Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury: What is your verdict?

[Nick Hallandale]

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury.
I want you to consider the eyewitness testimony and decide if Jesus of Nazareth arose from the dead, beyond a reasonable doubt.

Concerning the supposedly resurrected Jesus consider the following scriptures.

Luke 24:16 NAS
"""But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him."""

Luke 24:37 KJV
""But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.""

Matthew 28:17 KJV
And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.

John 20:14 KJV
""And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.""

John 21:4 KJV
""But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.""

After his supposed resurrection, Jesus only showed himself to his own followers according to the Bible. You would expect that his followers would be able to recognize him after his resurrection. But look again at the scriptures you just read. Jesus own followers didn't recognize him.
Pay special attention to the following...Matthew 28:16-17 KJV
16Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
17And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.

""" eleven disciples """ """but some doubted"""
After spending years traveling, eating, sleeping, talking, etc with Jesus, some of his closest disciples were doubtful that this was him.

Perhaps they were deceived by an imposter and Jesus was dead? After all nobody actually saw him rise from the dead.

Perhaps one of Jesus' brothers were taking his place to keep Jesus' ministry alive?

In a court room an identification requires 100% accuracy.
As a juror would you accept the identification of the supposedly resurrected Jesus beyond a reasonable doubt?

[TRANSPONDER]

[Replying to Nick Hallandale in post #1]
This is a precious thread to resurrect!

With all the research done in the OP, and also the debate that sprung from it so far.

I myself always planned to someday start a thread to debate this topic. Now I havent to, for here it is.

The BIG problem of no one recognicing Jesus at first sight I do call little brother of the other great resurrective problem; "Why no witnesses for the actual resurrection?"

And then now; "Why did no one instantly recognice the resurrected Christ?"

The Emmaus Encounter is clearly copied from an Asclepius story, as everybody knows!

But why always as a rule, no instant recognication from Christs closest comrades and co workers

I'm minded to stay out of this and leave it to others as I'm doing the resurrection elsewhere. But already I see the usual fallacies. Ignoring the problems that would would cause us to doubt any other book (say Beowulf, or Gilgamesh) and because some books are accepted as being reliable,or credibly so, we must put the Bible or gospels anyway, on the credible level.

But ladies and gentlemen of the Jury, there are many reasons to doubt the witness testimony as credible,let alone reliable. The lawyer skips over the problems and makes the best case they can because they are paid to; Bible apologists do it because they have Faith.

Failure to recognise Jesus by Cleophas and the other one who suddenly recognise Jesus over coffee and Bagels is not the only problem. Mary Magdalene does not recognise Jesus when she sees him after the disciples had rushed to inspect the tomb (John) and thinks it is the gardener who for some obscure reason has desecrated a tomb and removed the body, and that after she and all the others (Luke) had run personally into Jesus running from the tomb to report to the disciples (Matthew).

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury. I put it to you that these are independently concocted stories which therefor contradict terminally, and those who (for whatever reason) seek to talk you into buying these shoddy pieces of perjury as reliable deserve no credit. They are trying to bamboozle you into a kind of Faith they would dismiss without consideration were it any other religion and their Holt Book. Don't let 'em do it.