Reuchlin Found Not Guilty

Reuchlin Found Not Guilty To Johann Reuchlin, Luther owed the Hebrew grammar for his Bible translation. A man of lowly birth, Reuchlin's talent for singing brought him to the attention of the Margrave of Baden who made him a companion of his son. In love with learning, the singer seized every opportunity his new position afforded to educate himself. Languages were his forte. He wrote the first Latin dictionary to be published in Germany and a Greek grammar. Hebrew was his dearest love. He ferreted out the rules of Israel's ancient language by study of Hebrew texts and converse with every rabbi who appeared within his range. His authority became widely recognized.

Reputation was nearly the cause of his ruin. A converted Jew and a Dominican inquisitor extracted from Emperor Maximilian an order to burn all Hebrew works except the Old Testament, charging they were full of errors and blasphemies. Before the edict could be carried out, the Emperor had second thoughts and consulted the greatest Hebrew scholar of the age: Reuchlin.

Reuchlin urged preservation of the Jewish books as aids to study, and as examples of errors against which champions of faith might joust. To destroy the books would give ammunition to the church's enemies, he said. The emperor revoked his order.

The Dominicans were furious. Selecting passages from Reuchlin's writings, they tried to prove him a heretic. Possibly he was. He seemed to expect salvation through cabalistic practices rather than relying totally on Christ's atoning blood. The inquisition summoned him and ordered his writings burnt. Sympathetic scholars appealed to Leo X. The Pope referred the matter to the Bishop of Spires, whose tribunal heard the issue. On this day, April 24, 1514, the tribunal declared Reuchlin not guilty. It was a great victory for freedom of learning.

The Dominicans were not so easily brushed off. They instigated the faculties at Cologne, Erfurt, Louvain, Mainz and Paris to condemn Reuchlin's writings. Thus armed, they approached Leo X. Leo dithered. Should he win applause from scholars by protecting the Jewish books, or placate the clerics? He appointed a commission. It backed Reuchlin. Still Leo hesitated. At last he decided to suspend judgment. This in itself was a victory for Reuchlin. The cause of the embattled scholar became the cause of the innovators. Reuchlin's nephew, Melanchthon, rejoiced. Erasmus praised him.
In 1517 Luther posted his 95 theses. "Thanks be to God," said the weary Reuchlin. "At last they have found a man who will give them so much to do that they will be compelled to let my old age end in peace." Thanks to Reuchlin, the Talmud and Kabbala were preserved. Although he died a broken man, freedom for academic production was strengthened because of his ordeal. Soon his studies formed the basis for better translations of the Old Testament. Furthermore, his influence assured Melanchthon a position among the learned and a place in the Reformation.
Bibliography:
  1. Hirsch, Samuel A. Book of Essays. Macmillan, 1905.
  2. Loeffler, Klemens. "Johannes Reuchlin." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
  3. Manschreck, Clyde Leonard. Melanchthon, the Quiet Reformer. New York, Abingdon Press, 1958), especially 24, 25.
  4. Mee, Charles L., jr. White Robe, Black Robe. New York: Putnam, 1972; p. 154ff.
  5. "Reuchlin, Johannes." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
  6. Rummel, Erika. The Case against Johann Reuchlin: religious and social controversy in sixteenth-century Germany. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002.
Read this article at -  http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/reuchlin-found-not-guilty-11629914.html

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Leo III Attacked in a Procession

Leo III Attacked in a Procession Paschal the Primicerius, a nephew of Pope Adrian I was a sore loser. He wanted to be pope, but in 795, Leo was installed instead. With his cronies, Paschal plotted a cruel revenge. On this day, April 25, 799, as Leo walked in the procession of the Greater Litanies (a form of chanted prayer and responses on St. Mark's Day), armed men attacked him.

They scattered the procession and set upon Leo, stabbing his eyes and attempting to cut out his tongue. Leo fell bleeding in the street. The ruffians then dragged him to the chapel of St. Sylvester and jabbed at his eyes again. Finally they left him in the monastery of Erasmus.
Miraculously, Leo recovered sight and the use of his tongue. Friends helped him escape from the monastery and eventually he worked his way over the Alps to the court of Charlemagne. The King of the Franks received Leo sympathetically and returned him to Rome under the protection of his own officials. The Romans cheered.

Paschal's men leveled wild accusations at Leo. Leo asked the bishops to try him. They refused, and so he swore in St. Peters that he was innocent of the charges. Charlemagne ordered the conspirators executed, but Leo, remembering Christ's command to forgive our enemies, pleaded for their lives. In the end, they were merely exiled.

