© Copyright 2013 PJ Stassen
All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved
It is better to be faithful than famous.
.
I can still remember a specific period during my tumultuous youth when I used to collect and avidly devour all of Lobsang Rampa's books ... until it was told that he wasn't a 'holy man' from Tibet at all, but a Brit living in England posing as some sort of oriental mystic. Come to think of it ... at the time he sounded more authentic a mystic than the mystics themselves (Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction, and these things do happen ... I once read that Charlie Chaplin came third in a Charlie Chaplin look-alike competition). Some deluded Hollywood-stars these days also follow some of these swami's to India, or Tibet ... but to actually fall on one’s knees and worship Jesus Christ as God? They are adamant: "NEVER!"
Myths about the so-called ‘conflicting’ Gospel-accounts
of the Resurrection (of Christ) in the Bible abound. One of those myths goes that it wasn’t Jesus who was killed at Calvary, but
a ‘look-alike double’ in His stead, supposedly as part of a carefully concerted,
pre-arranged conspiracy to fool the authorities, the public and the religious
establishment of the day. When Jesus of Nazareth then later miraculously
appeared to the distressed disciples, they then happily assumed His death and resurrection as
matter-of-fact. Swoon Theory tries to sell the model where Christ never died, but had only 'swooned' at the cross at Calvary, only to recover and recuperate later in order to fake the so-called 'resurrection'.
Another version espoused is that it actually was Jesus Of Nazareth who was crucified and killed, but that a
‘look-alike double’ was then presented
to the world as the 'resurrected Christ'. Still others say that the 'double' was one of the disciples, i.e. Thomas Didimus, the 'Twin'. After
all, he was not called ‘the Twin’ without good reason, so they say. Author Frank Yerby (The Thirteenth Disciple) has tried to rubbish the miracles of Jesus by insisting that Jesus never actually walked on the Sea of Galilee, but that He probably
surfed the rough, stormy seas on a surfboard like a crack Hollywood stuntman (!). Another theory is that Jesus, on the Sea of Galilee, balanced
Himself on a huge chunk of ice like an adept barefoot ice-skater (!). (The skeptics' attempts at Biblical rationalisations and amateur homiletics often sound light-years more incredible than those of time-tested and respectable fundamentalist theologians).
For instance, I find it strange that a person of the
stature of Jesus Of Nazareth, considering that He was a rabbi and, considering His nobility of bearing and profound teaching, would care to go surfing in the middle
of the night in the middle of a life-threatening storm as alleged; or would
care to balance Himself precipitously on a chunk of ice while, at the same time, non-chalantly
steering Himself skilfully without any known navigational aids toward the boat full
of despairing disciples, there to finally engage in profound philosophical
discussions with his disciples, as if He was sitting on a sofa at a wealthy country club.
The Jesus
Seminar movement (of which a small South African derivative is also known
as ‘Die Nuwe Hervormers’) insists that
Jesus probably was a deluded religious ascetic but an ordinary man
nevertheless, and that the news and myth around His extraordinary persona was
invented and disseminated by people who had desired to create a sort of a ‘folk-hero’
for the oppressed’ Jewish nation of the day in dire need of a 'national deliverer’.
With time and over the centuries the exploits of the ordinary historical Jesus Of
Nazareth were then exaggerated ad absurdum
into the fake messianic Christ we, the ‘deluded Christians’, ignorantly worship
today (so their story goes).
The main argument in the camp of the
skeptics appears to be the so-called ‘contradictions’ (‘conflicting accounts’) by
the four authors Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the four Gospels of the Bible.
Apparently it has never occurred to the skeptics that four identical Gospels probably
(i) would have rendered three of them obsolete and totally unnecessary, and
(ii) would have made diabolical collusion (in a concerted effort by the four authors to repeat the exact-same
narrative and thereby rendering a more credible account) only too painfully apparent. In fact and on the contrary, it is the very (so-called) ‘contradictions’ or ‘conflicting accounts’ in the
four Gospel accounts that actually today emphatically confirm the authenticity
of the Gospels.
The same ‘strain’ of myth had for instance surrounded
Adolf Hitler, when, in the aftermath of WWII, it was asserted by many that it
was a ‘look-alike double’ of the Fuehrer that had died and was cremated at his Berlin-bunker,
and that the real Hitler was still at large elsewhere in a safe place. The
rationale for inventing these theories was attributed to the so-called ‘conflicting
accounts’ by the few eyewitnesses at the the time of the incident (his suicide and cremation). That eminent
historian, H.R. Trevor-Roper, author of The
Last Days Of Hitler, has dismissed all such notions and, writing in defence
of the critical value of ‘conflicting accounts’ to honest interrogators, says:
“On
the other hand, if the witnesses are speaking the truth, as far as they can,
about an experience which they have really shared, the development of their
answers will be in precisely the opposite direction. At first their replies
will differ, because their opportunities of observation and recollection have
been different; but as interrogation detaches those differences of circumstance,
the essential agreement will become clear. Any interrogator soon becomes
familiar with those facts, and by appreciating them can often detect whether a
story has been concerted or not; and on the strength of those facts I consider
that the various witnesses whom I have interrogated, directly or indirectly, on
the subject of Hitler’s death were undoubtedly telling not a pre-concerted
story, but their own attempts to recollect the truth.” (Trevor-Roper: 254-255).
