Proof of the Resurrection

Using the very early Christian writings as reliably historical records only and not inspired texts helps us to show that our belief in Christianity is not based solely on a book but on a man, a God-man Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. 

 

There is evidence that Jesus’ disciples had real experiences with one whom they believed was the risen Christ.  We find in 1 Cor 15:3-8 an ancient creed spoken by Paul to the Corinthians. 

 

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. (1 Cor 15:3-8 NIV)

 

This creed is generally agreed that Paul received it from Peter and James between 3 and 5 years after the crucifixion.  Since they are the ones who gave the creed to Paul, Jewish Scholar Pinchahs Lapide says this creed “may be considered the statement of eyewitnesses.”  Here’s something more to consider that is often overlooked from this passage.  The large number of witnesses of Christ after that resurrection morning, over 500 people is another statement worthy of consideration.  Paul reminds them that the majority of those people were still alive and could be questioned.  He says in effect, ‘If you don’t believe me, you can ask them.’  Such a statement in an admittedly genuine letter written within thirty years of the event is almost as strong evidence as one could hope to get for something that happened nearly two thousand years ago.

 

Just because the disciples think they saw Jesus though, doesn’t mean they really did.  There are three possible alternatives.

 

1. They were lying
2. They hallucinated
3. They really saw the risen Christ
    
   Which of these is the most likely?  Were they lying?  If they were lying, it meant that the disciples knew that Jesus had not really risen, that they made up the story about the resurrection.  But then why did 10 of the disciples willingly die as martyrs for their belief in the resurrection?  People often die for a lie they believe is true.  But if Jesus did not rise, the disciples knew it.  They wouldn’t have just been dying for a lie that they mistakenly believed was true.  The disciples were willing to give up their lives for a lie they KNEW was a lie.  Ten people will not all give their lives for something they know to be a lie.
    
   To suggest that the disciples were lying is considered today by all prominent New Testament scholars as an absurd theory.  We can see why almost all scholars today admit that, if nothing else, the disciples at least believed that Jesus appeared to them.  But to believe something does not make it true.  Maybe the disciples were wrong and had been confused by an hallucination.
    
   The theory of mass hallucinations is another attempt at explaining the claims of the appearances of Jesus after the resurrection.  The disciples record eating and drinking with Jesus, as well as touching him.  This cannot be done with hallucinations.  Second, it is highly unlikely that they would all have had the same hallucination.  Hallucinations are highly individual, and not group projections.  And what about Paul’s conversion?  Was Paul, the persecutor of Christians, so hoping to see the resurrected Jesus that his mind invented an appearance as well?
    
   Since the disciples could not have been lying or hallucination, we have only one possible explanation left:  the disciples believed that they had seen the risen Jesus because they really had seen the risen Jesus.  So the resurrection appearances demonstrate the reality of the resurrection.  And the proof in the claim that Jesus called Himself God (John 8:58 referencing Exo 3:14) is found in the Resurrection.  He is Risen!
    
    
    
   Missed past week’s leaflets?  Questions?  Comments?  Come visit our Blog at www.parishofthepreciousblood.blogspot.com
    
   Written by a St. Denis parishioner.

The Resurrection

Although the Shroud was dismissed by some as a fake because of the carbon-dating in 1988 of a single specimen (divided into three tiny parts) that was said to date from 1260 to 1390 A.D., Dr. Whanger says that test was not valid. He and his wife Mary (co-authors of the book The Shroud of Turin: An Adventure of Discovery, Franklin, Tenn.: Providence House Publishers, 1998) say that the problem was not with the dating per se. It was with the sample. It was from the very corner of the cloth, from a part rewoven in the Middle Ages. And so he concludes, "the carbon dating was totally invalid and has no scientific merit to it at all."

Furthermore, Dr. Whanger notes, "The Shroud is the most intensely studied single object in existence. There are probably 67 different fields of scientific and academic interests that have looked into the Shroud in one way in another. So, there's been a huge amount of research gone in on it. It is our conviction that the Shroud is, indeed, the burial cloth of Jesus of Nazareth. And we feel that we can date it to the spring of 30 A.D. in the Middle East, and that what we see on the Shroud with the various wounds that this is entirely consistent with the scriptural account of the crucifixion of Jesus. And traditionally, this has been known as the image of Jesus." In other words, observes Dr. Whanger, what we think Jesus looked like is based on the Shroud of Turin and not vice versa.

We know where the Shroud has been since 1357, when it showed up in Lirey, France in the home of a French crusader. Knowing it dates from 1357 or earlier, consider all these details:

•The human anatomy represented on the Shroud is 100% correct. Knowledge about anatomy on the Shroud includes details that weren't known until the 20th century. In contrast, 14th century knowledge of anatomy was quite limited. If the cloth were the work of a medieval forger, he knew things that weren't to be known until centuries later.

•The Shroud was photographed for the first time in 1898, and it was discovered to be a photographic negative---hundreds of years before photography was invented.

•The faint image on the Shroud was not painted on. It was lightly burned on. It's as if at the moment of the resurrection, Christ's body let off a burst of radiation, as His body changed from mortal to immortal. The image on the Shroud is created by some sort of scorching process. Yet it is only lightly scorched. The image is only 5/1000's of an inch thick. Although there are a few traces of pigment on the Shroud (because as a holy relic, they put paintings in contact with it, presumably to receive a blessing or the like), the image is not comprised of pigment or paint.

