Jesus
The Christ
Birth
- Miracles -
Crucifixion - Resurrection- Divinity
- Prophecies
- Pagan Influence - Miscellaneous
Birth
Miracles
Crucifixion
In
one of the early works of the Christian Church entitled, Against
Heresies, written by St. Irenaeus ( lived between 125 AD and 202
AD), it says at Book
II of that work. The specific
chapter of interest in that book is Chapter 22, #5. The title of the chapter is:
“CHAP.
XXII—THE THIRTY AEONS ARE NOT TYPIFIED BY THE FACT THAT CHRIST WAS BAPTIZED
IN HIS THIRTIETH YEAR: HE DID NOT SUFFER IN THE TWELFTH MONTH AFTER HIS
BAPTISM, BUT WAS MORE THAN FIFTY
YEARS OLD WHEN HE DIED.”
Then
he Says:
“5.
They, however, that they may establish their false opinion regarding that which
is written, ‘to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,’ maintain that He
preached for one year only, and then suffered in the twelfth month. [In speaking
thus], they are forgetful to their own disadvantage, destroying His whole work,
and robbing Him of that age which is
both more necessary and more honourable than any other; that more advanced age,
I mean, during which also as a teacher He excelled all others. For how could He
have had disciples, if He did not teach? And how could He have taught, unless He
had reached the age of a Master?
For when He came to be baptized, He had not yet completed His thirtieth year,
but was beginning to be about thirty years of age (for thus Luke, who has
mentioned His years, has expressed it: ‘Now Jesus was, as it were, beginning
to be thirty years old,’(13) when He came to receive baptism); and, [according
to these men] He preached only one year reckoning from His baptism. On
completing His thirtieth year He suffered, being in fact still a young man, and
who had by no means attained to advanced age. Now, that the first stage of early
life embraces thirty years (1) and that this extends onwards to the fortieth
year, every one will admit; but from
the fortieth and fiftieth year a man begins to decline towards old age, which
our Lord possessed while He still fulfilled the office of a Teacher, even as the
Gospel and all the elders testify; those who were conversant in Asia with John,
the disciple of the Lord, [affirming] that John conveyed to them that
information. (2) And he [Jesus or John?] remained among them up to the times of
Trajan. (3) Some of them, moreover, saw not only John, but the other apostles
also, and heard the very same account from them, and bear testimony as to the
[validity of] the statement. Whom then should we rather believe? Whether
such men as these, or Ptolemaeus, who never saw the apostles, and who never even
in his dreams attained to the slightest trace of an apostle?”
"Some of the other newly discovered
gnostic books reflect the well-known docetic tradition that Jesus did
not really die on the cross, but another died in his place. Although this
belief obviously derives its strength from the idea that Jesus was not of
mortal flesh, so could not suffer, it could hardly have flourished in gnostic
circles if there had been solid and certain evidence that he had really
died." Jesus
and the Riddle of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Barbara Thiering, pp.117-118
Resurrection
-
"Historical
Evidence and the Empty Tomb Story
-
Why
I Don't Buy the Resurrection Story
-
Resurrection of the gods. Christian Mythology.
- Leave
No Stone Unturned: An Easter Challenge For Christians
To successfully complete this challenge, all you have to do is explain what
happened on Easter. The author doesn't demand "proof", but only
that Christians tell him exactly what happened on the day that Jesus
supposedly rose from the dead. The only catch: you can't leave out a single
detail of any of the separate Biblical accounts - all of which were
supposedly inspired by the Holy Spirit. As mentioned below, the first person
to solve this puzzle can win $2,000. The prize is still unclaimed, so have
fun . . .
- A
Two-Thousand-Dollar Oppurtunity
There is a longstanding offer of a $1,000 reward to anyone who can take all
accounts of the resurrection in the four gospels, Acts, and 1 Corinthians
15, and write a single narrative in which he includes every event and detail
mentioned in the separate accounts and do so without omitting anything or
injecting inconsistency, contradiction, or purely speculative materials into
the narrative. To sweeten the pot a little, The Skeptical Review will add
another $1,000 to the original offer.
- What
Happened to the Resurrected Saints?
This essay discusses two verses in the Gospel of Matthew which say that at
the moment of Jesus' death "the tombs were opened; and many bodies of
the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs
after his resurrection they entered into the holy city and appeared unto
many" (27:52-53). Isn't it odd that no other gospel writer mentioned
such a great miracle? Isn't it odd that no contemporary historian of the
time mentioned such a thing, even though they mentioned much lesser events?
A "Must Read"!
- More
About the Resurrected Saints
The article "What Happened to the Resurrected Saints?" generated
several rebuttals. The article contains a response to reader criticisms of
the original article.
- The
Resurrection - on the Jews for Judaism home page
A short Biblical study to assist in evaluating this most central of
Christian claims - from the Jewish point of view.
- Why
Didn't They Know?
According to the author, "just about everyone who had been associated
with Jesus knew that he was supposed to be resurrected except the
apostles." This article examines the numerous New Testament references
to the apostles' skepticism of a resurrection. Perhaps the most interesting
part of this article even though Luke (24:46) and Paul (1 Cor. 15:4) alleged
that the "scriptures" said that Jesus would be raised on the
"third day ", no such prophecy exists. As the author puts it,
" . . . the claim and the reality are two different things. One could
search the OT scriptures until doom's day, and he would find nothing written
about a Messiah who would rise from the dead on the third day. One will find
nothing in the OT scriptures about a risen Messiah, period!" Read it
and see . . .
- Did
They or Didn't They?
After the women supposedly saw Jesus' empty tomb, did they tell anyone what
they saw or didn't they? "That's the problem that inerrantists must
resolve."
- Did
They Tarry in the City?
This essay address the apparent contradiction between an alleged
post-resurrection appearance of Jesus on a mountain in Galilee and John
20:48 which commands the disciples to "tarry ye in the city, until ye
be clothed with power from on high".
- The
Resurrection Maze
If the four gospel authors were divinely inspired, "there would be no
maze of inconsistencies in the juxtaposition of their stories."
- What
Third-Day Prophecy?
The New Testament claims that the Messiah rose on the third day
"according to the scriptures", but where in the Old Testament is a
prophecy whose face-value meaning was so obvious that no reasonable person
could deny that the prophets were indeed predicting that the Messiah would
rise from the dead? Claiming prophecy fulfillment when there was no prophecy
. . . a BIG problem for Christians. Excellent . . . so read it!!!
- The
Historicity of Jesus' Resurrection
A lengthy article of several chapters, that deals with the historicity of
the alleged resurrection of Jesus. Responds to many of the arguments made by
Christian apologists such as Josh McDowell and William Lane Craig.
Recommended!!
Divinity
“I
and the Father are One” John 10:30
by Samid Al-Katib New
Prophecies
Pagan Influence
Check The
Christian Doctrines
Miscellaneous