Was Jesus really dead?

One of Billy Graham's readers wastes their time by asking Billy a question that he will only ever answer one way. After all, he has no choice but to parrot the same unevidenced nonsense...

Q: Was Jesus really dead when they took Him down from the cross? I have a hard time believing that, because everyone knows that dead people just don’t come back to life — which is what you Christians claim Jesus did, don’t you? — C.T.

Correct, people coming back from the dead is a pretty absurd concept. Why is it that we can all laugh about the prospect of a zombie apocalypse, yet Christians take Jesus pulling the same zombie trick as unquestionably true. But was he really dead? Read on, because my replies to Graham will show that we simply can't know (if we're generous with our assumptions)...

A: Beyond doubt, Jesus was dead when His body was taken down from the cross; the Roman soldiers who’d nailed Him to the cross made certain of it. Remember, too, that His body was then placed in a cave-like tomb, which was sealed with a stone weighing hundreds of pounds.

Wrong Billy, it is not beyond any doubt that Jesus was dead. How can that be, when there's not even any proof that he was actually crucified or even existed at all? The answer is that we can't! But there are some glaring problems with the crucifixion story, that throw a ton of doubt into the story, even if we assume he was real and was crucified.

Crucifixion is far from pretty. Jesus supposedly died after just a few hours on the cross. The problem is that death from crucifixion usually took a few days to a week. So if he was pulled down as quickly as the Bible says, he should have still been alive. In a lot of pain, but still living.

There is also a problem with how the Romans checked to make sure he was dead. Did they take his pulse? Nope. They stabbed him with a spear. And when they did so, John 19:34 says that, "But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water." It's odd that they took that as a sign that he was dead, because a sudden burst of blood and water like that would actually be a sign that he was alive, and not dead. This is what happens when people write books without doing the proper research...

After Jesus' supposed resurrection, he only showed himself to his followers and hid from those that were against him. Seems to me that if he really was back from the dead, showing this fact to one and all would erase any doubt and bring more into his flock. Maybe he had to hide out so that the authorities wouldn't find out he never really died. Then there is the fact that the gospels can't even get their stories straight, even on the most important story for the Christian religion!

And yet, on the third day after His death, Christ was alive, appearing not only to the women who first came to the tomb to anoint His body, but to the disciples who’d gathered behind closed doors. During the next 40 days He appeared repeatedly to numerous others. Decades later, Paul wrote that Jesus “appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living” (1 Corinthians 15:6).

Any documents to back up these claims that he appeared to over 500 people? No? You would think that at least one of those people who met the supposedly resurrected savior would think it to be a big enough deal to make some note of it...

Only one explanation covers all the facts: Jesus rose from the dead by the power of God. The people of Jesus’ day knew that death was final, just as much as we do. And yet the evidence was overwhelming: Jesus was alive! Only God could make it happen — and He did.

 If all of what Graham has said were actually facts, then sure he'd have a point. But the truth is that they aren't facts. They are claims that have no proof to back them up. So if the face of fantastic claims with absolutely no evidence, isn't the more likely and reasonable answer that it simply didn't happen?

Why is Jesus’ resurrection important? It tells us we don’t need to fear death if we know Christ, for sin and death and hell have been conquered. It tells us also that this life is not all; ahead of us is eternity, either with God in heaven or separated from Him forever in that place of total despair the Bible calls hell. Put your faith in Jesus Christ today — for He is alive forevermore!

Why is Jesus' resurrection important? Gee... How about if you tell me why Horus' resurrection was
important. Or Osiris', or Attis', or Krishna's, or Mithra's, or Dionysus', all the Norse gods, and the list goes on... Resurrection is an old claim that many deities were said to have done prior to Jesus. So why not take their claims seriously as well?

Sounds to me that Billy is just spouting more and more hearsay as if it were truth again. So nothing different there... I just wish he and other Christians looked a little deeper at the stories they are told, because what they find may surprise them.

-Brain Hulk

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