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There are a number of these, none of which are adequate, given the details given to us.

1. The swoon theory: According to this idea Jesus was not really dead and revived in the cool of the tomb. He then with superhuman strength (amazing for a half-dead person weak from loss of blood and with injuries) broke the seal and rolled back the stone and convinced His disciples (telling a lie) that He had risen from the dead.

This theory also falls down when one considers the calculating efficiency of the Roman executioners who themselves were under sentence of death if they failed to perform their duty. They also knew death when they saw it. This theory also fails to take into account how the weakened Jesus overcame the guards on the tomb who also were under death sentence to perform their duty.

2. The wrong tomb theory. The disciples of Jesus and women came to the wrong tomb that Sunday morning and found it empty and then proclaimed Him arisen. The problem with this is that they knew where Jesus was buried since they had noted it on the Friday in order to anoint the body with spices etc afterwards. Also it fails to explain the soldiers and the resurrection appearances. Also, it assumes that everyone got it wrong

Most importantly it fails to explain why the authorities did not produce the body of Jesus to destroy the lie of His resurrection.

3. The stolen body theory. This is the story which the guard who 'failed in their duty' were to tell to anyone who asked about the resurrection. The disciples were supposed to have stolen Jesus' body while they slept. The problem with this is that, as everyone then knew, the penalty for such neglect of duty was death and so they would not have been alive to tell if it had happenned that way. This must be the most unconvincing of all.

A further serious problem with this is that the disciples were frightened of the authorities and were hiding behind locked doors thinking that they might themselves be taken. Also it fails to explain how they changed to be fearless proclaimers of something which they knew under this scenario to be a lie. Many people die for a cause. No-one dies for something they know is a stupendous hoax.

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16y ago

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