The Resurrection of Jesus Christ Changed Everything
Hank Unplugged: Essential Christian Conversations
The Christian Research Institute
4.9 • 809 Ratings
🗓️ 3 April 2026
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Why do Eastern and Western Christians celebrate Easter (Pascha) on different calendars? And what happened as a result of the resurrection?
In just a few centuries, a small band of seemingly insignificant believers turned an empire upside down, facing persecution, suffering, and death with unshakable conviction.
It is conceivable they would suffer for what they believed to be true—but inconceivable they would die for what they knew to be a lie.
Quoting Simon Greenleaf, one of the greatest authorities on legal evidence in American history, Hank highlights a compelling case for the credibility of the apostles’ testimony.
If the resurrection did not happen, what explains the rise and explosive growth of the early Church? As the apostle Paul declared, the resurrection is of “first importance”—the foundation on which the Christian faith stands or falls. For further study, see Resurrection or The Third Day: The Reality of the Resurrection https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resources-fake-id-and-resurrection-and-third-day-wa/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, I'm Hank Hanagraph, and this is Hank Unplugged. |
| 0:27.1 | As I record this today, the Western Christian Church is in the midst of Holy Week. |
| 0:35.0 | While Christians in the East, well, they are anticipating Palm Sunday. Why is this? |
| 0:43.3 | Well, it is because, unfortunately, Eastern and Western Christianity have different liturgical calendars. |
| 0:52.3 | The Western Church follows the Gregorian calendar, which was decreed by |
| 0:57.9 | Pope Gregory the 13th in the 16th century. In contrast, the Eastern Church follows the first |
| 1:08.4 | ecumenical council, the Council of Nicaia, which mandates that |
| 1:13.7 | POSCA chronologically follow the Jewish Passover. |
| 1:20.8 | Well, thankfully in, well, I think it's 2008, both eastern and western Paska will once again coincide on the same day. |
| 1:32.3 | But much more significantly, at least from my perspective, is that you and I do not pass by Holy Week without partaking of its life transformational |
| 1:48.7 | implications. |
| 1:51.7 | Consider this. |
| 1:54.7 | What happened as a result of the resurrection is, well, unprecedented in human history. In the span of a few hundred |
| 2:07.6 | years, a small band of seemingly insignificant believers succeeded in turning an entire empire upside down. |
| 2:20.0 | They faced the tyrants brandy steel, the lions gory, Maine, the fires of a thousand deaths. |
| 2:26.2 | Why? Because they were utterly convinced that they, like their master, would one day |
| 2:34.0 | rise from the grave in glorified resurrected bodies. |
| 2:40.4 | Now, while it is certainly conceivable that the disciples would have faced torture |
| 2:46.6 | and vilification and even cruel death |
| 2:51.6 | for what they fervently believe to be true, |
| 2:54.7 | it is inconceivable that they would have been willing to die |
| 2:58.5 | for what they knew to be a lie. |
... |
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