apologetiks

11/06/2009 In Off Topic by johnfoxe

I know that things have been going a bit slow around here lately and I apologize. With recent personal issues, I’ve been able to commit less and less time to writing for this site. Not to worry though, I’m still writing, and I even have plans for a new website (one that would take less maintenance)! I want to turn apologetiks.com into a combination of both blog AND resource site. The plans are still in my head so this likely won’t happen for a little while.

ALSO! If anyone is interested in helping out with the site, I am in need of those who enjoy writing and/or graphic design. If you like apologetics and think you might be able to lend some of your talents, please comment here or send me an email (jfoxe1@gmail.com). [I don't particularly have anything to give to or pay you...just to let you know.]

8 Comments

23/04/2009 In Apologetics, Church History, Easter, History, Jesus, Science by johnfoxe

“The entire issue rests on this: were some modern photographic processes known to some obscure genius in Northern France?”

Lirey, France — In the diocese of Troyes a cloth emerges. This 14′ x 4′ piece of flax has the faint imprints of a naked, bearded man who was probably scourged and crucified in a manner not unlike what historians know of the passion of Jesus, also called Christ. Astoundingly, this cloth’s image appears almost as a photographic negative….and this is the 1350’s AD/CE NO LESS! This cloth is soon claimed to be the burial linen, or shroud, that Christ’s body was wrapped in on Good Friday(1). Controversy was practically destined to follow this holy relic! (more…)

5 Comments

13/04/2009 In Easter, Jesus, agnosticism, athiesm by johnfoxe

Title: Spiritual Resurrection Theory (#7)
Historical Assumptions: Jesus both lived & died; his body was probably missing, but it might not have been.
What’s it Trying to Prove: Jesus didn’t rise from the dead “physically,” only spiritually. The post-resurrection appearances are not true.

This final “non-Christian” theory is probably the weirdest and with the most variations. I address it only because enough of a majority agree with it.

The Theory

“Jesus’ resurrection was spiritual, not physical. After his supposed “physical” resurrection, he was able to do many non-physical things. How can a human walk through a wall when the door is closed and locked (John 20:19)? How about when he appears suddenly only to disappear suddenly? These are not exactly things you and I can do! Besides, what about when his very followers often don’t recognize him (e.g., Mary at the tomb) or are told not to touch him (John 20:17)? According to Gnostic Gospels, this is what the original disciples believed; everything else is invented.”

(more…)

4 Comments

11/04/2009 In Church History, Easter, Jesus, agnosticism by johnfoxe

Title: Missing Body / Wrong Tomb Theory(#6)
Historical Assumptions: Jesus both lived & died; his body was missing.
What’s it Trying to Prove: Jesus didn’t rise from the dead; his disciples went to the wrong tomb.

The Theory

“Alright so the disciples probably didn’t steal the body. But what about other people? What if someone else stole the body? I’d say either that, or the disciples just went to the wrong tomb and just assumed he was raised from the dead…seeing as he had been claiming he would.”

Side Note: this theory was also initially held by Mary Magdalene when she found the empty tomb according to John 20:1-18.

(more…)

No Comments

11/04/2009 In Church History, Easter, Jesus, The Bible, agnosticism, athiesm by johnfoxe

Title: Hypnosis Theory (#5)
Historical Assumptions: Jesus both lived & died
What’s it Trying to Prove: Jesus didn’t rise from the dead; his disciples were hypnotized. Into thinking he was

The Theory

“Since it’s possible that Jesus used hypnosis to perform his miracles, perhaps buried in their minds a post-hypnotic suggestion, so they would believe this.”

Refutation

This theory suffers from some of the previous problems (e.g., the empty tomb) as well as some additional ones.

First, While it’s theoretically possible to hypnosis large numbers of people (even up to 500), it must happen in a controlled environment with the correct tools. For this to happen without a TV or Radio is practically impossible.

Second, if Jesus was already dead, he would’ve had to implant A LOT of post-hypnotic suggestions, seeing as there would be no one to induce hypnosis after his death.

Finally, the idea of hypnosis did not come around until the 18th/19th Centuries AD/CE! Jesus would not have only been the greatest hypnotist to have ever lived, he would’ve been a master of the art-of which he could have received to teaching-1700+ years before it was discovered.

This theory is just too general, and with too much speculation to be taken as a serious plausibility.

No Comments

09/04/2009 In Jesus, Reliability, agnosticism, athiesm by johnfoxe

Title: Vision / Hallucination Theory (#4)
Historical Assumptions: Jesus both lived & died
What’s it Trying to Prove: Jesus didn’t rise from the dead; his disciples only “thought” he did.

The Theory

“So we know that Jesus died for sure. The death rate is 100% after all! So all we’re left with is to explain the resurrection. What if the disciples’ experience of the post-resurrection Jesus wasn’t real? What if they wanted to see him so badly that their minds created an illussionary experience, perhaps what they thought to be a ‘vision’? Their expectations of him were so massive they just couldn’t accept the reality of his death….Either that, or what if the disciples were under the influence?”

