Is there any evidence other than the Bible of tombs opening and the dead rising upon Christ's death? One would think such an extraordinary occurrence would have caught the eye of some contemporary witness.
Is there any evidence other than the Bible of tombs opening and the dead rising upon Christ's death? One would think such an extraordinary occurrence would have caught the eye of some contemporary witness.
Its a symbol for what takes place in the temple of man from lower base thinking to a higher state of conscience awareness, the clues are there to find like the place of Christ death on the cross takes place on a hill meaning skull, his pointing to the human body being the kingdom, Jacob seeing God through the penial gland, yada yada etc....literal is a diversion for endless debates about faith and hope in the clouds of history and future.
Bill Donahue connects the brain with the medical terms hidden in the dark sayings of scripture, yet you Atheist want to play in the literal play ground with the Theist who think serpents talk and fish swallow men when it is all Esoteric teachings, Alvin Boyd Kuhn shows that lost interpretation to be only rational way to actually understand the meanings of these Ancient stories plagiarized by Rome, and perverted into the literal fruit that as rotted on the vine.
It just so happens that Matthew was a witness to the events.
That does not answer my question. Are there any extra Biblical accounts of this extraordinary occurrence?
I also think that most Biblical scholars do not believe the writer of Matthew was an eye witness or one of the 12. I think the general thought is that the writer is unknown.
That does not answer my question. Are there any extra Biblical accounts of this extraordinary occurrence?
I also think that most Biblical scholars do not believe the writer of Matthew was an eye witness or one of the 12. I think the general thought is that the writer is unknown.
Matthew was one of the Apostles and an eye witness.
Also note the preceding verse 52 says "..and many bodies" were 'raised' up. Thus Matthew is evidently referring to their corpses. He doesn't mention them coming to life.
The dead didn't rise in Matthew 27:53. They were simply thrown out of their tombs because of the Earthquake that was caused when Jesus died which Witnesses of the event reported as they went back into the City of Jerusalem.
Firstly for corpses to be thrown out of tombs by an Earthquake is not usual. The Greek writer Aelius Aristides reported this in the 2nd Century. And it has also happened in Colombia in 1967 where the practice of internment via Mausoleum or Tomb is more commonplace than burial.
Also note the preceding verse 52 says "..and many bodies" were 'raised' up. Thus Matthew is evidently referring to their corpses. He doesn't mention them coming to life. Even if you assume they did come to life it stands to reason that an event of that magnitude would be recorded elsewhere in the scriptures or other gospels. But it is not.
Lastly the Greek verb e·geiʹro, means to "raise up". It does not always refer to a resurrection. It can, among other things, also mean to “"lift out" from a pit or to "get up" from the ground.
The King James version : "51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many."
That suggests more than just having corpses shaken out of the ground by an earth quake. In fact it suggests that they came out of the ground not on Jesus' death but after the resurrection and went into Jerusalem and appeared to others. Yet no where else is this strange experience noted.
One would think that a number of people who had been entombed showing up would make the populace take notice. Note it states "many bodies...appeared to many."
Is there any evidence other than the Bible of tombs opening and the dead rising upon Christ's death? One would think such an extraordinary occurrence would have caught the eye of some contemporary witness.
Matthew 27:51-54 KJV - [FONT="]And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;[/FONT][FONT="]52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,[/FONT]Is there any evidence other than the Bible of tombs opening and the dead rising upon Christ's death? One would think such an extraordinary occurrence would have caught the eye of some contemporary witness.
Is there any evidence other than the Bible of tombs opening and the dead rising upon Christ's death? One would think such an extraordinary occurrence would have caught the eye of some contemporary witness.
Is there any evidence other than the Bible of tombs opening and the dead rising upon Christ's death? One would think such an extraordinary occurrence would have caught the eye of some contemporary witness.
Blasphemy. It's no wonder you can't comprehend the Trinity.The context is very revealing when read for what it says
Matthew 27:51-53
51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
According to VP Wierwille, verses 52-53 must be additions to the text
I agree, reading those verses for what they say reveals the absurdity of what is said.
Evidently, the many bodies that arose after the veil was rent and the earthquake occurred arose but did not actually come out of the graves until three days later?
What nonsense! There is sufficient reason to delete those verses