Resurrection and other events

The last couple of weeks in the women's Bible study at church we've been looking at the arrest, trial, and crucifixion of Christ from all 4 gospels. While we've been studying Matthew this year, and he was the primary source for this, we also included the other 3 to get the whole picture. We did that again today with the resurrection.

After discussing the events recorded throughout the NT, he also had listed some of the myths that sprang up to try to explain the resurrection without actually believing it.

The Stolen Body Theory: (The Bribe of the Roman Guard/ Justin Martyr TRYPHO, AD 108 - Jewish emissaries sent across Mediterranean world for this purpose...to 150)...The disciples, Joseph of Arimathea, or Pilate moved and buried body in secret place to protect corpse from desecration OR apostles stole and buried elsewhere to hatch the myth of a risen Christ.

The Wrong Tomb Theory: the hastiness of Friday evening confused the women; a gardener tried to point them to the real tomb (see the place where He lay...He is not here), but the emotion and panic of the women at an empty tomb put the entire false story into motion.

The Gardener Theory: (Tertullian reports it DE SPECTACULIS)... gardener moved body to protect his recent plantings. (I kid you not, this is an actual theory.)

The "Swoon" Theory: Jesus did not die, but survived and appeared as a risen Lord. Origen CONTRA CELSUM reports the pagan philosopher Celsus' theory. He revived in tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, exchanged His grave clothes for the gardener's work clothes, encountered Mary Magdalene (do not touch me), made His way back to Joseph of Arimathea, presented Himself to His followers, and forty days later His wounds got the best of Him as He walked into a cloud on the mountaintop to die (ascension was perceived). (OK, where to begin? Considering His wounds, based upon any well-researched report of the torture and execution techniques of the Roman guard, if He had actually swooned and then awakened, how did He have the strength to change clothes, let alone walk back to Joseph? If He was so much worse 40 days later, how did He manage to climb a mountain?!)

Gnostics in the early centuries believed that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and He lived out His life as a descendent of David...seed of Messiah-King still alive.

The Muslim sect "Ahmadiyya" believes that Jesus was delivered from the cross and traveled throughout the east and died in Kashmir, Pakistan, where His grave can be seen to this day. (There may be a grave with His name on it, but it's not His!)

The "Psychological Hallucination" Theory: amazing case of contagious wish fulfillment within a community. (If this were possible, could I cause my kids to think they love cleaning their rooms?)

The "Twin Brother Theory: (Pretty self-explanatory.)

There have been reports of visions of Jesus, God, angels, etc. through the centuries. The more famous ones are Mohammad's claims of visions of Gabriel (Jibril) giving him divine revelations from God and Joseph Smith's vision of Moroni. Considering how strongly these men held their convictions and the lasting impact these religions have had, more than likely these were actual visions these men had. However, Mohammad most certainly never saw Gabriel. He saw Satan or another demon. Perhaps Joseph did speak to someone named Moroni, but he certainly was no angel. But I do believe they did actually have these visions. Their behaviors are just not indicative of someone trying to pull off a scam. As many have said about the disciples' willingness to die for the faith, how many people are willing to die for a lie? If they're fooled into believing the lie, maybe. But for something they know to be a lie because they made it up themselves? Unless they are actually mentally ill and out of touch with reality, no one. These men believed what they said.

As St. Paul says in his letter to the Galatians, "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed." (1:8-9)

If anyone today can claim to have seen an angel (as some converts from Islam have claimed) there can be nothing in what is said that contradicts Scripture.In fact, it should be pointing them there. If anyone ever claims to have been told by God to do or not do something, if any part of it contradicts Scripture, it is false. The only words that can be trusted are Scripture. I very strongly doubt that God would use visions or dreams to speak to people today. It just isn't necessary. All we need to know is in Scripture. However, there are places in the world where it is illegal to have a Bible. People can't just pick it up out of idle curiosity. They have to actively search out one and to do that, they need a powerful impetus. Therefore I don't automatically disregard claims from converts that they experienced these visions...as long as they are now associated with a legitimate church where they are receiving sound instruction and being encouraged to read the Bible to hear the Word.