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Happy Resurrection Day!

Is Jesus risen? I suppose its the question of the ages. So many theories surrounding this event. I wonder what event Dawkins’ ‘Flying Spaghetti Monster‘ (See Image to the Right) has elicited?

No matter what you think about Easter, it’s hard to ignore its durability for 2000 years. For some it is nothing more than a myth, probably poorly ripped off from Pagan Roman, Greek or Egyptian mythology. Others have tried to reckon with what happened 2000 years ago, but believe it to have been an illusion or even a hallucination, after all, psychedelic drugs were the thing back in the 030’s. For others something sinister must have taken place, like the disciples stole the body, and created the church for cash, or something like that. But no matter what you think, this story still grabs the attention of humanity on the regular. It’s a myth that doesn’t seem to want to go away? Maybe it is as C.S. Lewis once quipped that “The heart of Christianity is a myth, which is also fact. The old myth of the Dying God, without ceasing to be myth, comes down from the heaven of legend and imagination to earth of history. It happens at a particular date, in a particular place, followed by definable historical consequences. We pass from a Balder or Osiris, dying nobody knows when or where, to a historical Person crucified under Pontius Pilate. By becoming fact it does not cease to be myth: that is the miracle.”

Well unlike the Flying Spaghetti Monster, there is teeth to this story. It’s a story that changed history. A band of sniveling cowards, who scattered in fear for their lives when Jesus was crucified and it looked like they would be next, became bold proclaimers of this ‘myth.’ They lost their lives because of it. Does this sound like a group that knew their ruse was fake news? Also, we saw devoted Jewish worshipers violate their own Sabbath, and begin to gather early on the first day of the week (Which is Sunday in case you’re wondering), since they were duped enough to believe Jesus rose early on the first day of the week. Curiously too is the fact that the early group of followers never built a shrine to the grave, but celebrated this crazy, mythological nonsense that Jesus rose from the dead as an historical fact. I guess mass hallucinations were in vogue back then, since Jesus appeared to more than 500 followers. This event is more than a spiritual event, it is a physical, historical event, so where it may seem far fetched, it is what it is, and we are left to deal with it, because if it’s true, Jesus might be someone to be reckoned with, and if it’s not true, then as the apostle Paul wrote, “if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” For the followers of Jesus, if you remove Him and His cross and subsequent resurrection, you are left with nothing, because unlike other religions, Christianity is not based on a certain set of teachings, which in many ways look the same as any other moralistic teachings of the day, it is based on who He is, and what He has done for us. Without that, we are just another group of people to be pitied!

This was not written to convince you, because I have come to learn after my so many years, that once we have made up our minds, we don’t like being confused with the facts. I wrote it to reflect on this incredible claim of orthodox Christianity, and hope you take the time to reflect on it too. Happy Resurrection Day to you!

Jesus Culture

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8 responses to “Happy Resurrection Day!”

  1. clubschadenfreude Avatar
    clubschadenfreude

    “t’s a story that changed history. A band of sniveling cowards, who scattered in fear for their lives when Jesus was crucified and it looked like they would be next, became bold proclaimers of this ‘myth.’ ”

    well, not per your own bible. It does contradict itself.

    “19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ” John 20

    or

    “50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; 53 and they were continually in the temple blessing God.” Luke 24

    There is no evidence that there was a cruxifiction, a resurrection or that the apostles were killed for their beliefs. If they were, plenty of people die for things that they beleive are true but are not. It is not a historical fact.

    They never built a shrine since no one knew where the tomb was. No death, no tomb, and it appears to have been “found” hundreds of years later.

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    1. Jesus Culture Avatar
      Jesus Culture

      You might want to do more than a Twitter search regarding evidence. There is quite a bit actually, including the multiple biblical references. There is hardly a scholar that actually denies that the early church didn’t believe in the resurrection. There are memorials to everything except a burial site, yet the Jews starting meeting on Sunday instead of Saturday. If you would like me to actually direct you to many books writing in regard to the evidence I’d be happy to. As far as your verses ‘proving a contradiction, they don’t actually prove anything other than the event that they witnessed. And I agree, plenty of people die for things that aren’t true, but no one dies for things they actually know are not true. There is a lot of evidence for apostles dying for their belief that the resurrection actually happened. You are denying the written history based on your prejudice, yet you most likely accept most history as it is written. Maybe you should check your bias’ and do a bit more homework

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      1. clubschadenfreude Avatar
        clubschadenfreude

        Well, it’s always fun to watch a Christian lie in order to pretend that there is evidence for your claims. I’ve done quite a bit more than a “twitter search”.