While Charlemagne lived, he and Leo maintained a close working relationship, probably the best ever between the Franks and the popes. The following Christmas Day, as Charlemagne knelt in St. Peter's, Leo placed a jeweled crown on his head. The assembly shouted: "To Charles, the most pious Augustus, crowned by God, to our great and pacific emperor life and victory!"

By crowning Charlemagne, Leo was in effect claiming that emperors receive their authority from the church, a proposition which would be sorely tested in coming centuries. However, Charlemagne protected Leo, and the two worked together to maintain the peace of Italy and, indeed, to some extent of the entire Mediterranean world. Charlemagne also gave Leo rich treasures from his conquests, with which the pope beautified Rome and assisted the poor.

After Charlemagne died, Leo's enemies resurfaced. Again they plotted against him. This time Leo found out about it early enough to arrest the conspirators before they could attack.

Had the years hardened Leo? This time there was no leniency: he had them executed.
Bibliography:
  1. Brusher, Joseph Stanislaus. Popes through the Ages. Princeton, N. J.: Van Nostrand, 1959.
  2. De Rosa, Peter. Vicars of Christ; the dark side of the papacy. Dublin: Poolbeg Press, 2000, pp. 45-46.
  3. Durant, Will. The Age of Faith. Part IV of the Story of Civilization. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1950, especially pp. 468-469.
  4. Lea, Henry C. Studies in Church History. Philadelphia: Henry C. Lea; London: Samson, Low, Son, & Marston, 1869, pp.34,35.
  5. "Leo III, St." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
  6. Mann, Horace K. "Pope St. Leo III." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
  7. Montor, Chevalier Artaud de. Lives and Times of the Popes. New York: Catholic Publication Society of America, 1909.
  8. Various encyclopedia and internet articles.
Read this article at -  http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/601-900/leo-iii-attacked-in-a-procession-11629757.html

Did Ronald Reagan Fear Invasion By The Immortals? Ask Soviets To Help Defend Against THEM?

by
ronaldreagan
Ronald Reagan believed aliens would conquer Earth and stunned Mikhail Gorbachev by asking for Soviet help to defeat the invasion, a new book reveals. The book suggests Reagan was secretly appalled by nuclear weapons and his approach to Gorbachev may have been inspired by the 1951 movie The Day The Earth Stood Still. In the film, an interplanetary peace-keeping force lands on Earth using a giant robot to force the warring nuclear powers to put aside their differences. Dr Clarke said: “For a generation that lived in fear of the bomb, this message of salvation from the stars, delivered by technological angels, was a welcome alternative to the Cold War stalemate. “Ronald Reagan was a born-again Christian and saw no contradiction between his faith and a belief in aliens.” The Sheffield-based X-files expert believes the president may also have been convinced he was speaking for the US public after an opinion poll showed 57 per cent of Americans believed UFOs were real. Dr Clarke added: “Reagan’s comments to Gorbachev at the 1985 summit imply he might have believed the real threat came not from behind the Iron Curtain but from hostile extra-terrestrials.”

Read more at -  http://www.express.co.uk/news/weird/571434/Reagan-asked-Soviets-defeat-alien-invasion?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+daily-express-news-showbiz+%28Daily+Express+%3A%3A+News+%2F+Showbiz+Feed%29

Augustine of Hippo Raised to New Life

Augustine of Hippo Raised to New Life And we were baptized and all anxiety for our past life vanished away." With these joyous words Augustine recorded his entrance into the church on this day, April 25, 387, Easter day.

He had been 33 years in coming to this public confession of Christ. Born in North Africa in 354 of a Christian mother and pagan father, Augustine became at twelve years of age a student at Carthage and at sixteen, a teacher of grammar. At this young age, he was already promiscuous. And he tells in his famous autobiography that he boasted of sins he had not had opportunity to commit, rather than seem to have fallen behind his peers in wickedness.

His mother was determined to see him converted and baptized. He was equally determined to have his pleasures. He took a mistress and she bore him a son, Adeodatus, "Gift of God." For a while he resented the lad but soon became inseparable from him. At 29 his restless spirit drove him to Italy. His mother determined to accompany him so that her prayers might be reinforced by her presence. Augustine gave her the slip, sailing while she knelt praying in a chapel.

