What Scripture says
Matthew reports that the chief priests asked Pilate to guard the tomb, “lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead’” (Matthew 27:64, ESV). After the resurrection, when the guards reported what happened, the priests paid them to say, “His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.” Matthew adds, “this story has been spread among the Jews to this day” (Matthew 28:11–15).
The disciples themselves suffered for their message: Peter and John were arrested and beaten (Acts 4–5), Stephen was stoned (Acts 7), and James the brother of John was executed by Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:2).
What the evidence says
History
The oldest alternative explanation
The theft theory is the oldest alternative to the resurrection. Matthew reports it was circulating among Jews when he wrote. Around AD 160, Justin Martyr wrote that Jewish leaders had sent messengers claiming the disciples “stole him by night from the tomb” (Dialogue with Trypho 108). In the modern period, Hermann Reimarus (18th century) revived it.
Notice what the theory admits: the tomb was empty (see 7.5).
Why scholars reject it
Almost no scholars today accept it, for these reasons:
1. The disciples’ sincerity. The disciples suffered imprisonment, beatings and, for some, death for proclaiming the resurrection. People may die for a lie they believe is true, but not for something they know is false. If they had stolen the body, they would know their message was a lie.
2. What happened to them. The evidence for how each apostle died varies in strength. Sean McDowell’s study concludes:
| Apostle | Fate | Strength of evidence |
|---|---|---|
| James son of Zebedee | Executed by Herod Agrippa, c. AD 44 | Very strong (Acts 12:2) |
| Peter | Crucified in Rome under Nero, mid-60s | Very strong (1 Clement 5, John 21:18–19, early tradition) |
| Paul | Beheaded in Rome under Nero, mid-60s | Very strong (1 Clement 5, early tradition) |
| James brother of Jesus | Stoned in Jerusalem, AD 62 | Very strong (Josephus, Antiquities 20.200) |
| Thomas | Killed in India | Probable (later tradition) |
| Others | Martyrdom traditions | Less certain |
The key point isn’t that every apostle was martyred, but that they were all willing to suffer, and none is known to have recanted.
3. Their transformation. After Jesus’ arrest, the disciples fled (Mark 14:50) and hid in fear (John 20:19). Peter denied knowing Jesus (Mark 14:66–72). Weeks later, they were preaching boldly in public. A theft would not produce that kind of courage.
4. No motive. Jewish expectation didn’t include a Messiah who died and rose before the end of the age. The disciples had no reason to invent such a claim, and plenty of reason not to: it brought them persecution, not power or wealth.
5. Practical problems. The disciples would have had to get past the guards (if Matthew’s report is accepted), move a heavy stone and hide the body, and then keep the secret for life.
6. It doesn’t explain the appearances. Even if the body were stolen, it wouldn’t explain why individuals and groups, including skeptics like James and Paul, believed they saw Jesus alive (see 7.3, 7.4).
Other people stealing the body
Some propose someone else moved the body: Joseph of Arimathea, the gardener, or grave robbers. But this still wouldn’t explain the appearances. And grave robbers would have taken valuables, not left the burial cloths behind (John 20:6–7).
Where they meet
The theft theory admits the empty tomb but fails to explain the disciples’ sincerity, their transformation and their willingness to suffer, or the appearances.
What’s still open
The details of how each apostle died.
Bottom line
No. The disciples suffered and many died for the claim; people don’t die for what they know is a lie. This is rated Settled.