If They Discovered the Body. . .

[Hank77]

One thing to consider is that not everyone believes what they are told is "irrefutable truth". Count me in that group.

As an example -- if Al Gore and 1,000 scientists showed the body of Jesus and or DNA etc. in a presentation where they also presented what they said was irrefutable proof for "crisis man made" global warning - I'd consider the source and reject it all in a heartbeat no matter how many people told me I was wrong in the head.

What is presented as irrefutable proof is not always the truth.

I agree but the OP is asking that we 'make believe'.

 

[friend of]

Okay then, I don't really see this as a productive hypothetical, but I would still believe that Jesus arose into an incorruptible body and appeared to 500+ people even if his earthly body was found.

That's my answer. Please laminate it.

 

[Anguspure]

It's hard to explain. I don't serve God or go good for a reward or fire insurance.....I just feel like it's what I an suppose to do. No news or evidence can change you, it can only reveal who you truly are.

Christ in you is the hope of glory, it is supposed to take place within or it didn't matter whether it happened without or not

I can appreciate your point of view, because the way of the Spirit is a matter of the heart and we often find ourselves wanting to follow the Law of the Spirit in spite of the desires of the flesh that still work in us. This is the influence that He exerts on us for the work of sanctification. Then we think its all because of who we are just because we're basically good people and ignore His work in us, because that's just who we are.

Also for many people with little fleshly passion it would seem that the way of the Spirit is the way they would tend to go anyway. I can point to any number of unbelievers who love to live good morally upright lives, and morally at least do very little of anything that would contravene the Law.

So you might want to follow God because it seems good to you, and therefore you would make a great Humanist.

But entertain for a minute another experience. In my case I am well aware that the desire of my flesh is selfish - narcissistic and not Loving in the way of Agape. In the flesh I only look for my own advantage and I am all to aware of the shortness of life that I have been given. I am not a goody 2 shoes without the influence of the Lord in my life and His Spirit guiding me. If you meet a good person here it is all down to the Lord.

Furthermore I am surrounded by people who have lived lives of so much (immoral) fun they can't stop talking about it and can't wait to get back into it when they next get ashore. The strong and, in the flesh, attractive temptation to follow suit is before me daily.

So when you present to me the idea of serving a God who may or may not exist and the existence of whom has little or no bearing on my day to day activities who, as Jesus of Nazareth points out "causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous", I think well actually the best way I can serve this ethereal God in the short life that I have is to have as much fun as possible.

After all if I've got it wrong what possible difference does it make? At the end of the day we all die and, if Christ did not rise, we are all dead in our sins anyway. May as well be done for a sheep as a lamb, as they say.

 

[Anguspure]

Okay then, I don't really see this as a productive hypothetical, but I would still believe that Jesus arose into an incorruptible body and appeared to 500+ people even if his earthly body was found.

That's my answer. Please laminate it.

So do I, absolutely and its the only thing that gives me Hope in life. So (as the OP asks) if it didn't happen like that then what would your life look like?

 

[Sketcher]

If the OP were true how can we believe anything.

Well, there are plenty of non-Christians who believe in something.

 

[Deadworm]

Paul says: "If Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain (1 Corinthians 15:14)." But the question is whether Paul believes that Jesus rose bodily from the dead. He never makes such an explicit claim.

The remains of a first-century crucified body (with a spike through the heel) was discovered in Jerusalem and my Seminary NT professor, Bruce Metzger, was asked by a reporter if this was a remnant of Jesus' body. Metzger pointed out that so many Jews were crucified by the Romans in Judea that there would be no reason to identify such remains with Jesus. But let's look at the 7 reasons why liberal scholars consider the discovery of Jesus' body a legitimate theoretical possibility.

(1) Standard Roman practice was either to dump crucified bodies in an open field to be eaten by dogs or to bury them together in a large hole. Why would they give Jesus unusual special treatment, if they denied such treatment to the other 2 thieves crucified with Him?

(2) No one was monitoring the tomb on Saturday night, the night after Jesus' crucifixion. It was then that Romans removed His body from the tomb and dumped it in the same place they had earlier dumped the bodies of the 2 thieves crucified with Him.

(3) Even if the story of Joseph of Arimathea removing Jesus' dead body so as not to profane the upcoming Sabbath may be true, Joseph would have put Jesus' corpse in a temporary tomb, until other 2 thieves died and all 3 corpses could be disposed of together! Indeed, the earliest Passion Narrative (Mark) never claims that Joseph was Jesus' disciple. Only later tradition invents the claim that Joseph was a disciple so as to challenge the logical sequence of events sketched out above.

(4) The earliest witness to the empty tomb is Paul's summary of Easter events in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, whose mention of Jesus' burial does not include a reference to the empty tomb.

(5) Matthew's story of Roman soldiers guarding the tomb is a later legend invented for apologetic reasons. If it was historical, it would be mentioned in at least one other canonical Gospel.

(6) Indeed, the empty tomb tradition was probably invented as a response to reported visions (hallucinations?) of the risen Jesus. Why? Because traditional Jews believed that postmortem survival required a bodily resurrection, so that ghostly apparitions would not be sufficient grounds for claiming that Christ has arisen. But for Hellenistic Jews and Gentiles, bodily resurrection would not be essential for validating visions. So the real question is this: If Jesus' resurrection is based solely on ghostly visions, would you give up your faith? Physical details of Jesus' apparition (e. g. eating fish and allowing Himself to be touched) are also reported of ghostly apparitions and in any case may have been legendary embellishments to help Jesus' followers refute the anti- supernatural explanation that is sketched out above.

