There are other religious traditions in the world that have a story about God visiting Earth. I have never read about one other than Christianity that claims the resurrection. What makes Jesus different from other teachers and prophets is that he died and came back to teach again.
After suffering traumatic experiences then experiencing joy, I’ve got to believe that the disciples took a few days to let the events sink in. I also have to believe that they listened more acutely to what Jesus had to say. His teaching was no longer theoretical. It was experienced.
I’ve read theology most of my life. For years I would subscribe to “Theology Today” to check into the conversations and then stop for a while. But it was all inbred theoretical reasoning sort of stuff. It’s mind games that humans have played ever since they had developed agriculture and had leisure time.
As I had more spiritual experiences, theology took a much reduced role in my life. Same thing had to have happened with the first disciples (I’m not talking about the 12, but the entire circle of which we’ve never been given a list or a number). Once they experienced the entire Jesus event and once they had digested and understood it, only then could they teach and preach with such power.
There are many theologies (theories) revolving around Jesus’ death and resurrection, but those don’t interest me so much. Theologies cause divisions. But experience unites.
If all this is still theoretical with you but if you are serious about entering a spiritual life, then you can. A couple of thousand years of practitioners have written about their experiences. These can be called “Spiritual Disciplines.” Now some people just seem called to spiritual life from the beginning. Others desire it. Either way, putting a discipline into your life of study (the Bible and other spiritual writers), prayer, service, community, worship and more will take you on your spiritual journey.
You don’t have to have a Ph.D or D.D. or whatever. In fact, that may get in your way. Just start by getting up 15 minutes earlier in the morning. Read a little. Pray a little. Then during the day look for service opportunities (a kind word, smile, a couple of dollars to someone who needs lunch, take someone to the doctor, whatever presents itself). These will start you on the way. Jesus will become real to you and through you.
Faith Venture 
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