Body of Christ

I am interested to hear what exactly would go through your mind if hypothetically, the body of Jesus Christ or Jeshua Ben Josef was discovered. I'm mainly interested in hearing from people of the Christian faith and theistic agnostics. Atheists, please spare me your replies on this thread.

Also, I 'd like to know what you think would happen if it were discovered. Would the Vatican cover it up? Would religious extremists kill the finder of this priceless discovery? What are your opinions?

This is an interesting question...

I am not sure how conclusive this scenario is, however,
due to the lack of source DNA material...

That is- how would we ever know that the body (or bones) that are discovered
is truly Jesus? No comparative DNA to verify.

But as to the question of whether finding a body
would contradict the idea of Jesus resurrecting and ascending into heaven...
not sure, because his spirit could have been resurrected while his body (the human part of him) rotted away like the rest of us who die and are buried.

Good question, though...

T. Patrick

That the man, whether he is called Jesus Christ or Jeshua Ben Joseph, lived, is beyond question, in my opinion. We know of his parents, brothers, and even sisters. The bible, as well as texts not included, are a collection of writings from nearly 2 millenia ago, and they are historical documents of great importance.

No matter what we may or may not believe about the religion itself, the man did walk the earth.

To find the place of his burial would be the greatest archeological discovery...well...ever! It beats Tutenkhamen by an English mile- jewels, gold and all.

I can't think of any reason why anyone would want to kill the one who discovered it...unless they were an insane sociopath who was looking for infamy. The Catholic church, no doubt, would proclaim the finding as a miracle, and they would be correct.

Even as a non-Christian, I hope the grave is discovered and that it will give wings to Christian hearts, as it would to mine, since it is the little bit I understand about of his life and teachings which I admire.
.

I'm not debating his existence rather asking what how you think the general public would react to finding his remains. The implications would be out of this world. It would disprove the basis of Christian religion everywhere.

It's interesting that this question should be asked again now. No one can ever prove that any remains, of anybody, found in any situation, are of Christ, so why ask it?

For all the "New Age" propaganda of, "finding your own path to healing and enlightenment" and the 'tease' of reincarnation, they know they can't offer resurrection to a perfect body in a perfect world. This hinders them getting converts, as very few people actually find becomming a cow, as a reward for a good life, something they want to buy onto.

The satanicly lead and fed, New Age Movement, is actually losing alot of old stalwarts after half a century of trying to "change the world" only to find it's changed for the worse by far, during their long hoped for "Dawning Age".

I feel I should be looking out for such a claim to shortly be made. If so, I'll know it's made by Anti-Christs and my faith will be yet further strengthened.

Lets see, No Resurrection, no hope of anything being any better than what rotten, dying man can make it, on this rotten, dying, shaking, poisonous earth. So I suppose anyone not fully gung ho into planet saving projects is an enemy of the world and should be treated as such. Ring any 'End Time' warning bells?

Didn't someone say they found this a few years back. I don't remember, I could be remembering something I saw on the cover of the enquirer.

Since I am a christian I believe what God tells us in the Bible. That Jesus rose from the dead(bodily) and then ascended to heaven. So if someone claimed to have found the body of Jesus, I would know it was a lie because that is not possible to find His dead body because He is ALIVE.

Suzy ryan has blatantly taken my post out of context, I resign from this thread.

Allow me to rephrase my original post:


What do you think the global implications would be if the remains of Christ were discovered and verified? How would it affect your faith personally? If you're a Christian, would you renounce your faith? I'm merely curious. This is all hypothetical. And I guess I must mention that I am an Atheist.

Originally posted by Logical_M
Suzy ryan has blatantly taken my post out of context, I resign from this thread.

No she gave an answer from a Christians perspective as did dbrandt

If you are only looking for answers that you agree with you should have included the Athiests that you excluded.


[edit on 4-1-2006 by gps777]

Originally posted by Logical_M
Allow me to rephrase my original post:


What do you think the global implications would be if the remains of Christ were discovered and verified? How would it affect your faith personally? If you're a Christian, would you renounce your faith? I'm merely curious. This is all hypothetical. And I guess I must mention that I am an Atheist.

It is a ridiculous question to ask a Christian this,we know and believe Christ is alive.No matter what or who claims otherwise.

So from our perspective then we should rather ask you are you going to believe in Christ when it is proven that he is alive?

Originally posted by Logical_M
What do you think the global implications would be if the remains of Christ were discovered and verified?

It would sure raise a ruckus--that's all I could say for certain. It would probably bring about some major rearranging--in profound ways not even imagines.

How would it affect your faith personally?

I don't think it would--what I trust in is not contained in a fleshly, corruptible body.

If you're a Christian, would you renounce your faith?

I'm not a christian, so my faith rests on nothing man-made.

True faith cannot be renounced--christianity doesn't follow the teachings of the scriptures that say the faith is Christ's, not our own. Pistis (faith) is not belief, it is fidelity.

Resurrection is not understood for what it is--it is not giving immortality to a carbon-based life form--it is translation, a literal metamorphis from carnal to spiritual.

So also is the resurrection of the dead.

It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory:
it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.

There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
~1 Corinthians 15:42-44

The natural body must die for the spiritual body to live.

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;
neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
~1 Corinthians 15:50

As the body of Christ is no longer on this earth, the question is fairly moot.

As this question is not conspiratorial but requesting conjecture on what-if, this is not the right forum or domain. Moved to BTS theology.

