesting revelatory experiences rather than empirical descriptions. The canonical Gospels reflect a progressive development: from the silence and ambiguity of Gospel of Mark to the apologetic concerns of Gospel of Matthew, and the emphasis on corporeality in Gospel of Luke and Gospel of John, where the risen body is both tangible and transformed. The ascension narratives, especially in Luke-Acts, function as a theological resolution to the problem of the risen body’s absence.

Beyond the canonical tradition, apocryphal texts such as the Gospel of Peter and various Gnostic writings offer alternative developments, ranging from symbolic dramatization to interiorized interpretations of resurrection as knowledge (gnosis). This plurality reveals that early Christianity did not hold a single, unified understanding of the resurrection, but rather a spectrum of theological constructions shaped by different contexts and concerns.

From a historical-critical standpoint, the resurrection emerges not as a directly verifiable event, but as an interpreted phenomenon at the intersection of experience, memory, and theology—one that played a decisive role in the formation of early Christian identity.