First I must say that it seems kind of contradicting when in Genesis 10:5 we read, “From these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.” But in chapter 11 it says that the whole world had one language. Lets read on…

Tower of Babel  (Genesis 11:1-8)

1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

 3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

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I believe that it can be said that in order for one to know their future, they must first come to know and understand the past from which they came. It is ones past that creates ones destiny; I believe this relates to all of history. Although at times we think of ourselves as a smart and advanced people, we may not have the full understanding or knowledge of our past as one might think.

There are many debates on the Bible either being the “Word of God,” the “Inspired Word of God,” a “myth,” a “record of history,” or a “book written by man.” I’d say that it has to be a little of all of these as proof can be given to make any point valid. But most importantly one should realize that the purpose of the Bible was so that man could gain a personal relationship with God. The Bible is only a tool to help foster that relationship, it was not written to appease scientist, although within its stories there is a base of truth reduced to a simple understanding. Ultimately at some point science and religion have to agree.

I find the book of Genesis and the Torah of great importance. What many don’t realize is that it’s stories or myths of Genesis are not original but shared ideologies throughout many cultures in various myths and legends. We often see myths as mythical stories of how man might have explained something. Even though the stories have been fantasized with mythical creatures we shouldn’t ignore the lessons to be learned within the stories. Some story of creation and the flood and give a more detail account than Genesis.

Gnostic-Christian had additional book such as the Apocalypse of Adam in which Adam tells his son Seth their origins. There can be comminalities seen between early Sumerian beliefs and old testament teachings. Even the story of Jacob Ladder has common bonds between various cultures (See “The Ladder to Heaven”). It is interest that even today we believe in myths of angels having wings. The Bible never teaches that angels have wings, but suggests that they are in the appearance of humans, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2) Wings may be associated with angels because they ascend and descend from heaven. The Bible does speaks of the cherubim having wings; although, this verse could cause some mystery as to what cherubim really are, ”He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.” (Psalm 18:10)

Although not a commonly shared belief among Christians Rev. Barry Downing has an interesting perspective that may put a light on the subject of who and what angels might be. Do ancient myths and the Bible support his claim?

Could it be possible the YHWH (Yahweh) in the Bible is a higher and more evolved being than ourselves? “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” 2 Peter 3:8.

Watch Rev. Barry Downings perspective on the Bible.

“But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.” (John 8:23)

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Let’s put together a scenario… 

A Muslim Preacher, A Protestant Minister, A Rabbi, a Mormon Prophet, and a Holy Shaman were all knocked-out and kidnapped. When they awoke they found themselves at a cross road in the desert with nothing in site. Each of them had their own theology on God. After much debate, knowing that going the wrong direction could mean a fate of death, they agreed to pray to their different God’s asking for direction. They had agreed that after praying they would then write down the answer given by their God on a piece of paper to share with the rest of the group. The funny thing is that when they all came back together to discuss the answer they were give, each answer was different. So, then they debated on the question, “which God gives the right answer? Who is the real God?”

Unfortunately none of them were able to agree, so they were left out in the sun…

This story is obviously made-up, but I believe that it summaries an issue that is often a cause for debate within the world’s religions. There are approximately 6.6 Billion people in the world today; in my understanding, roughly 33% of the people are Christian, 20% are Islam, and the rest are of other various religions. Many religious people are taught about their religion while being raised as a child. Children are often easily influenced at a young age as the religion is practiced by their family or culture. There are other ways in which one finds faith. But notice that we call it finding faith and not fact. Faith has often been described to me as, “believing in things unseen.”

What I find most interesting is that every religion has their spiritual stories of answered prayers. So that puts forth the question, “if everyone is receiving God’s answers in prayer, how does one know other than by faith that he/she is believing in the real God?”

Are there common teachings?Could they all be the same?
Are they of the devil?
Are we all wrong?
Is there an Answer? The world will not be rid of war until the truth is known; the sad part is that so few are willing to hear the other side.

Some may argue that the resurrection of Christ was added into the Bible at a later date or that it might be an inaccurate account of what really happened. First, I would assume that it is safe to say that the events of the resurrection, the “empty tomb,” were not added into the Bible at a later date. I say this because of the variations in the visitations to the grave of Jesus. Even though the variations are slight, there are variations; look at the occurrences of the angels.

Matthew 28:2-7 (NIV)
2There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.  5The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

Mark 16:4-7 (NIV)
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.’ ”

Luke 24:2-5 (NIV)
2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?

John 20:6-18 (NIV)
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.)  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.

If the four gospels had been edited to include the resurrection, then these variations would have most likely been edited and/or corrected. It is likely that the account was passed on by verbal traditions among the first Christians. These verbal accounts of the event would likely show some variances in the their descriptions over time. Plus it is safe to say that due to cultural values and ones own life experiences which help develope a sense of reason and understanding, two people can sometimes see an event from different perspectives. This would most likely explain the differences within the gospel stories; merely a matter of perspective, “The Gospel According to (or Perspective of) John.” 

