The resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Is it a fact or a religious myth?
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Quotations:
"Belief in the resurrection is not an appendage to the Christian faith. It
is the Christian faith." George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury, London
Times, 1992-APR-19.
"Jesus...was...placed into a common grave, and covered over...in a
very short time only some unmarked bones remained. Even the bones were gone before too
long. Nature rather efficiently reclaims its own resources."John S. Spong, "Resurrection: Myth or Reality?," P. 241 1
"The apostolic faith of the Church is based on the reality of the
resurrection of Christ. As St. Paul says: 'Now if Christ is proclaimed as
raised from the death, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of
the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not
been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has
been in vain and your faith is in vain.' (1 Cor. 15:12-14) Viewed as the
ultimate victory over the powers of sin and death, the resurrection of the
Lord is not only an historical event but also the sign of God's power over
all the forces which can keep us from his love and goodness. It is a
victory not only for Christ himself but also for all those united with him
(1 Pet. 1:3f). It is a victory which marks the beginning of a new era (Jn
20:17). The resurrection is the ultimate expression of the Father's gift
of reconciliation and unity in Christ through the Spirit. It is a sign of
the unity and reconciliation which God wills for the entire creation."
Statement of the World Council of Churches / Middle East
Council of Churches Consultation, 1997. 2
"A deceased man did not walk out of his grave
physically alive three days after his execution by crucifixion."
John S. Spong, "Resurrection: Myth or Reality?"
"The truth of the Resurrection shouldn't be the real
battleground. I think what we want to do is try and rise above that and ask,
'What is the metaphoric truth of Easter?' The real power of Easter is the
transformation that, as Christians, we believe continues to happen in
people's lives....If Easter is about proving the veracity of some historical
event that happened 2,000 years ago, that misses the point." Rev.
Steve Huber of St. Columba's Episcopal Church
Overview:
Beliefs about Jesus life differ:
For almost 2 millennia, the Christian Church has taught that Jesus was crucified, died,
and was bodily resurrected (i.e. returned to life in his original body) three days later.
This has long been one of the church's foundational beliefs, along with the inerrancy of the Bible, and the virgin
birth, the atonement, the future second coming of Jesus, etc. Many
Christians regard belief in the resurrection as the central belief of the
church.
Some religious
liberals believe that Jesus was executed, and his body thrown
into a pit, along with other crucified victims. They do not believe in
Jesus' bodily resurrection. Many suspect that his reappearances to his followers
after his death were a form of mass hallucination. 1
Almost all Muslims, who total in excess of 1.2 billion believers worldwide,
believe that Jesus was not crucified, resurrected as described in the New
Testament. They feel that such a
great prophet of God would not suffer such a death. They believe that he did not die
on the cross, and that he has not died since. Rather, he was one of a few persons
who ascended bodily to Paradise. (The Muslim Paradise is somewhat similar to the Christian Heaven).
A few Muslims believe that Jesus survived
his crucifixion, and later died on earth of natural causes.
The best-selling novel in history "The Da Vinci
Code" by Dan Brown has been on the New York Times best seller list for
over 3 years (as of 2006-APR). It is generating considerable interest among
religious seekers. Brown's tale revolves around Jesus having survived the
crucifixion, marrying Mary Magdalene and going into hiding.
Gary Habermas, a historian who chairs the Liberty University philosophy
and theology department, a Fundamentalist educational facility, has written
13 books about the Resurrection. His review of 2,200 scholarly articles and
books published about the resurrection in the past 30 years found that about
75% of New Testament scholars accept the resurrection as a fact. 3
1999-AUG: George Cary, Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury was at the
center of a media storm over the resurrection. An interview by a reporter
from The Mail newspaper was published on AUG-1. Cary was quoted as saying:
"While we can be absolutely sure that Jesus lived and that he was
certainly crucified on the cross, we cannot with the same certainty say that
we know he was raised by God from the dead." Opposition Member of
Parliament Ann Widdecombe said that if the Archbishop "in any way
leaves the Resurrection open to doubt, then that is the ultimate betrayal."
Archbishop Cary commented later that he had been misquoted. He had actually
said that there is enough historical evidence to prove beyond a reasonable
doubt that Jesus lived; however there is not the same amount of evidence
that he was resurrected.
"Toward a Common Date for Easter," World Council of Churches /
Middle East Council of Churches Consultation, 1997 at: http://www.elca.org/ea/
Gary Habermas, "Resurrection Research From 1975 to the Present: What are
Critical Scholars Saying?." Journal for the Study of the New Historical
Jesus, 2005-JUN; 3: Pages 135 to 153.
The Amazon.com bookstore lists the following books on "Resurrection:"