Historicity of empty tomb of Jesus?

by larkasaur

I read some claims by Christian apologists that most Bible scholars think the story of the empty tomb in the New Testament is historical.
Do most historians specializing in that time think so?

brojangles

I don't know the most current survey, but consensus is pretty divided and somewhat skewed by the fact that most NT scholars are Christians. Skepticism about the tomb has been growing among critical scholars, with Bart Ehrman being the most prominent scholar to say he has changed his mind on it and no longer thinks it's historical. I think the consensus is becoming more agnostic on the question as a whole. For a long time, it was accepted just sort as a default and has only within the last 20 years or so started to get a serious critical reevaluation.

Consensus is not that meaningful anyway. It changes a lot and the people who cite this particular alleged consensus [cough]...William Lane Craig...[/cough] tend not to mention that there is also a consensus that Jesus did not do miracles or rise from the dead.

larkasaur

Followup question: Among New Testament experts at secular universities, roughly how many would endorse the historicity of the empty tomb?
The Christian apologist Gary Habermas is apparently the original source of the claim that 74% of Bible scholars think the empty tomb is historical.
But he's probably including a lot of Christian colleges and seminaries.