Did the Apostles Just Lie About the Resurrection of Christ?

We desire to love God for eternity and to be raised from the dead. What's crucial for our hope in our resurrection is the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord. This is why we always pray from the Apostles' Creed the words, "was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell; on the third day He rose again from the dead." The life of our Savior did not end in His death, for He was glorified in His resurrection. The belief in the resurrection of Christ is so important for us, and this is why St. Paul said:

1 Corinthians 15:13-14

13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; 14 if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 

However, there are many skeptics who cast doubts on the truth of the resurrection of Jesus to justify their rejection of Christianity. Even in the presence of the empty tomb and the absence of His Body, others think that His Body was stolen while the apostles just lied about this event. I believe that Jesus is truly risen, and the firm witness of the apostles prove this.

The apostles had more to lose and nothing to gain if they were simply lying about His resurrection. We can see this from St. Paul himself. 

1 Corinthians 15:15

15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.

Since the apostles were already believers as Jews prior to following Christ, if they were persistently lying, then they would be in danger of hell and eternal damnation. That is definitely not an incentive for defending a lie. St. Paul added,

1 Corinthians 15:19, 32

19 If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied.

32 What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 

Karlo Brousard, a Catholic apologist, defended the resurrection of Christ from this passage by saying,

"In the second horn St. Paul seems to consider what they might gain from the lie if they were unbelievers and didn’t believe in God or the Resurrection. Notice in verse 19 he writes, “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ” and then in verse 32 “What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus.” Paul’s argument is that nothing except persecution and death is to be gained from such a lie [1]."

But, why should they lie if they knew they would simply die when they could just live a materialistic and worldly lifestyle, if they can just eat and drink until they die anyway? Rather, we should be firm in living the Christian faith even if the world persecutes us because our hope is not in the promises of the world but in Him. 

Romans 6:4

4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

May God bless us and grant us hope in eternal life and the resurrection of the dead. Amen +

Reference:

[1]https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/why-the-resurrection-was-not-a-conspiracy