When Evangelical apologists are asked for evidence for the resurrection of Jesus, they will often quote I Corinthians 15:3-8:
For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
See, Bruce, see! Over 500 people saw Jesus after he resurrected from the dead. The Bible says so! End of discussion.
The book of 1 Corinthians was written by the Apostle Paul and Sosthenes circa 53-55 CE, two decades after the death of Jesus. What we have, then, in I Corinthians 15:3-8, is one man’s claim that more than 500 people saw Jesus after he resurrected from the dead. We have no written evidence for this claim outside of what Paul wrote in I Corinthians. That’s it. You would think that if an executed criminal came back to life and walked the streets of Jerusalem and the surrounding area for forty days, a secular author would have written that down. The same goes for the claim found in Matthew 27:50-53
Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
After Jesus drew his last breath on the cross, graves were opened, and many dead saints came back to life, exited their graves, and walked to Jerusalem — appearing to many. Once-dead people coming back to life! Once dead people walking the streets of Jerusalem, appearing to other people! What an astounding event. Yet, no one bothered to write one word about it apart from a verse in the Bible written fifty years after the death of Jesus.
There is no historical record of either of these events apart from the claims of an anonymous Jew and the Apostle Paul. One man’s claim does not evidence make. There is little to no extra-Biblical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Even if we grant the Biblical accounts historical status, there is no corroborating evidence. None. Thus, believing more than 500 people saw Jesus after his death requires faith. The same goes for the zombie apocalypse recorded in Matthew 27.
Thus, I remain convinced that the apocalyptic Jewish preacher named Jesus lived for around thirty-three years, ran afoul of Roman law, was executed on a cross, and was buried in an unmarked grave — never to be seen again. If Evangelical apologists want me to believe otherwise, all I ask is that they provide evidence that is more than Bible proof texts.
Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Recently, Dr. David Tee, who is neither a doctor nor a Tee, coughed up yet another hairball about a post on this site. Tee, whose real name is Derrick Thomas Thiessen, responded to the post Who Wrote the Bible?, saying that its author, Dr. Philip Almond, is wrong; and that virtually everything this scholar said about the history of the Bible is wrong. Tee, of course, as a hardcore Fundamentalist, thinks whatever he believes about the history of the Bible is right. What qualifications does he have to make such a bold claim? Why, he’s a Christian. That’s it. According to Thiessen, the stupidest Christian knows more about the Bible than scholars such as Almond and Dr. Bart Ehrman.
I will leave it to readers to decide if they want to read Thiessen’s latest monument to ignorance. I do, however, want to point out one thing Thiessen said that I find ROTFL worthy. Thiessen says that no contemporary, first-century secular scholar or historian ever mentioned the Q source — a hypothetical collection of mostly Jesus’ sayings — so Q is a myth.
It should also be noted that no ancient non-Christian writer mentions Q or its existence. It is not and was not a source book for anyone. Even those scholars who claim the manuscript existed do not know when it was written or who wrote it.
Thus the arguments used against the Bible would apply to this document as well. There is no proof for this document anywhere.
It is unrealistic to think that unbelievers would have information about the Bible that Christians do not have. As usual, their efforts to discredit the Bible only backfire on them.
Q doesn’t exist because “no ancient non-Christian writer mentions Q or its existence,” Thiessen opines. Fair enough, but if that is the case, the same can be said about the virgin birth of Jesus, his miracles, and his resurrection from the dead. In fact, many of the people, events, and history mentioned in the Bible aren’t mentioned by “ancient non-Christian writer[s].” Thus, following Thiessen’s illogic to its logical conclusion means that because no ancient non-Christian writer mentions the virgin birth of Jesus, his miracles, and his resurrection from the dead, these things never happened.
Of course, Thiessen will object, saying that I am lying, twisting his words, or any of the other excuses he uses to escape culpability for what he says. I will leave it to readers to determine if I have fairly represented his words.
Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. (John 14:12-14)
Evangelicals believe the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God. It’s a one-of-a-kind divine religious text that is to be, with rare exception, read and interpreted literally. Of course, when confronted with glaring contradictions, Evangelicals will abandon literalism quicker than Sarah Huckabee Sanders abandoned truth at a White House press conference. When confronted with Bible verses that are contradictory or which put God/Christianity in a bad light, Evangelicals discard the literal, plain meaning of a text in favor of a convoluted, look-the-rabbit-ran-that-way, theological explanation.
Take John14:12-14. Printed with red ink — the universal sign for “Jesus is talking” — the Son of God said that he would soon return to his Father in Heaven, and once he was gone his followers would do greater works (miracles) than he did. Wow, what a statement, right?
What were the works (miracles) that Jesus did?
Healed the sick
Cured the deaf and mute
Gave sight to the blind
Reattached severed body parts
Fed 5,000 people with 2 loaves of bread and 5 fishes
Fed 4,000 people with 7 loaves of bread and a few fishes
Caused the lame to walk again
Cured mental illness
Raised the dead
Turned well water into Boone’s Farm
Walked on water
Stopped storm winds from blowing
Walked through walls
Resurrected himself from the dead
What a list of miracles! The writer of the gospel of John said, in John 21:25:
And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.
According to that verse, the Bible contains just a small handful of the millions of miracles performed by Jesus. Why, Jesus worked so many miracles in three years, that if all of them were written down, all the books of the world wouldn’t be able to contain them. Wow, just wow! So many miracles, yet there is not one non-Biblical contemporary record for any of them. If a Jewish itinerant preacher performed millions of miracles in a thirty-six-month period, you’d think at least one Roman historian would have mentioned it. Yet, the pages of history are silent.
