Some questions about the Resurrection of Christ.

[Eyeheart Pumpkin]

At this point, this topic is not meant to be argumentative. What I want is opinions (or facts, if you possess them) on these questions, as a lot of the answers are going to naturally be conjectural. If a Mod feels this is better suited for Apologetics, then I have no problem with it being moved there.


1. Why was the characterization of Joseph of Arimathea and Simon Magus (reputedly the men who removed Christ from the cross and handled his burial and preparation) changed from "enemy of Jesus" in the Pauline epistles to "friend of Jesus" in some of the later writings?

2. When the Jews requested of the Romans a guard at the tomb of Jesus (to prevent the Christians from stealing the body and proclaiming a resurrection, presumably), was it a Roman guard or a Jewish guard that was provided?

3. How long after the crucifixion was it before stories of the risen Christ began to circulate? Hours? Days? Decades? (If you have any extrabiblical corroboration, that would be fantastic).

4. When Jesus was taken from the cross just before dusk on Good Friday, he was hustled away to a tomb. Was this the tomb from which he allegedly arose?

5. Per Jewish custom, burial preparations could not be performed during the Sabbath, so the Jews customarily bustled a Friday corpse to a tomb where it lay untouched until sundown on Saturday, at which time the preparers would do all the necessary rites and procedures and remove the body to its permanent resting place. The two Marys are alleged to have arrived at dawn on Sunday. So what happened during those several hours between the arrival of those whose job it was to prepare the body and put it in its final resting place and the arrival of the Marys?

6. In 70AD, Jerusalem was totally destroyed by Cyrus. However, the Christians who survived the onslaught claimed that they nevertheless still knew the precise location of Jesus' tomb, a proclamation that the Catholic Church relied upon to name the Tomb of the Holy Sepulchre as the real burial place of Jesus. Why, then, do the Catholics traditionally believe Jesus was buried there, while the Protestants believe he was buried in the "Garden Tomb," discovered only in the last couple centuries?

[mentored1]

Interesting questions... I'll try to apply my background in Bible studies with some creative thought to produce some horribly inaccurate conjectures. :teeth:


1. Why was the characterization of Joseph of Arimathea and Simon Magus (reputedly the men who removed Christ from the cross and handled his burial and preparation) changed from "enemy of Jesus" in the Pauline epistles to "friend of Jesus" in some of the later writings?

I haven't the foggiest clue :shrug: - I'll file that with the other anomalies that seem to be part of the change and evolution of ideas within Christianity...

2. When the Jews requested of the Romans a guard at the tomb of Jesus (to prevent the Christians from stealing the body and proclaiming a resurrection, presumably), was it a Roman guard or a Jewish guard that was provided?

I was under the assumption it was a Roman Guard because the Sabbath was nigh and the Jews were not supposed to work on the Sabbath... I dunno if that's the case but that's what I recall... Wasn't there a Roman Seal on it as well? I think it talks about 'setting a watch' on the tomb as well: which, if I recall, had to do with Roman military time or something like that...

3. How long after the crucifixion was it before stories of the risen Christ began to circulate? Hours? Days? Decades? (If you have any extrabiblical corroboration, that would be fantastic).

That information is pretty easy to find via Google or some other search engine... I've read conflicting reports regarding it, however, and I think the standard is within two or three generations. I think that is the threshold that most historical records yield to legendary retellings and the big support for the authenticity of the resurrection, on one point, is that the first recordings were within the lifetime of the witnesses or their children. Sorry I can't provide the data - it's been a few months since I last read it through.

4. When Jesus was taken from the cross just before dusk on Good Friday, he was hustled away to a tomb. Was this the tomb from which he allegedly arose?

Again a lot of conflicting stuff put out on this... I think it was... I did a brief study on this a while ago and it seems that they prepared his body and entombed him before sundown which began the Sabbath... and the women were to come back after the Sabbath (our Sunday) to anoint the body with oils. And they discussed as to who was going to move the stone from the entrance (due to size and presumable the Roman Seal/guards). There was certainly a lot of haste to lay him to rest before sundown when the Jews wouldn't be permitted to work (prepare the body etc)...

