Three Earliest Resurrection Texts — Ignored, Overlooked, and Forgotten!
Video by James Tabor
Commentary by Charles Sulka
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In this video presentation, James Tabor makes a compelling case for the proposition that most everyone is interpreting the resurrection narrative in the Bible all wrong. I can find no fault with his logic, nor with his interpretation of the texts.
In my estimation, Tabor’s analysis removes certain inconsistencies from the story as it has been handed down to us. The role of Jesus Christ as intercessor between man and God is in no way diminished by this new understanding of Bible text. Tabor’s analysis makes the texts more consistent by removing what appear to be embellishments added by scribes after-the-fact. The embellishments were a nice touch: Roman soldiers being stupefied and awed; the darkening sky and the thundering of ominous clouds; the veil of the temple being rent by invisible hands; the tombs of the saints burst open and their bodies raised from the dead, Jesus appearing in a resurrected body before he met with the apostles in Galilee as He had promised them, etc. But this spectacle — the supernatural element — really isn’t necessary to convey the meaning and the message of Jesus’ sacrifice for humanity.
To a thoughtful reader, the extravagant narrative — the embellishments — really didn’t sound authentic. For example, it says the tombs of the saints were split open and their bodies raised from the dead. This is not supported by logic nor evident from other religious writings, or the accounts of historians. How could there be saints buried in tombs before there was a Christian faith to create saints in the first place? Is this passage referring to pagan, heathen, Roman or Jewish saints? This seems unlikely, for obvious reasons. What happened to the “saint’s” resurrected bodies? Did they wander about the land like zombies? What problems arose from the droves of undead “saints” wandering about?
It is hard to imagine such ‘zombies’ being assimilated into the superstitious Jewish culture to continue with their interrupted lives without this phenomenon being recorded by historians, of which there were many (all more level-headed than the Palestinian Jews, who had just crucified Jesus.)
Were the zombified saints murdered by the terrified Jews? Surely the Roman administrators would have recorded such a spectacle in their official records. Were the resuscitated saints captured and put to death … again? Were they “raptured” — caught up directly into Heaven? One would think that there would be further edification with regard to such a momentous event. If it had actually happened, that is….
What is the official position of Christendom — the (Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church?) To quote Fr. Charles Grondin, “the Catechism of the Catholic Church notes:
The patriarchs, prophets and certain other Old Testament figures have been and always will be honored as saints in all the Church’s liturgical traditions.”
This is a bit vague. For example, what about the desert raider David (later King David). Despite being a liar and a thief, a murderer, and an adulterer — all qualities which make him admirable in the eyes of the Jews, if not of Christians who try to live in accordance with the precepts of the true God, many would consider King David a saint. (Jews, anyway….) How would the Jews who had just crucified our Lord react if David and a host of other Old Testament figures had suddenly come to life after being dead and buried for centuries? Would there be great joy? Or is it more likely that there would have been widespread rending of garments, wailing, and gnashing of teeth?
As for me, I think Tabor is on the right track. The question certainly deserves a closer examination.
(CHS 01-21-2025 1835 -0500)
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Youtube Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=480YzJKC2AA
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