In Rome he taught rhetoric for a year, but was cheated of his fees. And so he looked for a more fertile field of labor and settled on Milan. His mother caught up with him and prevailed upon him to attend the church of St. Ambrose. Christian singing moved him deeply. In spite of himself he began to drift toward faith. He found the writings of the Apostle Paul deeply stirring and more satisfying than the cool abstractions of philosophy. He wrestled with deep conviction but was unable to yield himself to God, owing to his attachment to the flesh.

Finally he reached a day when his inner vacillations were too great to ignore. He tried reading scripture but abandoned the effort. Unable to act on the truth he knew, he began to weep, and threw himself behind a fig tree. "How long, O Lord," he cried. And his heart answered "Why not now?" A child's sing-song voice came clearly to him, repeating over and over, "Take it and read it." It seemed a message from God. He snatched up the Bible and read Paul's words, ". . .not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature." Faith flooded in upon him. He immediately thrust aside those sins of the flesh which had held him in thrall for so long.

"But this faith would not let me be at ease about my past sins, since these had not yet been forgiven me by means of your baptism." He entered the water and was relieved. At his mother's death, he returned to Africa where he founded a monastery, became bishop of Hippo and a brilliant and prolific theologian who more than any other stamped his imprint upon the Medieval church.
Bibliography:
  1. Aland, Kurt. Saints and Sinners; men and ideas in the early church. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1970.
  2. Augustine, St. Confessions. Various editions.
  3. -----------------. City of God. Various editions.
  4. -----------------. On True Religion. Various editions.
  5. "Augustine, St." Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Edited by Charles Coulston Gillispie. New York: Scribner's, 1970.
  6. Bowie, Walter Russell. Men of Fire. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1961.
  7. Copleston, Frederick. A History of Philosophy. London: Burn, Oates & Washbourn, 1951 - .
  8. D'Souza, Dinesh. The Catholic Classics. Huntington, Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor, 1986.
  9. Dunham, James H. The Religion of Philosophers. Freeport, New York: Books for Libraries Press, 1969, 1947.
  10. Portalie, Eugene. "Augustine, Life of Saint." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
  11. Runes, Dagobert D. A Treasury of Philosophy. New York: Philosophical Library, 1945. p. 71.
  12. Russell, Bertrand. Wisdom of the West. New York: Fawcett, 1964.
Read the rest of this article at -  http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/301-600/augustine-of-hippo-raised-to-new-life-11629683.html

Jade Helm And 'Six Months Of Horror' Predicted By David Wilkerson 20 Years Ago?


By Susan Duclos - All News PipeLine

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A sermon by David Wilkerson, purportedly given in 1994, spoke of a European nation defaulting on it's international loans, then describing events Wilkerson envisioned happening in quick succession following that default, which would include Mexico defaulting on the money owed to the US, causing a run on US banks and "six months of horror" and "chaos" that  not even the National Guard will be able to quiet down, stating "we're going to have to call out the whole U.S. Army."

WILKERSON'S PROPHETIC WARNING:
Key Points To Remember About The Vision:

1) From the time the first country goes down, you'll have two weeks to get your money out of the bank. 2) America will come through this crisis---there will be a restoration. 3) But the nation will never be like it was before... 4) God is saying: Get our lives straight...Get rid of the idols...Seek the face of God in holiness...5) God will be a wall of fire about you...And the glory in the midst of you!

It's about to happen---very soon, one nation, and I'm speaking prophetically--if I've ever heard anything from God in my life, I heard it. Very soon a European or North African or Eastern nation is going to default on its international loan and when that happens, within two weeks, Mexico is going to default. Mexico owes $100 billion ---80% of it to American banks---and here's what is going to happen: about two weeks after the first country goes bankrupt, (we're going to survive that, because most of that (money of the first country) is owed to European banks---German, Swiss and French banks) but a second country is going to go down, probably Argentina or Brazil, and we'll kind of live that down and say: "Well, maybe it's not going to hurt," but two weeks after the first country goes down, Mexico's going to default on $100 billion.

And when the banks open the next day at 9 in the morning, $15 billion an hour is going to be withdrawn from our American banks -they're going to be running our banks---the Arabs---all the Latin American countries, they're going to be running our banks--and before the day is over, the USA is going to have to declare a "bank holiday."

SIX MONTHS OF HORROR:

And we're going into six months of the worst hell America has ever seen---there's going to be chaos---not even the National Guard's going to be able to quiet it down---we're going to have to call out the whole U.S. Army.

