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Title: Does The Celestial-Geophysical-Historical Time Clock Provide Evidence For An Easter Crucifixion & Resurrection?
Source:
Lew Rockwell
URL Source: https://www.lewrockwell.com/2018/03 ... ster-crucifixion-resurrection/
Published: Mar 28, 2018
Author: Bill Sardi
Post Date: 2018-03-28 09:15:53 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 1340
Comments: 18
Is there any evidence outside of the Bible that the Resurrection of Jesus was a real historical event rather than a myth or an allegory? Unfortunately, there is no time machine to go back in history and confirm this event that is memorialized in the way the western world divides modern from ancient history, B.C and A.D. However there is, surprisingly, evidence revealed from celestial, geophysical and historical accounts outside of the Bible that confirm this event. According to Wikipedia, Easter (aka Resurrection Sunday) is a remembrance of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead (~30 A.D.) as described in the New Testament. Jesus was crucified, that is, hung on a wooden cross, nailed through his hands and feet and hung on a wooden cross. The historical leaders in place at the time, Pontius Pilate the prefect (governor) of Judea at the time, and King Herod the Roman king, are established historical figures in the same time period and place as the Bible describes. They were responsible for assigning and delivering punishment to Jesus for blasphemy (claims He was God’s Son). In the Biblical account of the crucifixion, an earthquake and a darkness came over the land between 12 noon and 3 PM that coincided with Jesus’ crucifixion as explained in the Gospel of Matthew. (Matthew 27: 45-54) Historian Eusebius of Caesarea cites Phlegon who wrote that in the year 32-33 AD: “A great eclipse occurred at the sixth hour that excelled every other before it, turning the day into such darkness of night that the stars could be seen in heaven and the earth moved, toppling many buildings.” There is also another independent historical account: “Dionysius, a pagan philosopher at the time, was present in Heliopolis (modern Cairo), Egypt, when the catastrophe occurred, in the company of a philosopher friend, Apollophanes. His account reads as follows: ‘We [Apollophanes and himself] were both present, standing together in Heliopolis, when we saw the moon falling into alignment with the sun in an abnormal way. For it was not the right time for a conjunction. Then again, we saw it [the moon] from the ninth hour [around 3 pm] till sundown, restored naturally to its place [in the sky] opposite the sun’.” By the way, Dionysius was converted to Christianity during the Apostle Paul’s Areopagus sermon in Athens. Dionysius heard the Apostle Paul talk about the earthquake and eclipse of the sun that occurred during Jesus’ crucifixion. He personally knew the scriptures were accurate on that account. Of additional interest, it was 800 years prior that the prophetic Book of Isaiah (chapter 13) foretold when “the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine (an eclipse).” What are the odds that would happen? Did Jesus die on the cross? Or was His death faked? Because Roman soldiers in this instance departed from their practice of breaking a criminal’s legs on the cross to ensure He was dead, probably not wanting to enrage his mother, brothers and other followers who were in attendance to the point of a riot, a Roman centurion thrust a spear in Jesus’ side to confirm He was dead, and the Bible account says water the blood came out. (John 19:34) This meant blood circulation had ceased and the clear blood serum had separated from the heavier red blood cells. Jesus was certainly dead. There is another Biblical account of an event that surrounded the crucifixion. This story is from the 5th chapter of the book of Mark and the 8th chapter of the book of Luke. Jesus Himself was the fulfillment of over 300 prophecies, which included His place of birth (Bethlehem), His birth order (firstborn), His family line (from the line of David), the method of His death (crucifixion), even the amount of money he would be betrayed for (30 pieces of silver). It says in the 27th chapter of the book of Matthew that in remorse, Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus, returned those 30 pieces of silver to the priests and elders who had accused Jesus of blasphemy. They refused his offer to return the silver coins so it says Judas threw the money into the temple and left. As the Bible account goes, the chief priests considered it blood money and used it to purchase a field as a burial place for foreigners. It was called the FIELD OF BLOOD. In the Aramaic language that Jesus spoke, that field, called the Akeldama (HAKL-ED-DAMM), today is a large square sepulcher. The land was used as a burial place for non-Jews into the 19th century. The Christian Crusaders buried their dead there. This part of the crucifixion story is also partly confirmed. Some skeptics say Jesus never existed. The story of His life and death were fables. Is there any astronomical evidence for the Christmas star in the east the Magi followed to find the baby Jesus and bring Him gold, frankincense and myrrh? Astronomer Ernest L. Martin, as explained in his text THE START THAT ASTONISHED THE WORLD, ran computer simulations of the stars that shone in the sky over Palestine in 3 B. C. From his initial work astronomers came up with the date of September 11, 3 BC as the date for Jesus’ birth that correlates with astronomical alignments explained in the 12th chapter of the Book of Revelation. Martin explains that Christmas star was the planet Jupiter aligned in conjunction with Venus and other stars to produce an ultra-bright star that would have appeared in the east. Martin’s explanation of the Star of Bethlehem is now the accepted explanation by modern astronomers. regarding=" Regarding" account. We don’t have a time machine. There is no way of knowing conclusively how the crucifixion and resurrection occurred. The Apostle Paul said we “only know in part,” not the whole. (I Corinthians 13: 12) Jesus said: “…all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.” (Luke 24:44) 
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#1. To: Deckard, redleghunter, Liberator (#0)
Interesting piece. You wouldn't expect this kind of article from a hotbed of irreverent Rothbardian libertarians like the Rockwell bunch but Lew has published a few interesting Christian writers over the years. There is a rare type of libertarian we never hear about, the libertarian Christian. Admittedly, a herd of cats by any measure but they do exist in smallish numbers.
Interesting account of the star which could have just as easily been a supernova, if you want a secular explanation, however there is no explanation as to how it guided the Maji. I fail to wonder why people want to explain Jesus away as a myth. He was known to exist by well known people of his day, he was known to exist by the disciples who spread his story and remained faithful to his instructions. He offers us something we cannot attain by our own works, and yet he is rejected. An extraordinary number of prophesies were fulfilled in Jesus
Thanks good piece. May your Holy Week be blessed.
You might notice this is the only planetary conjunction in the modern era that the New Agers and the Lefties don't want to talk about. They jabber endlessly about doom-filled minor conjunctions and the 2012 Mayan apocalypse but here is the one planetary conjunction that they just don't want to talk about at all. Funny how that works, eh?
You might notice this is the only planetary conjunction in the modern era that the New Agers and the Lefties don't want to talk about. They jabber endlessly about doom-filled minor conjunctions and the 2012 Mayan apocalypse but here is the one planetary conjunction that they just don't want to talk about at all. Funny how that works, eh? One reason they might not discuss this Star of Bethlehem phenomena is...ignorance. (*I* didn't know this Jupiter/Venus planetary alignment). Cynics are naturally willfully blind in any case. Other obvious reasons are indifference, OR these individuals feel the science on this issue is irrelevant or contrived (ironic, I know.) Astronomy, Science and Archaeology actually help make the historical case for Jesus. Funny how THAT works too, as well. Tack on all the hundreds prophecies come true; multiple eyewitness accounts of Scripture and secular accounts of say, Josephus, and the evidence not only for the question of Jesus existence, but His Deity becomes overwhelming. .
Not that seculars are searching for an explanation; Although if they take a bit of time to start connecting dots, and "coincidences," the bulb could go off. For a Disbeliever there is no compelling reason to explore or invest emotion or intellect on a "myth." I fail to wonder why people want to explain Jesus away as a myth. He was known to exist by well known people of his day, he was known to exist by the disciples who spread his story and remained faithful to his instructions. Pretty obvious, ain't it, given who and what Jesus Christ represents? Jesus' disciples don't get enough credit for spreading the word under unimaginable duress and threat of violence...and dying to do so. But then "glory" is not why they did it. Yes, I also fail to see how this single historical figure who created the world's greatest revolution is dismisses as "myth," given the extraordinary degree of eyewitnesses, second-hand witnesses and documentation. He was so well know as were his feats and miracles -- and in such a relatively brief time -- the entire region was rocked by His influence, words and deeds. To draw THOSE crowds back then? Beyond amazing. Had to be a stunning time to live and experience. One can't possibly strike that kind of deeply emotional chord and impression as a mere Magician. What was witnessed and preached -- miracles and wisdom -- that would be preached far and wide. You wonder how just another two or three years of Jesus touring and preaching like Paul might have effected the world even more.
It's not an entirely unknown topic by any means. I have a free Kindle book on my iOS devices by E. Walter Maunder, a noted Brit astronomer in the late 19th century. He wrote a book in 1908 called Astronomy of the Bible: An Elementary Commentary on the Astronomical References in the Holy Scripture. You can find it in various places on the web as a free PDF as it is a public domain book now (though it was reprinted in 2007). He thought the Star of Bethlehem was most likely a "new star", visible for only a brief time and cited other modern known occurrences of such "temporary stars". He treated the entire subject of astronomy an the Bible. It is still an interesting book to browse through.
Funny how that works, eh? Of course not. Then they would have to publicly admit what they know to be true. The Son of God has come and will come again. Most unbelief out there is actually wilful ignorance.
Reading RA Torrey's The Fundamentals again. First chapter is an essay addressing the Higher textual criticism of his day. Book published circa 1905. It is interesting the textual critics today base their arguments against inspired Scriptures on the subjective asserted theories of "scholars" from the 19th century. Even after theologians in the early 20th century pointed out their theories were based on mere opinion.
Even agnostic (used to be professed Christian) Bart Ehrman is beside himself wondering how the Jesus myth theory exploded on the internet. His book Did Jesus Exist addresses the historical Jesus and that no scholar of NT studies or religious studies denies the historical Jesus: https://www.npr.org/2012/04/01/149462376/did-jesus-exist-a-historian-makes- his-case
Even after theologians in the early 20th century pointed out their theories were based on mere opinion. Not surprising. Coincides with the "Science" aka subjective opinions of "Evolution" theories which first developed during the same approximate time-window of the mid-19th century.
Your writer and the one I mentioned from the late nineteenth century came of age when the rising secular academics, especially in archaeology, were all of the opinion that the Bible was nothing but a collection of myths and that no person mentioned in the Bible was actually a historic person other than a few Roman officials who are mentioned. It was only in the 1920's that archaeology started to produce significant proofs of the accuracy of historical detail produced by various archaeological expeditions. Since then, the evidence has only mounted. The last of the true skeptics regarding the historical accuracy of many scriptural accounts died out a generation ago. You can't look at all the evidence and try to conclude that the Bible is myth. It contains a lot of verifiable details that we find in these excavations of ancient cities and tombs and corroborating ancient documents from many sources.
THAT is sad in itself. ...Bart Ehrman is beside himself wondering how the Jesus myth theory exploded on the internet. His book Did Jesus Exist addresses the historical Jesus and that no scholar of NT studies or religious studies denies the historical Jesus... Thanks for that source and perspective. How can documentation 50-70 AD be considered "long after Jesus' death"?? And just because the Gospels weren't written on the fly doesn't doesn't discount memory (memories and accounts that just happen to validate others.) These people act as though the Print Press had been invented, along with laptops, pens & pads, and tape recorders. Oh. And especially CNN. "Roman sources" were NOT about to document, much less save reports on a man whose following was already considered problematic for the Empire, far more so in and about from Jerusalem throughout the Mediterranean. Between Paul and the rest of the Apostles and disciples, news was traveling fast. Look at contemporary news -- as a good analogy, we can't even get REAL reports today about Trump from the MSM, who control documented "news" and what get treated as "newsworthy." "Most importantly," he explains, "these mythicists point out that there are Pagan gods who were said to die and rise again and so the idea is that Jesus was made up as a Jewish god who died and rose again." Oy. But these same desperate "mythicists" readily accept barely-documented Pagan-god "myths" reports and stories OVER the documented multi-sourced Scripture and the PROVEN prophecies. Chyeah, THAT makes sense. It is impossible to discount to existence of Jesus of Nazareth, so there is no actual real "concession" made by Disbelieving scientists. For this they believe they deserved some credit? Cynics' real challenge is in conceding of Jesus historical documentation WHILE their discounting of everything BUT the supernatural -- Jesus documented miracles, eyewitnesses to his death, his eyewitnesses to Resurrection, and the pre and post prophetic foretelling and future revelations. These many eyewitnesses are THE basis for Christianity. (Can you imagine Jefferson there by candlelight, tearing out pages?? "No...no...yes...no...yes...YES!...blah-blah...")
Worth noting: "The Age of Rising Secular Academics". (Along with "The Age of Rising Secular Evolution-Science", and soon, "The Age of Secular Psychology") See a trend here? ;-) Even their Archaeology and Paleontology is corrupted to a disturbing degree. Much has become based on subjective opinion, aka Wishful Thinking. You can't look at all the evidence and try to conclude that the Bible is myth. It contains a lot of verifiable details that we find in these excavations of ancient cities and tombs and corroborating ancient documents from many sources. EXACTAMUNDO. These discoveries just happen to reinforce, corroborate and verify Biblical people, places and things. THAT is the most exciting part of these excavations (where they are permitted.) Btw, I still stand by my claim s proven by others that some of the evidence of the past (like giants/ skeletons) not only still exists, but its evidence is still being hidden and or if discovered hurriedly removed. Why? Because "history" is constantly being manipulated for Ppolitical/Vatican//PTB agenda reasons. Same as in the cases of JFK, Klintoons, 0bama,911, and now...Las Vegas.
I think the conventional view is that he used a little razor blade to cut out parts he didn't find likely (the miracles or supernatural parts). But he was a young man when he made what we call the Jefferson Bible.
