who moved the stone?or who rolled away the stone?{mark.16:3}is a qusetion which has worried theologians for the past two thousands years.Mr Frank Morison,a prominent Bible scholar,tried to nail down this ghost{s}in a book bearing the same title as this tract.Between 1930 and 1975 his book has gone through ELEVEN editions.Through all his 192 pages of conjectures he failed to answer,WHO MOVED THE STONE?{Faber and Faber,London}.
On page 89 of his book,he writes,*We are left,therefore, with the problem of the vacanttomb unsolved* and proceeds to advance SIX hypotheses,very nearly knocking the proverbial nail on head with his FIRST suppsition,i.e.THAT JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA SECRETLY REMOVED THE BODY TO A MORE SUITABLE RESTING PLACE. After confessing that this Joseph *might himself have removed it for private reasons to another olace,is one which seems to carry considerable weight* {italicsmine},he hurriedly disposes this hypothesis on the flimsiest ground.
As you read on,dear reader I trust that you as well as Mr Morison will have a satisfactory answer to this problem.
Let us begin at the beginning of this problem.
It was Sunday morning,according to the Bible,the first day of the week,when Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus{John 20:1}.The first question that bedevils the mind is:
Q1:WHY DID SHE GO TO THE TOMB?
Ans:the gospel writers say that she went to *anoint* him.the Herbrew word for anoint is *masaha*, which means-to rub,to massage, to anoint. The word and its meaing are the same in Arabic language also. From this root word *masaha* we get the the Arabic word *maseeh* and the Hebrew *messiah* both meaning the same thing-*the anointed one* which is translated into Greek as*Christos* from whic we derive the word Chirst.
Q2O JEWS MASSAGE DEAD BODIES AFTER THREE DAYS?
Ans:*No*
Q3O MUSLIMS MASSAGE DEAD BODIES AFTER TREE DAYS?
Ans:*No*
Q4: DO CHRISTIANS MASSAGE DEAD BODIES AFTER THREE DAYS?
Ans: *No*
It is common knowlege that within three hours after death, rigor morits sets in- the breaking up of body cells- the hardening of the body.In three days the corpes starts rotting from within.If we massage such a rotting body, it will fall to pieces.
Q5: DOSE IT MAKE SENSE THAT MARY MAGDALENE WANTS TO MASSAGE A ROTTING DEAD BODY AFTER THREE DAYS?
Ans: It makes no sense,unless we confess that she was looking for a L-I-V-E Jesus, not a dead one.You will recognise this fact for yourself on analysing her reactions towards Jesus when she eventually saw throug his disguise.You see, she had seen sighns of life in that limp body when it was taken down from the cross.She was about the only women beside Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus who had given the final{?} rites to the body of Jesus.This man NICODEMUS, somehow, has been deliberately blotted out by the synoptists.The Gospel writers of Matthew,Mark,Luke are totally ignorant of this devoted and self-sacrificing disciple of Jesus His name is NOT even mentioned in the first three Gospels in ANY context. *It is difficult to avoid concluding that the omission in the synop-tic tradition of the mysterious disciple was in-tentional*, says Dr Hugh J Schonfield ,one of world`s leading Biblical scholars.
when Mary of Magdala reached the tomb, she found that the stone had already been rolled away, and the winding sheets bundled on the ledge within the sepulcher.The qustion now arises:
WHY WAS THE STONE REMOVED, AND WHY WERE THE WINDING SHEETS FOUND UNWOUND?
the answer will be in the next part....2
On page 89 of his book,he writes,*We are left,therefore, with the problem of the vacanttomb unsolved* and proceeds to advance SIX hypotheses,very nearly knocking the proverbial nail on head with his FIRST suppsition,i.e.THAT JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA SECRETLY REMOVED THE BODY TO A MORE SUITABLE RESTING PLACE. After confessing that this Joseph *might himself have removed it for private reasons to another olace,is one which seems to carry considerable weight* {italicsmine},he hurriedly disposes this hypothesis on the flimsiest ground.
As you read on,dear reader I trust that you as well as Mr Morison will have a satisfactory answer to this problem.
Let us begin at the beginning of this problem.
It was Sunday morning,according to the Bible,the first day of the week,when Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus{John 20:1}.The first question that bedevils the mind is:
Q1:WHY DID SHE GO TO THE TOMB?
Ans:the gospel writers say that she went to *anoint* him.the Herbrew word for anoint is *masaha*, which means-to rub,to massage, to anoint. The word and its meaing are the same in Arabic language also. From this root word *masaha* we get the the Arabic word *maseeh* and the Hebrew *messiah* both meaning the same thing-*the anointed one* which is translated into Greek as*Christos* from whic we derive the word Chirst.
Q2O JEWS MASSAGE DEAD BODIES AFTER THREE DAYS?
Ans:*No*
Q3O MUSLIMS MASSAGE DEAD BODIES AFTER TREE DAYS?
Ans:*No*
Q4: DO CHRISTIANS MASSAGE DEAD BODIES AFTER THREE DAYS?
Ans: *No*
It is common knowlege that within three hours after death, rigor morits sets in- the breaking up of body cells- the hardening of the body.In three days the corpes starts rotting from within.If we massage such a rotting body, it will fall to pieces.
Q5: DOSE IT MAKE SENSE THAT MARY MAGDALENE WANTS TO MASSAGE A ROTTING DEAD BODY AFTER THREE DAYS?
Ans: It makes no sense,unless we confess that she was looking for a L-I-V-E Jesus, not a dead one.You will recognise this fact for yourself on analysing her reactions towards Jesus when she eventually saw throug his disguise.You see, she had seen sighns of life in that limp body when it was taken down from the cross.She was about the only women beside Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus who had given the final{?} rites to the body of Jesus.This man NICODEMUS, somehow, has been deliberately blotted out by the synoptists.The Gospel writers of Matthew,Mark,Luke are totally ignorant of this devoted and self-sacrificing disciple of Jesus His name is NOT even mentioned in the first three Gospels in ANY context. *It is difficult to avoid concluding that the omission in the synop-tic tradition of the mysterious disciple was in-tentional*, says Dr Hugh J Schonfield ,one of world`s leading Biblical scholars.
when Mary of Magdala reached the tomb, she found that the stone had already been rolled away, and the winding sheets bundled on the ledge within the sepulcher.The qustion now arises:
WHY WAS THE STONE REMOVED, AND WHY WERE THE WINDING SHEETS FOUND UNWOUND?
the answer will be in the next part....2