For the sake of this post, I am going to go with the miracles performed by Jesus as recorded in the gospels. In John 14:12, Jesus told his followers that after he ascended back to his Father in Heaven, they would perform works (miracles) as great as and greater than those worked by him. The Christian church has existed for almost 2,000 years, yet there is no recorded history of Christians doing greater works (miracles) than Jesus. In fact, Christians today think a “greater work” is Jesus helping Grandma find her lost keys or causing someone’s cancer to temporarily go into remission. Healing the sick? Raising the dead? Causing cripples to walk? Giving sight to the blind? Where, oh where can we find and see such medically verifiable miracles? And if Jesus worked millions of such miracles, where can we see legions of people being healed? Where can we see thousands of people being fed with two Big Macs and five large orders of French fries?
Modern Christians are supposed to be greater miracle workers than Jesus, yet everywhere we look we see impotence. Why is that? Evangelicals will make all sorts of peculiar theological arguments, attempting to explain away the clear, literal reading of John 14:12. Perhaps, there is another explanation for the present-day paucity of miracles. Jesus said that miracle-working by his followers was contingent upon him returning to his Father in Heaven. Perhaps, the real reason Christians can’t work Jesus-esque miracles is that he never resurrected from the dead and ascended back to Heaven to sit at the right hand of his Father. Maybe, just maybe, when Jesus died, he stayed dead. You know, just like every other human who has ever lived and died.
John 14:12 remains a direct challenge to the belief that Jesus resurrected from the dead. Had Jesus really escaped the permanency of death and magically floated away from the earth until he could no longer be seen, then Christians from 33 CE until today should have the power to repeatedly do the miraculous. That they don’t tells me that Jesus died on a Roman cross centuries ago and was buried in a borrowed tomb, never to be seen again.
Thus saith the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of Bruce.
Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Two-thirds of U.S. adults (66%) say the biblical accounts of the physical resurrection of Jesus are completely accurate. They believe this event actually occurred, according to the 2022 State of Theology study. Fewer than a quarter (23%) disagree, and 11% say they’re not sure.
The percentage that affirms the bodily resurrection of Jesus as described in the Bible is unchanged since 2018 and within two percentage points of where it has been since the first State of Theology in 2014.
Jesus’ Easter resurrection is more accepted in the Midwest (70%) and South (70%). But majorities in both the West (62%) and Northeast (60%) also affirm it.
Younger Americans are the least likely age group to say they believe in a historical resurrection. Still, 58% of those 18-34 accept it as fact.
Self-identified evangelicals (90%) and Black Protestants (89%) are more likely to affirm Jesus’ resurrection than Catholics (79%) and mainline Protestants (74%).
Are these results “stunning,” as Charisma News alleges? Of course not. Sixty-three percent of Americans self-identify as Christian, whereas only thirty-one percent of the world does. Americans are twice as likely to be Christian as the rest of the world. In some parts of the United States — particularly rural and southern America — non-Christians are few and far in between. In fact, in some regions, it is social and economic suicide to not at least give the appearance that you worship the risen Jesus.
While the United States is a secular state, practically speaking we are a Christian nation. Almost ninety percent of congresspeople self-identify as Christians. I am sixty-six years old. Dwight Eisenhower was president when I was born, and Joe Biden is president today. Between the two, Republican and Democratic presidents have come and gone. Yet, all of them have one thing in common: they professed to be Christians.
Christian churches dot street corners and rural roads in America. I live in rural northwest Ohio. I have spent most of my life living in rural Ohio communities; communities dominated by Christianity. If I were inclined to attend church — and I am not — I have the choice of over three hundred Christian churches within thirty or so minutes from my home. Whatever your desired flavor of Christianity, there’s a church sure to meet your needs.
Thus, it is not “stunning” that Americans believe a crucified man named Jesus resurrected from the dead. As Charisma News — the master clickbaiters that they are — often does, they distorted Lifeway’s study to give a false impression of American beliefs. Desperate to counter the increasing secularizing of the United States and the rapid rise of the NONES, Charisma News is willing to lie to paint a false picture of American religious beliefs.
Most Americans believe Jesus rose from the dead on the first Easter Sunday. They’re just not sure it matters much.
….
Despite accepting the biblical accounts of Jesus’ resurrection, many Americans have conflicting thoughts about the Bible and seem to see little connection between Jesus rising again and their daily lives.
In 2022, for the first time in the history of the State of Theology study, a majority of Americans (53%) say the Bible, like all sacred writings, contains helpful accounts of ancient myths but is not literally true. And 40%, the highest percentage yet, say modern science disproves the Bible.
A growing percentage, up to a high of 32%, says God is unconcerned with their day-to-day decisions. And 3 in 5 (60%) say religious belief is a matter of personal opinion, not objective truth.
Lifeway’s study revealed that ninety percent of American Evangelicals believe Jesus resurrected from the dead, just as recorded in the Bible. However, previous studies have also shown that Evangelicals really don’t know their Bibles very well; that many Evangelicals are an inch deep and a mile wide when it comes to what the Bible actually teaches. Quiz Evangelicals on what the Bible actually says about the resurrection of Jesus and its theological implications, many Evangelicals will hem and haw before confidently saying, with a wave of their hands, “I know what I know, there’s no doubt about it, Jesus died for me on the cross of Calvary and resurrected from the dead three days later. Praise God!”
Here is what is stunning. The resurrection of Jesus is central to Christianity. Not the cross, the resurrection. Jesus’ execution was quite human. His resurrection, however, was a supernatural event. Over one hundred billion people have come and gone on planet Earth, and they all have one thing in common: they are all d-e-a-d. While the Bible records other resurrections, these raised from the dead people ultimately died a second time. Only Jesus, according to orthodox Christian beliefs, died, resurrected from the dead, and remains alive to this very day. Yet, how many Christians can defend the resurrection from challenges by atheists, agnostics, and other unbelievers?
