Comments on: I’m not religious, I’m a Christian!

By: cag

cag — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 04:17:35 +0000

#60 Justcurious, when a story is made up, any situation can be put forth. Fiction gives license. Biblical fiction is just fiction.

By: Justcurious

Justcurious — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 01:23:37 +0000

Can anyone tell me why Jesus body would be placed in a tomb and not a common grave?

By: Ubi Dubium

Ubi Dubium — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 04:30:26 +0000

I don’t have any links, just a memory of hearing that many years ago. The Hebrew Bible is very clear on dead bodies being ritually unclean, so that would also be consistent with Jewish men having little to do with them. Some of the more scholarly types here may have the citiations for the cultural reference.

If we are looking at a Greek writing to persuade other Greeks, then their cultural expectations about burial practices would also be relevant. I know that there was a lot of Hellenization in the culture of the region at the time. I found a reference about Greek burial practices, with the women doing the anointing, and watching over two days of ritual viewings: http://people.uncw.edu/deagona/ancientnovel/kristina.htm
So the Greek expectation would certainly be that women would be expected to be present.

By: milehigh

milehigh — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 14:34:03 +0000

Ubi Dubium,
Thanks for your reply. Do you know if there is any info or good sources for the women being the ones to tend to the tomb in that culture?
My initial reasoning was that ‘Luke’ (most likely a Greek himself) was writing to Theophilus, who was Greek. It was not intended for a Jewish audience, therefore the testimony of the women would not have been an issue.
Any thoughts?

By: Ubi Dubium

Ubi Dubium — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 02:10:59 +0000

Milehigh,

My understading is that, in that culture, tending to the bodies of the dead was women’s work. That would make it natural to claim that the fact that a dead body was missing would first be reported by women. If a man were to report that he had gone into a tomb and found the body missing, the other men would wonder what business he had going into a tomb in the first place. It would be suspicious and perhaps unconvincing.

By: milehigh

milehigh — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 22:57:18 +0000

This is a bit off topic. Just to let you know where I stand, at this point I have become an agnostic, leaving open the possibility of a god or no god.
I recently heard a pastor speak about how the gospels record women giving testimony about the resurrection, which would not hold up in the court of law. So, therefore according to his logic, why would the gospel writers present the women as eyewitnesses when in Jewish culture, their testimony had no validity? Therefore “it has to be true”.
I have some theories, but I’m curious if anyone here has addressed this topic and can give a sound answer to the logic presented by the pastor.
Thanks

By: Ubi Dubium

Ubi Dubium — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 13:56:15 +0000

Steven,

Not going to follow a link from someone I don’t know to read a lengthy blog article that may or may not be relevant. I suggest if you want our attention that you write a brief summary of it to post here in the comments, with a link to the whole article.

By: Steven

Steven — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 13:42:34 +0000

An article I wrote about the subject = since it would be too lengthy to post:

http://justpaste.it/religious

or go to http://www.wave1111.com ~ and look for blog article on the right side ~ I’m Not Religious

love joy peace to you!

By: BigHouse

BigHouse — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 22:32:32 +0000

Not that I’d care for you to expound on your point Rachel but there are devout followers of EVERY religion who take it as seriously as Christians take their “walk with Christ’. I don’t think Christians get any reasonable claim to some high ground for being above “religious”.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 22:07:54 +0000

When a Christian says, I am not religious they are basically trying to say it is way more than that. Religious is to me is a word that decribes follow a religion just because you believe in it. Which is true in Chrisitians, but Christianity believes in more than that, Jesus is the risen savor to them. A man who died and rose again, and will come back again in the comming years. Having a relationship with Jesus is a real thing, and they are trying to explain that they are different from all other Religions. Because their Savior is not dead like all the other “Gods”, he is real and he is alive in heaven sitting on the thrown.

- 4 year Chrisitian

I thought i would put my input in there. (: thankyou (: