My favorite part of the Bible: The Zombie outbreak!

Matthew 27:52-53
And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

Yep, during the crucifixion of Jesus the dead rose from their graves and appeared to many people...physically. Bodies. Came out of graves. Bodies. This is an unequivocal physical resurrection of the dead...that nobody bothered to report in any other source.

I'm sorry, but this would be one of the most horrifying events in history, why is it that nobody bothered to write it down in a regular ol' history book?

cause it didnt happen?

I've seen a lot of Zombies at the Local Mall during the Christmas Holidays.

Are these those guys?

People probably did, well at least the people that could. At the time, literacy was reserved for the upper class and the only people that could write were the rich. For the rest events were spread through word of mouth or oral tradition. After a set number of generations those oral accounts of what had happened in the past become myth and legend. People from today would then look at those myths and legends and surmise them to be fairy tales.

Those accounts may have been written somewhere at some point, but remember, the PTB at the time picked and chose from all of the books of the old Bible in order to conform to a viewpoint or a story that they wanted to convey about the history about the era that was documented in the pages of the Bible. Remember too, there may be books that have not yet been found i.e. Dead Sea Scrolls.

reply to post by madnessinmysoul


The Books the Bible was compiled from, were the History Books of that time. That was a bit prior to Kinko's or Publishers.

reply to post by Blaine91555


I'm sorry, but no. There were actual 'historians' (they were far from the rigorous academics that we have today) compiling histories prior to, during, and after the authorship of the Biblical texts.

reply to post by Crunkman919


Appeal to the powers that be? I'm sure the powers that be would have been delighted to report this sort of thing. Especially when those powers happened to be the religion founded upon this book! Hell, if I were a Roman emperor I would have made a huge deal out of having quelled a rising of the dead. Would have probably made it into my personal battle banner too.

reply to post by madnessinmysoul


This madness in your soul which is what clearly rules your thinking, Darwin too was prone to the same,this disease seduces your thoughts filling your imagination making you prone to flights of fancy best described as delusions. The way you take things and distort them and portray things however you see fit, does not make your sentiments true.Nor does further twisting the words truely defend you. This being done can be seen as nothing more then illusionary fabrication as you offer up your ill spin on things. What it really shows is your limitations and inadequate comprehension of the subject matter,as you spew your obvious contemptuous slander.

You may not be at fault, after all you could always blame the monkey in you...

If you want to know what this saying then know this speaks of right after Christ died, at this point he descended into hell and souls were released from hell through his victory, we are told this was seen by many. Do you actually think a Roman or a Jewish man would speak or write of this if not a follower of Christ? Really think about what would have happened to them and thier writtings had they made any.

Originally posted by 5StarOracle
reply to post by madnessinmysoul

 

This madness in your soul which is what clearly rules your thinking, Darwin too was prone to the same,this disease seduces your thoughts filling your imagination making you prone to flights of fancy best described as delusions. The way you take things and distort them and portray things however you see fit, does not make your sentiments true.Nor does further twisting the words truely defend you. This being done can be seen as nothing more then illusionary fabrication as you offer up your ill spin on things. What it really shows is your limitations and inadequate comprehension of the subject matter,as you spew your obvious contemptuous slander.

You may not be at fault, after all you could always blame the monkey in you...

The OP has a point.

If anyone actually rose from their graves someone would have recorded it.

They did have historians back then.

Why didn't they tell me this when they were trying to indoctrinate me as a child? They mentioned the other things that happened when he died, push the less believable things under the rug?

As far as I can see, the bible doesn't make Christians, it's churches that do.

Also, Madness, I love your work. Either side of the argument is filled mostly with people who don't even know much. I greatly appreciate when someone can actually chime in the either side, with actually logical arguments for either.

reply to post by madnessinmysoul


You're quite right, I remember this being taught at school and even at Church, but its only when you think about what is actually being said, that you sit up and take notice.

First thing I notice is the term 'Saints' I didn't realise that there were Saints in large numbers before Christ Died. Its not a Jewish term and sounds like something stuck in at a later date. As you say, had the dead risen up, people would have freaked, Josephus would definitely have mentioned it and several others. It would certainly have been in Pontious Pilate's notes. I suspect it was something added at a later date to substantiate Christ's apparent rising into heaven. I did understand there are gospels which indicate he spent time with his inner circle of disciples before going up to heaven, which suggests the official version is possibly premature.

reply to post by madnessinmysoul

Yep, during the crucifixion of Jesus the dead rose from their graves and appeared to many people..

You're 100% wrong, it was three days after the crucifixion of Jesus.

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul

Matthew 27:52-53
And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

Yep, during the crucifixion of Jesus the dead rose from their graves and appeared to many people...physically. Bodies. Came out of graves. Bodies. This is an unequivocal physical resurrection of the dead...that nobody bothered to report in any other source.

I'm sorry, but this would be one of the most horrifying events in history, why is it that nobody bothered to write it down in a regular ol' history book?

Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead

Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
www.biblegateway.com...

An interesting topic, at least you still read the bible, even if it is to discredit it.
There was no Zombie outbreak.