Evangelicals, in particular, believe the Protestant Christian Bible is supernaturally inspired (written) by God and is inerrant and infallible. When challenging what Evangelicals believe about Jesus’ death and resurrection from the dead, I have found it effective to first challenge the notion that the Bible is without error. If you can get them to question — yea, hath God said — the supernatural nature of the Bible, this could cause them to question and doubt other sincerely held beliefs. Asking them to reconcile the numerous discrepancies and contradictions in the Bible’s resurrection accounts can and does force some believers to wrestle with what it is they really believe. Remember, most Evangelicals are not students of the Bible. Many Evangelicals are infrequent readers, and few of them read the Bible from cover to cover. According to a Pew Research study, forty percent of Evangelicals rarely, if ever, read the Bible. The idea that Evangelicals are walking-talking dispensers of Bible knowledge isn’t true. According to another Pew study, Jews, atheists, and agnostics know more about religion in general than Evangelicals. When asked specific questions about Christianity, Evangelicals and atheists were equal in the percentage of correct answers given. Think about all the sermons Evangelicals hear week after week, month after month, year after year. Think of all the affordable books and Bible study tools at their disposal. Yet, despite a wealth of Bible instruction and knowledge at the tip of their fingers, Evangelicals largely know very little about what the Bible actually teaches. If Jesus is all that Evangelicals say he is, and Christianity is the one true faith, and all others are false, why are they so dispassionate towards the Bible and its teachings? Why do Evangelicals, to put it bluntly, not give a shit about what the Bible teaches? Why are they content to simply believe what they are told to believe, without ever intellectually, rationally, and skeptically investigating their beliefs? If there is only one life that will soon be past, and only what’s done for Christ will last; if this life is preparation to meet the Christian God face to face; if Heaven and Hell are real, death is certain, and judgment awaits, why are Evangelicals so lackadaisical toward the Bible — a book that is supposedly God’s blueprint for life?
All of these things are stunning; but the fact that ninety percent of Evangelicals believe that Jesus (God) killed himself on a Roman cross, spent a couple of nights hanging out in the bowels of the earth, and then miraculously brought himself back to life? That’s just Evangelicalism 101. Such beliefs are irrational and nonsensical, but when faith is the foundation of your beliefs, anything is literally possible.
If you have Evangelical family and friends and want to help them see the light, I suggest you buy one or more of the books written by New Testament scholar Dr. Bart Ehrman. His books are deadly frontal assaults on Evangelical beliefs about the nature and history of the Bible. While one can maintain their Christian faith after reading Dr. Ehrman, it is impossible to hang on to the notion that the Bible is inerrant and infallible. Challenging Evangelical beliefs about the Bible is the first step in leading believers away from a form of Christianity that is psychologically, and, at times, physically, harmful.
If you are interested in challenges to the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, my friend Gary’s blog, Escaping Christian Fundamentalism, is a good resource. Gary grew up in an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist home, and later became a conservative Lutheran.
Gary describes his deconversion this way:
I was very happy as a conservative (confessional) Lutheran. It is a beautiful liturgical Church. In this branch of Christianity, my eternal salvation is based on GOD’S act of justification in Holy Baptism, not on my good works, nor on my possession of adequate faith and repentance in an evangelical born again experience. The doctrines and teachings of the Lutheran Confessions seemed to me to correctly interpret the Bible.
Then one fateful day as I was surfing the internet, I came across the blog of an ex-fundamentalist Baptist pastor turned atheist [that would be Bruce Gerencser]. I was horrified to read his blasphemy against my Lord and Savior. I took it upon myself to bring this “back-slidden sinner” back to Jesus Christ. I believed that if I just exposed him to TRUE Christianity (confessional Lutheranism), he would see the light and return to Christianity. How wrong I was! Four months later it was I who had seen the “light”…
…I had become an agnostic.
What did this former pastor/turned atheist say that convinced me that my cherished, beloved Christian faith was false? Well, to put it simply, he told me to read the books of former evangelical Christian turned agnostic, New Testament scholar, Bart Ehrman, starting with “Misquoting Jesus”.
If you have questions regarding your Christian faith, I would encourage you to read Ehrman’s books. From there, read this blog and the blogs of other skeptics, atheists, and agnostics; interact with former Christians who have been through the same struggles that you are now experiencing.
And I will give you this piece of advice: If your faith is more important to you than knowing the truth, don’t read one more sentence of this blog or that of any other ex-Christian blog. But if the truth—the real truth no matter how cold, ugly, and painful it may be—matters more to you than the comfort and security of your faith, step out of the Christian “bubble” and explore the criticisms of your Christian belief system. Find out why there are so many ex-Christians, of all denominations, who believe that the Christian belief system is based primarily on assumptions, hearsay, superstitions, and wishful thinking. There is scant evidence to support the fantastical supernatural claims of this ancient religion.
Gary has written a good bit on Jesus’ resurrection, often detailing interactions he has had with Christian apologists. His blog is a good source for the various arguments Evangelicals use for the resurrection and how they can easily be rebutted.
Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
One thing Christians have in common with non-believers is the fact that they will someday die. Death is the great equalizer. No matter our wealth and status, or lack thereof, there will come a day when each of us will draw his or her last breath. No second chances, no do-overs. All of us, at one time or the other, have pondered our mortality. The older we get, the more we think about death. As my health continues to decline, I have thought about my end. The last few days, in particular, have been difficult and challenging. I’ve found myself thinking, “do I want to do this anymore”? So much pain, so much nausea, and vomiting, so much fatigue . . . Death becomes, in my mind, a release from suffering.
