Was Jesus really raised from the dead or is it just a story?

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polonius
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Was Jesus really raised from the dead or is it just a story?

Post #1

Post by polonius »

Jesus was crucified for claiming to be the messiah in about 32 AD. Acts of the Apostles tells us he spend 40 days on earth and then ascended into heaven.

But the first writing claiming that Jesus was raised from the dead is in Paul's 1 Corinthians which dates from about 53 AD. Paul was in the east and was not a witness, but claims there were 500 witnesses none of whom nor the hundreds they would have told wrote anything about it nor did any of the four gospel writers.

Were there any witnesses during the 40 days Jesus spent on earth, and if so why didn't they leave any records (nor did any of the Roman soldiers in Jerusalem who would have been aware of the event have told Pilate)?

Was this just a story or a historical event?

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Difflugia
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Post #21

Post by Difflugia »

polonius wrote: onewithhim wrote:
I'm wondering what Bible version you are reading. All of my versions that I have in my library (and I have dozens) show that Matthew, an apostle with Jesus, wrote about Jesus' resurrection, around the year 41 A.D.. That was before Paul's contribution to the fact.

RESPONSE: Er. When was the Gospel of Matthew written? What evidence do you offer? :-s
I suspect that the AD 41 date comes from "Introduction to Matthew" in New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition). This is the date quoted for Matthew all through JW material, but I only found one place that attempts to justify it at all: a sidebar from a Watchtower article from 1996.
However, evidence suggests an early date for the writing of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Subscripts in some manuscript copies of Matthew indicate that the original writing took place as early as 41 C.E.
I found a few late 1800s commentaries that claim this and all more-or-less repeat the same information as the others. The best two are here and here, if you want to read them.

I looked up the two early commentators that are referenced by both commentaries, Theophylact and Euthymius. Both are Byzantine scholars from the eleventh century. I found Theophylact translated into English. No such luck with Euthymius. Theophylact, anyway, bases his dating on the idea that Matthew wrote first. Nearly all modern scholars agree that Matthew and Luke were dependent on Mark, however, which is probably why The Watchtower is alone in suggesting AD 41.

polonius
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Post #22

Post by polonius »

Onewithhim wrote:

(quote)I'm wondering what Bible version you are reading. All of my versions that I have in my library (and I have dozens) show that Matthew, an apostle with Jesus, wrote about Jesus' resurrection, around the year 41 A.D.. That was before Paul's contribution to the fact. (quote).

RESPONSE: Please list four of the Bibles you have used when you claim the Matthew's gospel was written in 41 AD

The gospel of Matthew was written anonymously. It is conceded that the evangelist Matthew was not the Apostle Matthew who would not have copied so much of Gospel fro the Gospel of Mark. (See Introduction to Matthew in the New American Bible)

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