Resurrection. . .

Many Christian ministers do not share things they learned in the seminary about the  'resurrection' passages in the new testament of the Christian bible during their Easter Sunday sermons.  Nor will they share this information on any other of the 52 Sundays of the year.  As a result, some members of the congregation will continue to read the Matthew resurrection story uncritically as factual history.  Conversely, others will us the story to reconfirm their skepticism about the truth in Christian Faith.  Then, there will be those who truly want to believe in something, but are left on their own to figure out what truth and value there may be in the Christian Gospel.

When the four canonical resurrection accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) are compared side by side they cannot be reasonably reconciled.  Nor can any of the versions of the story be connected to any eye witnesses.  The Matthew account was written at least 50-60 years after the death of Jesus. But no one can doubt that within a few years a rapidly growing number of people believed that this man, Jesus, was raised from the dead. 

Did Jesus come back from the dead in real flesh and blood as one could be led to believe from the the resurrection accounts?  These accounts were  written by devout and believing followers who claimed Jesus as their Lord. But it was recorded in a time tested and honored literary tool widely practiced at that time and place.  Technically, mythology is any story or report in which a god is the primary actor.  Mythology will always defy historical analysis.

Truth, value?  Yes.  History?   No!  
(Thanks to both The Rev. Howard Bess,  a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska.  His email address is  hdbss@mtaonline.net) and to John Shelby Spong, retired American Episcopal bishop, religion commentator and author. He calls for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines. https://johnshelbyspong.com/ )

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