It should come as no surprise then that most people turn to religion to find answers about death and the possibility of an afterlife. All the major religions of the world teach that there is life after death, be it in a resurrected or reincarnated form. Being the rational creatures we are, we can’t bear thoughts of no longer existing. Countless Evangelicals have asked me, surely you believe that there is SOMETHING after this life? Other Evangelicals have told me that they would have no reason to live if there weren’t life after death.
Sunday after Sunday, tens of millions of Americans gather in church buildings to worship a God that purportedly not only forgives their sins but gives them eternal life in Heaven after they die. If religious belief was only of value in this life and paid out no after-death benefits, I suspect many of the people pledging fealty and devotion to the Christian God on Sundays would instead spend the first day of the week engaging in recreation, working in their yards, or relaxing. Remove sin, fear, judgment, and eternal life from the script and I have no doubt that most churches would find themselves not only without congregants, but without preachers too.
Generally, the orthodox Christian belief about the afterlife goes something like this: each of us dies, physically remains in the grave until Judgment Day, at which time God will bodily resurrect the just and unjust from the dead, judge them, and either send them to God’s eternal kingdom (Heaven) or the Lake of Fire (Hell) for eternity. The former is a blissful place where there is no sin, pain, suffering, or death, whereas the latter is a dark place where its inhabitants face horrific pain and suffering. Both the just (saved) and unjust (lost) will be fitted with new bodies (creations) that never die, and for those cast in the Lake of Fire, their bodies will be able to withstand never-ending torment.
Now, seek out one hundred Evangelicals and ask them about death and the afterlife, and they will tell you something like this: after death, Christians go to Heaven, and non-Christians go to Hell. Does what I have written here remotely sound like what I wrote in the previous paragraph? Nope. Most Christians believe that the moment after they close their eyes in death, they will awake in Heaven and be in the presence of God. The Bible, supposedly the final authority on all matters pertaining to life, death, and the afterlife, does not teach that Christians go to Heaven the moment they die. Neither does it teach that non-Christians go to Hell immediately after death. Instead, every person who has ever died presently lies rotting in the grave, awaiting the resurrection of the dead.
It’s not so sexy to tell people that their reserved rooms in Heaven and Hell will remain empty until Resurrection Day. Peter? James? Judas? Moses? David? Abraham? Isaac? Jacob? Adam? Eve? John, Paul, George, and Ringo? Your parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles? None of them is or will be in Heaven or Hell until the trumpet of God sounds and Jesus returns to earth to judge the living and the dead.
Yet, every Sunday, Christian preachers remind congregants of what awaits them after death: Heaven for the saved, and Hell for the lost. Unsaved people are implored to get saved lest they die and split Hell wide open. Christians are encouraged to work hard for Jesus and promised great rewards in Heaven if they do so. Preachers tell wonderful stories about Heaven and horrific stories about Hell, reminding people that the sum of life is knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Attend Christian funerals and you will often hear preachers outright lie about the afterlife. I have yet to hear a preacher say that the dearly departed went to Hell. In every instance, preachers found some sliver of faith/belief to hang on to, thus justifying their preaching the subject of their funeral sermon into Heaven. Worse yet, preachers and family members will speak of Granny running around Heaven or Mom, Dad, and Rover looking down from Heaven watching their loved ones. I have heard countless Christians say that some close family member of theirs was “with them” as they did this or that. None of these hopeful ideas is supported by the teachings of the Bible. Granny isn’t running around in Heaven. Her body lies in the grave, awaiting the Resurrection. As nice as it sounds, and the warm, fuzzy feelings such thoughts give, no one is watching us from Pearly Gates.
Of course, as an atheist, I am firmly persuaded that death is the end-all. To misquote Hebrews 9:27: And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this . . . nothing. I have one life to live and it is quickly passing by. It seems like yesterday that my wife and I, ages nineteen and twenty-one, were standing at the front of the Newark Baptist Temple altar, reciting our wedding vows to one another. Youthful in body and ready to take on the world, we had no thoughts of growing old. Yet, here we are, soon celebrating our 44th wedding anniversary, and in June I will turn sixty-five. Now our thoughts turn to end-of-life matters: retirement, healthcare, and what to do with the few years we have left. My older readers know exactly what I am talking about. Who among us hasn’t lain in bed listening to the beat of our heart or the ticking of the clock? We know that each beat and each tick take us one moment closer to our last day among the living.
Bruce, if you don’t think there is life after death, why then did you spend most of this post talking about what Christians believe about death and the afterlife? This post is a plea to preachers to tell people the truth about life after death. First, preachers should tell people that they cannot know for certain whether there is life after death; that all that Christians have to go on is what is written in the Bible; that the belief that people live on after death is solely a matter of faith; that there is no evidence for claims that people live on in eternity after they die. Second, preachers should stop telling people lies about what happens the moment after someone dies. Stop with the whimsical stories about what dead people are doing in Heaven. Tell the truth: Granny lies rotting in the grave until Jesus comes to get her. If preachers are going to tell mythical stories about the afterlife, the least they can do is accurately state what the Bible says on the matter. Of course, doing so might cause people to lose hope, but Christians need to know that there is NOT an immediate payoff after death.
Let me conclude this post with an excerpt from a Time Magazine interview of Christian theologian N.T. Wright:
TIME: At one point you call the common view of heaven a “distortion and serious diminution of Christian hope.”
Wright: It really is. I’ve often heard people say, “I’m going to heaven soon, and I won’t need this stupid body there, thank goodness.’ That’s a very damaging distortion, all the more so for being unintentional.
