Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? Why or why not?

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pork232's picture
Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? Why or why not?

I am extremely curious to know everyone's opinion. I found an article which states 7 reasons to believe. Of course, the bible was written long ago, it is not clear that it occurred, or that all these witnesses were actually there. I found an article which tries to prove it. What do you guys think? (I am not saying it happened, and I am not saying I believe it, I just want to hear all opinions for fun)

PROOF OF THE RESURRECTION #1: THE EMPTY TOMB OF JESUS
The empty tomb may be the strongest proof Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Two major theories have been advanced by unbelievers: someone stole Jesus' body or the women and disciples went to the wrong tomb. The Jews and Romans had no motive to steal the body. Christ's apostles were too cowardly and would have had to overcome the Roman guards. The women who found the tomb empty had earlier watched Jesus being laid away; they knew where the correct tomb was. Even if they had gone to the wrong tomb, the Sanhedrin could have produced the body from the right tomb to stop the resurrection stories.

Jesus' burial cloths were left neatly folded inside, hardly the act of hurrying grave robbers. Angels said Jesus had risen from the dead.

PROOF OF THE RESURRECTION #2: THE HOLY WOMEN EYEWITNESSES
The holy women eyewitnesses are further proof that the Gospels are accurate historical records. If the accounts had been made up, no ancient author would have used women for witnesses to Christ's resurrection.

Women were second class citizens in Bible times; their testimony was not even allowed in court. Yet the Bible says the risen Christ first appeared to Mary Magdalene and other holy women. Even the apostles did not believe Mary when she told them the tomb was empty. Jesus, who always had special respect for these women, honored them as the first eyewitnesses to his resurrection. The male Gospel writers had no choice but to report this embarrassing act of God's favor, because that was how it happened.

PROOF OF THE RESURRECTION #3: JESUS' APOSTLES' NEW-FOUND COURAGE
After the crucifixion, Jesus' apostles hid behind locked doors, terrified they would be executed next. But something changed them from cowards to bold preachers. Anyone who understands human character knows people do not change that much without some major influence. That influence was seeing their Master, bodily risen from the dead. Christ appeared to them in the locked room, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and on the Mount of Olives. After seeing Jesus alive, Peter and the others left the locked room and preached the risen Christ, unafraid of what would happen to them. They quit hiding because they knew the truth. They finally understood that Jesus is God incarnate, who saves people from sin.

PROOF OF THE RESURRECTION #4: CHANGED LIVES OF JAMES AND OTHERS
Changed lives are yet another proof of the resurrection. James, the brother of Jesus, was openly skeptical that Jesus was the Messiah. Later James became a courageous leader of the Jerusalem church, even being stoned to death for his faith. Why? The Bible says the risen Christ appeared to him. What a shock to see your own brother, alive again, after you knew he was dead. James and the apostles were effective missionaries because people could tell these men had touched and seen the risen Christ. With such zealous eyewitnesses, the early church exploded in growth, spreading west from Jerusalem to Rome and beyond. For 2,000 years, encounters with the resurrected Jesus have changed lives.

PROOF OF THE RESURRECTION #5: LARGE CROWD OF EYEWITNESSES
A large crowd of more than 500 eyewitnesses saw the risen Jesus Christ at the same time.

The Apostle Paul records this event in 1 Corinthians 15:6. He states that most of these men and women were still alive when he wrote this letter, about 55 A.D. Undoubtedly they told others about this miracle. Today, psychologists say it would be impossible for a large crowd of people to have had the same hallucination at once. Smaller groups also saw the risen Christ, such as the apostles, and Cleopas and his companion. They all saw the same thing, and in the case of the apostles, they touched Jesus and watched him eat food. The hallucination theory is further debunked because after the ascension of Jesus into heaven, sightings of him stopped.

PROOF OF THE RESURRECTION #6: CONVERSION OF PAUL
The conversion of Paul records the most drastically changed life in the Bible. As Saul of Tarsus, he was an aggressive persecutor of the early church. When the risen Christ appeared to Paul on the Damascus Road, Paul became Christianity's most determined missionary. He endured five floggings, three beatings, three shipwrecks, a stoning, poverty, and years of ridicule. Finally the Roman emperor Nero had Paul beheaded because the apostle refused to deny his faith in Jesus. What could make a person willingly accept—even welcome—such hardships? Christians believe the conversion of Paul came about because he encountered Jesus Christ who had risen from the dead.

PROOF OF THE RESURRECTION #7: THEY DIED FOR JESUS
Countless people have died for Jesus, absolutely certain that the resurrection of Christ is a historical fact. Tradition says ten of the original apostles died as martyrs for Christ, as did the Apostle Paul. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of early Christians died in the Roman arena and in prisons for their faith. Down through the centuries, thousands more have died for Jesus because they believed the resurrection is true. Even today, people suffer persecution because they have faith that Christ rose from the dead. An isolated group may give up their lives for a cult leader, but Christian martyrs have died in many lands, for nearly 2,000 years, believing Jesus conquered death to give them eternal life.

Did Jesus possibly rise from the dead? Why/why not, based on all the evidence we have.

