The Resurrection Hoax
Hoax - fraud; something intended to deceive; deliberate trickery intended to gain an advantage.
The resurrection of Jesus was a deliberate attempt to deceive innocent people by those who rewrote the original gospels. In their original form, the gospels did not include accounts of the so-called resurrection. Those accounts were added later by one or more unknown persons. Since Jesus' birth name was Joshua of Joseph of Nazareth, whoever wrote the gospels used the life and teachings of Joshua of Joseph of Nazareth, changed his name to Jesus Christ, so instead of the life of Joshua, the gospels depict the life of a mythical character with supernatural powers, gleaned from the mythology in existence during and before that time period. These myths included, but were not limited to, gods who mated with virgins who produced sons of gods with power to raise people from the dead, to walk on water and through doors, to change water into wine and many other supernatural powers, and especially, to be resurrected.
To prove that the resurrection was added to the original gospel, one merely needs to examine all four gospels and witness the contradictions, and obvious redactions. For example, no reason is given as to why it was necessary to provide two versions that end the gospel of Matthew. There is a longer ending and a shorter ending. There is only one version of the truth, not two or three. In all the four gospels combined, nowhere else are there two versions of anything. Two versions become necessary when someone is adding to the first version. (The passages below in Mark 16:9-20 show the longer and the shorter endings with no reason given why two endings are necessary.)
THE LONGER ENDING
The Appearance to Mary Magdalene.
16:9 ( When he had risen, early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.
16:10 She went and told his companions who were mourning and weeping.
16:11 When they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.
The Appearance to Two Disciples.
16:12 After this he appeared in another form to two of them walking along on their way to the country.
16:13 They returned and told the others; but they did not believe them either.
The Commissioning of the Eleven.
16:14 (But) later, as the eleven were at table, he appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart
because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised.
16:15 He said to them, "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.
16:16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.
16:17 These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages.
16:18 They will pick up serpents (with their hands), and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay
hands on the sick, and they will recover."
The Ascension of Jesus.
16:19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God.
16:20 But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the
Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through
accompanying signs.)
THE SHORTER ENDING - [And they reported all the
instructions briefly to Peter's companions. Afterwards Jesus
himself, through them, sent forth from east to west the sacred
and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation. Amen.]
FOUR GOSPELS GIVE FOUR VERSIONS OF THE SO-CALLED RESURRECTION
Since the four gospels cannot agree on Christ's lineage, neither can they agree on the accounts of the so-called resurrection. Since whoever wrote the gospels did not witness the resurrection, what they wrote had to be secondhand or thirdhand information. In none of the gospels will you find attributions, such as, "Mary Magdalene told me that she went to the tomb and saw ....". What you will find are narratives by the writers of events they were not witnesses to, and for which they will not tell you how they came upon this information. They could not tell where the information came from, because the events never occurred. Even supposing that the events did occur, other than the preposterous events such as angels in clothing, or resurrections resurrected from mythology, they would at least agree in all four accounts, but they don't. God and His truth are not contradictory.
Discrepancey One (Disagreement On Who Went To The Tomb First)
Matthew 28:1 After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
Mark 16:1 When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go and anoint him.
Luke 24:10 The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; the others who accompanied them also told this to the apostles,
John 20:1 On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
Discrepancy Two (Women Went To The Tomb At Dawn, Before Daybreak, After Daybreak, etc.)
Matthew 28:1 After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
Mark 16:2 Very early when the sun had risen, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb.
Luke 24:1 But at daybreak on the first day of the week they took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.
John 20:1 * * * On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
Discrepancy Three (Number Of Angels At The Tomb And How The Stone Was Removed Are Inconsistent)
Matthew 28:2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it.
Mark 16:3 They were saying to one another, "Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?" 16:4 When they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back; it was very large. 16:5 On entering the tomb they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe, and they were utterly amazed.
Luke 24:2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb; 24:3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 24:4 While they were puzzling over this, behold, two men in dazzling garments appeared to them.
John 20:1 On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
Now here is where the gospel of John is not only contradictory, but humorous, because the disciples enter the tomb, examine it, exit the tomb, and return home leaving Mary at the tomb. All they noticed inside or outside the tomb were the burial cloths and Mary. Mary is weeping, then looks into the tomb and sees two angels sitting there, turns around and sees someone beside her whom she believes to be the gardener but who turns out to be Jesus. Since Mary spent considerable time in the company of Jesus, it would seem she would know Jesus if she saw him, but she appears to not know it is Jesus. Nevertheless, Mary saw two angels in the tomb and saw someone claiming to be Jesus outside the tomb, yet not a few moments earlier, the disciples did not witness seeing the two angels inside the tomb or the person claiming to be Jesus outside the tomb. Here is the story of that episode:
John 20:6 When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
20:7 and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
20:8 Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed.
20:9 For they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead.
20:10 Then the disciples returned home.
20:11 But Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb
20:12 and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been.
20:13 And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken my Lord, and I don't know where they laid him."
20:14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus.
20:15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" She thought it was the gardener and said to him, "Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him."
20:16 Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni," which means Teacher.
20:17 Jesus said to her, "Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"
20:18 Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and what he told her.
So there you have the resurrection details that are supposed to be the Word of God, filled with contradictions and absurdities. God is non-contradictory and is absolute truth, and nothing is absurd about God or His truth.
I have highlighted a passage in verse 17 above to point out yet another contradiction. Jesus, supposedly has not ascended to the Father and therefore, does not want Mary to touch him. Yet at the same, while he supposedly has not yet ascended to the Father (as related in Luke 24:50), he invites Thomas to not only touch him but to put his entire hand into his side, and in Luke 24:39, he also implores all of his disciples to touch him.
John 20:27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe."
Luke 24:39 Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have."
Luke 24:50 Then he led them (out) as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. 24:51 As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven.
One Example Of So Many Absurdities Regarding The Resurrection
Please consider this before we go into this most absurd concoction regarding the resurrection. If a bank guard says "while I was asleep at my post guarding the bank, I saw two men and one woman rob the bank", the first question you would ask is "If you were asleep, how were you able to see the two men and the one woman rob the bank?"
Now read the new testament account of the guards who stood watch over the tomb of Jesus:
The Report of the Guard.
Matthew 28:11 While they were going, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had happened.
28:12 They assembled with the elders and took counsel; then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers,
28:13 telling them, "You are to say, 'His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.'
28:14 And if this gets to the ears of the governor, we will satisfy (him) and keep you out of trouble."
28:15 The soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has circulated among the Jews to the present (day).
NOTE: In addition to the absurdity regarding the above statement by the guards, the gospel mentions that this story has circulated among the Jews to the present (day). Obviously, this gospel must have been written many many years after the supposed events occurred in order for the writer to say that this story circulated "to the present day". There were no printing presses until hundreds of years later, so copies of the gospels had to be hand written from the originals. It is anybody's guess what year "to this day" represents in the original gospel, but as that expression is used, it generally means that several generations have gone by from the date that expression is used, which proves that Matthew could not have written the gospel of Matthew. Is this one more fabrication in the new testament?
I report! You decide!