TIME: How so? It seems like a typical sentiment.
Wright: There are several important respects in which it’s unsupported by the New Testament. First, the timing. In the Bible we are told that you die, and enter an intermediate state. St. Paul is very clear that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead already, but that nobody else has yet. Secondly, our physical state. The New Testament says that when Christ does return, the dead will experience a whole new life: not just our soul, but our bodies. And finally, the location. At no point do the resurrection narratives in the four Gospels say, “Jesus has been raised, therefore we are all going to heaven.” It says that Christ is coming here, to join together the heavens and the Earth in an act of new creation.
TIME: Is there anything more in the Bible about the period between death and the resurrection of the dead?
Wright: We know that we will be with God and with Christ, resting and being refreshed. Paul writes that it will be conscious, but compared with being bodily alive, it will be like being asleep. The Wisdom of Solomon, a Jewish text from about the same time as Jesus, says “the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,” and that seems like a poetic way to put the Christian understanding, as well.
TIME: But it’s not where the real action is, so to speak?
Wright: No. Our culture is very interested in life after death, but the New Testament is much more interested in what I’ve called the life after life after death — in the ultimate resurrection into the new heavens and the new Earth. Jesus’ resurrection marks the beginning of a restoration that he will complete upon his return. Part of this will be the resurrection of all the dead, who will “awake,” be embodied and participate in the renewal. John Polkinghorne, a physicist and a priest, has put it this way: “God will download our software onto his hardware until the time he gives us new hardware to run the software again for ourselves.” That gets to two things nicely: that the period after death is a period when we are in God’s presence but not active in our own bodies, and also that the more important transformation will be when we are again embodied and administering Christ’s kingdom.
Wright: Never at any point do the Gospels or Paul say Jesus has been raised, therefore we are we are all going to heaven. They all say, Jesus is raised, therefore the new creation has begun, and we have a job to do.
TIME: That sounds a lot like… work.
Wright: It’s more exciting than hanging around listening to nice music. In Revelation and Paul’s letters we are told that God’s people will actually be running the new world on God’s behalf. The idea of our participation in the new creation goes back to Genesis, when humans are supposed to be running the Garden and looking after the animals. If you transpose that all the way through, it’s a picture like the one that you get at the end of Revelation.
TIME: And it ties into what you’ve written about this all having a moral dimension.
Wright: Both that, and the idea of bodily resurrection that people deny when they talk about their “souls going to Heaven.” If people think “my physical body doesn’t matter very much,” then who cares what I do with it? And if people think that our world, our cosmos, doesn’t matter much, who cares what we do with that? Much of “traditional” Christianity gives the impression that God has these rather arbitrary rules about how you have to behave, and if you disobey them you go to hell, rather than to heaven. What the New Testament really says is God wants you to be a renewed human being helping him to renew his creation, and his resurrection was the opening bell. And when he returns to fulfil the plan, you won’t be going up there to him, he’ll be coming down here.
TIME: That’s very different from, say, the vision put out in the Left Behind books.
Wright: Yes. If there’s going to be an Armageddon, and we’ll all be in heaven already or raptured up just in time, it really doesn’t matter if you have acid rain or greenhouse gases prior to that. Or, for that matter, whether you bombed civilians in Iraq. All that really matters is saving souls for that disembodied heaven.
TIME: Has anyone you’ve talked to expressed disappointment at the loss of the old view?
Wright: Yes, you might get disappointment in the case where somebody has recently gone through the death of somebody they love and they are wanting simply to be with them. And I’d say that’s understandable. But the end of Revelation describes a marvelous human participation in God’s plan. And in almost all cases, when I’ve explained this to people, there’s a sense of excitement and a sense of, “Why haven’t we been told this before?”
What are some of the other things that Christians say about death, Heaven, and Hell that either aren’t in the Bible or are distorted by preachers? Please share them in the comment section.
Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
This is the latest installment in The Voices of Atheism series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. Know of a good video that espouses atheism/agnosticism or challenges the claims of the Abrahamic religions? Please email me the name of the video or a link to it. I believe this series will be an excellent addition to The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser.
Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Bill and Beni Johnson, senior pastors Bethel Redding.
In 2016, I wrote a post titled, Bethel Redding: A Dangerous Evangelical Cult. Since that time, thousands and thousands of people (Almost 14,000 viewers in 2019, 18,000 in 2018, 24,000 in 2017, and 17,000 in 2016) have come to this site seeking information about Bethel Redding, an Evangelical megachurch in Redding, California pastored by Bill and Beni Johnson. Over the past seven days, almost 2,000 people have accessed the Bethel Redding post. Why all the interest in Bethel Redding?
Bethel Redding and its leaders have an outsized influence on Evangelical churches, especially Charismatic congregations. While Bethel’s core doctrines are Evangelical, its peripheral doctrines are anything but, and anyone with an ounce of sense should be able to look at their beliefs and conclude that Bethel is a dangerous cult. Granted, all sects and churches are, by definition, cults. Christianity, in particular, is an ancient blood cult. The difference between Bethel and its affiliates and other Evangelicals churches is that Bethel’s beliefs about the work of the Holy Spirit can and do cause psychological and physical harm. Many Christian churches are quite benign, little more than social clubs for likeminded people. Bethel, on the other hand, is a world-spanning club with all sorts of magical, secret rituals. One such ritual is currently in the news.