Now I've had visions recently, for I've been in New York City and I was in Macy's in a vision, and I saw people walking around stunned because they couldn't get their money out of the bank.

Now I'm going to give you a word of advice, the first country goes bankrupt---I've documented this and I've got it sealed in an envelope, and I'm going to call all my friends and I'm telling you---this is the first time I've said it in a public meeting like this---but the first country that bellies up, you go get every dime you have---church get your money out of the bank--because there's going to be a 'bank holiday' and you won't be able to get a dime for six months. Now, of course, there's going to be -restored, but the nation will never be like it is again.

There's going to be fear like we've never known---judgment at the door. When I was at Macy's Dept. store in a vision and I watched people walking around stunned, they didn't know what to do, they didn't know what was happening; then a bunch of people walked into Macy's and suddenly went wild and began to steal and within an hour everybody---I saw the spirit of everybody in the store---they were robbing and stealing---they raped Macy's and destroyed five floors---Macy's was raped and ruined in a period of an hour or two.

That's just the beginning. Folks it's all in this book (the bible) ---we've been warned and warned and warned---you can't tell me God hasn't warned us. You can't tell me God isn't saying something awesome here tonight in this church...we better get our prayer life straightened up, our lives straightened up, get rid of the idols, as Paul writes, and seeking the face of God in holiness or you're not going to be ready for what's coming. God's warning, get ready and you'll not fear these things that come onto you and you'll start rejoicing, you'll not be afraid because your hands will be clean. You've been praying and God's building a wall of fire around you to keep you."

We'd like to teach you a song about God's protection. It goes like this.: "There's a wall of fire around me...There's a wall of fire between my soul and the enemy. There's a wall of fire that you can't see...Between my soul and the enemy. There's a wall of fire around me. May it be so with us all..."


With talk from Greece stating they can not pay their international loan, talk of the "Gexit," and the ripple effect expected to be felt worldwide, could this be the event that Wilkerson foretold that will lead to the others spoken about?

Headlines from just this week alone show the situation in Greece is getting more dire by the day, with the Business Insider headlining "Greece is going to miss its own bailout deadline and the money is rapidly running out,"  and EUObserver reporting "Greece raids public sector coffers to pay pensions," and multiple other media outlets reporting the same.

There is no doubt the international community is preparing for Greece to default.

Read the rest of this article at -  http://www.allnewspipeline.com/Jade_Helm_6_Months_of_Horror.php

William Shakespeare - To Exist, or not Exist

Did he exist?  Did he actually write the plays and poems attributed to him?  Maybe...or maybe not...
William Shakespeare To be or not to be -- that is the question."

"My words go up, my thoughts remain below Words without thoughts ne'er to Heaven go."
uotes and phrases of William Shakespeare, the greatest of all English writers have become part and parcel of our culture and speech, but much about the man's life and beliefs remains mysterious. Even the date of his death is not certain, although it is generally thought that he died on this date, April 23, 1616. This would have been almost on Shakespeare's 52nd birthday (he was baptized the 26th of April, 1564 probably a few days after his birth).

Was Shakespeare a true Christian? Some of the anecdotes about his life make that doubtful. Nonetheless, a month before his death, he wrote his will, which he concluded by saying, "I commend my soul into the hands of God my Creator, hoping and assuredly believing through the only merits of Jesus Christ my Saviour to be made partaker of life everlasting."
He instructed that his tombstone to be inscribed:
"Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blessed be the man that spares these stones,
And cursed be he that moves my bones."
Shakespeare also seems to have been a faithful member of the Church of England. Though he never wrote a play on a Biblical story, the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer were the most frequently quoted sources in his work. He quotes or alludes to passages from at least 42 books of the Bible; and phrases from the morning and evening prayers in the Book of Common Prayer are frequent. Of the books of the Bible, Shakespeare quoted from Matthew 151 times and from the Psalms 137 times.
Some have speculated that the King James Version of the Bible contains a cryptogram for Shakespeare. If you look at the 46th psalm in the King James translation, the 46th word from the beginning is "shake" and the 46th word from the end is "spear." Interestingly, Shakespeare was 46 when the translation was made in 1610! Did Shakespeare help with the translation work? There is no serious basis for such conjecture.