The earth quaked, and the rock-masses were split. And the memorial tombs were opened and many bodies of the holy ones that had fallen asleep were raised up, (and persons, coming out from among the memorial tombs after his being raised up, entered into the holy city,) and they became visible to many people.” (Matthew 27:51-53) Catholic scholar Karl Staab calls this event that occurred at Jesus’ death “most mysterious.” What happened?
Epiphanius and other early Church Fathers taught that the holy ones literally came to life and went with the resurrected Jesus to heaven. Augustine, Theophylactus, and Zigabenus believed that these dead ones received a temporary resurrection but later returned to their tombs. The latter opinion, however, “did not gain wide recognition,” comments scholar Erich Fascher. When rendering Matthew 27:52, 53, many modern Bible translations give the impression that a resurrection took place.
First, whoever “the holy ones” were, Matthew did not say they were raised up. He said their bodies, or corpses, were. Second, he did not say these bodies came to life. He said they were raised up, and the Greek verb e‧gei′ro, meaning to “raise up,” does not always refer to a resurrection. It can, among other things, also mean to “lift out” from a pit or to “get up” from the ground. (Matthew 12:11; 17:7; Luke 1:69) The upheaval at Jesus’ death opened tombs, tossing lifeless bodies into the open. Such occurrences during earthquakes were reported in the second century C.E. by Greek writer Aelius Aristides and more recently, in 1962, in Colombia.
This view of the event harmonizes with Bible teachings. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, the apostle Paul gives convincing proof of the resurrection, but he completely ignores Matthew 27:52, 53. So do all other Bible writers. (Acts 2:32, 34) The corpses raised up at Jesus’ death could not have come to life in the way Epiphanius thought, for on the third day thereafter, Jesus became “the firstborn from the dead.” (Colossians 1:18) Anointed Christians, also called “holy ones,” were promised a share in the first resurrection during Christ’s presence, not in the first century.—1 Thessalonians 3:13; 4:14-17.
Most Bible commentators have difficulty explaining verse 53, although several of them suggest that verse 52 describes the opening of tombs by the earthquake and the exposing of newly buried corpses. For example, German scholar Theobald Daechsel gives the following translation: “And tombs opened up, and many corpses of saints laying at rest were lifted up.”
Who were those that “entered into the holy city” a considerable time later, namely after Jesus had been resurrected? As seen above, the exposed bodies remained lifeless, so Matthew must refer to persons who visited the tombs and brought news of the event into Jerusalem.

No Zombie's here.

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul

Matthew 27:52-53
And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

This is merely my speculation here, but if you take a look that passage again, it specifically uses the word saints. Other translations use the words holy people. In other words it was not your ordinary old Aunt Dorothy who arose from the grave.

If one is to take a look in the vatican and in many other sites of saints, you will notice a strange thing - the bodies are of many of these people are mummified (and on display in a lot of cases) - not decomposed bone and dust as you would expect. The Church has always proclaimed this to be a miracle of God and not some special preparation performed on the body before burial.

So, what I speculate happened is that there was an earthquake that broke open many tombs like others here have suggested. Peoples', horror at the dsetruction of the graves may have turned to wonder at the discovery of 'incorruptible' bodies of holy men. These bodies probably were taken and displayed as a symbol of God's power over nature and taken as proof that these men were indeed holy. Then they would have been returned to their graves as a sign of respect of their right to slumber until God calls them forth once again.

So, no I don't think they actually got up and walked around, rather that this was the first discovery of incorruptible bodies.

reply to post by madnessinmysoul


Here’s another good one

Judges 1:19
And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out [the inhabitants of] the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

so bible god can be defeated by someone sitting in a shopping trolley

reply to post by racasan


"A shopping trolley?"

You're right though I hadn't heard that God was actually defeated, it kind-of down grades him from an all powerful God, to a man with certain weapons and not others at his disposal.

One wonders how the people reacted when their God failed to deliver on the battle field. However if you think about it, he always had to use an army of the people to get his way, you rarely read that he waded forth and provided a clear path to the so-called promised land. The reason why is that most of these stories are from other times, other civilisations and borrowed by Ezra to put together to give a group of people an identity, perhaps the question is why would one group need to create an identity for themselves instead of evolving one like every other group of people?

how about that when you Die.
you Dont go to heaven!
you rot in the ground until the day of judgment.
then some of you go to heaven!
what about those who got cremated?
ooops!

what I dont like is that god then tortures
the rest until they say god is best.
for 1000’s of years then kills your soul off.
now you can see god is the good guy?

how about that when you Die.
you Dont go to heaven!
you rot in the ground until the day of judgment.
then some of you go to heaven!
what about those who got cremated?
ooops!

what I dont like is that god then tortures
the rest until they say god is best.
for 1000’s of years then kills your soul off.
now you can see god is the good guy?

"They had historians" and none of them recorded the life of a mythical character called Jesus Christ whose life correleates exactly to mythical characters born several thousand years before.

Oooops, truth slipped out. Sorry about that.