Bethel Redding and its pastors believe that they have the power to raise people from the dead. That’s right, they believe they can reanimate corpses that have been dead for hours and days. On December 15, 2019, Bethel worship leader and songwriter Kalley Heiligenthal asked for urgent prayer after doctors pronounced her two-year-old daughter, Olive Alyane, dead. Heiligenthal wrote:
We’re asking for prayer. We believe in a Jesus who died and conclusively defeated every grave, holding the keys to resurrection power. We need it for our little Olive Alayne, who stopped breathing yesterday and has been pronounced dead by doctors. We are asking for bold, unified prayers from the global church to stand with us in belief that He will raise this little girl back to life. Her time here is not done, and it is our time to believe boldly, and with confidence wield what King Jesus paid for. It’s time for her to come to life.
Friends, we are joining the Bethel family in a global movement of prayer for this little one, Olive. Ever since we heard yesterday morning, I have been praying prayers of resurrection over this little girl. We serve a miracle working God, and all night in my sleep, I kept hearing the words, ‘Talitha Koum’… little girl, I say to you, get up from the sleep of death in Jesus Name and WALK! I looked up her name meaning just now, Olive Alayne. Olive- ‘evergreen’, which speaks of LIFE in EVERY SEASON. Alayne – ‘AWAKENING’ and ‘dear child.’ ! Lets decree together over her, O-LIVE the AWAKENING breath of Jesus, dear child!
・・・
Our God is the God of miracles, and nothing is impossible for Him! We are asking you, our global church family, to join with us in prayer and in declaring life and resurrection over @kalleyheili and @apheiligenthal’s daughter, Olive Alayne. Kalley, Andrew, and Elise, we stand with you in faith and in agreement for Olive’s life!
Please join us as we pray in bold faith for a miracle for our own Kalley an [sic] Andrew Heiligenthal.
Thousands of Bethelites left comments such as these:
In JESUS name, and by the power of Holy Spirit , I command the spirit of death to leave Olive now! I speak resurrection LIFE into sweet Olive’s body now in JESUS name and I declare Olive will live and not die and declare the works of the LORD !
Olive… we say you will live and not die in Jesus’ name. Brain – wake up! Heart – wake up! Blood of Jesus we thank you that you speak now throughout every part of Olive the resurrection power and life and unity of our Lords words – wake up!
Praying and interceding from home today. God, we speak life to Olive! You are the God of Miracles! Do it again Papa raise Olive from the dead!
Come back to life, little babe! Jesus walked out of the grave, walk out with Him!!
Jesus raised our daughter from the dead not once, not twice, but three times! I am believing that for Olive! And it is so.
Jesus raise Olive to life in your name Lord! We declare life and liberty in this beautiful child. You have a plan and purpose for Olive. Bring her life, restore her soul, heaven come down. Unite the body to pray for her and see a mighty miracle in the name of Jesus Christ! Bring a testimony to the world Lord of your resurrection power Jesus! Fill our hearts with belief in Jesus name. Amen!
Thank you, Heavenly Father, for breathing the breath of life back into this child’s body. We command her spirit to return to her body, and thank you, Holly Spirit, for quickening and making alive her mortal body right now, in Jesus’ mighty name. We thank you for miracles, signs, and wonders coming forth from the life of this precious little girl. May she be a testimony of your faithfulness. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Her name is Olive???? She will LIVE!!! The very olive tree sprouts new life… Jesus— we ask the same, by your authority… Resurrection power— gives birth to resurrection life— we join together— as one body— to the LIFE of Jesus! Rise up little Olive!!!!
Holy Spirit come and blow the breath of God unto her lungs, neurons we command you to fire, heart we command to pump!! We claim healing in Jesus Name!!
I rebuke the spirit of death off this child. Jesus bore all sickness and disease and lack for this child. He is healed and whole and well. All parts are straight from the warehouse to Olive. God bless you all.
I command the spirit of death to lift off Olive’s little body right now!!! She will live and not die! Breath of Life breathe in her nostrils right now!! In the mighty name of Jesus Christ!!!! HOLY SPIRIT invade that room tight now!!! Hallelujah God we cry out to You! The Giver if life!!! Hallelujah Lord!!!
Four days later, the child is still dead, yet True Believers® continue to delusionally believe that Jesus is going to resurrect Olive from the dead:
I commend the blood of Jesus over her right now in Jesus name every demonic Spirit every Spirit of Witchcraft every sickness every disease every thing that’s trying to choke her out I lose it right now in Jesus name we command healing power to rise up in her right now in Jesus mighty name amen.
Still praying. I feel God tell me to connect more and more to this. The power of Christ’s resurrection is the power that cancels everything. I keep studying scripture and my heart is full of such promises.
We partner with Him by being wise as kings and seeking out the connections. I’m back 3 major events so far and I will not stop until God tells me to stop. Do I ever love God!
I raise a Hallelujah! IN Jesus’ resurrection power I speak LIFE over Olive. Raise up, and live your Destiny Olive.
Covered by the blood of Jesus we are declaring Life over Olive Alayne in Jesus precious name. Thank you Father that you answer to our prayers in Jesus name Amen!
23yrs ago, our 14 mo old baby girl was dead and came back to life on a quiet Winter night to NOW worship AT BETHEL with with Olive’s parents. Olive, Sweetheart, come back and tell us what you know.
Bethel Redding has a “Dead Raising Team.” Let that sink in for a moment.
The DRT offers a service of support to any family that is grieving the loss of a loved one. In addition to giving the bereaved spiritual and emotional support, our team of trained ministers will offer prayers of resurrection on behalf of the deceased. Handling each situation with the utmost sensitivity, our team travels to the funeral home, morgue, or family’s home where the deceased is being kept. Upon arrival, we spend time in prayer with the family, as well as the deceased. We will stay as long as we are needed.
Since it was started in late 2006, the DRT has comforted families in the midst of grief, as well as having 15 resurrections to date as a result of their prayers. If this is a service that you would like to make use of in the midst of your pain, please contact us as soon as possible.
