By Douglas Anele

The rest of Chapter 2, pages 12 to 17, merely reiterate that the case for belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus, as reported in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John cannot be sustained. Chapter 3 offers a plausible explanation of Jesus’ resurrection devoid of supernaturalistic elements.

Entitled “A reasonable Explanation of the Story of the Resurrection”, the author relied on the writings of two scholars, Prof. H. E. G. Paulus and Mr. E. B. Docker, “who have thoroughly examined the four accounts of the Gospel writers”. The basic points from their writings on the issue are: (a) that crucifixion was a very slow method of execution, which implies that some crucified victims could survive (and actually did) with suitable medical care, (b) that Jesus was not really dead after the crucifixion, but merely appeared so to ignorant bystanders, (c) that after his revivication, Jesus met his disciples both in Galilee and Jerusalem and eventually departed from them, and (d) that no one knows with certainty where Jesus was buried when he finally died (pp 18-23). Chapter 4 (pp. 25-35) continued the central argument of the previous chapter.

As its title, “Early Documentary Evidence”, indicates, a document was discovered more than a century ago the author of which claims to be an eye witness of the crucifixion. Shams informs us that in 1907 the Chicago Indo_American Book Co. published a book under the title, The Crucifixion. By an Eye Witness.

In the book was a letter discovered in Alexandria, Egypt, in a house owned and occupied by the Order of Esseen, a Jewish mystical religious brotherhood to which Jesus purportedly belonged. The letter was said to have been written by an Esseen who witnessed the crucifixion firsthand and wrote about it seven years later in response to another letter from the leader of the “Terapeut” who wanted to know whether indeed rumours concerning the martyrdom of Jesus were true.

The eyewitness account detailed how Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus (a skilled physician) and some members of the Esseen brotherhood revived Jesus after he was brought down from the cross and laid in the tomb belonging to Joseph. It also narrates Jesus’ last moments with his disciples and how his fellow Esseen members successfully persuaded him to remain “dead to the world”, that is, to live a secluded life (pp. 33-34).

Chapter 5 has as its title “Recent Discovery: Shroud of Jesus – German Scientists Make a Startling Discovery”. It discusses how a group of German scientists investigating the shroud of Turin (the cloth that was allegedly used to wrap the body of Jesus after he was crucified) tried to establish that the resurrection was actually a natural physiological phenomenon (p. 37). The shroud seems to have blood marks and an imprint of the figure of Jesus made by the ointment which was applied to his body.

The fact that blood was found on the cloth, according to Shams, proves that Jesus was alive when he was taken down from the cross. Chapter 6 entitled “Modern Medical Opinion” addresses modern medical view on the question whether Jesus resurrected as a result of supernatural intervention or was revived by human beings. The chapter focuses on the medical opinions of Dr. Hugo Toll of Stockholm of Sweden and M. Paul Roue of Paris (but only the views of Dr. Toll were discussed). Naturally, Toll assessed the gospel narratives of the crucifixion and its aftermaths from a medical perspective. His verdict is that, given circumstantial evidence in the gospels and physiological data about crucifixion, Jesus did not die on the cross.

Dr. Toll remarked that in the Orient there is a religious group founded on the belief that Jesus lived after the crucifixion, went towards India and, at last, under the name of Izza (Issa) settled down in Srinagar (town of happiness), in the beautiful valley of Kashmir. After assuming the name Yuz Asaf, he is said to have lived there until his death at the age of 120 years.

The title of Chapter 7 is formulated as an interrogative: “Did Jesus Ascend to Heaven?” In it, the author attempts to prove that when Jesus was revived in the tomb, he retained his physical body and behaved like a normal human being – there was nothing supernatural about him. For example, Jesus showed doubting Thomas and other disciples the wound marks on his body.

He ate in their presence and walked the entire distance from Jerusalem to Galilee on foot through secret circuitous paths to avoid detection. If Jesus had become a supernatural being after his revivication, he would not need to take precautions for his own safety: indeed, he could have gone boldly to his enemies and preached to them, since they could no longer harm him. And regarding the myth that Jesus eventually ascended into heaven, Shams quoted Weigal who wrote: “Ascension is not mentioned in the earliest Christian writings, namely the Epistles, nor apparently was it referred to in the earliest Gospel, that of St.

Mark, for the words, ‘He was received up into heaven’ are quite vague and are included in those last twelve verses of the book which are now recognised by practically all Biblical scholars as a much later addition”. Weigal went further to assert that stories of ascension into the sky was the usual end of the mythical lives of pagan gods, just as it was in the very legendary life of Elijah. The god Adonis which was worshipped in several communities where Christianity first originated was believed to have ascended into heaven in the presence of his followers after resurrecting from the dead. Other deities such as Dionysos, Herakles, Hyacinth, Krishna and Mithra, according to ancient mythology, went up into heaven also. Therefore, the story that Jesus went to heaven where he sits at the right hand of god is a popular myth in ancient superstitions. Christianity is not unique in this respect at all.
TO BE CONTINUED.