How would they know whether it was the body of Christ?

DNA testing?

To see whether he was the Son of God?

How would DNA testing do that I wonder...

Maybe we'd need to hear him speak, maybe if all he was preaching is love, then maybe he is speaking through us.

If not, then we can love all by ourselves. Is there a problem with love coming from God rather than coming from man? Only if you think that it couldn't possibly come from both.

So who needs to see the body of Christ?

I certainly don't.

It would be impossible to prove that a found body belonged to Jesus Christ, because, as TheLastGameFilm mentioned, we have no comparative DNA.

Supposing that somehow we could prove that a found body belonged to Jesus beyond any doubt, then that by extension would prove any religion that believed in the doctrine of the Resurrection to be false.

What kind of proof would it take to convince me? I don't know. I'm not sure there would be strong enough proof. There would always be something a devout believer could point to and say, 'what about this?' Maybe the hypothetical comparative DNA was not in fact from a relative of Christ? Maybe the DNA tests were done incorrectly, or the scientists purposely contaminated the results? Maybe the body belonged to a relative of Jesus, so that the DNA would still match the hypothetical comparative DNA? You could always take one of those examples, or many more, and say, because of this, we cannot be 100% sure.

What would I personally do if someone claimed to find the body of Christ? I wouldn't believe it. I would think that they were either mistaken, or trying to deceive people.

Originally posted by Logical_M
I'm not debating his existence rather asking what how you think the general public would react to finding his remains. The implications would be out of this world. It would disprove the basis of Christian religion everywhere.

First off, nothing will disprove the basis of any religion untill OUR savior returns, or arrives. And I'm not talking about Jesus (PBUH), I am talking about the next savior, or the savior to come with the spirit of Jesus (PBUH).

It's really hard to speculate how the 'general' public would react to finding His remains, the only scenario that could be used in comparison is how they have reacted to... the lack of His remains. Widespread confusion and chaos.

One of the things that troubles me most is that is says in the bible, something to the effect that the LORD could never show His/Her face because it would give man permission to worship false prophets. Which deeply deeply concerns me because most of this human race is waiting on a superior 'being' to swoop down and take them to a better place. ( I'd rather stay here )
I guess the same would hold true if the remains of Jesus (PBUH) were to be found, it would prove that He existed in the physical world. If proof existed that He lived as a normal man, then it could only be proven that He was Jesus Christ (PBUH) if it could be proven that he was conceived from immaculate conception. If that was to be proven, something that proof cannot exist for, according to the LORD, then it would open the doors to the existence, or non-existence of 'intelligent design'.

I'm not sure if that answers your question.
I believe it is similar to ....

What if the remains of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) or the remains of the Prophet Jesus (PBUH) were to be placed in the middle of this ceremony of worship? (image below)
What if it were not just remains, but a physical living creature?
I've asked that question before.
Could they ever be able to come down from their position, and if so, wouldn't it mean certain death? and not only to them but all of the people surrounding 'Him'?
Our craving for a 'God' in the physical is so tremendous because we realize that, over the years, we have blown the Spirit out of proportion. The only existence of His spirit in the physical exist in your heart.
Christ, as well as every 'body' and spirit we have been made aware of in our lives, remains in each of us, they live through us.

Whoever is not forgotten, will have eternal life.

Atheists, please spare me your replies on this thread.

I am interested to know why you think Athiests shouldnt post on this thread.
How do you prove that the body is that of jesus?
What implications would DNA have?
Assuming DNA was used to trace ancestry what would the implications be for people who are distace reltives of jesus?

Originally posted by Logical_M

What do you think the global implications would be if the remains of Christ were discovered and verified?

This could never be verified.

How would it affect your faith personally?

If you're a Christian, would you renounce your faith?

If someone has true faith, it would not affect it at all, they would be among the ones who don't believe it. Pretty much like the Shroud of Turin. It will never be put to rest, some believe, some don't. In fact, even if the Vatican verified His remains had been found, (which would never happen) I suspect for the faithful, most would recognize it as a sign that the current Pope is not in fact the Vicar of Christ at that time. Never would the Church view this as a miracle, as it would be something that contradicts the miracle of the Ascension.

For the reocrd, the Virgin Mary is also believed to be taken bodily into Heaven. No one has ever even considered claiming her remains.

It's not going to happen, or I should say if it does and is verified by the leaders of the faithful, it would only discredit those leaders and open quite a few eyes to the times we were in.

Originally posted by xpert11

Atheists, please spare me your replies on this thread.

I am interested to know why you think Athiests shouldnt post on this thread.

I myself am an atheist, I was merely curious as to what a Christian would think IF the body was found. Too many folks want to argue the improbabilty of that happening, but my question was hypothetical. But apparently no one has ever heard that word before
It's clear that if someone had claimed that they discovered what might be the remains of Christ, people will either believe or they wouldn't.

Logical_M thanks for posting an explanation.

I myself am an atheist

Well that makes two of us for some reason I find this topic interesting.

Originally posted by Logical_M
I myself am an atheist, I was merely curious as to what a Christian would think IF the body was found. Too many folks want to argue the improbabilty of that happening, but my question was hypothetical.

Actually, speaking for myself and the response of improbability, I think your question was answered. It's not improbable that this could occur, what is improbable is that it would be proven in the mind of most Christians. Therefore, it is improbable under any circurmstances that people of faith would buy it.