Nothing is impossible with God. – The DRT
Fifteen alleged “resurrections” in thirteen years. That’s roughly one reanimated corpse per year. Think of all the prayers that these Deadraiser’s have prayed, and what, exactly, do they have to show for it? Fifteen alleged “resurrections.” No evidence for these science defying resurrections is provided on the Dead Raising website. Until I see solid, verifiable scientific evidence for their claims, I remain skeptical.
The death of any child is tragic, regardless of the religious inclinations of their parents. Sadly, Bethel Redding and its leaders used Olive Heiligenthal’s death as a means to promote their fanatical beliefs. That Olive remains dead is no surprise. That’s what dead people do — stay dead. Reason and common sense tell us that once people die, they stay that way, and all the prayers and magic tricks in the world won’t change that fact.
If you had any doubts about whether Bethel Redding is a cult, the church’s latest foray into raising the dead should put an end to your doubts.
On Friday, December 6th, forty Evangelical preachers and worship leaders gathered at the White House to pray for “baby Christian” President Donald Trump. Seven of those gathered: Brian Johnson, Jenn Johnson, Sean Feucht, Luke Hendrickson, Kiley Goodpasture, Dominic Shahbon, and Jeremy Edwardson were affiliated with Bethel Redding.
About Bruce Gerencser
Bruce Gerencser, 62, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 41 years. He and his wife have six grown children and twelve grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist. For more information about Bruce, please read the About page.
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Why would somebody think they saw the risen Christ. I do not understand the phenomena going on there. Do you have any insight from your readings? Granted, Islam claims Mohammad flew to Jerusalem on a winged horse and on the way back, saw a caravan – which he then told people the next day and the caravan arrived when he said it would. I am not sure if you know the story, but in general, it is a claim that cannot be easily explained away other than it is just bogus in general.
Why would people say they saw a resurrected Jesus if, in fact, they hadn’t seen him? What possible reason could they have had for lying, right? For some people, this one issue keeps them awake at night and keeps them from walking away from Christianity. Worried that they might have wrong beliefs or might end up in hell for not believing in the risen Christ, people hang on to ancient myths, thinking that it is better to be safe than eternally sorry.
I could write thousands of words on this subject, but with this post, all I want to do is give a few of the reasons why I think Jesus still lies buried somewhere in Palestine.
First, human history and personal experience tell me that when people die they stay dead. Cemeteries are reminders of the fact that once people die, they ain’t coming back. It’s all about probabilities. If I died today and were buried in a ground, what are the odds that I would miraculously reappear alive three days later? Zero. Nada. Zip. None. Not going to happen. So it is for Jesus.
Second, the only places we find reports about the resurrection of Jesus from the dead are the Bible or from later Christian sources. There are no purely secular reports attesting to the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. All we have is the Bible. Christians, out of hand, reject the notion that Muhammad flew to Jerusalem on a winged horse because it appears in the Quran, a religious text they deem to be mythical and false. Yet, when it comes to the Bible, its stories are viewed as historical facts, narratives of what really happened. Why the duplicity in belief? The simple answer, of course, it that all of us tend to believe as true the stories of our tribes. Christians believe that Jesus resurrected from the dead because they have been told from their youth onward that God’s son, Jesus, died on the cross for their sins, and three days later resurrected from the dead, thereby vanquishing sin and death, and granting to all those who believe eternal life. When this story is drilled into Christians’ head over and over and over again, Sunday after Sunday, year after year, it should come no as surprise, then, that Christians believe Jesus is still alive, biding his time until he returns to earth to make all things new.
Take, for example, Mormonism. Talk about a crackpot, bat-shit crazy, religion, yet millions of Americans believe that Joseph Smith found golden plates translated them. Wikipedia describes the “historical” narrative of Mormonism this way:
Joseph Smith claimed The Book of Mormon was translated from writing on golden plates in a reformed Egyptian language, translated with the assistance of the Urim and Thummim and seer stones. Both the special spectacles and the seer stone were at times referred to as the “Urim and Thummim”. He said an angel first showed him the location of the plates in 1823, buried in a nearby hill, but he was not allowed to take the plates until 1827. Smith began dictating the text of The Book of Mormon around the fall of 1827 until the summer of 1828 when 116 pages were lost. Translation began again in April 1829 and finished in June 1829, saying that he translated it “by the gift and power of God”. After the translation was completed, Smith said the plates were returned to the angel. During Smith’s supposed possession, very few people were allowed to “witness” the plates.
The book described itself as a chronicle of an early Israelite diaspora, integrating with the pre-existing indigenous peoples of the Americas, written by a people called the Nephites. According to The Book of Mormon, Lehi’s family left Jerusalem at the urging of God c. 600 BC, and later sailed to the Americas c. 589 BC. The Nephites are described as descendants of Nephi, the fourth son of the prophet Lehi. The Nephites are portrayed as having a belief in Christ hundreds of years before his birth. Historical accuracy and veracity of the Book of Mormon was and continues to be hotly contested. No archaeological, linguistic, or other evidence of the use of Egyptian writing in ancient America has been discovered.
How is Mormonism any different from Christianity? Shouldn’t we accept their stories as true? After all, they are found in a divine religious text. So it is with the Bible and the resurrection of Jesus. Just because something is found in the Bible doesn’t make it true. There’s no historical reason for anyone to believe that Jesus not only resurrected from the dead two thousand years ago, but is still alive today. I am not saying that Jesus, as a man, is a work of fiction, but the supernatural events attributed to him have no historical foundation. As such, I am free to reject them out of hand. This is why believing in the resurrection of Jesus requires faith, a faith I do not have.
