A basic requirement for salvation in Christianity is that a person “believe in his heart that God raised Jesus from the dead”. Now, for God to raise Jesus from the dead, one would presume that Jesus actually died, otherwise there would be no resurrection, right?
But what if Jesus didn’t really die? That would make Christianity a completely false religion, based on lots of lies. This concept is based on another which is based on another, etc. It would be like a bunch of dominoes knocking each other over until they’re all down.
The execution of Christ was over two thousand years ago, so anyone alive today would have no idea of the truth of what really might have happened — if anything happened at all.
One only can hold a belief of what was written in the Bible which has been copied over and over and translated and re-translated into hundreds of languages of which there are hundreds of completely different versions.
It is only a belief, not knowledge. Jesus promised, “Ye shall KNOW the TRUTH and the truth shall set you free.” (Jn 6:63) Belief is not knowledge. Belief can be, but not necessarily, based on facts and truth.
Belief can not know Truth with any certainty, only facts can be known. Therefore, it is only a belief that Jesus died, not a fact, and not necessarily the truth.
There has mostly been the one-sided belief that Jesus actually died throughout Christianity because of the Bible. However, there is much evidence not only in the Bible but also outside of the Bible that lead to the idea that Jesus very likely did not die.
Just because it is written in the Bible does not necessarily mean that it’s true. There are many contradictions and inconsistencies in the Bible which goes to show that the Bible is not the perfect, inerrant Word of God — it could not possibly be, because of these facts.
Evidence that Jesus did not die at his execution:
Three Days and Nights — Alive
-
Jesus reportedly predicted that his death would be like Jonah:
-
“For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Mat 12:40)
-
However, according to the story, Jonas was cast into the sea alive; was swallowed by a great fish alive and in the fish’s belly for three days and three nights; and was vomited out on dry land… alive.
-
If Jesus’ ordeal was “as” the Jonah story, then either Jesus was alive from the cross to after the grave, or the prophecy was a forgery — or both.
-
Only six hours on the cross
-
Jesus was only about 6 hours on the cross. This type of execution usually took between 18 to 48 hours to kill a man — a very slow and painful death.
-
It is possible that he was unconscious from lack of blood and looked dead. Today there are hundreds of documented cases of those who have suffered a near-death experience, and declared clinically dead by a doctor, only to be resuscitated later.
-
Pilate was surprised when he heard that Jesus was already dead and asked the centurion if he’s been dead very long.
-
“And Pilate marveled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.” (Mar 15:44)
-
A hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes
-
Jesus’ rich uncle, Joseph of Arimathaea, “begged the body of Jesus”, and laid it in a sepulcher… wherein never man before was laid. (Mat 27:58, Luk 23:53)
-
Joseph bought a new cloth and wrapped Jesus’ body in it and laid him in a new sepulcher. It sounds like they were preparing a clean place for him to tend to his wounds.
-
“And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,” (Mat 27:59)
-
The women also brought spices
-
The women figured that he was dead and “they brought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him“. The sweet spices were for his burial not his treatment.
-
“And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. (Mar 16:1)
-
It’s strange that even after the women knew that Joseph and Nicodemus brought a huge amount of “spices” for his burial, they also came bringing spices to anoint him for his burial.
-
However, Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus “brought a hundred pounds of a mixture of myrrh and aloes“ (Joh 19:39), well known for their medicinal properties.
-
About ten pounds was the typical amount needed for a burial, but the two disciples brought one hundred pounds. That is ten times more than was needed!
-
Now, the manner of the Jews to bury is to wind the body in linen and spices, but one hundred pounds of medicinal herbs doesn’t sound to me like burial spices.
-
A dead body wouldn’t be anointed with medicinal herbs and laid in a “clean” place, only a live body that needed treatment — especially one hundred pounds worth — a body riddled with wounds.
-
Likely, it was the motive of Joseph, Jesus’ uncle, and Nicodemus, both disciples of Jesus, to save his life and medicate him.
-
Jesus appears alive after execution
-
The gospels according to Luke and John both talk of Jesus appearing to his disciples — under the cover of night. He is obviously alive and in a flesh body still with all its wounds — he even ate in front of them.
-
This is supposedly his resurrection body that later on ascends up to heaven. However, his body with all the wounds, doesn’t prove that he was “raised from the dead” or that he even died, it merely is an indication that he was tortured and left to die in a cruel execution, which he likely survived — thanks to two disciples.
-
“Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.”
-
“And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?”
-
“And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.”
-
“And he took it, and did eat before them.” (Luk 24:39-42)
-
“And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.” (Joh 20:20)
-
Jesus flees to Arabia
-
Now, a condemned man who survived his execution and only appears to his disciples at night, would not stick around very long. If the Romans or the Jews that wanted him dead discovered that he was still alive, they would send him to his execution again.
- Evidently, what happened was that he fled to Arabia since he was reportedly seen there. To this day, Muslims will tell you that Jesus was not crucified, but it was someone else, since Jesus was seen alive there.
Descendants of Jesus
- There are stories of Jesus in India and there are even people who claim to be descendants of Jesus. Since there are writings that say that Jesus had a companion, it is very possible that Jesus had children and lived a normal life.
The Grave of Jesus
- One of the most fascinating things about this story is that there is a grave in India, constantly visited, that is believed throughout India, to be the grave of Jesus.
Belief of death — requirement for Salvation
-
The most telling thing, though, in my view, that raises more doubts as to whether or not Jesus really died, is the requirement for salvation that one must believe in his or her heart that God raised Jesus from the dead (Rom 10:9).
-
This is one of the strongest things that raises suspicion that fear of damnation is leveraged by Paul to manipulate the minds of the masses, since so many of his doctrines are contradictory to the teachings of Jesus.
-
This requirement of Paul is not found in any of Jesus’ teachings, but is as Paul says: “according to my gospel”. The fact of the matter is that Paul’s teachings reveal just the opposite of that which Jesus taught — that it is not how much one believes in him, but it’s all about righteousness, good works and doing God’s will.
-
Of course, though belief is not a requirement for salvation according to Jesus, it’s like the saying: “Show me what you do and I’ll tell you what you believe.”
-
Substitutional Atonement
-
The theory is that Jesus, being the Messiah, came into the world to die for the sins of the world. The problem with this is that Jesus didn’t even meet the requirements to be the Messiah. Therefore, even if he did die, he had no standing to take upon himself the sins of the world.” In fact, the doctrine of substitutional atonement runs contrary to the Old Testament, which says:
-
“The land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it“ (Numbers 35:33).
-
There is no way that Jesus could have shed enough blood to cleanse the sins of the whole world — past, present and future — even if the Scriptures did support this act — especially being an innocent man.
-
Beside me there is no saviour
-
Finally, Jesus was not the Savior of the world, nor was he even “God the Son”:
-
“I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.” (Isa 43:11)
-
Jesus was called the savior, but it is very likely that this was a teaching made up by Paul and his Greek disciples. There are no original manuscripts of the New Testament gospels, nor were they even written by the men who they were named after.
-
The theory of the Trinity is not even biblical and the verses that are used to “prove” it are corruptions of verses. The theory of the Trinity is not only unscriptural, it is not even logical.
-
Conclusion:
“If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” (1Co 15:19)
Miserable are those who are surprised they have to come back and make amends for all the things they did, believing that they would never be held accountable, and that their sins are all “covered by the blood” of a man who may never have even died at all.
Next: Who Was Jesus Part 1 | What was Jesus Sacrificed for?