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5 Resurrection Myths
1) MYTH: There really wasn't a literal bodily resurrection - only a symbolic one.
The apostles were just saying that remembering Jesus had put a new hope in
their hearts. Jesus is actually still dead.
TRUTH: The NT records
repeatedly show the group of disciples (with the possible exception of John)
not coming to a belief in Jesus' bodily resurrection even after the women of
their group bore witness to having seen Him risen from the dead. But once
Jesus appears to them, all doubt vanishes. This is particularly dramatic in
the case of the apostle Thomas who flatly refuses to believe until he can
see the nail prints in Jesus' hands and put his hand into Jesus' pierced
side. (John 20:24-25) When Jesus appears to Thomas, all doubt immediately
vanishes. (John 20:26-28) On Pentecost when the Apostle Peter, speaking for
the other apostles and disciples, announces that they are all witnesses to
Jesus' BODILY resurrection, it is in the sense of LEGAL EYE-WITNESSES such
as would be called upon in a court of law to give evidence for determining
the truth in a particular case. (Acts 2:32)
2) MYTH: The apostles actually stole Jesus' body in order to fake His
resurrection.
TRUTH: What would that do for the apostles? They were
threatened with torture and death - and most of them were in fact killed -
for claiming that Jesus rose bodily from the dead. It would have been
easier for them to deny it. But none of them ever did.
3) MYTH: The resurrection appearances were a rare medical phenomenon: mass
hallucination. The women at the tomb only thought they saw Jesus - but He
wasn't really there.
TRUTH: Then you would have to account for a
virtually miraculous number of mass hallucinations. Not only did the women
see Him, but Peter, John, Thomas, and the other apostles and disciples saw
him on a number of occasions soon after the resurrection. And later on, 500
followers saw Jesus at one time. (1 Cor. 15:6) In addition, the Temple
priests were trying to prove Jesus' disciples to be wrong the whole time.
If they were hallucinating, all they'd have had to do was to produce the
body to show that the disciples were fools. But no one opposed to the
disciples ever did.
4) MYTH: Jesus didn't really die on the cross. He just fainted, and later revived
in the tomb, escaped and then appeared to His followers, who thought He had
risen from the dead.
TRUTH: The Roman soldiers were professional
executioners. Are you saying they didn't do their job? Jesus was whipped
and beaten, crowned with thorns, made to carry a heavy wooden cross for
about a mile, and then nailed to it by His hands and feet where he hung for
three hours. All of this was done without food or drink since the evening
before. When Jesus died after His three hours on the cross, one of the
soldiers even thrust his spear into Jesus' side to His heart to make sure He
was dead.
5) MYTH: The women went to the wrong tomb - and found it empty.
TRUTH: So then
John went to the wrong tomb, too? And Peter? And the guards? And the
priests? And no one ever thought to go to the right tomb to see if the body
was still there?
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