Third, the gospels are not eyewitness accounts, nor were they likely written by the likes of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Whatever the original authors of the gospels might have written, we will never know. Those original documents no longer exist. All we have are copies of copies of copies of copies, with thousands of variants among them. This is why I snort and laugh when Evangelical pastors, thinking they are taking some sort of intellectually superior high road, say that they believe the original documents were inerrant. How can they know this, not having seen the original manuscripts? Again, belief in inerrancy requires faith, a faith I do not have.
While it is possible that extant gospel manuscripts accurately reflect what actually happened, it is far more likely that the stories about the resurrected Jesus were added after the fact. This includes stories about Jesus walking through walls, appearing to his disciples/public without Roman/Jewish authorities finding out, and countless graves being opened, people arising from the dead, and walking the streets of Jerusalem. All of these stories were meant to turn Jesus into a supernatural being. Supernatural religions require mythical stories, so it doesn’t surprise me that Christianity is rife with such beliefs (beliefs, by the way, that continue to change and evolve).
Fourth, why didn’t reports of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, his post-resurrection exploits, and the dead walking the streets of Jerusalem make it into the news? Surely, a Roman or Jewish writer would have written something down about these earth-shattering events. Yet, apart from the Bible and a handful of Christians sources, history is silent. Why is that? Perhaps, the silence reflects the fact that these things never happened, that they are, at best, myths used to convey some sort of spiritual meaning.
Fifth, if the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the central belief of Christianity, why did God make sure that no one wrote anything about it outside of the Bible and a handful of Christian sources? Why hide in obscurity the biggest event in human history? This, of course, can be said about most of the big events recorded in the Bible: Moses and the Israelites wandering in the wilderness, the story of King David, the story of Abraham, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Noah and flood, and countless other stories many Christians believe are historical facts. Why did the God of creation, the God who controls everything, leave blank the pages of human history when it comes to Jesus’ resurrection and the other important events previously mentioned?
Let me conclude by saying that the reason that I am not a Christian is that Christianity doesn’t make sense to me. Last April, I wrote a post titled The Michael Mock Rule: It Just Doesn’t Make Sense. Here’s some of what I said:
In recent months, I have started using The Michael Mock Rule when engaging Evangelicals who have their hearts set on winning me back to Jesus. Instead of endlessly debating and discussing this or that doctrine, I invoke The Michael Mock Rule : It just doesn’t make sense.
Consider the following Evangelical beliefs. Do they make sense to you?
The Bible is a divine text? Inerrant text? Infallible text?
God is one person, in three parts: Father, son, and Holy Spirit?
Universe created in six twenty-four-hour days?
Adam and Eve the first humans and the mother and father of the human race?
Adam and Eve were tempted to sin by a talking snake who walked upright?
All humans are sinners because Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate fruit from a forbidden tree?
The story of Noah, the Ark, and universal flood?
The Tower of Babel?
Fallen angels having sex with human women, producing hybrid children?
Jesus is God in the flesh?
Jesus was born of a virgin? His mother was impregnated by the Holy Spirit?
Jesus walked on water? Turned water into wine? Healed blindness? Walked through walls?
Jesus died and resurrected from the dead three days later?
Jesus ascended to heaven?
Jesus will return to earth someday, destroying the earth and making all things new?
All humans are sinners in need of salvation, broken in need of fixing?
Blood atonement for sin?
Life without Jesus is meaningless and without purpose?
All that matters in life is Jesus?
If I believe in Jesus I go to heaven when I die, if don’t believe I go to hell?
Rapture? Dead people coming back to life?
Evangelicals routinely make the above assertions without presenting any evidence for their claims — and quoting the Bible is not evidence. These claims are reinforced Sunday after Sunday through sermons, Sunday school lessons, and songs. Through the week, Evangelicals read Christian literature, listen to Christian podcasts and music, and tune in to Christian radio and TV stations. These followers of Jesus are surrounded by people who, minute by minute, hour by hour, and day by day, reinforce these “truth” claims. Having been immersed in Evangelicalism their entire lives, Christians find that these beliefs make perfect sense.
But for those who have never lived in the Evangelical bubble or no longer do so, these beliefs just don’t make sense. Believing them requires a suspension of rational thought. Believing them requires putting faith above facts, knowledge, and evidence. Believing them requires setting skepticism aside. Believing them requires accepting the most outlandish of things as true. The Michael Mock Rule says to all of these beliefs: It Just Doesn’t Make Sense.
Making sense of Christianity requires faith, a faith that I do not have. I am unwilling (and anyone using Pascal’s Wager in a comment will immediately be banned) to surrender the only life I will ever have in the minuscule hope that Jesus really did resurrect from the dead and that an eternal home in heaven awaits me if I will but believe the gospel and be saved. Besides, based on what I read in the Bible and hear from Christians, heaven doesn’t appeal to me. Spending eternity worshiping a narcissistic deity who consigned billions of people to endless torture for believing in the wrong deity doesn’t sound like something I want to do.
What are your thoughts on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead? Please share your thoughts in the comment section.
About Bruce Gerencser
Bruce Gerencser, 60, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 39 years. He and his wife have six grown children and eleven grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist. For more information about Bruce, please read the About page.
Bruce is a local photography business owner, operating Defiance County Photo out of his home. If you live in Northwest Ohio and would like to hire Bruce, please email him.
Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section. If you are a first-time commenter, please read the commenting policy before wowing readers with your words. All first-time comments are moderated. If you would like to contact Bruce directly, please use the contact form to do so.
Donations are always appreciated. Donations on a monthly basis can be made through Patreon. One-time donations can be made through PayPal.
