Freethought & Rationalism Archive

mountainman · 11-16-2011, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cege

If Matthew 27:51-54 had any verification from any Jewish source in the 1st century, Licona would have been able to appeal to that/those sources, but alas! none exists. Or at least none that any main stream Christian authority recognizes, as mountainman as pointed out previously.

Mainstream Christian authority appears to identify the non canonical testimony as simple forgeries (mimics, etc) by anonymous (Gnostic) heretics. But that is no reason not to consider this evidence in this specific case. Sometimes forgers (and mimics, etc) can reveal information that may be historically relevant.

Quote:

Only faith in the NT writings can sustain any belief in sainted zombies having actually come to life when Jesus was crucified.

That may have been the reason that the Gnostic heretic author of the "Acts of Pilate" has Pilate declare to the Jews that Jesus healed the sick and the wounded and the lame and the blind and the dumb and the afflicted and the lepers etc " by the power of [the god] Asclepius". Presumeably the author intended Jesus also to be healed after crucifixion by the power of the same [god]?

The Gnostic heretic selected two Matthean zombies as professional scribes for his narrative, because he also recognized very early in antiquity, the essence of the Licona controversy. It is the proverbial weak point in the armor.

Unlike the insiders who adjudicate upon Licona's merits, we must NOT set aside, and thus underrate, the Gnostic academia in the investigation of the whole picture. It is a Greek intellectual phenomenom, and one which was to become extinct for many centuries, and it is evidently interwoven into the fabric of christian origins. It needs disentanglement. The Licona controversy (and subsequent redundancy?) and the Mathhean zombies highlights a number of issues.

Toto · 02-17-2013, 09:48 PM

Update: this controversy is still alive.

'Grave' Theology Debate Continues: Leading Apologist Assessed in Southern Baptist Journal: Mike Licona's views on the 'raised saints' of Matthew 27 sparked a theological war of words.

Quote:

Licona, a former apologetics coordinator at the North American Mission Board, writes, "It seems best to regard this difficult text in Matthew as a poetic device added to communicate that the Son of God had died and that impending judgment awaited Israel." The bodies of many holy people, Licona suggests, were not literally raised to life.

In the Southeastern roundtable published last summer, Licona said, "Since my book was published, I have found additional ancient reports that confirm this interpretation and others that cast doubt on it. Accordingly, I am presently undecided pertaining to how Matthew intended his readers to understand the saints raised at Jesus' death. More research needs to be conducted. It's a tough passage."

Quarles, who wrote an extensive review of Licona's book in an edition of the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, said the context of the passage suggests Matthew intended for readers to understand the words as descriptions of actual occurrences.

"The 'special effects' interpretation requires a shift in genre from historical narrative to apocalyptic in the middle of a single sentence, then back to historical narrative in the next sentence," Quarles said in the roundtable. "If a writer flows so quickly and freely from historical narrative to apocalyptic, one could hardly ever know the author's intention."

This may be relevant:

No one expects the Evangelical Inquisition!

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