Posted: Feb 27, 2010 6:14 pm
The primary points of contention have been pointed out. All of which need to be resolved in order to complete the easter challenge.
http://www.ffrf.org/legacy/books/lfif/?t=stone near the bottom.
Edit: I'd like to point out some issues with your version.
You state that the matter of who visited the tomb can be cleared up by asserting that multiple trips were made. However, this isn't backed up by the bible, nor is it easily reconcilable by asserting that. See the following passages:
The only way that this can be reconciled with your account is if John's account is of the first visit, for the others clearly indicate dawn, and John's indicates "when it was still dark", which is compatible with your version. However, in this account, Mary Magdalene clearly went straight to the other disciples, who returned with her to the tomb. She wouldn't have been able to return with the other girls for the other accounts.
It's a jumbled mess that is hard to reconcile. Let me start over a bit. I'm going to focus on two seemingly incompatible versions, John and Mark. I will exclude 9-20 in Mark, as there is some contention on whether or not these are original.
Even if we call Mark a very abbreviated version, it is incompatible with John. For one, in John, Magdalene immediately runs to the disciples after finding the tomb open and Jesus missing. If your version is to find these compatible, she would have had to have gone to the tomb before or after this event with the other girls. Yet, Mark's version specifically says that they are going there to anoint spices on Jesus's body, so, it could not have been from after this event, for Mary knew already that he would not be there, having seen him gone, and would also know that the stone is no longer there.
If we are to assume that she went with them before the events in John, then we are to assume that she saw the robed man and was told that Jesus returned, yet, she tells the Disciple that "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!". Surely, she would have mentioned something about the white-robed man she saw earlier? Then again, when the angels speak to her, she says "They have taken my Lord away, and I don't know where they have put him." Surely, again, she would have mentioned the strange man in the white robe?
This isn't even accounting for the differences within the stories from the other two.
Sidenote: If we assume that the bible has been corrupted by time, and accounts distorted - after all, nothing was written until well after Jesus would have died, then they are a bit reconcilable by the inaccuracy of eye witness testimony and time. Still, one would think that the most important event in history would have been documented in more detail.
http://www.ffrf.org/legacy/books/lfif/?t=stone near the bottom.
Edit: I'd like to point out some issues with your version.
You state that the matter of who visited the tomb can be cleared up by asserting that multiple trips were made. However, this isn't backed up by the bible, nor is it easily reconcilable by asserting that. See the following passages:
Matthew wrote: 1After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
Mark wrote: 1When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. 2Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb
Luke wrote:1On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. [...] 10It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.
John wrote:1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
The only way that this can be reconciled with your account is if John's account is of the first visit, for the others clearly indicate dawn, and John's indicates "when it was still dark", which is compatible with your version. However, in this account, Mary Magdalene clearly went straight to the other disciples, who returned with her to the tomb. She wouldn't have been able to return with the other girls for the other accounts.
It's a jumbled mess that is hard to reconcile. Let me start over a bit. I'm going to focus on two seemingly incompatible versions, John and Mark. I will exclude 9-20 in Mark, as there is some contention on whether or not these are original.
Mark wrote: 1When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. 2Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"
4But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
6"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' "
8Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
John wrote:1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
3So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
10Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"
"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
16Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
17Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "
18Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Even if we call Mark a very abbreviated version, it is incompatible with John. For one, in John, Magdalene immediately runs to the disciples after finding the tomb open and Jesus missing. If your version is to find these compatible, she would have had to have gone to the tomb before or after this event with the other girls. Yet, Mark's version specifically says that they are going there to anoint spices on Jesus's body, so, it could not have been from after this event, for Mary knew already that he would not be there, having seen him gone, and would also know that the stone is no longer there.
If we are to assume that she went with them before the events in John, then we are to assume that she saw the robed man and was told that Jesus returned, yet, she tells the Disciple that "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!". Surely, she would have mentioned something about the white-robed man she saw earlier? Then again, when the angels speak to her, she says "They have taken my Lord away, and I don't know where they have put him." Surely, again, she would have mentioned the strange man in the white robe?
This isn't even accounting for the differences within the stories from the other two.
Sidenote: If we assume that the bible has been corrupted by time, and accounts distorted - after all, nothing was written until well after Jesus would have died, then they are a bit reconcilable by the inaccuracy of eye witness testimony and time. Still, one would think that the most important event in history would have been documented in more detail.