Judge: "Council of the Defense, you may present the first of your closing. "
Council for the Defense: "Thank you your honor."
"We know that all the historical evidence presented by Plaintiff's coucil is very solid circumstantial evidence. This is all that is needed to prove that many people in the mid 1st century believed that Jesus was bodily resurrected. Now let us let us examine why that evidence, though it be true, is not valid in proving that Jesus was in fact bodily resurrected. Now, according to each of the 4 Gospels, it was Mary Magdalene that was the main person to go to the tomb of Jesus very early in the morning. John's Gospel has her as the only woman that went. The other 3 Gospels mentions her and a couple of other women with her. She must have been exraordinarily close to Him."
Council for the Plaintiff:
"Objection your honor." "The council for the Defense is trying to prejudice the court's opinion on the case by trying to create a story of romantic fiction between Jesus and Mary Magdalene." "Liberal scholars have tried to create this make-believe love story for centuries and have yet to come up with enough evidence to substantiate it."
Judge: "Over ruled." "The court finds that the since this womans name first occurs in every Gospel writer's resurrection account, that council for the Defense is entitiled to present his reason why he believes her name is there."
Council for the Defense: "Thank you your honor." "Now it has been the reasoning by Christian Apologists for centuries, that it actually added to the credibility of Christ's resurrection to have the empty tomb discovered by women. They reasoned that in those times in Judea that women's testimony would be near worthless in their court. So, by having a woman, Mary Magdalene, and other women, being the first witnesses to the empty tomb on that morning, adds to the genuineness of the account. Christian Apologists argued that it adds to the genuineness in that if the tomb would have been discovered empty by the men, then it it could have been seen as a valid ploy to try to fool people. They argued that since women were the first to witness it, why should anyone take their account as serious? Well, we in this modern age have discovered something about cult leaders and their women followers. I believe that every reader would conclude that she and Jesus were very close. Some liberal scholars believe that they were either lovers or even secretly married. The reason I say this is because since she and Jesus were so close she would have a vested interest in seeing his work live on and not die with him. Studies have shown that women are easier for male cult leaders to get to succumb to their manipulations. Women in cults are more difficult to deprogram than the male cult followers. We need not look very far to see this truth. The women of Charles Manson's cult, to this day, are still devoted to him and this has been going on for about 40 years. Studies have also shown that women in cults are very susceptible to delusion created by the male cult leader. Therefore, it would have very consistent for Mary and the other women to either remove and hide the body of Jesus, or, have it removed and hidden by someone else, then report back the other male cult leaders that their leader did just what He told them he would do, rise from the dead. That He appeared to them, or that angels from heaven appeared to them and told them Jesus had been resurrected. Stories of cult leaders doing miraculous things has shown that their followers would not only die for him or his teachings, but they will also cause others to die for him and his teachings with scant or no evidence at all of proof that he or his teachings are truthful."
Concerning just who Mary Magdalene and the women with her may have got to remove and hide Jesus' body might be found in the ancient Jewish writing the Sefer Toledot Jeshu, where it was the gardener who took care of Joseph of Arimethia's tomb grounds." (Jn.19:41)
"I rest my case at this point your honor"
Council for the Defense: "Thank you your honor."
"We know that all the historical evidence presented by Plaintiff's coucil is very solid circumstantial evidence. This is all that is needed to prove that many people in the mid 1st century believed that Jesus was bodily resurrected. Now let us let us examine why that evidence, though it be true, is not valid in proving that Jesus was in fact bodily resurrected. Now, according to each of the 4 Gospels, it was Mary Magdalene that was the main person to go to the tomb of Jesus very early in the morning. John's Gospel has her as the only woman that went. The other 3 Gospels mentions her and a couple of other women with her. She must have been exraordinarily close to Him."
Council for the Plaintiff:
"Objection your honor." "The council for the Defense is trying to prejudice the court's opinion on the case by trying to create a story of romantic fiction between Jesus and Mary Magdalene." "Liberal scholars have tried to create this make-believe love story for centuries and have yet to come up with enough evidence to substantiate it."
Judge: "Over ruled." "The court finds that the since this womans name first occurs in every Gospel writer's resurrection account, that council for the Defense is entitiled to present his reason why he believes her name is there."
Council for the Defense: "Thank you your honor." "Now it has been the reasoning by Christian Apologists for centuries, that it actually added to the credibility of Christ's resurrection to have the empty tomb discovered by women. They reasoned that in those times in Judea that women's testimony would be near worthless in their court. So, by having a woman, Mary Magdalene, and other women, being the first witnesses to the empty tomb on that morning, adds to the genuineness of the account. Christian Apologists argued that it adds to the genuineness in that if the tomb would have been discovered empty by the men, then it it could have been seen as a valid ploy to try to fool people. They argued that since women were the first to witness it, why should anyone take their account as serious? Well, we in this modern age have discovered something about cult leaders and their women followers. I believe that every reader would conclude that she and Jesus were very close. Some liberal scholars believe that they were either lovers or even secretly married. The reason I say this is because since she and Jesus were so close she would have a vested interest in seeing his work live on and not die with him. Studies have shown that women are easier for male cult leaders to get to succumb to their manipulations. Women in cults are more difficult to deprogram than the male cult followers. We need not look very far to see this truth. The women of Charles Manson's cult, to this day, are still devoted to him and this has been going on for about 40 years. Studies have also shown that women in cults are very susceptible to delusion created by the male cult leader. Therefore, it would have very consistent for Mary and the other women to either remove and hide the body of Jesus, or, have it removed and hidden by someone else, then report back the other male cult leaders that their leader did just what He told them he would do, rise from the dead. That He appeared to them, or that angels from heaven appeared to them and told them Jesus had been resurrected. Stories of cult leaders doing miraculous things has shown that their followers would not only die for him or his teachings, but they will also cause others to die for him and his teachings with scant or no evidence at all of proof that he or his teachings are truthful."
Concerning just who Mary Magdalene and the women with her may have got to remove and hide Jesus' body might be found in the ancient Jewish writing the Sefer Toledot Jeshu, where it was the gardener who took care of Joseph of Arimethia's tomb grounds." (Jn.19:41)
"I rest my case at this point your honor"
