Atheism
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Resurrection refers to the revival of previously dead humans to some degree of existence on Earth which can range from limping about the place, moaning, and feasting on humans, to shifting a massive boulder out of ones resting place in order to walk the Earth as the Son of God once again.

The Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam all refer at some point in their holy texts to some degree of resurrection of the dead on Judgment Day to face God and what awaits them in the afterlife.

Although the three Abrahamic religions - as well as several other religions - make reference to the occurrence of resurrection, there is no solid evidence in recent times of a human corpse becoming reanimated and walking on Earth after death, either with or without a soul. The last recorded resurrection was that of Jesus Christ in roughly 28-29 CE[1] and that's if you take the Bible as proof.[2]


Christianity

Resurrection is mentioned numerous times throughout the Bible - both the Resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of humankind to face Christ on Judgment Day.

—Luke 14:14, New International Version[3]

Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

Christianity teaches that the basis for Christian hope lies in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and without this mankind would be "trapped in our own sin and weakness."[4] How likely was this resurrection?

Richard Carrier, wrote on the supposed resurrection of Jesus,

[5]

Can you imagine a movement today claiming that a soldier in World War Two rose physically from the dead, but when you asked for proof all they offered you were a mere handful of anonymous religious tracts written in the 1980's? Would it be even remotely reasonable to believe such a thing on so feeble a proof? Well no.

If the claim were about an alleged resurrection during the mid-20th century people would certainly ask, "Why was this not recorded at the time? Why did newspapers print nothing? Why were there no radio broadcasts about it? Why was nothing shown in cinemas/movie theatres during newsreel? All the above would be expected for a major newsworthy event of that time. Even if the promoters of the resurrection concept could provide plausible explanations why everything except the 1980's tracts was hushed up ordinary people would still be skeptical. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

We have to rely on our own resources to improve our condition and we cannot reasonably rely on any imagined resurrected God.

How likely was Mary Magdalene's story about the resurrection?

In the Gospel of John we read Mary Magdalene first witnessed the risen Jesus, previously 7 devils had been cast out of her (Luke 8:2[6]) so one may reasonably question her mental stability. Mary was standing alone outside the tomb weeping when she saw 2 angels. Seeing angels did not disturb her, then she saw Jesus and mistook him for a gardener, one does not see resurrected corpses every day. Mary overlooks to mention the angels but asks the ‘gardener’ where the body of Jesus is. [7]

Keith M. Parsons, Professor of Philosophy[8]

Thus, the only basis for this bizarre story is what John, maybe many years later, recalled as having been said to him by a possibly deranged woman in circumstances that were, to say the very least, highly unusual.

Other uses

The notion of "resurrection" is also affiliated today with the revival of deceased humans to walk the Earth, devoid of a soul. These walking undead creatures, known as "zombies", have several characteristics that differentiate them from the average living human;

  • zombies are technically dead,
  • zombies walk around emitting low moaning noises
  • zombies feast on the brains of humans.

As aforementioned, no zombie holocaust has yet been recorded. Or maybe that's because no one was left alive to record it... eh? Yeah... think about it.


There is a good and a a bad side to Christianity, see the category page

See also

Footnotes

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