1. Nothing I write here is meant to convince anybody to dump their religion and follow me.
2. I am a simple man like you all who is simply sharing his thoughts on a subject.
3. Before you continue reading if you know you are unable to have an open mind about things and think critically then you may as well exit without reading any further.
This post was inspired by the whole Kim K tweet controversy that transpired yesterday where most people believed Kim had sent out a tweet dissing Nigerians and Nigerian women.
I got to thinking, if so many people could be fooled into believing such an obvious hoax in this day and age with our technology and the ability to cross chec something as a fact how much more so those living in the era that Jesus lived..
How did so many people come to believe that Jesus a man had died and resurrected from the dead? I'm sure when the tale was first told to the ordinary man he probably expressed doubts about the subject.
Now before I go on I have to state what I believe so people do not misconstrue what I am saying. I believe in Jesus. I believe in his message of love. I believe that he lived and walked the earth. I believe he was a unique and great man. I do not however believe that he died, was buried 3 days and then rose from the dead. Does his resurrection or non-resurrection diminish his message in anyway to me? No. His message is not in anyway diminished whether he remains dead or resurrected..
When I posed this question on twitter some asked "How can you prove that Jesus did not rise from the dead? ". Forget the fact that the burden of proof should not lie with me but with those who believe he rose from the dead. I will say this, how many people have you buried or attended their funerals that rose from the dead? Mention one person or think about one person you personally know that arose from the dead after being buried ? Some of you have buried your grand fathers or grand mothers. Are they still dead? Or did they resurrect? My point is we can see for ourselves that men do not die and after buried rise from the dead. That's proof enough.
Some will then say well "how can you expect people to prove that Jesus resurrected when they did not live in that era" and my reply would be "how can you expect them to believe it? To which some may say it was a miracle "supernatural". When something is a miracle it means that it goes against what is natural and common to men that it is indeed "supernatural". So imagine the ordinary Jewish man when he first heard the tale of Jesus rising from the dead would he not have thought to himself ? What is more probable? That nature should go out of its course, or that a man should tell a lie? In all of our life times we have never seen people rise from the dead when resurrected; but we have seen and many of us continue to see millions of lies told by men to other men.
Those who then say Jesus resurrected are the ones who are pointing out an "abnormality". My grandpa ate food while he was alive so did Jesus. My grandpa slept when he was alive so did Jesus. My grandpa breathed fresh air when he was alive. So did Jesus. My grandpa walked on two feet when he was alive. So did Jesus. If it sleeps like a man, breathes like a man, eats like a man, walks like a man. One can safely conclude that Jesus was a MAN.
Now some will say "Well Jesus was no ordinary man". Yes he was no ordinary man, he was a unique man but just because a man is special and unique does not make said man a "God". Usian bolt is special and unique, Albert Einstein was special and unique. Steve Jobs special and unique. Martin Luther king special and unique. Ghandi special and unique, all these men just like Jesus were great men and just like Jesus did not resurrect from the dead.. Does their inability to rise from the dead take away from their message or diminish them in any shape or form? No.
Some will then go on to say "We'll Jesus healed the sick and performed miracles". Does the ability to heal the sick and perform miracles translate into being able to rise from the dead? Answer is No. Jesus was not the only person to perform miracles and heal the sick, many men before him and after him have healed the sick and performed miracles yet none have been said to posses the ability to rise from the dead.
Then some will go on to argue "Well how can you believe in God and not believe in the bible?". Notice I'm not criticizing the whole bible just a specific part that I want to address. A person can believe in God and not believe in the bible. To think that the two are not mutually exclusive is absurd. Men wrote the bible. Men run the church. I might not know God or the nature of God. But I know men and the nature of men. Men lie, cheat, steal, embellish, conspire. Men also love, show kindness, can be generous etc.
Just because a man says "God spoke to him" does not make the man the spokesperson of God. Just like yesterday during the Kim K controversy, her PR was reached and she denied ever sending out the tweet. The problem is we can't do the same thing in God's case. We can't call up God or his PR to have him say whether he told so and so this or so and so to write such and such. As long as men are the ones who wrote the bible, it will forever be subject to the whims of men. Anybody can claim God made them do anything.
Some will then argue, well the bible says "Jesus is the Son of God" and I ask who among us is not a child of God? Aren't we all sons and daughters of god? Some will go on to argue then that "if Jesus was not the "literal" Son of God why then was he killed?". This takes us back to the nature f men, the Pharisees had a power structure in place, they sought to protect their own interests and power. People in powerful positions do not like when that power is put under threat. Same way Abacha put OBj, Abiola etc in jail, powerful people in powerful positions do not like when their power base is threatened. Jesus and his message was a big threat.
It is important to note that even the Jews who Jesus came from do not believe that he rose from the dead. They don't believe he's the messiah or anything of that such.
In conclusion, some will say "but with God anything is possible". Is it not possible that God resurrected Jesus from the dead?". But if we go down that road then anything and I mean anything becomes possible. Men can then distort anything and claim God did or or approved of it. Which is easier to believe? That God would raise a man from the dead or that men would embellish the story of their leader to make him a God? Same thing was said of Archilles by the Greeks, they called him a God because he was a fresh fighter but alas a man is still a man no matter what greatness he may attain.
I shall finish off with a quote by Thomas Paine.
"The God in whom we believe is a God of moral truth, and not a God of mystery or obscurity. Mystery is the antagonist of Truth. It is a fog of human invention that obscures truth, and represents it in distortion. Truth never envelops itself in mystery; and the mystery in which it is at any time enveloped, is the work of its antagonist, and never of itself".
5 comments:
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Reading your blog post, I found the title rather strange and even stranger that you claim to believe in Jesus and His message. If you really do believe Jesus' message, did you skip over the parts where He claimed to be God?
The message of the Bible (and Jesus' message) is to proclaim salvation to all men, calling everyone to turn from their sins and to seek God's forgiveness. Genesis starts with how Adam and Eve rebelled against God and then in Genesis 3:15, God made the first promise to send a "seed of the woman" to crush the serpent's head (Satan) though this "seed" will have His heel bruised. From that point, the Bible then gives genealogies of which we follow a particular bloodline leading up to the promised seed. We find God in the account of the flood is showing by faith, we would be saved from God's judgement over sin. Then with Abraham whom God declared righteous because of his faith in God's promise of this "seed" (Hebrews 11 gives more examples). Then King David whom God promised a "seed" to sit on his throne forever. And through David's Psalms we know this "seed" would suffer (Psalm 22) to God's glory (Psalm 40 (verse 6 uses a Hebrew figure of speech which is clearer in Hebrews 10:5) and is David's Lord (Psalm 2). Then reading Isaiah 49-57, especially 49 and 52:12 to the end of 53 that this "seed" will die as an atonement for sins but will live to see many of his descendants.
Now to cut the story short, I'd move on the book of Matthew which opens up with an account of a genealogy connecting Jesus to Abraham in respect of God's promise to Abraham. Also read Luke 24, especially verses 13-53.
From the above discussions, we find God promised a seed who is God in human flesh (miraculously born of a virgin woman so that He can take on a fully human nature without the Adamite sin, because everybody born of human copulation, as a descendant of Adam, is born sinful) will die (His heel being bruised) for the sins of many but will defeat the serpent (satan by crushing his head) and will see His descendants, i.e by being raised from the dead and living forever. By the way, Jesus is eternal and pre-existed this time in history seeing as He is God and claimed to be (see Judges 6 and 13 for example), but He stepped into time as a man for the purpose of atonement for sins.
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Because we are born sinful, we are NOT all children of God but by nature born children of the devil until God redeems a person by forgiving them of their sins through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus.
To your question of if Jesus rose from the dead, unless you believe He did, you do not believe in Jesus' message because He said He would die and three days later would resurrect from the dead (Mark 9:30-32). Jesus' resurrection was not a tale passed around the community that people consoled themselves with.
Firstly, He was crucified openly, on a Roman cross by a Roman governor's execution. If you understand the culture and brutality of the Romans at the time, you will understand there is no escaping death. Besides, John 19:31-37, lets us know that His side was pierced and there was a separation of blood and water. It is confirmed by medical experts that this is a sure sign of death. Now prior to Jesus (and till today) people have made the claim of Messiah and promised to rise from the dead. 98% of these have disbanded at the death of the said Messiah. Many of Jesus' followers also abandoned Him when they arrested Him because they too did not want to die. Now, we know these disciples though fearful became bold later on proclaiming Christ's resurrection. Your submission is "people believe anything" and I agree "people believe anything" even at the point of death. But no one will die for something they have made up nor suffer for something without any physical benefit. Those disciples except John died horrible deaths. It was not an easy thing to say Jesus is Lord in the Roman empire because of Emperor worship. It meant death. And secular writers, hostile to Christianity, noted that Christians would not deny Christ at intense torture even though that would give them freedom (eg. Tacitus). Jesus' enemies also did not have to make up lies if Jesus really did not rise from the dead because, Jesus' tomb was that of a well known man and that tomb could easily be checked out John 19:38 and Matthew 28:11-15.
Then Paul's argument in 1 Corinthians 15 (I suggest you read it) is that if Christ did not rise from the dead, we Christians should be most pitied. Why die and suffer for something that is false? Besides, Jesus appeared to 500 people besides the disciples and if He didn't, Christianity would have failed before it started just like the other failed Messiah's of time past (Google them and see also, Acts 5:33-42)
Finally, we have the witness of the Holy Spirit, given only to those who have been saved by God (1 John 5: 1-12). Not just anyone even if they claim to be Christians or claim to know Christ has God's Holy Spirit or belongs to Christ (Matthew 7:21-23).
So your grandpa is still dead because death is the consequence of Adam's rebellion against God and it has been appointed to men to die once then be judged for their sins. Even those resurrected in the Bible, died later because the final judgement is not here and so the final resurrection of dead when all will be judged. Only Jesus lives because Jesus is God and death could not hold Him because God would not leave Him among the dead (Acts 2:24-41). When Christ returns and the final judgement has been served, those found without the very righteousness of God through Christ will be damned forever in
God's judgement. I conclude by saying, humble yourself before God and seek His forgiveness, have faith in Him to save you, turn from your sins AND seek His own righteousness, because your own will fail you (Isaiah 50:10-11).
Kind regards.
Oh I also want to emphasise this point. Jesus Christ is not like Gandhi, Mother Theresa and others. His message is one which would save from God's judgement against sin. You can believe Gandhi's message to the point of channeling him, if you don't belong to Christ, such a person is still damned under God's wrath and remain guilty of sin. Besides, Christ is God and existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through Him God created everything. Everything was created THROUGH HIM and FOR HIM (Colossians 1). Gandhi and Mother Theresa are created through Jesus Christ and for Jesus Christ.
Even though throughout your blog, you're blaspheming against God, He would still forgive you if you humble yourself and seek Him. All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Joel 2:32)
My question for you is what makes not believe in the resurrection of Christ?
1stly; Jesus isn't to be compared to men even the likes of(steve jobs,bolt,etc). Jesus is part of the trinity and this doesn't make him one of us. The trinity means God is made up of 3 distinct bodies (the Father,the Son and the Holy Spirit). Jesus is the Son. This means he is NOT a MAN. He is part of God our Father,but not God. We are all called sons of God but Jesus isn't just a son but God's ONLY begotten Son. Jesus being part of the trinity makes him supernatural just like God, so he can die 100times and resurrect back.
2ndly; The scriptures never lies and can never be broken. God said this book of the Lord(the bible) is the truth and life. Yes man wrote the bible but God ordained this to happen. There are no mistakes at all in the bible. Somethings might be confusing but at the end it would all make sense. Sometimes I question myself about somethings in the bible but it best we just pray to God for better understanding. Prov 3:5 trust in God with your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
3rdly; you can't claim to believe in God and not believe in one thing about Jesus. For the Bible says not to be double minded. It is better not to believe in God/Jesus or the word at all than to not just believe in one particular thing the bible says about Jesus. This is like a waste of time in God's eye. We can only get to God through his Son, Jesus. If you believe in Jesus it means you believe in everything he stands for completely. The bible says you can't stand for 2 different things about Jesus. You have to pick one. Its either you don't believe at all or you believe it all.
Jesus is much more than just a unique or great man. We can only reach the father(God) through Christ his precious son, that is why we always pray in Jesus name.
My point is if you claim to believe in God then you should never doubt anything the word says about Christ.
Burden of proof lol... well I have some facts to share is this: 1. it is impossible to prove either position with undeniable evidence (evidence acceptable to the sceptic and within empirical premises)... so if you say you believe only what you can vet, well you cannot really vet the fact that he did not rise from the dead so you actually believe something you cannot really vet in certainty (I think lol)... 2. Both opinions cannot be true... truth in reality is exclusive. So is there a possibility that you are right... yes and is there a possibility you are wrong yes... so I say to you.... I think you should be saying "I think Jesus did not rise from the dead" because you can't really be sure.... my tots lol... can't really keep my attention span when reading so may have missed some things... met u at Our Story Inc
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