Wasn't the resurrection just a legend that grew over time?
✓Fact-checked & reviewed for Nicene orthodoxyHow we review →The legend theory needs time - generations for a story to grow and the eyewitnesses to die off. The evidence doesn't allow it. Tucked inside 1 Corinthians 15 is an early creed that Paul says he "received" and "passed on," listing the death, burial, resurrection, and appearances of Jesus. Even sceptical scholars date this creed to within about five years of the crucifixion.
That is not a legend with room to develop; it's a report tracing straight back to the people who were there - including, the creed says, more than five hundred witnesses, most still living and available to be questioned (1 Corinthians 15:6).