Lee Strobel’s The Case for Christ is a book I would still recommend as an introduction to various subjects in Christian apologetics and the scholars who specialize in them. William Lane Craig was one of the scholars Strobel interviewed about the resurrection, and I went on to read Craig’s published debates with Crossan and Ludemann. An effective argument can be made that Jesus rose from the dead, but ultimately it is an argument based on the eyewitness testimony of another person.
Nowadays I like Craig Keener the most for NT scholarship and apologetics. Some things I disagree with him, but I really like how he handles the historical issues and he is a highly respected authority on cultural contextual stuff. Check out this video for an introduction:
As far as knowing about Jesus, consider the argument Peter makes in Acts 2:14-36. He concludes by saying “therefore know for certain” and based this on the testimony of the Old Testament, eyewitness testimony for the resurrection, and the self-evident testimony of the Holy Spirit.