In other words, the authors of the four Gospels (mind you, not professionally trained media-reporters) were, similarly, not necessarily telling a deliberately falsified pre-concerted story, but were probably simply attempting to honestly recollect the truth. Even the so-called 'conflicting accounts' in the Gospels bear silent but nevertheless resounding witness to the fact that the events had happened, and that it was not the fruit of hallucinating or conniving wishful thinkers.
In other words, the authors of the four Gospels (mind you, not professionally trained media-reporters) were, similarly, not necessarily telling a deliberately falsified pre-concerted story, but were probably simply attempting to honestly recollect the truth. Even the so-called 'conflicting accounts' in the Gospels bear silent but nevertheless resounding witness to the fact that the events had happened, and that it was not the fruit of hallucinating or conniving wishful thinkers.
This song by Darlene Zschech, Shout To The Lord, may not necessarily
qualify as a ‘hymn’ in the traditional sense of the word, but must surely go
down in history as one of the most majestic ‘contemporary’ worship-choruses
ever written during the 20th century. It encapsulates everything the
Christian ever wanted to say, in so few words, about the man Jesus Of Nazareth,
whose life, testimony, teaching and bona
fides have proved, beyond reasonable doubt, His awesome royal heritage as
an emissary from Heaven and the worshipful Son of God. Nothing, I repeat, NOTHING that any philosopher, priest, avatar, fakir, guru, prophet, swami or yogi may have on offer today can even remotely compare to the promise we have in Jesus Of Nazareth, the Christ and Saviour of mankind.
(Darlene
Zschech, b.1965/Hillsong Australia)
My Jesus, my Saviour,
Lord, there is none like You.
All of my days, I want to praise,
The wonders of Your mighty love.
My comfort, my shelter −
Tower of refuge and strength.
Let every breath, all that I am,
Never cease to worship You.
CHORUS
Shout to the Lord, all the Earth let us sing,
Power and majesty, praise to the King.
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar,
At the sound of Your Name.
I sing for for joy at the work of Your hands,
Forever I’ll love You, forever I’ll stand.
Nothing compares to the promise I have in You.
Piet Stassen
eLiterature/eLiteratuur:
- Scribd Publishing Site: www.scribd.com/PietStassen (ENGLISH & AFRIKAANS)
- eBook: 'Evolution: The Science That Evolved Into A Fairy Tale' (ENGLISH)
- eBook: 'Bertrand Russell Revisited: Rebuttal Of Bertrand Russell's 'Why I Am Not A Christian''(ENGLISH)
- eBook: 'Meditations & Contemplations: A Reader For Both Atheists And Creationists' (ENGLISH)
- eBook: 'Conservation, Rhino Poaching And Hypocrisy' (ENGLISH)
- eBook: 'Why Darwinism ('Evolution') Does Not Make Sense' (ENGLISH)
- eBook: 'Names And Titles Of Jesus Of Nazareth (ENGLISH)'
- eBoek: 'Darwin Of Christus: Suid-Afrikaners By 'n Kruispad!' [AFRIKAANS].
- eBoek: 'Bevryding Van Die Anti-Evangelie Van Ateisme-Evolusionisme' [AFRIKAANS].
- eBoek: 'Name & Titels Van Jesus Christus' [AFRIKAANS].
- eTracts, Christian (Free, Downloadable): Free, downloadable Christian eTracts for free distribution (ENGLISH)
- eTraktate, Christelik (Gratis, Aflaaibaar): Gratis, aflaaibabre Christelike Traktate vir gratis verspreiding (AFRIKAANS)
Bibliography
1.
Lyrics007.
‘Shout To The Lord’. Accessed At <http://www.lyrics007.com/Hillsong%20Lyrics/Shout%20To%20The%20Lord%20Lyrics.html>
[online] 2013.
2.
PreachItTeachIt. ‘Darlene Zschech’. Accessed At <http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.preachitteachit.org/uploads/pics/darlene-zschech_02.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.preachitteachit.org/about-us/the-team/darlene-zschech/&h=219&w=230&sz=1&tbnid=U1zy7rhVUuJKBM:&tbnh=160&tbnw=168&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dwikipedia,%2Bdarlene%2Bzschech%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=wikipedia,+darlene+zschech&usg=__O0__SFl_mcJdLo27dNShaqt8cCE=&docid=HjXb78WgogujcM&itg=1&sa=X&ei=P2rRUbiXA42h7AbF74HoDg&ved=0CHMQ_B0wCg>
[online] 2013.
3.
Trevor-Roper,
H.R. (1947 ) The Last Days Of Hitler.
Pan Books Ltd. London.
4.
Yerby,
Frank. The Thirteenth Disciple.
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