Ten Easter Myths
Most leading historians, archaeologists and linguists don’t believe that the four official Christian Gospels can be relied upon as accurate records of historical fact. The Christmas stories, for instance, are known to be complete fabrications based on stories passed down from other traditions, edited to make them appear consistent with ancient Hebrew prophecies. The Easter stories too are highly dubious as fact.
Easter is unquestionably the most important day of the Christian calendar. On Easter Day Christians believe their saviour came back to life and was seen in corporeal form for several weeks before ascending on a cloud to ‘heaven’. This is the very basis of their religion.
They believe it because the gospels say it happened, or so they think. But most Christians aren’t aware that the Gospels are riddled with factual errors, contradictions and unsupported statements that challenge the very basis of the religion.
This series presents ten myths about the Easter stories drawing on Gospel sources and historical records from the period.
Myth #6: Yeshua’s disciples expected him to resurrect because he had told them so
According to the gospels, Yeshua repeatedly told his disciples that he would be killed and then resurrected on the third day[1] and this was his destiny as foretold in the Hebrew Scriptures. And yet according to these same sources, nobody – not even his closest disciples – expected him to rise again.
When the post-Easter Christ figure/apparition ‘appeared’ to them, all the witnesses were surprised, so much so that most did not recognise him. How could this be? If he had told them he would return and they believed in him why did it come as such a surprise?
Or were the sightings of the risen prophet inventions of the gospel authors? The writers of the Second, Third and Fourth Gospels went to some lengths to insist that the risen Yeshua was not a ghost, nor was he a badly injured man hobbling around. Even though he could appear and disappear at will, he ate, drank and could be touched.
However, not one of these authors could have been present at the events they describe. All were writing at least fifty years later using hearsay as their source material. There’s not a single piece of evidence, not even a sentence in any of the contemporary non-gospel records of the time. If his closest disciples were sceptical, why shouldn’t we?
©David Lawrence Preston, 11.2.2017
Follow me on Facebook and Twitter @David_L_Preston
Balboa Press 2015
[1] E.g. Mark 9:31 and 10:34; Matthew 16:21 and 17:23; Luke 9:22 and 24:7; John 20:19