Some of my friends live life with God. Some do not.
Some have lived with God for many years and some have just found him...that's a game of hide and seek you don't really expect to win against an omnipotent being.
Be honest, if an all powerful master planner who allegedly created the whole earth and everything on it, (even Nigel Farage) didn't want to be found, you'd never find him.
The answer must be that he wanted to be found!
In fact, he probably didn't hide at all. He just stood around long enough and eventually he got noticed.
It's the same with Prince Charles - eventually someone will notice him too.
Anyway, this early Easter message is aimed at all of my friends and will no doubt upset and amuse in equal measure but that would appear to be my role in life - to speak up and ruffle the feathers on the belly of the bird of truth.
Of course, when I refer to the truth I only mean the truth that I create very much in line with the truth that various religions create.
I'm going to re-post a few of my previous easter messages as well as this new missive and I think you will clearly see that although I do make room for other people in my life to believe what they will, I totally reserve the right to question the concept of faith. I have questions...
You all remember Kirk Douglas being nailed to a cross at the end of Spartacus? He and hundreds of other rebellious slaves were crucified by the Romans. Throughout history tens of thousands of people were executed by the Romans and crucifixion was a favourite method. In AD 70, Emperor Titus was nailing up 500 a day!
An interesting point to make here, all of those dead crucified people and yet archaeologists have apparently only ever found one body which shows signs of crucifixion. Why is that?
I'm glad you asked.
It would appear that historically crucifixion was used as a particularly cruel and humiliating way of punishment. The victim would be tied, not nailed, to a cross and the idea was you suffered a long slow death over a few days. Eventually you would become so tired, your head would fall forward on your chest and you would die of oxygen starvation.
To make sure the suffering lasted as long as possible the Romans even put little wooden struts for your feet to rest on. If after two or three days of suffering you were still hanging on, they would break your legs thereby hastening the end as you would no longer be able to support your weight.
After you were dead, you were left to hang until the birds and the animals had picked your bones clean of flesh before the bones were just thrown away...not buried. Burial was deemed a great honour so why honour a criminal who had done something that awful he needed to be crucified?
This explains why no archaeological remains were found of crucified bodies - they were not worth the effort of burying.
I bet you can already see where I'm going with this can't you?
OK - follow my logic. Jesus was allegedly crucified at about 9am in the morning (according to the gospels) and he was dead by 3pm. This was discovered by the soldiers who were sent by Pilate to expedite his demise as the Sabbath was approaching and a crucifixion would have defiled that sacred day.
But the soldiers didn't have to break his legs - as I say, he'd already died. Not three days, just a few hours. The soldiers are reported to have broken the legs of the other two criminals being executed with Jesus.
Here is my question...why execute a man by this slowest form of capital punishment with the Sabbath fast approaching? Why not use one of the many other ways that are so common in the Bible...stoning, burning, beheading? And why did Jesus die so quickly - even Pilate questions this according to the gospels.
And then why break with all tradition and allow this worst of all criminals to be buried - why grant him this honour?
Doesn't make sense.
Now, the resurrection...the first gospel, the gospel of Mark was probably written around AD 70. Six hundred and sixty five verses and only eight mention the resurrection.
Here is an excerpt from the new King James bible...
16 Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. 2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3 And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.
6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.”
The subsequent gospels take this part of the story and make it more...well, more miraculous!
Here is what Luke wrote some 10 years later...
24 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them,[a] came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it happened, as they were greatly[b] perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. 5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.
And finally John, perhaps 20 years after Mark wrote that original account...
But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” 14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him,[a] “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).
Why the need to sex up the story? Well, the truth is that Christianity was still struggling to make a place for itself in the world and the idea of resurrection was just another way of persuading the faithful or the potential faithful to sign up for everlasting life.
What lies at the centre of Christianity is a belief that a physical body can be resurrected. It's a fulfilment of the promise - without resurrection what is the point of this faith?
That's why the story got more explicit over time - the people in charge realised that this was the hook. You all get a second chance.
As I say, people are free to believe what they will, but to never question such an obvious twisting of a story so as to make it more appealing seems strange.
You can see how Tony Blair thought he could get away with it...just make the story fit your beliefs.
Whatever your belief or faith, whether in some sort of god or just humanity - please don't forget we have the capacity to think and reason and grow.
For me, what makes being human so precious is that this journey through life is finite. I have no expectation of eternal life and I would hate the idea of missing out on this life whilst I was worrying about the next.
Happy Easter.
http://drew-theviewfromthehill.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/god-why-dont-you-love-me-blues.html
http://drew-theviewfromthehill.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/easter-message.html
http://drew-theviewfromthehill.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/view-from-hill-on-friday-2nd-april-good.html
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