10 CONFUSIONS ABOUT THE RESURRECTION
1. The resurrected Christ isn't a ghost. Lk24.36-43 He ate food.
2. The resurrection is not a resuscitation like Lazarus Jn11.44, the grave clothes where neately kept aside Jn20.6-7 , Lazarus died again, Jesus never died again. Rom6.9
3. Resurrection is not reincarnation . Jesus's body was more old and more new than what you supposedly get in reincarnation . It was recognizable by his friends and new in that it was immortal.
4. it is distinguished from simple immortality as the Gnostic or platonist who think it's just a freeing of the soul from the bodily prison. It is the immortality of the soul.
5. It is distinct from enlightenment or Nirvana : a loss of personal individuality and a reabsorption into the One, the All. The risen Jesus was very distinct individual , an embodied one .
6. It is distinct from translation or assumption into heaven . That's a Jewish notion, e.g Elijah and Enoch and Moses. Catholics believe that's what happened to Mary. Jesus came from death back to earthen land of the living.
7. it's distinct from a vision . Jesus was touched, he ate.
8. it is distinct from legend fictions deviced by mortal minds .
9. Ressurection isn't a myth. myths are symbolically true. Christ's resurrection is pinned down to a real, specific, concrete time and place in history, and certified by eyewitnesses . 2pet 1.16
10.It is a ressurection of the" Easter faith". Easter without a real Easter is a faith in faith. Question now would be if it is a faith in faith , then faith in faith in what?
5 possible Theories to the arguments on the Ressurection of Christ
Jesus died. \---Jesus rose----------------------------------------------------------1. Christianity
/ \
/ \Jesus didn't rise. a-The apostles were deceived --------------------2 Hallucination
/ b. the apostles were myth-makers ---------------3Myth
\ c-The apostles were decievers--------------------4. conspiracy
\
Jesus didn't die----------------------------------------------------------------------------5 Swoon
From the above , either1) the resurrection really happened 2) the apostles were deceived by hallucination 3) the apostles created a myth, not meaning it 4) the apostles were deceivers with the plan to deceived the world with the most famous lie ever told. 5) Jesus only swooned and was resuscitated, not resurrected. These are the 5 possibilites .
If we can refute all other theories (2-5 ), we will have proved the truth of the resurrection (1)
REFUTING THE SWOON THEORY
1. Jesus could not have survived crucifixion. A soldier could die for letting a condemned prisoner go.
2.The fact that Jesus' legs were not broken confirmed they were sure he was really dead. Jn19.31-33
3. John witnessed blood and water come from the pierced body signifying collapse of the lungs meaning medically proving Jesus died of asphysiation
4. The body was totally encased in winding sheets and entombed In 19.38-42
5. The postresurrection appearance convinced the disciples even a doubting Thomas with Atheistic or agnostic inclinations. Jn20.19-29 a half dead man does not have the ability to instil such awe on the disciples as recorded by witnesses.
6. How were the Fiercely armed Roman soldiers overpowered by the half dead man or an unarmed disciple ?
7 . How could a half dead swoon move the stone to the tomb? If the story of Matthew28.11-15 is anything to go by then, it was impossible for the soldiers to sleep for they would have been woken upmby the noise from those who moved the stone.
8.If Jesus woke up from a swoon where would he had gone to? it was impossible to hide such a personality either by a friend or foe.
REFUTING THE CONSPIRACY THEORY
1. The human heart is susceptible to frickleness, to change, to promises, to bribery but non of the disciples could change the story of the reseurection because of the difficulty in following such a story through no one In human history has stepped up to disprove this fact despite the advancement in technology and criminal investigation . People rather denied Christ under toture but never the resurrection. No bribe was large enough to induce anyone especially the disciples to embark on such a conspiracy
2. If the disciples made up the story then they would have been adjudged the. ost clever fantasists that ever walked the earth .
3. There was no economic reason which would have been the. motivating element for such a conspiracy by the disciples since they were all sustained by Jesus. The easiest way out would have been to go back to their businesses , a conspiracy would have been of no benefit whatsoever .
4. The disciples' character argues strongly against such a conspiracy. They were not even lawyers but mostly peasants. The change in their lives from fear to faith, despair to confidence , Confusion to certitude, runaway cowardice to steadfast boldness under great affliction not proved their sincerity but confirmed they were under a divine influence. Martyrdom is the ultimate proof of sincerity, these men died for their belief in the resurrection .
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