(1)-(7) present the best way to explain away claims of Jesus' bodily resurrection, if these claims are false. But I happen to believe Jesus really did rise bodily from the dead! I don't know if my faith could survive if Jesus' corpse was provably discovered.

 

[AarontheStudent]

If the entire Bible were irrefutably false, I'd continue to be a disciple. It would only change how I read the scriptures. The Bible can defend itself against any criticism for its teachings on how to live.

 

[Rosa Kytölä]

It would make me confused and I wouldn't trust what I have been taught as much

 

[Norbert L]

If the body of Christ were discovered, if the very central tenet of Christianity were found to be untrue, if He weren't raised, but simply died and was buried, what would be your response? How would the news change your life, if at all?

***This is a hypothetical question. We are assuming both that Christ's body is found, and that it can be proven His, for the sake of discussion only.***

How many times has the verse 1 Corinthians 15:17 been cited in responses to your question, "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins."? Given what all other ancient religions talk about, Atheism actually stands a chance as being the truth.

 

[Jenny_8675309]

If the body of Christ were discovered, if the very central tenet of Christianity were found to be untrue, if He weren't raised, but simply died and was buried, what would be your response? How would the news change your life, if at all?

***This is a hypothetical question. We are assuming both that Christ's body is found, and that it can be proven His, for the sake of discussion only.***

Interesting question. I guess if this hypothetical happened, we'd all have to re-assess our beliefs, at the very least.

 

[W2L]

The more our faith is challenged the more we find Gods love.


Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Romans 5:3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

 

[jimmyjimmy]

You'd still have to account for the creation of the world, and the claims of Judaism.

The claims of Judaism are all about the Messiah, starting in Genesis 3.

 

[Maile78]

If the body of Christ were discovered, if the very central tenet of Christianity were found to be untrue, if He weren't raised, but simply died and was buried, what would be your response? How would the news change your life, if at all?

***This is a hypothetical question. We are assuming both that Christ's body is found, and that it can be proven His, for the sake of discussion only.***

I like "What If's"! I doubt my basics would change. Since I have discovered that I enjoy helping others I would still do that. I love the feeling of putting in a good days work so that would remain. I want to live a long life so I wouldnt over indulge in drinking or drugs. I am not sure that much would really change for me. Being moral is still the best option for peace and harmony in the world. But I guess I would be a bit confused as to where all this "peace that surpassing understanding" came from. I may update my answer after I have thought about it a little more.

 

[jimmyjimmy]

How many times has the verse 1 Corinthians 15:17 been cited in responses to your question, "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins."? Given what all other ancient religions talk about, Atheism actually stands a chance as being the truth.

I agree.

 

[jimmyjimmy]

I like "What If's"! I doubt my basics would change. Since I have discovered that I enjoy helping others I would still do that. I love the feeling of putting in a good days work so that would remain. I want to live a long life so I wouldnt over indulge in drinking or drugs. I am not sure that much would really change for me. Being moral is still the best option for peace and harmony in the world. But I guess I would be a bit confused as to where all this "peace that surpassing understanding" came from. I may update my answer after I have thought about it a little more.

Welcome to CF.

Thanks for the reply. I would love to hear about why nothing would change for you.

 

[AV1611VET]

If the body of Christ were discovered, if the very central tenet of Christianity were found to be untrue, if He weren't raised, but simply died and was buried, what would be your response?

Yuck!

How would the news change your life, if at all?

I'd become most miserable.

1 Corinthians 15:17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
1 Corinthians 15:18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
1 Corinthians 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

 

[Strong in Him]

If the entire Bible were irrefutably false, I'd continue to be a disciple. It would only change how I read the scriptures.

Imo, there'd be no point in reading the Scriptures.

Jesus' coming, ministry, death and resurrection were prophesied in the OT and revealed in the NT. Jesus spoke of his own resurrection, all 4 Gospel writers describe it and it is central in the life and preaching of the early church. If Jesus is still dead and was never raised, then he lied and the Bible contains lies, or is false. And if Jesus lied about that, or the Bible got such a major Christian doctrine wrong; how could we trust Jesus, THE Word, or the Bible, the written word, about anything else?

The Bible can defend itself against any criticism for its teachings on how to live.

The Bible is not primarily a handbook on how to live our lives - it reveals God and Jesus to us. If this is wrong, if Jesus has lied in this matter, then how do we know that anything else that he has said about God, sin, heaven and hell are true? And if it's not; who cares how we live our lives?

 

[greyhawk.444]

.

 

[jimmyjimmy]

If the entire Bible were irrefutably false, I'd continue to be a disciple.

A disciple of what???

 

[DarkSoul999]

If the body of Christ were discovered, if the very central tenet of Christianity were found to be untrue, if He weren't raised, but simply died and was buried, what would be your response? How would the news change your life, if at all?

***This is a hypothetical question. We are assuming both that Christ's body is found, and that it can be proven His, for the sake of discussion only.***

I would dedicate my life to the creation of advanced AI to replace God. There are too many problems in the world. If God wasn't real we would need to BUILD one!