I'm just going to pretend you didn't write this part. Because I'm very lazy. : )
You can't look at all the evidence and try to conclude that the Bible is myth. It contains a lot of verifiable details that we find in these excavations of ancient cities and tombs and corroborating ancient documents from many sources. Yes Sir William Ramsay was the leading early 20th century archeologist who put the skeptics to shame with regards to the NT: https://archive.org/stream/bearingofrecentd00ramsuoft/bearingofrecentd00rams uoft_djvu.txt https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Mitchell_Ramsay
Archive.org has continually improved. Thanks for the link, they offer a lot more formats for their text downloads now. And their online bookviewer is quite nice. I think the dam didn't fully burst on the ascendant militant atheist archaeologists until the mid-Twenties though there were certainly stalwarts for scriptural accuracy that fought the good fight throughout.
#2. To: Deckard (#0)
#3. To: Tooconservative (#1)
#4. To: redleghunter (#3)
Martin explains that Christmas star was the planet Jupiter aligned in conjunction with Venus and other stars to produce an ultra-bright star that would have appeared in the east. Martin’s explanation of the Star of Bethlehem is now the accepted explanation by modern astronomers.
#5. To: Tooconservative, redleghunter, CZ82 (#4)
Martin explains that Christmas star was the planet Jupiter aligned in conjunction with Venus and other stars to produce an ultra-bright star that would have appeared in the east. Martin’s explanation of the Star of Bethlehem is now the accepted explanation by modern astronomers.
#6. To: paraclete, TooConservative, redleghunter, CZ82, vicomte13, Deckard (#2)
(Edited)
...If you want a secular explanation, however there is no explanation as to how it guided the Maji.
#7. To: Liberator, redleghunter (#5)
#8. To: Tooconservative (#4)
You might notice this is the only planetary conjunction in the modern era that the New Agers and the Lefties don't want to talk about. They jabber endlessly about doom-filled minor conjunctions and the 2012 Mayan apocalypse but here is the one planetary conjunction that they just don't want to talk about at all.
#9. To: Liberator, TooConservative (#5)
Tack on all the hundreds prophecies come true; multiple eyewitness accounts of Scripture and secular accounts of say, Josephus, and the evidence not only for the question of Jesus existence, but His Deity becomes overwhelming.
#10. To: Liberator (#6)
Yes, I also fail to see how this single historical figure who created the world's greatest revolution is dismisses as "myth," given the extraordinary degree of eyewitnesses, second-hand witnesses and documentation. He was so well know as were his feats and miracles -- and in such a relatively brief time -- the entire region was rocked by His influence, words and deeds. To draw THOSE crowds back then? Beyond amazing. Had to be a stunning time to live and experience.
#11. To: redleghunter, TooConservative (#9)
...Book published circa 1905. It is interesting the textual critics today base their arguments against inspired Scriptures on the subjective asserted theories of "scholars" from the 19th century.
#12. To: redleghunter, Liberator (#9)
Reading RA Torrey's The Fundamentals again. First chapter is an essay addressing the Higher textual criticism of his day. Book published circa 1905. It is interesting the textual critics today base their arguments against inspired Scriptures on the subjective asserted theories of "scholars" from the 19th century. Even after theologians in the early 20th century pointed out their theories were based on mere opinion.
#13. To: redleghunter (#10)
Even agnostic (used to be professed Christian) Bart Ehrman...
Mythicists' arguments are fairly plausible, Ehrman says. According to them, Jesus was never mentioned in any Roman sources and there is no archeological evidence that Jesus ever existed. Even Christian sources are problematic – the Gospels come long after Jesus' death, written by people who never saw the man.
#14. To: Tooconservative, redleghunter (#12)
Your writer and the one I mentioned from the late nineteenth century came of age when the rising secular academics, especially in archaeology, were all of the opinion that the Bible was nothing but a collection of myths and that no person mentioned in the Bible was actually a historic person other than a few Roman officials who are mentioned.
#15. To: Liberator (#13)
(Can you imagine Jefferson there by candlelight, tearing out pages?? "No...no...yes...no...yes...YES!...blah-blah...")
#16. To: Liberator (#14)
Btw, I still stand by my claim s proven by others that some of the evidence of the past (like giants/ skeletons) not only still exists, but its evidence is still being hidden and or if discovered hurriedly removed. Why? Because "history" is constantly being manipulated for Ppolitical/Vatican//PTB agenda reasons. Same as in the cases of JFK, Klintoons, 0bama,911, and now...Las Vegas.
#17. To: Tooconservative, Liberator (#12)
It was only in the 1920's that archaeology started to produce significant proofs of the accuracy of historical detail produced by various archaeological expeditions. Since then, the evidence has only mounted. The last of the true skeptics regarding the historical accuracy of many scriptural accounts died out a generation ago.
#18. To: redleghunter (#17)
https://archive.org/stream/bearingofrecentd00ramsuoft/bearingofrecentd00rams uoft_djvu.txt
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