On this Easter Sunday, when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I thought it would be interesting to hear a scientist explain why he believes in the resurrection.
A Scientist Looks at the Resurrection
A physicist confesses that the electron is round and that Jesus rose from the dead. My own faith is informed by the evidence, but it is much more.
peacefulscience.org
EXCERPT:
When asked to believe in something, scientists often ask questions about evidence. There certainly is
evidence for the Resurrection, which can be summarized around three historical claims: 1) Jesus was crucified and died, 2) his body was buried in a tomb that was found empty a few days later, and 3) his disciples experienced encounters with who they believed to be the newly resurrected body. I will show that these three claims, backed by historical evidence and scholarly consensus, together constitute a compelling case for the Resurrection.
The first claim is the least controversial. Almost no historian disputes that Jesus lived in the first century AD, carried out a ministry for a few years and was crucified to death by the Romans. Even a skeptical scholar such as
Bart Ehrman argues vigorously for the historical veracity of these basic facts, based on both Christian and non-Christian sources. . . .
More comprehensive examinations of Roman crucifixion and Jewish burial practices by specialist scholars show us that the gospel account of Jesus’ burial in a tomb by Joseph of Arimathea is historically credible.<a href="
A Scientist Looks at the Resurrection">3</a> Similarly, there are strong arguments to support the claim that the tomb was found empty a few days later.<a href="
A Scientist Looks at the Resurrection">4</a> A commonly cited reason is that the gospel accounts are rendered more credible by their agreement that women were the first witnesses to the empty tomb. More recently,
John Granger Cook has argued that based on linguistic, historical, and cultural reasons, it is unlikely Paul mentions a burial and resurrection (
1 Corinthians 15:3-7 ) without presupposing an empty tomb.
According to the Catechism, 'On the third day, he ascended up to heaven, where he sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty'. Now, whilst the person known as Jesus Christ might well have existed historically and his tomb was indeed found to have been empty according to folklore, and what was seen as 'two angels' might well have been seen, it might be an allegory for the luminaries, as postulated by the nineteenth century rogue Rev. Robert Taylor BA, [born 1784] who believed the scriptures were really about astrology, with God being the sun, the birth of Christ being signified as Aries, with the three Wise Men who 'followed the star', some kind of astrologers, so on and so forth, with 'sitting at the right hand' merely a figure of speech (as in 'He's my right-hand man'). In the collection of Taylor's works as 'The Devil's Pulpit', he preached that ancient priests and prophets were merely stargazers and astrologists (e.g., the Druids, the Magi, etc.,) so in other words, it is not meant to be taken literally but merely represents the universe around us. Taylor had a duality system of night versus day, and even six 'master' months versus six 'slave' months. For Taylor, the 'Lamb of God' was 'when the Sun took the cross and passed the Equator in Aries'. As another example, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are associated with astrological figures (eagle, bull, etc. representing the four seasons, as worshipped five thousand years ago in ancient temples.) It makes sense that people equate natural phenomena with the so-called luminaries: the planets and stars, together with the season and elements. Thus, from that perspective, the resurrection of Christ is a retelling of the coming of spring. Lambs, daffodils and renewed vigour all round.
For Rev Taylor 25 Mar every year is when the Virgin Mary conceives and gives birth on 25 Dec.. Taylor said that the term 'Christ' is from the Greek custom of showing a couple of crosses on sepulchres and tombs of the dead and were merely a hieroglyph of the two crosses of the Equator, by the ecliptic at the equinoctial points, that of autumn, when the sun dips below, and spring, when it crosses it again from below, and is thus said - Rev. Taylor preaches - to rise again from the dead. Hence, the idea of resurrection.
Taylor thought the earliest forms of religion were theatrical performances, hence the humanisation of the heavenly bodies, with the first tragedy being the gospel, the first performers being known as Hypocrites, i.e., persons acting under a mask, thus, argues Taylor, 'all our priests are hypocrites and all the religion in the world is nothing but hypocrisy'.
Even the Devil, named as Lucifer in the Bible, is described as a bright star falling down from heaven. He is represented as a serpent, and a scorpion ( = represented, claims Taylor, by Scorpio and as the more ancient Baal, the 'bearer of light'). For Rev. Taylor, Jehovah, Satan, God and the devil are all the self same imaginary being.
For Taylor, Christ's crucifixion was also the story of Bacchus the god of wine, 'When Jesus had tasted of the vinegar, he lifted his head and said it is finished, and gave up the ghost' - wine being an allegory for blood and water. So, when Christ ascends into the heavens under Gemini, the constellation of Castor and Pollux, the twins of May, might this not be the two angels referred to in the scriptures? Or the two sons of Rachel in the Old Testament. So, as we see, for Taylor, Christ was the human form of the Sun.
As you can imagine, Rev. Taylor was considered stark raving mad by the bishops and deans and was eventually defrocked, even serving time for blasphemy. But his ideas have a certain compelling charm,
ne c'est pas? But whichever way you look at it it defies science and scientific proof.
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en.wikipedia.org
