A major study of the Biblical foundations and early theological development of the doctrine of the resurrection, the central mystery of Christianity. The author does for the resurrection narratives what Raymond Brown does for the infancy narratives in Birth of the Messiah. This work places the notion of resurrection in its appropriate Jewish setting and indicates both is Old Testament roots and the way in which the proclamation of Jesus' resurrection became central to the earliest preaching of the gospel. In addition the author examines each of the evangelist's accounts of Jesus' resurrection, and shows how differences of wording and emphasis are intimately connected with each evangelist's understanding of Jesus and his mission.