Huon

Acts 5 5-6 :
5. And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it.
6. The young men got up and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him.

So, Peter had some "young men" near him. I understand that they "helped" Ananias when he fell down and breathed his last...
And I understand why "great fear came over all who heard of it" : [because the "young men" were still here, and willing to repeat the miracle, if necessary].

mountainman

Was the story of Ananias and Sapphira invented for that time when the Christians had coercive power, commanding great fear - a time when the servants of Jesus stood up to fight in his name and became arranged by cohorts?

Hypothetically how late could the NT canon actually have been authored in order to be consistent with all the available "evidence"?
What is the upper boundary? Nicaea?

mountainman

The figure (name) of Ananias was used by the authors of Gnostic Gospels and Acts - it at least appears in the Syriac Acts of Philip. Here Ananias blasphemes against the "Christ" (in a sotto voice it seemed) ...

May Adonai recompense thee, and the Christ on whom thou callest,
who is become dust and lies in Jerusalem, while thou livest
and leadest ignorant men astray by his name.

As a result of this blasphemy Ananias was seized by a powerful christian angel under the control of the Apostle Philip, and tied by his big toes to the top of the mast of a boat in gale force winds. He was later kicked to death by the Jews in the Synogogue of Carthage, and finally resurrected by the Apostle Philip with the assistance of a sick ox.

I think Ananias also appears in other "Gnostic Gospels and Acts".
Also, I wonder if the Gnostic authors also made use of Sapphira?
The stories presented by the Gnostic Gospels and Acts represent
an academic mish-mash of the stories and characters presented in the canon.

Voice of reason

Just another bible bullshit story. BBS.

Doug Shaver

That could be suspicious, if there are any real history behind the story.

It's fascinating how many skeptics treat this particular incident as if it must have really happened.

David Henson

I don't have any Christian friends. I was raised an atheist. We didn't buy into the nonsensical notion that some words are obscene. I talked like this when I was a child. I have had fake intellectuals and fake Christians tell me I shouldn't but have never been convinced why I shouldn't.