Indeed, there is serious scholarship that argues that Shakespeare did not even author the works attributed to him. One way or the other, Shakespeare took his secrets (spiritual and otherwise) to the grave with him when he died around this date almost 400 years ago.
Bibliography:
  1. Adapted from an earlier Christian History Institute story.
  2. Garrison, Webb. Strange Facts About the Bible. Nashville: Abington Press, 1968.
  3. Michell, John. Who Wrote Shakespeare? London: Thames and Hudson, 1996.
  4. "Shakespeare, William." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica, 1968.
Read this article at -  http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1601-1700/william-shakespeare-11630064.html

The Army Is Testing Handheld Ray Guns


 
Fittingly, these rifle-sized weapons would gun for other electronics.

Pew! Pew! Soldiers with handheld energy blasters are the stuff of G.I. Joe, not real life … until now. The U.S Army is currently testing electricity guns for possible use against electronics on the battlefield. They don’t look like props from the popular cartoon show but, rather like regular standard-issue M4 rifles with a pair of antennas that shoot out from the barrel and then spread, giving the front end of the gun a musket-like shape.


Soldiers “already carry rifles. Why not use something that every soldier already carries,” said James E. Burke, an electronics engineer with the U.S. Army’s Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, or ARDEC. Burke spoke with Defense One at a National Defense Industry Association event in Baltimore on Tuesday.

See the slide from Burke’s presentation below.
Burke’s apparatus, which he’s named the “Burke Pulser,” consists of two wide antennas, a piezoelectric generator and a few other small bits and pieces. It has a blast shield to protect the user from electricity levels that the inventor describes as “hazardous.”

The Pulser takes the explosive energy released when the gun fires and converts it into pulses of electrical energy. This is done via the piezoelectric effect, which derives an electric charge when pressure is exerted on crystalline materials such as quartz, changing the balance of positive and negative ions.

The Pulser isn’t the first electricity gun ever invented. One of the more interesting prototypes that have emerged over the last several years came from, Seattle-based hacker Rob Flickenger, who cast a Nerf gun in aluminum and rigged it to shoot 20,000 volts of electricity a short distance.

Read the rest of this article at -  http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2015/04/army-testing-handheld-ray-guns/110815/?oref=d-mostread

Dead Adalbert Worth His Weight in Gold

Dead Adalbert Worth His Weight in Gold The first known missionary to the Prussians was Bishop Adalbert of Prague. His work in Prussia followed years of fruitless labor in his native Bohemia. Paradoxically, it was only by leaving his own people that he won them.

Born a Vojtech, Adalbert was related to the princely Slavniks. He took Adalbert as his name at confirmation in honor of an archbishop who had supervised his education. Prague's first bishop had been German. On the death of the German, the talented and devout Adalbert replaced him. With great energy and austerity, he set out to reform the clergy and eliminate pagan practices. He sought to extend the range of Christianity among his people. Many pagans clung to their old ways which were nationalistic. Among these was Duke Boleslav of Bohemia. These opposed Adalbert's reforms.
In the end Adalbert's opponents drove him into exile. He entered a Benedictine Abbey in Rome. Four years later, he heeded an invitation to return to Prague. He soon wished he hadn't. Resistance again mounted, and he gave up the fight as a lost cause. A sneak attack by Duke Boleslav wiped out the Slavnik family.

If he could not preach at home, Adalbert would go to other fields. He determined to advance the gospel one way or another. Under the protection of Emperor Otto III, he traveled into Germany, intending to extend his work among the Poles and Magyars. Poland's King Boleslav I invited him to bring the gospel to the Prussians of the Northern coast. Adalbert responded favorably.

In such esteem did the good king hold Adalbert, he made him archbishop of Gnesen. Adalbert proceeded to preach the gospel throughout Poland and to the Prussian shores. This labor of love cost him his life. A pagan priest, jealous, no doubt, for his own prerogatives, murdered him on this day April 23, 997.

King Boleslav I determined to have the martyr's body back. The pagans agreed--on one condition. Boleslav must pay them Adalbert's weight in gold. The King did not hesitate and the missionary's body was brought to him.

Bohemia, which had rejected the martyr while he lived, now clamored for his relics which were reputed to possess miraculous powers. Poland agreed, but stipulated that Bohemia must accept the reforms Adalbert had tried so fruitlessly to introduce while he was bishop among them. The Bohemians accepted these terms and the Roman Catholic ordinances were established.