        Bible verses are claims, not evidence for those claims. And yes, lots of scholars believe that Christians thought the resurrection was true since they did. There is no evidence that the resurrection ever happened, or the sky getting dark, there being a major earthquake that could destroy things in the temple and the dead wandering around Roman-occupied Jerusalem. There are not memorials to “everything except a burial site”. But do tell me about them and when they were put up.

        You can, right? And the most important place of your religion forgotten, is quite a problem.

        Jews still meet on Saturdays, I see lots of them going to the several synagogues in my neighborhood and Christians can’t agree on what day they want to use. It depends on the sect.

        I’ve read many many books about apologetics. I’ve also read theh bible a couple of times. I know you are making false claims about them. The contradictions about what happened during events show that there is no eyewitneses and no reason to think any of those events ever happened. They certainly don’t’ show that the events happened. I’d love to have you tell a judge that and watch them laugh at you.

        There is no evidence for apostles dying for their beliefs, only stories. And things die for false things, even those they know aren’t true all of the time. Every idiot suicide bomber, every cultist drinking poison, all of them. We don’t’ even have evidence that the apostles actually existed as claimed. All you have is Paul with any certainty and he can’t even keep his origin story straight.

        There is no history about this, only stories that were made up long after and which still contradict each other on where and when these supposed apostles were and how they died.

        I do indeed take history as written since it has plenty of evidence backing up those writings, archaeology, writings from antagonists, etc. Your religion has none of those. It has myths.

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      2. Jesus Culture Avatar
        Jesus Culture

        Hey clubschadenfreude
        Not ignoring you, will get back to you ASAP. Thanks for the comments!

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      3. clubschadenfreude Avatar
        clubschadenfreude

        no problem at all.

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      4. Jesus Culture Avatar
        Jesus Culture

        In reply to:
        I’ll try to answer your comments —line by line—

        —Well, it’s always fun to watch a Christian lie in order to pretend that there is evidence for your claims. I’ve done quite a bit more than a “twitter search”. —

        Seriously dude, this is your comeback? I didn’t accuse you of lying, when you hardly made a defense and then declared that there’s no evidence. C’mon I hope we’re better than ad hominem arguments here??

        —Bible verses are claims, not evidence for those claims.—

        Who made this rule? You? How do you figure history is understood? Can you “Prove” the Peloponnesian War? Can you prove the Civil War for that matter? Do you know there are those denying the Jewish holocaust based on your reasoning? No, the bible is history, but your bias cuts out the 5 writers that spend a good deal of time recording this event, which is a bit self-serving. The bible has shown itself to be a reasonable historical document since it has accurately named people and places that have since been verified, not to mention that there isn’t any document in antiquity that comes close to the accuracy of its original than the bible, with over 20,000 manuscripts and copies for the New Testament alone. There has been much archaeological collaboration for the events recorded throughout biblical history including the verification of Pontius Pilate as the governor over the death preceding’s of Christ, and verified first, by a Roman historian Tacitus in writing to the emperor Nero about the ‘sinister’ Christians and the burning of Rome in 64 CE…

        “But all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiations of the gods did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order. Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judæa, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular.”
        Cornelius Tacitus, Book 15, Chapter 44

        https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0078%3Abook%3D15%3Achapter%3D44

        Of course, I suppose you can deny this too as ‘proof,’ because what you claim is needed for historical proof makes all of history spurious. Of course, until the 1960’s skeptics like you denied the veracity of the bible’s historicity on numerous subjects that have proven now to be accurate, such as the bible’s claim that Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea in the first century, but unfortunately you can’t use that one anymore since archaeology has proven the existence of Pilate as governor at that same time frame. The bible was correct historically, the skeptics were not. This has been true of many archaeological findings recently such as the discovery of the Hittite Empire that skeptics said didn’t exist until, well you guessed it, was discovered in 1948 proving once again, the bible correct historically, and skeptics wrong. What interests me, is when skeptics are proven wrong such as they were in these two incidents, they just move onto the next skeptical theme without acknowledging they were wrong. There are many incidents such as these two showing the bible as a decent historical guide, but many still reject it based on bias not on facts. But Tacitus isn’t the only one that has validated the veracity of biblical claims such as the existence of Jesus, since many skeptics claimed He never lived just a few short years ago, but there is mounting evidence from extra-biblical sources proving otherwise, and changing the minds of biblical scholarship. Sources such as Jewish historian Flavius Josephus who wrote,

        ‘Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receiving the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ, and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians so named from him are not extinct at this day” Flavius Josephus, Antiquities, Book 18, Chapter 6
        http://www.bede.org.uk/Josephus.htm

        Yes, skeptics have questioned this quote, and I’m sure you will too. Or how about the Roman magistrate Pliny the Younger writing to Emperor Trajan (112 CE) about the Christians he was persecuting and related what he found out from those that denied Christ under torture…