•The blood on the Shroud is real human blood---with all the wounds corresponding with the passion of Jesus in the Gospels. The blood did not see decay (He was sandwiched inside that cloth for less than 72 hours). Yet the blood was undisturbed, which means He somehow went through the cloth; it was not yanked off Him.

•What we think Jesus looked like is based on the Shroud of Turin. People have a universal picture of how they think Jesus looked. That image is based on the Shroud.

•While leading evangelicals are often silent about the Shroud, and I respect that, I still think people should look into it for themselves because the evidence is there, on yet another front, declaring the Easter message: Jesus is risen.

•In the Middle Ages (and even sometimes today) artistic representations of the crucifixion place the nails in the palms. Yet the Shroud of Turin places the nails in the wrists. It has now been medically proven that nails in the palms would not suffice to hold a crucified man. (The Greek word for "hand" can also mean wrist.)

•The image of the Shroud is three-dimensional. When ordinary photos or paintings are studied through a specific NASA, space-age machine (a "VP 8 Image Analyzer"), the image always becomes distorted. However, the Shroud has been proven to have three-dimensional properties. It could not have been a painting.

•The theories of skeptics put forward to explain away the Shroud pay indirect homage to its awesome properties. For example, one recent book proposed that no less a genius than Leonardo de Vinci produced the Shroud-and that he had to secretly crucify a man in the process. However, Leonardo lived a hundred years after the Shroud appeared. So there goes another theory. Everyone that studies the Shroud of Turin agrees that this is a mystery not easily explained away.

If it's a hoax, this is no ordinary hoax. The greater evidence argues for its authenticity. As some scientists put it, the Shroud is, if you will, a "snapshot of the resurrection." At the very moment Christ rose from the dead, something happened-a burst of radiation perhaps-that left a permanent mark on the front and back of the burial cloth that sandwiched the Man who wouldn't stay buried for long. In short, the best theory is that the Shroud of Turin provides scientific evidence for the resurrection of Christ.

He is risen. He is risen indeed!

Copied from:
http://www.christianpost.com/news/is-there-scientific-evidence-for-the-resurrection-of-jesus-christ-72677/

God Bless
Nathan

Ash Wednesday

 

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Season of Lent. It is a season of penance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday, through which we attain redemption.

Why we receive the ashes

Following the example of the Nine vites, who did penance in sackcloth and ashes, our foreheads are marked with ashes to humble our hearts and reminds us that life passes away on Earth. We remember this when we are told

"Remember, Man is dust, and unto dust you shall return."

Ashes are a symbol of penance made sacramental by the blessing of the Church, and they help us develop a spirit of humility and sacrifice.

The distribution of ashes comes from a ceremony of ages past. Christians who had committed grave faults performed public penance. On Ash Wednesday, the Bishop blessed the hair shirts which they were to wear during the forty days of penance, and sprinkled over them ashes made from the palms from the previous year. Then, while the faithful recited the Seven Penitential Psalms, the penitents were turned out of the church because of their sins -- just as Adam, the first man, was turned out of Paradise because of his disobedience. The penitents did not enter the church again until Maundy Thursday after having won reconciliation by the toil of forty days' penance and sacramental absolution. Later, all Christians, whether public or secret penitents, came to receive ashes out of devotion. In earlier times, the distribution of ashes was followed by a penitential procession.

The Ashes

The ashes are made from the blessed palms used in the Palm Sunday celebration of the previous year. The ashes are christened with Holy Water and are scented by exposure to incense. While the ashes symbolize penance and contrition, they are also a reminder that God is gracious and merciful to those who call on Him with repentant hearts. His Divine mercy is of utmost importance during the season of Lent, and the Church calls on us to seek that mercy during the entire Lenten season with reflection, prayer and penance.

Biblical Significance

Ashes were used in ancient times to express mourning. Dusting oneself with ashes was the penitent's way of expressing sorrow for sins and faults. An ancient example of one expressing one's penitence is found in Job 42:3–6. Job says to God: "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." (vv. 5–6, KJV) The prophet Jeremiah, for example, calls for repentance this way: "O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, roll in the ashes" (Jer 6:26). The prophet Daniel recounted pleading to God this way: "I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes" (Daniel 9:3). Just prior to the New Testament period, the rebels fighting for Jewish independence, the Maccabees, prepared for battle using ashes: "That day they fasted and wore sackcloth; they sprinkled ashes on their heads and tore their clothes" (1 Maccabees 3:47; see also 4:39).

Other examples are found in several other books of the Bible including, Numbers 19:9, 19:17, Jonah 3:6, Matthew 11:21, and Luke 10:13, and Hebrews 9:13. Ezekiel 9 also speaks of a linen-clad messenger marking the forehead of the city inhabitants that have sorrow over the sins of the people.

It marks the start of a 43-day period which is an allusion to the separation of Jesus in the desert to fast and pray. During this time he was tempted. Matthew 4:1–11, Mark 1:12–13, and Luke 4:1–13. While not specifically instituted in the Bible text, the 40-day period of repentance is also analogous to the 40 days during which Moses repented and fasted in response to the making of the Golden calf.

Source: http://www.catholic.org/clife/lent/ashwed.php

God Bless
Nathan