Johnny Skeptic

I look forward to reading comments from readers.

~M~

Make a difference to/for what/who?

Johnny Skeptic

Let me put it another way: If Jesus rose from the dead, but did not make any appearances, how convincing would the Resurrection be from a historical perspective? Would the aftermath be sufficient historical confirmation?

In 'The Impossible Faith,' James Holding makes a case for the Resurrection based mostly upon the aftermath. In other words, if A did not happen, how do you explain B?

~M~

William Craig Lane thinks the empty tomb alone is sufficient for belief in the resurrection of Jesus but i do not agree. it would be, in myy eyes, a considerable loss.

JoeWallack

JW:
Well sure. What if the only one was that kid from The Sixth Sense?



Joseph

http://www.errancywiki.com/index.php/Main_Page

seven8s

No, why should it?

Now, make a difference to what? Whether or not it was true? If Jesus rose from the dead, what was his purpose in ‘showing’ himself? If he had a purpose was that purpose the same as those who claim they saw him? Iow’s ‘they’ claim they saw him, but what is the purpose of that claim? Is it the same as his alleged showing? And if it was or wasn’t, how would one know?

If A ‘did’ happen how do you explain B? Are A & B even related, some what related, how much related? Iow’s we are far past B if A happened...........do we even know what B was if A is true?

Perhaps B was the chaos. Many trying to explain a phenomenon they haven't experienced, in one way or another?

Well, in that case you will probably have to pay a lot of money to speak to him. In that the ‘kid’ is fictional, my suggestion would be to break out the old monopoly game..............if you still have all the parts.

Nismo

No, I don't think it does matter. Five hundred collusionists' testimony isn't anymore credible than two collusionists. May be a crude example, but.....

stuart shepherd

An interesting fact concerning Jesus' post resurrection appearances is that the only people that the Bible reports having seen the allegedly risen Jesus are followers of Jesus.

If the church of Scientology reported that L Ron Hubbard rose from the dead, met with his followers and then after 40 days went to heaven, would you believe that Hubbard rose from the dead? Do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead, met with his followers and then went to heaven?

According to the gospels, Jesus made the following prophecy.....
Matthew 12:39-40 (King James Version)
39But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:

40For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

In this prophecy, Jesus is predicting his death, and that after 3 days and 3 nights in the grave, he would show himself to his "evil and adulterous generation" as a sign that he had risen from the dead.
The prophecy failed because Jesus never showed himself alive to his "evil and adulterous generation" as a sign that he had risen from the dead.
Jesus only showed himself to his own followers according to the Bible. Presumedly, his own followers were not evil and adulterous.

There is also a problem with the number of followers who are supposed to have seen the risen Jesus.
The Apostle Paul reports........
1 Corinthians 15:3-6 (King James Version)
3For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

4And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

5And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:

6After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

Paul says that 500 brethern at once saw the risen Jesus. Very impressive! I wonder if the story would be twice as believeable had he been seen by 1000 brethern at one time. The 500 witnesses does not harmonize with the story of the receiving of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost (Acts chapters 1 and 2) where it is reported that Jesus only had 120 followers who were meeting in the upper room. Incidentally, Paul says Cephas and then the 12 first saw the risen Jesus. That is contradicted by the gospel accounts of who first saw the risen Jesus.

Stuart Shepherd

Roland

Yea, Paul can't even get the number of disciples correct, since, without Judas, the number had actually dropped to 11.
Plus, Jesus did not appear separately to Peter, then to the "twelve." He appeared to the TEN, Peter included (Thomas being absent, according to John anyway, though not according to Luke), all at the same time.

aa5874

If Jesus did not make any appearances, then the soldiers could have said that the disciples stole his body.

And that's exactly what happened, according to Matthew 28:12-15. Apparently the Jews never saw him again, dead or alive, until this day, as written by the author.
This does not augur well for the historicity of Jesus.