5. Per Jewish custom, burial preparations could not be performed during the Sabbath, so the Jews customarily bustled a Friday corpse to a tomb where it lay untouched until sundown on Saturday, at which time the preparers would do all the necessary rites and procedures and remove the body to its permanent resting place. The two Marys are alleged to have arrived at dawn on Sunday. So what happened during those several hours between the arrival of those whose job it was to prepare the body and put it in its final resting place and the arrival of the Marys?

I think I mentioned some of this in my last comment... If I remember correctly the gospel records indicate that his body was prepared and put in the tomb and they returned to anoint the body... In which case it was entombed and it was why the ladies were concerned about removing the stone at the entrance.

6. In 70AD, Jerusalem was totally destroyed by Cyrus. However, the Christians who survived the onslaught claimed that they nevertheless still knew the precise location of Jesus' tomb, a proclamation that the Catholic Church relied upon to name the Tomb of the Holy Sepulchre as the real burial place of Jesus. Why, then, do the Catholics traditionally believe Jesus was buried there, while the Protestants believe he was buried in the "Garden Tomb," discovered only in the last couple centuries?

A good show of one-upsmanship? Who knows... If the burial place of Christ is so important I think the bible would have made mention of it. The resurrection was the event not the tomb... This ties in with all the fuss over the shroud of turin, the ark of the covenant, all the other artifacts that a religion would love to get their hands on: physical evidence provides support for a cause and a rallying point for believers.

My advice: spend more time finding the meanings and less time digging for relics!

Take care - interesting questions!

[runecrow]

1. Why was the characterization of Joseph of Arimathea and Simon Magus (reputedly the men who removed Christ from the cross and handled his burial and preparation) changed from "enemy of Jesus" in the Pauline epistles to "friend of Jesus" in some of the later writings?

I'd have to see some citations to comment. I've never come across Simon as someone who supposedly removed Christ from the cross. I don't recall Joseph or Simon being called an 'enemy of Jesus' in any Pauline epistle. Simon is mentioned in the Acts as a convert with some bad ideas. Later in the duel with Simon Peter in the Acts of Peter and Paul he was the antagonist. I am not aware of Simon ever being a 'friend' or Joseph ever being an 'enemy'.

2. When the Jews requested of the Romans a guard at the tomb of Jesus (to prevent the Christians from stealing the body and proclaiming a resurrection, presumably), was it a Roman guard or a Jewish guard that was provided?

Roman.

3. How long after the crucifixion was it before stories of the risen Christ began to circulate? Hours? Days? Decades? (If you have any extrabiblical corroboration, that would be fantastic).

Three days.

4. When Jesus was taken from the cross just before dusk on Good Friday, he was hustled away to a tomb. Was this the tomb from which he allegedly arose?

Yes.

5. Per Jewish custom, burial preparations could not be performed during the Sabbath, so the Jews customarily bustled a Friday corpse to a tomb where it lay untouched until sundown on Saturday, at which time the preparers would do all the necessary rites and procedures and remove the body to its permanent resting place. The two Marys are alleged to have arrived at dawn on Sunday. So what happened during those several hours between the arrival of those whose job it was to prepare the body and put it in its final resting place and the arrival of the Marys?

The sepulchre was sealed and a Roman watch was charged with guarding it to make sure no one tampered with the body. Then an angel descended and an earthquake occured. The watch passed out. Then the angel rolled back the sealing stone.

6. In 70AD, Jerusalem was totally destroyed by Cyrus. However, the Christians who survived the onslaught claimed that they nevertheless still knew the precise location of Jesus' tomb, a proclamation that the Catholic Church relied upon to name the Tomb of the Holy Sepulchre as the real burial place of Jesus. Why, then, do the Catholics traditionally believe Jesus was buried there, while the Protestants believe he was buried in the "Garden Tomb," discovered only in the last couple centuries?

Cyrus? Could you cite a source? I missed 'Cyrus' in the destruction of Jerusalem. At any rate, I've never looked into this 'quarrel of the site' so have no comment.