Although my dates may not be exact, it is believed that the New Testament was written after approximately 45 AD. Early Judaeo-Christians were often viewed as a separate sect of Judaism. It is interesting that Romans often referred to early Christians as atheist due to believing in an invisible God. Approximately 40 AD, the Judaeo-Christians start allowing Gentiles into their new found faith. These Gentiles often came from other cultures, such as Rome, which worshiped pagan gods; it is plausible that this may have had some influence in the development of the early Church, thus a reason why Catholics possibly offer prayers up to Mary. No one knows for certain, but check out my InfoVideos ‘The Harlot of Babylon’…

Many people probably don’t realize it, but there are a few resurrection myths that predate the New Testament. These older mythical stories of Egyptian gods including: Neith, Isis, and Osiris all show an occurrence of a resurrection. Is it possible that early Jews may have inherited some beliefs in a after life or the Hebrew word Olam Ha-Ba (”the world to come”)? Although myths tend to be exaggerated stories, there tends to be some sort of lesson that is to be derived from them.

Does this discredit the resurrection in the four Gospels? I cannot say, but I doubt it and 1st Corinthians may give us some new light into the subject of the resurrection.

Read the Post ‘Jesus and the Resurrected Body’

Some believe that the New Testament of the Bible speaks of an actual raising of the dead; the literal body that died as in the case of Jesus resurrection from the grave. They had seen no body so they assumed that it was the same body that arose. 1st Corinthians Chapter 15 may show a different perspective, as it seems to tell us something different than what is to be suspected from Christ’s resurrection in the four gospels.

1 Corinthians 15 (NIV)
35But someone may ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
 42So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
      If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.
 50I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

So then, what happened to Jesus’ body in the four gospels?

Scientific Explanation? 

In this video of Ronald Mallett, science might be able to explain the resurrected body and how Jesus could simply appear and disappear. Was the resurrected body from a different dimension? Watch and listen, about 2 Minutes into the video he refers to a piece of paper as two dimensional universe (”for conceptual purposes”) and how beings of that dimension might perceive beings coming from a third dimension. Beings are only aware of existence within their own dimension. God and Angels could exist in another dimension outside of the fourth dimension, which is time, and it should be called “Heaven.” Is Jesus’ new body merely from another dimension; that of which is something spiritual?

(Click Here to Watch the Video in a New Window)

So which one is it?
Does our current body get resurrected?
Or…
Does some form of a spiritual body get resurrected?
Or…
Are we a new creation from another dimension in the resurrection?

Welcome to Doubting Faith, this is the beginning.

Why?

At first I shall admit that I am no scholar and will never claim to be, as of yet.

I, like many others before me simply wish to seek the truth.

“But test and prove all things [until you can recognize] what is good; [to that] hold fast.” Thessalonians 5:21 (Amplified Bible)

Although, I would claim Christianity as my religion, I am a doubting Thomas at times. All to often I see people believing in a faith which they know nothing about. I have a thirst for knowledge; a constant sojourn to know Jesus and his teaching.

In today’s society our typical relationships are very superficial. Like a marriage or great friendship, getting to know someone takes time with a genuine interest in knowing everything about that person; you don’t just read their diary, hint: “the Bible”. You go through their history, you’ve shared stories, and dig into discovering who they really are. Have you ever heard a rumor about one of your best friends? Let me guess, you instantly knew that it wasn’t true because it didn’t fit. There are a lot of rumors about God, and the only way to know the truth is by getting to know him personally.

Who?

My name is David, I grew up within the Christian faith attending both Presbyterian and Baptist Churches. My assumption is the average person does not understand differences between the different Protestant denominations. I’d also assume that a majority of people don’t care or have a preference for any one denomination; although, I’ve recently have seen a few people leave a Church due to denominational issues in regards to the PCUSA. I will admit that I have little opinion in regards to denominational issues when dealing with the organizational body of the Church, but I do have a strong belief in a Church supporting Biblical Theology. I’ve had two grandfathers both of which served as missionaries and ministers. I’ve learned a great deal from both of these men and love them dearly.

What?

The ironic thing about religion is that even though one might have strong convictions about their faith; many of those same people don’t understand the theology or foundations of their beliefs.

Many people don’t even realize how Christianity differs from Mormonism, but believe me they are as different as black is from white, although people will tend to see a shade of gray. Many Mormon’s do not realize the flaws within their beliefs. Having an open mind, I like to know facts before coming to a conclusion. It took attending a Doctrine and Covenants class before I could find one who could answer my questions with confidence. I was proud when he stated to me, “your the first Baptist that’s ever step foot in here.” I have a story that I’ve told many times and will continue to tell it as it serves it’s purpose:

Back in my senior year of high school, I dated a Mormon (”LDS”). It was pretty much a religious debate the entire time, and a few good stories came from it.
One day in an argument I made the statement that in 1989 the Mormon Church changed their temple cerimony, “ritual“.
She then slapped me across the face exclaiming, “how dare you say that!”
I simply replied, “Go ask your Dad!”
Later that night she did ask her Dad, who admitted the truth and she cried all night. She knew that Joseph Smith said that it would be the down fall of the Mormon Church if their most sacred temple cerimony had ever change. She called me the next day to tell me that her Dad said that we should separate and we did.

It was a shock to see how one could be raised up in a religion and be so brainwashed that they cannot see facts in front of their eyes. Could my faith and beliefs stem from a similar situation in which I had been raised? It proved devastating to my blind faith; but, it opened my eyes and gave me a craving for knowledge to know who Jesus really is.

When? 

A few good principals when discussing religion with others:

1. Don’t step on someones beliefs to prove yourself right.
2. Listen with an open mind and then share your opinion of what they said. 
3. Be open to sharing truth and knowledge with a loving heart.
4. Live by example.

Sources:

• Amplified Bible (AMP) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation