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Resurrection |
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But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the
dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been
raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and
so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false
witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised
Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are
not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been
raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile;
you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in
Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to
be pitied more than all men. 1 Corinthians 15: 12 – 19 And so Christianity stands or falls upon this one issue. What did happen to Christ's body after the crucifixion? There seem to be four possibilities: 1)
he didn’t die in the first place. He merely fainted and recovered
later in the cold air of the tomb. Response: this would require the
very professional Roman executioners – who had carried out probably
hundreds of other similar executions – to make a shocking error of
judgement. They would be in danger of death themselves for making such a
mistake. They were, in fact, so concerned over the possibility (as Jesus
had died earlier in the proceedings than was normal) that they pushed a
spear into his side. ‘Blood and water’ came out – and modern
medical science knows full well that when someone has died the red part
of the blood separates from the clear part (I don’t know the correct
terms). |
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