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mykcob4's picture
Just stop it pork222. We have

Just stop it pork222. We have answered this millions of times and you know it. There is no proof of a resurrection. Never was never will be. Even the oldest bible in existence never eludes to a resurrection.

Sky Pilot's picture
That's an interesting comment

That's an interesting comment about the oldest bible never mentioning a resurrection. I've never heard of that before because readable old bibles are rarer than golden zombies. Do you have a link?

watchman's picture
@Diotrephes ....

@Diotrephes ....

I think what Mykcob is referencing is the fact that the oldest / earliest versions of the Gospel of Mark have no mention of a resurrection .

They stop at 16:08 ..... (the empty tomb) ... no mention of post mortem visitations ....

Links.....

http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/t...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Mark#The_ending_of_the_gospel_of...

Hope that helps...

Apologies to Mykcob if I've stolen your thunder.

This is the best on line resource I can find....Codex Sinaticus...... Gospel of Mark.....

http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/bible-versions-...

Check out the comparison "The Markan Resurrection (Mark 16: 1–14)" part way down....

mykcob4's picture
Thanks watchman for doing my

Thanks watchman for doing my work. You are correct of course.

Sky Pilot's picture
It does say that Jesus will

It does say that Jesus will meet them in Galilee. Therefore it means that he was resurrected and since those people were Pharisees who believed in resurrection they would buy the resurrection story.

algebe's picture
Pork222:

Pork222:
Who decided that Jesus was dead? What vital signs did they check? It's actually quite difficult to confirm death (unless someone has suffered decapitation or incineration, etc.) There have been many cases of people waking up in mortuaries after being declared dead. I came up with the following scenarios about the death-resurrection myth surrounding the character known as Jesus.
Scenario 1: Like other death-resurrection characters, Jesus never existed, was never crucified, never came back to life.
Scenario 2: Jesus existed and was crucified to death, and his followers created a cult around him based on other death-resurrection myths prevalent in that time and place (e.g., Osiris, Dionysus).
Scenario 3: Jesus existed and was crucified but survived due to being taken down after only a few hours (in contrast with 2-3 days in most cases).
Scenario 4: Jesus was Elvis.

Nyarlathotep's picture
The Greek myths are crammed

The Greek myths are crammed full of characters who died and were resurrected to immorality. Not only is the story of the resurrection of Jesus mythology; it is a remake/reboot.

LogicFTW's picture
I like how all of the proof

I like how all of the proof this article list does not contain anything that could be verified today beyond something written over 1000 years ago that has been heavily edited over the years by very financially motivated authors.

I suppose most of written history is like that, but then, most history does not make the extraordinary claims the bible makes either.

UnKnown's picture
1. What makes you say the

1. What makes you say the bible was heavily edited over time?
2. What makes you say that the authors were financially motivated?

chimp3's picture
@pork222: Try this experiment

@pork222: Try this experiment- Write a short story detailing your own death and resurrection by an extraterrestrial intelligence. Create eyewitness narratives by 100 characters who you claim witnessed this event. Have your friends read this story and tell them it is true. When they ask for evidence point to the story and say "That is the evidence!". Say : "There were 100 eyewitnesses!". When they ask to speak to the eyewitnesses say: "They were all abducted by the space travelers!".
You should be standing on as firm a foundation for evidence as the New Testament.

SBMontero's picture
@pork222: I'm extremely

@pork222: I'm extremely curious to know why do you think Jesus existed... I'm not going to ask how knows there was a grave, or that the rags were bent, I refuse to discuss bullshit.

Well, again, I'm extremely curious to know why do you think Jesus existed, because the Bible tells you, or what?

bigbill's picture
Jesus I believe did conquer

Jesus I believe did conquer death and the grave, the proof was just cited above I have no qualms with the above criteria. The Jewish leadership show that by saying the disciples came and stole the body they are admitting that the tomb was empty.Since a penalty for a Roman soldier was death for falling asleep on watch, I feel that Jesus did rise from the dead.And I agree with all 5 points you made sb.

SBMontero's picture
Well, thank goodness we know

Well, thank goodness we know that although Bilbo Bolson finds the ring, that doesn't mean it's real, How do we know that Bilbo Baggins isn't real? Because we know that Tolkien was a fiction writer, that's why we also know that the Jesus described in the Bible didn't exist, because the Bible ALSO is a fiction book written between the second and fourth centuries. And if you have doubts about it I have put you a list of history books that, of course, you haven't read... Why were you going to read a history book with a bible at hand? I still remember that beautiful phrase of "before the history books existed the Bible", said while Herodotus laughed at his grave.

I'm not interested in what you feel about. Have you any proof that Jesus existed? Yes, or not. It's a very simple question with a simple answer, yes, or not, without sermons, yes, or not. And if your answer is yes, say which... And remember, the Lord of the Rings is not proof that Sauron existed, Star Wars is not proof that Darth Vader existed, ergo the bible is NOT proof that Jesus existed.

Again, Have you any proof that Jesus existed? Yes, or not.

