uncircumstantial evidence...

the guy speaking at church today was a cop. he explained that as a forensic detective, he often dealt with dead people and going to court to give his profession opinion. he then proceeded to ask us, the congregation, listen to what he was saying as if we were a jury, and decide whether or not Christ really had risen from the dead. it was amazing to hear him as he went through all kinds of arguments against Christ's resurrection and refuted them. one of the theories against the Resurrection is the "swoon" theory, saying that Christ merely fainted and once placed in the tomb, he was revived by the cool, damp air and walked out on His own. gary almost laughed at this. he explained how Christ was tortured before He was even nailed to the cross, and how the beating He took would have nearly killed him, tearing into muscle and possibly leaving his bowels exposed from the back. He was then nailed to the cross, (a rough [not sanded nicely like in the pictures] tree trunk with a cross-section nailed onto it [not lined up evenly] through the radius and ulna bones in His wrist and between the tarsal bones in his feet. His shoulders were actually dislocated as they pulled His hands outwards to nail His wrists down. in order to breathe once He was nailed in place, He had to push upwards against the nail in His feet to remove the pressure on His chest. once the pain was too great, He had to let Himself down to re-energize - but couldn't breathe. He did this until He was exhausted. then He died. the roman soldiers (who were killing professionals) knew what a dead person looked like; that's why they didn't break His legs, but rather, they stuck a spear in His side. remember the blood and water that flowed out? that happens only once a person is dead - the blood begins to separate. if Christ was still alive, it would have been just blood - no water. so they took Him down and put Him in the tomb. definitely dead. for you.

there was no way Christ just fainted. people that are beat up that bad do not just get better without serious help. they didn't have that kind of help back then.

and we know He came back to life. there was no way anyone stole His body. if it was just normal thieves, they wouldn't have taken the body - it was worthless. they would have taken the grave clothes. those spices and linens were where the money was. if His disciples took it, someone somewhere down the line would have cracked. there is no honour among thieves - someone would have ratted them out at some point. but they didn't. their story remained unchanged over time. if the religious leaders had stolen it, they would have paraded it around town as soon as the disciples starting claiming His being raised from the dead. nobody stole that body.

plus, He showed Himself to more than 500 people. some say that was a hallucination. one problem...actually two: 1) hallucinations are rare...they take very specific situations...and 2) people don't have group hallucinations where they all see the exact same thing and report it at the same time. no one would be able to keep that story straight if it was a lie. and besides...hallucinations don't make you breakfast.

so? was Christ raised from the dead? it's your decision. but you have to live with the eternal consequences of that decision. read matthew's account of the death and resurrection of Christ. read mark's, luke's, john's. decide for yourself.