        “They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath, not to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food–but ordinary and innocent food. Even this, they affirmed, they had ceased to do after my edict by which, in accordance with your instructions, I had forbidden political associations. Accordingly, I judged it all the more necessary to find out what the truth was by torturing two female slaves who were called deaconesses. But I discovered nothing else but depraved, excessive superstition”

        https://www.mesacc.edu/~thoqh49081/handouts/pliny.html

        Then there is the Roman Historian Seutonius, who in writing to the Roman Emperor Nero in 64 CE wrote this unflattering note about Christians…

        “During his reign many abuses were severely punished and put down, and no fewer new laws were made: a limit was set to expenditures; the public banquets were confined to a distribution of food; the sale of any kind of cooked viands in the taverns was forbidden, with the exception of pulse and vegetables, whereas before every sort of dainty was exposed for sale. Punishment was inflicted on the Christians, a class of men given to a new and mischievous superstition. He put an end to the diversions of the chariot drivers, who from immunity of long standing claimed the right of ranging at large and amusing themselves by cheating and robbing the people. The pantomimic actors and their partisans were banished from the city”

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suetonius_on_Christians

        And of course, this ‘superstition’ both were referring to was the idea that this ‘god’ they worshipped was raised from the dead. Interesting to note that skeptics didn’t start in the ‘educated’ 21st century, but began right away in the first and second centuries. This mitigates the notion that these were backward idiots that believed in mythology, while we 21st-century people are too educated to fall into those traps. The facts of the time do not corroborate the veracity of such nonsense. Why didn’t they just provide the body for all to see, and get rid of this ridiculous superstition?? Would have been the easy way out for sure. There has also been a discovery of Ancient Graffiti making fun of Christians for worshiping their God who was crucified. This is potentially created as early as 50 CE once again showing that this Christian story of Jesus dying on a cross was not a later addition, but a reality that everyone knew about since executions were public.

        https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9431585/Graffiti-carved-ancient-Roman-building-1-900-years-ago-Crucifixion.html

        The fact is, what you keep referring to as myth with no proof, seems to have quite a bit of proof regarding the events of Christ’s existing and being crucified under the Roman mode of crucifixion, which the Bible gives detailed accounts of and have been corroborated by outside, ‘historical’ sources. They also demonstrate that the 1st-century church was founded on a ‘mischievous superstition’ known as the resurrection. There were quite a few people that starting worshipping Christ as a God for that reason.

        —And yes, lots of scholars believe that Christians thought the resurrection was true since they did.—

        You may think this is the norm, but scholars didn’t believe that this was true 20 years ago and kept passing the early churches’ belief as 4th-century mythology, but the facts of history and archaeology didn’t add up, so modern theologians, even skeptical scholars, now admit the early church did believe and was formed on the foundation that they believed the resurrection was true. And your words in this next comment of yours show your misunderstanding of my point

        —“Jews still meet on Saturdays; I see lots of them going to the several synagogues in my neighborhood and Christians can’t agree on what day they want to use. It depends on the sect.”—

        I never said the Jewish religion started meeting on Sundays, I said the Jewish disciples of Jesus, such as Peter and Simon who were zealots, and Pharisees such as Paul who became followers of Jesus moved their worship away from the Sabbath to Sunday. That’s more than a coincidence. No good Jew would think of such a thing. Paul was a Pharisee, which meant he was a ‘strict’ follower of the Jewish law. Why would he make that kind of change?

        —There is no evidence that the resurrection ever happened, or the sky getting dark, there being a major earthquake that could destroy things in the temple and the dead wandering around Roman-occupied Jerusalem.—

        I’m not going to do all your homework for you but you can read the link below which verifies an earthquake that caused damage to the Wilson Arch in 33 CE. This site is a Jewish Excavation site dude, not even trying to verify the Christian religion. I also don’t believe that proving this means anything. The bible uses a fair amount of poetic language as well as, regional colloquialisms, so proving things such as this is not needed, since I’m sure records were scarce, and 2000 years of wear probably make them even scarcer.

        http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/Report_Detail_Eng.aspx?id=1738&mag_id=118

        —There are not memorials to “everything except a burial site”. But do tell me about them and when they were put up.—

        Question? Have you actually been to Israel? Literally, there is a church built on and a memorial for just about everything that happened including the burial sites for many Old Testament and New Testament figures, except Christ. So, you might want to check your facts on that one???

        —I’ve read many many books about apologetics. I’ve also read the bible a couple of times. I know you are making false claims about them.—

        Name one false claim I’m making and we’ll go from there. And what books have you read curiously? My guess is you have read Bart Ehrman’s Misquoting Jesus, or Dan Barker, or 101 Contradictions of the Bible or even watched the movie Zeitgeist on Youtube, and are regurgitating what you’ve heard, but haven’t spent that much time reading books that might sway you otherwise? I’m not sure you’re looking for truth, rather than spreading your disdain for religion and Christianity in particular. However, if you’re serious and want to actually have a real dialogue, I’d love to provide you with a list of books, because the things you are saying have been answered many times, so I’m curious as to what books you have read on the subject. Also, kudos on reading the bible through a couple of times. I commend you for that!

        —The contradictions about what happened during events show that there is no eyewitnesses and no reason to think any of those events ever happened. They certainly don’t’ show that the events happened. I’d love to have you tell a judge that and watch them laugh at you.—

        Can you name the contradictions and we can go from there?
        And as far as getting laughed at, well I’m not sure it would be the first time I would be laughed at. I believe people like Einstein and Niels Bohr were laughed at for their theories of relativity and quantum entanglement? Or how about Ignaz Semmelweis who was laughed at for telling the world that hand washing saves lives. That’s a good one now huh? And how about Copernicus when his discovery about the solar system didn’t add up to the Ptolemaic interpretation of the cosmos. That was a laugher! Oh yeah, I forgot that was the church that opposed him, right?! Their actual mistake was believing the dogmatic science of the times. According to Thomas Kuhn’s ‘The Structure of Scientific Revolutions,’ science doesn’t do too well with paradigm shifts and has scoffed at many claims and later had to retract their laughter when it was discovered they were wrong. So, let ‘em laugh!

        —There is no evidence for apostles dying for their beliefs, only stories.—

        Again, I guess no ‘stories’ in history work for you. Right, the civil war was only someone’s story.

        — And things (sic) die for false things, even those they know aren’t true all of the time. Every idiot suicide bomber, every cultist drinking poison, all of them.—

        I suppose you mean ‘people’, but again all of the ones you mention is for a belief they think is true, nobody dies for a belief (Resurrection) they know is not true. If they stole the body, why would they die for that lie? And also, the records show that they fled for their lives when Christ was being crucified and hid for fear of being next, but after they saw Christ risen from the dead, they became bold witnesses of the resurrection. Again, if they knew it was false, what gave them the courage and boldness?

        —We don’t’ even have evidence that the apostles actually existed as claimed. All you have is Paul with any certainty and he can’t even keep his origin story straight.—

        This is seriously flawed and not even close to accurate. I’m not wasting time on it.

        —There is no history about this, only stories that were made up long after and which still contradict each other on where and when these supposed apostles were and how they died.—

        Again, show the contradictions and we can actually discuss them, but empty platitudes and accusations can be done by anyone, and while you may think they prove you to be right, repeating your mantra there is no proof doesn’t actually prove anything. I have presented historical validation, more than most historical events in antiquity have, so the burden of proof is on you. The reason the resurrection story has been so durable throughout the years is that no one then or now can show the body of Jesus. These crazy Christians were running around 1st century Jerusalem telling people Jesus rose from the dead. All the Roman magistrates or the Jewish religious leaders needed to do was present the body and say, ‘look, here’s the body! These people are idiots,’ and it would have been end of the story, but they didn’t nor could they. There wasn’t a body to present. The ‘stories’ as you like to call them regarding the resurrection come from the bible and some of the extra-canonical evidence I have already provided. The biblical accounts are hardly ‘long after” and if you did some research into the manuscript evidence for the New Testament, you’d find out pretty quick there is no work in antiquity that matches the New Testament’s accuracy and as I’ve already shown, much of what it says about crucifixions, people, places, etc. have been verified by archaeological findings. You can keep rolling with the mantra there is no proof, only ‘stories,’ but it rings empty since the evidence is piling up as they discover more and more about the events in the New Testament via archaeology.

        —I do indeed take history as written since it has plenty of evidence backing up those writings, archaeology, writings from antagonists, etc. Your religion has none of those. It has myths.—

        Once again, where is your proof? “Plenty of evidence?” Really show me the ‘evidence’ for any ancient history? I’d love for you to provide it. I’ve provided plenty for you. Get me all the documents on the Peloponnesian war. Get me all the evidence you have that Socrates lived. Or just keep trolling Christian sites in trying to find one that will be swayed with your ‘no proof’ rhetoric. Because you are blinded by your skepticism, and my guess hatred for Christians, you simply believe what you want to believe no matter how much ‘proof’ is given. So, in the end, you can accuse me of believing a stupid fable all you want, but please refrain from calling me a liar, as you did. That is simply uncalled for and kind of pathetic!

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      5. clubschadenfreude Avatar
        clubschadenfreude

        ah, my favorite, a long response. I’ll be back when I’ve written mine.

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      6. Jesus Culture Avatar
        Jesus Culture

        Nice 🙂

        Like

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