(more…)

No Comments

09/04/2009 In Church History, Easter, History, Jesus, Qur'ran, agnosticism, athiesm by johnfoxe

Title: The Twin Theory (#3)
Historical Assumptions: Jesus both lived & died; his post-resurrection appearances were real.
What’s it Trying to Prove: The same Jesus that died didn’t rise from the dead. (I.e., he wasn’t who he said he was.)

The Theory

In his book More than A Skeleton, author Paul L Maier posits a fictional return of an alleged Jesus Christ. The book focuses on the life of Joshua Ben-Yosef, a whose personal traits, birth place and Apostles-like band of followers have already convinced many people that he is the returned Jesus. Toward the latter part of the book, (Spoiler) Joshua’s ministry climaxes with the raising of one of his disciples from the dead. In reality, the person being raised is actually an unknown twin. After one brother died, the other was put in his tomb. He was then “raised” from the dead. Perhaps this is what the REAL Jesus did 2000 years ago?

In my personal opinion, this is the “best” critical theory when hypothesizing against the Resurrection.  Even though it still commits some logical and factual errors, it is leaps and bounds above all other theories I’ve studied. Here’s why:

1. It conceptually accounts for post-resurrection appearances without denying the facts surrounding Jesus’ death.
2. It satisfies the issue with the disciples and their violent deaths. Since Jesus and his ‘brother’ concocted this hoax by themselves, the disciples would’ve been in the dark. As I said before, “no one dies for a lie.” In this case, the disciples would’ve been dying for what they believed to be true. (1)
3. It has some  support from Islamic (2) and Gnostic texts (3).

(more…)

No Comments

09/04/2009 In Church History, Easter, Jesus, agnosticism, athiesm by johnfoxe

Title: Swoon / Drugged-Body Theory (#2)
Historical Assumptions: Jesus lived, and was alive post-crucifixion.
What’s it Trying to Prove: Jesus didn’t really die at the Cross. This is how he was able to ‘fake’ his resurrection.

The Theory

“If no one stole his body (See the first theory), perhaps he wasn’t really dead while he was on the cross? Perhaps everyone just ‘thought’ he was dead? Remember when they gave him a sponge to drink from? His disciples put in a narcotic that gave the ‘appearance’ of death. Remember, they didn’t break his legs. He was only on the cross 6 hours! [According to Mark 15:44, Pilate was surprised that Jesus died quicker than most that were executed by that manner.] After he was ‘buried’ by Joseph of Arimathea, another in on the scheme, he revived in the ‘cool of the tomb’ as his drugs wore off. He then made his appearance as ‘resurrected’.”

(more…)

No Comments

08/04/2009 In Church History, Easter, Jesus, The Bible, agnosticism, athiesm by johnfoxe

Title: Stolen Body Theory (#1) / The Soldiers Fell Asleep Theory
Historical Assumptions: Jesus both lived & died; his body was missing.
What’s it Trying to Prove: Jesus didn’t rise from the dead; the disciples stole his body while the guards were sleeping.

The Theory

The Stolen Body / Soldiers Fell Asleep Theory is probably the oldest argument against the Resurrection of Jesus. As you might’ve guessed, it states that Jesus’ post-crucifixion body was stolen and the disciples just “claimed” that he was resurrected. The Bible mentions this theory specifically and early Jewish writings concur.⁽¹⁾

Skeptic Trypho the Jew in his dialogue with early apologist Justin Martyr:

“…you not only have not repented, after you learned that He rose from the dead, but, as I said before, you have sent chosen and ordained men throughout all the world to proclaim that a godless and lawless heresy had sprung from one Jesus, a Galilean deceiver, whom we crucified, but His disciples stole Him by night from the tomb, where He was laid when unfastened from the cross, and now deceive men by asserting that He has risen from the dead and ascended to heaven.”⁽²⁾ [Emphasis added]

On an interesting side-note, a short time after Jesus’ death (probably no later than 20 years), the Roman Caesar (Tiberius or Claudius) made a new edict to be put up, in none other than Jesus’ home town. It declared that grave-robbers would receive capital punishment. (See: Nazareth Inscription). Some historians speculate this was issued in response to the “Chrestus Riot” mentioned by Seutonious.⁽³⁾

(more…)

1 Comment

06/04/2009 In Easter, History, Jesus by johnfoxe

Ever since that Easter Sunday, people have rejected the reality of Christ’s resurrection. Even though we’ve seen many new theories as to what happened to Christ after his Crucifixion, most theories are as old as the event itself. Popularly, there are 10 or so theories that range from the disciples stealing his body, to Jesus having a twin brother, to the disciples being really, really high [on drugs...not on life]. For our purposes, I’ve shrunk the list down to 7 Hypothesis “Against” and 1 “For.”

(more…)

2 Comments