MCDennis's picture
Proof. What proof? These are

Proof. What proof? These are assertions. You cannot use the bible as proof that what the bible says is true and correct. If you could, you could also prove spiderman's amazing powers by reference to the stories of his amazing powers found in spiderman comic books.

CyberLN's picture
Pork222,

Pork222,

You said, "(I am not saying it happened, and I am not saying I believe it, I just want to hear all opinions for fun)"

Good for you! Discussion is a good thing! Seeking it out is a good thing! Listening to others' opinions, thinking about them, being curious are all good things. IMO, you should keep it up. You are learning. How wonderful!

Pitar's picture
Read this. It's an assemblage

Read this. It's an assemblage of conflicting bible content that clearly illustrates the bible to be a work in pseudepigrapha on a time line beginning 150 years from the fabricated story known as the biblical period.

In other words -

Let's pretend along with the bible's content that a jesus character actually existed, lived and died and the bible captures the event as it spells it out in its pages. With me so far?

Okay, even the content in the bible conflicts with itself regarding the death and resurrection of the jesus character. You would think that an eye witnessed account would have been captured and agreed upon by all the witnesses of the event and that a single story would have entered the pages of the bible. The bible was not written concurrent with the story it pretends to portray, though. It was contributed to by at least 150 writers over a 1600 year period ending in 1611 with the King James version release.

So, no eye witnesses of an event that never happened to a person who never lived in a fabricated a story by people who starting writing about it 150 years later. For the next 1460 years various revisions and writers changed the content to keep the theological whims of the christian meme fresh.

http://www.bidstrup.com/bible2.htm

Sky Pilot's picture
The point is that Paul

The point is that Paul created the Jesus character to sell his new religion based on resurrection. The Pharisees (Persian influenced) believed in resurrection, ghosts, angels, demons, spirits. The Sadducees said that all of that was BS. Paul himself said that if the dead do not rise then people's faith was worthless. Now a segment of the people already believed in resurrection but they had never witnessed one. So Paul spun the story and claimed that there were over 500 witnesses (1 Corinthians 15:6) and zombies visiting their buddies in Jerusalem. Since there was no radio or tv he was able to pull it off. The added bonus was that he had the Jesus character living the the sticks in Galilee, far from Jerusalem. If Jesus had been a Jerusalem kid he would have had to have been crucified elsewhere because the locals wouldn't have bought the story. They might have been gullible but BS only goes so far.

How many actual zombies have you ever seen?

bigbill's picture
Diotrephes I don`t think that

Diotrephes I don`t think that you can say that paul created Jesus character, because the way as Christians called themselves before Antioch stte that they heard it from the Lords half brother James and from Peter so these people were already confessing Christ and him crucified.also Jesus visited Jerusalem many times during his life time.Jesus traveled many places at many different times.from the diaspora all the way to Syria He raised the man in the book of luke and of course LazarusThen there was Jairus daughter who had died that he rose.You alluded to the claim that there were over 500 eye witnesses at the time states that this way they can be questioned.. And Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem because that is where the high priest resided and the Roman governor was stationed and also where the festival with the daily sacrifice was done.

SBMontero's picture
@science follower: but...

@science follower: but... Where did you get that? Where did you read that??? Do you think you can let go a soflama and stay so cool? Do you think we can not read? Do you see us idots face? What?

Sky Pilot's picture
The Bible associates the name

The Bible associates the name "Christians" with Saul (Paul) and Barnabas.
Acts 11:25-26 = Acts 11:25-26 MSG;CEV;CEB;TLB;NLT - Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look - Bible Gateway
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts+11%3A25-26&version=MSG...

Paul wrote the Christian doctrine and established its rituals.

Paul was the first to write about Jesus. When was the Bible written and who wrote it? | carm
https://carm.org/when-was-bible-written-and-who-wrote-it

Paul supposedly wrote the first book, Galatians, in 49. After he saw the light he spent three years in Arabia (or Syria), Damascus, and then went to Jerusalem for 15 days to hang out with Peter and James. He then went to Syria and Cilicia for fourteen years. After that he returned to Jerusalem with Barnabas and Titus.

So by Paul's own words he had been preaching 17 before he (or anyone else) wrote the first word about the Jesus character, which puts him back in time to seeing the vision around the year 32. Therefore, the claim that there were 500 witnesses who saw the resurrected Jesus is pure BS. The Gospel stories were written (created) by Paul's disciples. He didn't care what was written (or created) about Jesus as long as it followed the basic script. The Jesus character was created from Paul's imagination to sell the idea of his resurrection religion (an updated version of the Pharisee belief from Persia). Later on the Islamics adopted the resurrection idea into Islam in order to make it attractive to muslims.

Xx-DeAsh-xX's picture
Well all of this is based on

Well all of this is based on the assumption that the bible is even telling the truth...

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Sky Pilot's picture
The Bible is an ethnocentric

The Bible is an ethnocentric Middle Eastern Jewish religious fairy tale. The Bible even says that people shouldn't believe Jewish fairy tales.
Titus 1:14 (NLT) = "14 They must stop listening to Jewish myths and the commands of people who have turned away from the truth."

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