Easter Thoughts

Today is Easter once again: the day that Christians believe that their savior rose from the dead in the first century. According to Acts 1:3, Jesus was seen for forty days after his resurrection.

I don't think the risen Jesus was seen by any historians during that time though, because they are silent on the matter. In fact, we only have the New Testament to rely on when it comes to the authenticity of this allegedly miraculous and divine event.

There are plenty of good reasons not to believe this story. The first being that the four gospels are hopelessly contradictory not only when it comes to the crucifixion and resurrection parts of the story, but in many other areas as well. Another reason is that these stories, and many others in the Bible for that matter, contain special numbers that suggest they are mythological in nature.

One more good reason not to believe it is because there is no independent evidence. As the saying goes, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. But we don't have any. All we have are these contradictory accounts, and those aren't good evidence at all. So you have to either have to have faith and accept that they are true - in the face of all reason and common sense - or not accept them. Since you already know I am an atheist, that kind of spoils things for you, but no, I do not accept them. I'd like a good reason to believe the resurrection story, but there isn't one. The believer would probably say something along the lines of "But if you just believe it, accept Jesus as your savior and repent of your sins, you'll get to go to Heaven and have eternal life!" The problem with that is that it sounds too good to be true. And usually when that happens, it is too good to be true.

Some believers might say I am the crazy one for disbelieving that Jesus rose from the dead. Yep, I am a nutcase because I reject these claims that go against my own common sense. I am out of my mind for believing science when it says you can't get up and walk around after being dead for three days and for not being able to "just believe." I am apparently cuckoo (and not for Cocoa Puffs either) for believing that these stories are merely the products of men and not divinely inspired. If believing and disbelieving what I do is the definition of crazy, then I guess I am. I define it as being rational, however.

As it has been said, Christianity stands or falls on the resurrection story. For me, it comes up way short.

Enjoy the day, whatever you believe or do not believe... and don't eat too much candy. :)

I got some good links for you to check out:

A chart showing many of the contradictions in the Crucifixion/Resurrection accounts. -- If you only visit one of these links, make it this one.

The Jewish view of the resurrection story. -- This goes along with the above chart.

Richard Carrier: Why I Don't Buy The Resurrection Story

The history of Easter on History.com. -- Be sure to check out the Pagan Origins page also.