stuart shepherd

A serious problem with all the post resurrection appearances of Jesus is that he only appeared to his own followers.
If the Scientology Church claimed that their dead leader, L Ron Hubbard, had resurrected, hung around with 500 scientologists for 40 days and then went up to Heaven, would you believe them? I doubt that you would.
Perhaps you remember that Hindu cult, a few years ago, said that their leader could "levitate" ,defy gravity, and lift off the ground and hover. They even supplied photos. But he only "levitated" in the presence of his followers. Nobody believed their claim.
Perhaps you remember the Raelian Church which claimed that their scientists had cloned a human being. They had photos also but nobody believed them.
In courts of law, it is a well known fact that friends, family, and followers, are not credible witnesses. They have a vested interest in lying.
If you committed a crime and your mother and good friend gave you an alibi, you know that their testimony would count for very little.

Jesus only showed himself to his followers.
But before his death he promised that he would show himself to others who were not his followers.
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.

Jesus promised his ""evil and adulterous generation"", a sign. He promised that just as Jonah was as good as dead inside the belly of a whale for three nights and three days, so would Jesus be ""three days and three nights in the heart of the earth"". [the grave]
The whale spit Jonah out on dry land alive and well, so would Jesus emerge from the grave alive and well.
But Jesus failed to show himself to his ""evil and adulterous generation"".
Jesus failed to give his ""evil and adulterous generation"". the sign that he promised.
Why? Didn't this false prophecy prove that Jesus was a fraud?
Did Jesus fail to show himself to his ""evil and adulterous generation"" because he was still dead?
Did Jesus fail to fulfill his promise of a sign for his ""evil and adulterous generation"", because he was still dead?

The post resurrection appearances are just a fiction of his followers.
The post resurrection appearances are not credible evidence.

stuart shepherd

Sparrow

Perhaps they're the ones in the end zone holding up the John 3:16 sign.

DBT

What about the claim that the tomb of Jesus has been found?

Sparrow

Just about everyone but the producer of that 'documentary' have backed off that claim since that story was written. Especially since everyone knows that the real tomb is actually under the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Except for those who believe that the real tomb is the garden tomb outside the walls of old Jerusalem.

aa5874

They must have found the wrong grave. Over 500 hundred people say Jesus alive according to the author of Corinthians, after he was arrested.

1 Corinthians 15.6, "After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once..."

Johnny Skeptic

In my opinion, the most important issue regarding the empty tomb is WHO saw the body put in WHICH tomb. It does no good to reasonably establish that a tomb is empty unless you also can reasonably establish that a body was in the tomb IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Now here are two questions for people who claim that they have credible evidence regarding where the body of Jesus was probably buried: What non-Biblical evidence do you have regarding WHO saw the body put in WHICH tomb? Why should anyone trust the Gospel accounts of where the body was buried?

Doug Shaver

Aside from the gospels, none. Some people consider them evidence. I don't.

Outside of Christian writings, there is no reference to his burial, not one word about how or where it happened. The secular historical record, for whatever it's worth, ends with his death on the cross.

Sparrow

What secular record are you referencing? Can this record be shown to be independent of the gospel stories?

Chili

It is even stupid to look for one because of the fact that Magdalene lost her sight when Jesus died but could still recognize the voice of the man called Jesus. To wit: the light of commmon day is seen only by the TOK while the voice belongs to the [naked] animal man here called Jesus. A simple test here Johnny is to close your eyes and notice that the light is gone while you can still talk and hear noise, to say that reason prevails without Magdalene on board. You may take this one step further and notice that after ascension the soul is gone as per Rev.21:1 there called the [celestial] sea.

All they are saying here Johnny is that for the celestial light to prevail in the mind of Jesus nee Joseph (who had skillfully hewn this tomb as if out of rock in his own backyard) the light of common day must be gone forever and for this he must be buried and raised . . . lest he be the final imposter the Chief Priests were concerned about in Matt.27:64c. IOW they knew exactly what they were doing and they did right.

stuart shepherd

We don't have 500 people who say that they saw Jesus alive after his supposed resurrection. We only have Paul who SAYS that 500 saw Jesus. I find this unbelievable since Paul did not even know Jesus when he was alive. Paul only knew a spirit Jesus.

stuart shepherd