Who knows if Jesus actually DID die on the cross?
There are only 3 people that could have possibly known if he really survived the cross, and that’s Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea and, of course, Jesus himself. That’s because Nicodemus and Joseph are the two that took Jesus down from the cross; asked Pilate for his body; laid it in a grave and applied 70 pounds of medicinal herbs to his body. Then, of course, Jesus himself would have known, after he had come to — if he had been unconscious. But then, it would be impossible to question them, for obvious reasons.
Paul made it a requirement that to escape the eternal fires of Hell one must “believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the grave”. That in itself seems highly suspicious since, by definition, for one to be deceived, belief is necessary. It is assumed that to be raised from the dead, one must actually be dead. But 2000 years later, and with only three who could have known the real Truth of what actually happened — to stake one’s eternal destiny on such an unlikely story, is presumptuous at best.
If there are only 3 persons who could have possibly known the Truth, and the story about it was written at least 40 years afterwards, by anonymous men who were not there or had never even met Jesus, or witnessed the event personally, there is a great possibility that the story had either been changed, or even completely fabricated and could only be believed.
The knowledge and understanding of coma didn’t exist at the time, much less the phenomena of what is known today as “near death experience”. Even today, thousands of people have had NDEs, when professional health care personnel considered a person “clinically dead”, only to have the person they thought for sure was “dead” to wake up and start talking! — many times after a terminal illness or serious accident! — and that is with all the modern medical technology.
Suppose for the sake of this writing we assume that Jesus didn’t really die — which is extremely possible, and even probable — over 2000 years ago. There would be no “sacrifice for sin” and there would be no need to escape the fires of Hell, because there would be no Hell to escape from. Men would have to give account for and make amends for their own sins — instead of Jesus taking upon himself all the sins of the world. The only way men could make amends for their sins would be to return in another life and do it all over — reincarnation!
Christianity wouldn’t be the only religion in the world to have a savior who actually was raised from the dead by God himself. Jesus wouldn’t be the second person of the “godhead”: God himself. (wait a minute, God raised himself from the dead?)
If Jesus didn’t really die, Christianity wouldn’t be the only “true” religion in the world,
with the exclusive rights to grant salvation only to those who “believe in their hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead” (Romans 10:9). It wouldn’t be the only religion that ever existed on the planet that worships the “only true God” that created everything that has ever existed throughout all eternity.
If Jesus didn’t really die, then that might explain the wounded body that survived the cruel crucifixion that he showed to his disciples, as is clearly stated in the Gospels. It might have actually been Jesus himself that thousands of people allegedly saw in different parts of the world. He may have even had a wife, like a normal person and had sons and daughters. The people that claim to be his descendants might be telling the truth. The grave box with his name on it may actually contain his remains as millions of people claim, who still visit his grave site.
Of course, if Jesus didn’t really die, reincarnation might actually be the truth since if people’s souls actually are “born again”, and they must make things right in another life, there is no need for a Hell — people never have to go there. That might explain why they had to label Origen a heretic and make the doctrine of reincarnation “anathema” and incompatible with Christianity, even though to millions of believers it was a common belief for several centuries.
If Jesus didn’t really die, Christianity wouldn’t be one of the major religions of the world with millions of adepts in every part of the globe today, if fact, it may not have even survived and disappeared for centuries only to linger in the memories of dusty history books.
There would be no fear of death; there would be no fear of choosing (or being born into) the wrong religion
Finally, if Jesus didn’t really die, there would be very little belief (if at all) in the existence of Hell, nor would anyone have fear of possibly going there after death — for an eternity of agony. There would be no fear of death; there would be no fear of choosing (or being born into) the wrong religion since Christianity wouldn’t have exclusivity as the only true religion with the only one “true” God, with the “only mediator between God and men — the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).
Who wrote the Gospels? No one really knows. Where did they get their information? No one really knows. Were they first hand witnesses of Jesus’ life and crucifixion? No. Had the ever met Jesus personally? No.
Who wrote most of the epistles from where we obtain most of our information about Jesus? Paul. Did Paul ever meet Jesus personally? No. Was Paul ever one of Jesus’ disciples? No. Where did Paul get the information about Jesus for “his gospels”? No one really knows. According to Paul it was the “revelation” from Jesus himself, after he was raised from the dead. I guess he thought he sort of “channeled” Jesus or something.
Jesus may have even reincarnated as other men do. Maybe Jesus actually did say the following about reincarnation:
“The light shines from the East even to the West; out of the darkness. The sun rises and sets into darkness again; so is it with man, from the ages to the ages.” — Jesus
“When it cometh from the darkness, it is that he has lived before, and when it goes down again into darkness, it is that he may rest for a little, and there after again exist.” (Gospel of the Nazirenes 37.6-7) — Jesus
And He said to them, “Blessed are they who suffer many experiences, for they will be made perfect through suffering; they will be as the angels of God in heaven and will die no more. Neither will they be born any more, for death and birth have no more dominion over them.” (Gospel of the Nazirenes 37.1,2) — Jesus
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