Adalbert's influence was not yet spent. Moved by the account of the old bishop's death, a young man determined to carry on his work. Ten years later the Prussians murdered St. Bruno of Querfort also. Men like Adalbert and Bruno gave the Medieval Roman church its truest greatness.
Bibliography:
  1. "Adalbert of Prague." New Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Thomson, Gale, 2002.
  2. Baring-Gould, Sabine. Lives of the Saints, Vol 4. Edinburgh: J. Grant, 1914.
  3. Peake, Elizabeth. History of the German Emperors and Their Contemporaries. Lippincott, 1874.
  4. Various encyclopedia and internet articles.
Read this article at -  http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/901-1200/dead-adalbert-worth-his-weight-in-gold-11629777.html

Whoops, how'd those get there? Iraqi fighters find Israeli weapons in ISIS position

© AP Photo/ Sakchai Lalit
Iraqi volunteer forces, Hashid Shaabi, found Israeli-made weapons in a position of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorists in Anbar province on Thursday.

According to Al-Mayadeen television, the Iraqi volunteer forces found Israeli-made weapons in an ISIL position in al-Karmah city in Anbar province.

The ISIL Takfiri terrorists currently control shrinking swathes of Syria and Iraq. They have threatened all communities, including Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians, Ezadi Kurds and others, as they continue their atrocities in Iraq.

Senior Iraqi officials have blamed Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and some Persian Gulf Arab states for the growing terrorism in their country.

The ISIL has links with Saudi intelligence and is believed to be indirectly supported by the Israeli regime. 
 
Read more at -  http://sputniknews.com/

Possible Date for Christ's Resurrection

Possible Date for Christ's Resurrection Many scholars believe that Christ died and rose from the dead again in AD 30 (see our April 7 story). Even more prefer a date in AD 33, although champions of several other dates can also be found. If the events recorded in the gospels took place in AD 33, then this day, April 23, 33 is the probable date for Christ's resurrection.

No other event like it has been recorded in history. The significance of the first Easter is breathtaking. In fact, the witness of the apostles and believers across the ages is that without the resurrection, there could be no Christianity. The cross of Christ makes no sense without his triumphant restoration to life. It was the resurrection which explained his death as a sacrifice for sins. It was the resurrection which vindicated his teaching: he was no liar. It is the resurrection that gives us hope of a new, eternal life: as Christ rose, so will we. It is the one fact that the apostles and early church constantly held forth as the vindication of their message. It is the oldest traceable doctrine of the early Christian liturgy. Even notable anti-Christian scholars admit that the early church held the resurrection as fact, however much those same scholars hope to show that the church was mistaken in its belief.

The records we have tell us that Christ was buried. His tomb was sealed and soldiers posted around it. About dawn of the first day of the new week (Sunday) an earthquake shook the tomb. The guards fell senseless. An angel rolled back the stone. Some of Christ's female followers were on their way to the tomb to anoint his body. They wondered how they would roll away the stone. Imagine their surprise when they found it rolled back and the body gone! They supposed it had been removed and laid somewhere else. Weeping, one of them asked a gardener if he knew where the body had been taken. Then she recognized the "gardener" as Jesus himself.

The women rushed back to tell the disciples. Peter and John raced to the tomb. All was as the women had said. An angel assured the men Christ was risen. Afterward, Jesus appeared several times to his disciples (sometimes passing through walls) and to his brother James. Paul lists a number of appearances, including one to over 500 people at once. "And then he appeared to me as if to one born late," he said.

All arguments against the resurrection must take into account the eyewitness testimony of the early disciples, the great church that sprang from them, the witness of changed lives around the world, and the empty tomb. Modern dimensional mathematics at least suggests the plausibility of Christ's appearances.

The church has long insisted that the Christian life would be impossible without the resurrection, for through it Christ removed the sting of death from all those who believe in Him.
Bibliography:
  1. Bible. Especially the passion accounts and 1 Corinthians 15.
  2. Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. (Various editions), especially chapters XVI and XVII.
  3. Finegan, Jack. Handbook of Biblical Chronology. Peabody, Massachusetts, 1998.
  4. Habermas, Gary R. The Historical Jesus; ancient evidence for the life of Christ. Joplin, Missouri: College Press, 1996.
  5. "Resurrection of Christ." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
  6. Ross, Hugh. Beyond the Cosmos. (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1999).
  7. Stalker, James. Life of Christ. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1909, especially sections 199ff.
  8. Stroble, Lee. The Case for Christ. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1998.
  9. Yancey, Philip. The Jesus I Never Knew. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1995, especially chapter 11.
Read this article at -  http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1-300/possible-date-for-christs-resurrection-11629555.html