The Historical Reality of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
By Ian McCoy
3/5
()
About this ebook
According to the Gospels and early New Testament accounts something outrageous happened about 2000 years ago. A man named Jesus, who was by any named criteria dead, came to life on the first Easter Day (the Sunday after the Friday on which he died) in such a condition as to appear and disappear at will. In subsequent weeks, His disciples claimed that God had raised Him from the dead and that He appeared to them various times before ascending into heaven.
From that foundation, Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire and has continued to exert great influence down through the centuries.
...............................
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is either one of the most wicked, vicious hoaxes ever foisted on the minds of human beings--or it is the most remarkable fact of history. It is the contention of this book that it was the latter. Examining all the available evidence Mr McCoy makes a compelling case arguing that many authors in the past and present have ignored the overwhelming evidence for philosophical reasons rather than sound historical ones.
Mr McCoy takes us on a journey to the first days of the Christian Faith. It starts with an empty tomb. Where is the body? Even critics admit that there was a missing body. People have come up with various hypotheses – one of the oldest being the “swoon theory” – that Jesus in fact did not die. Of course some fictional authors have taken advantage of this – even to the extent that some people now believe Christ had offspring which we can trace in Europe!
He also examines the various appearances of Christ to his followers. Where they visions of a psychological nature? Where they hallucinations? Where they fabrications from a bunch of fanatics? Christ also appeared to some opponents. How do we explain that? Why is it significant that Jesus first appeared to women?
Next he examines the affect these experiences had on the disciples of Jesus who in a very short time were transformed from disillusioned, trembling wrecks into confident, inspiring founders of a new Church. It has been said that without the Resurrection – the rise of the church would be a greater miracle than the Resurrection itself!
The ancient concept of dying and rising gods is examined. Is Christ just another in a long line of “myths”? Is the Jungian concept of a “collective unconscious” applicable in explaining the Resurrection?
Next he looks at the beliefs of Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Did another man who looked like Jesus actually die on the cross? What about the idea that Jesus really lived until 120 and his grave can still be seen in Kashmir, India?
Finally he examines the case that the Resurrection while real was a purely “spiritual” event. Many Theists and Christians believe this – as do many in the so called “new age” movement. Mr McCoy argues that far from being “new age” – these erroneous beliefs stretch right back to the beginning of Church history.
His case is strong. All the evidence points to one conclusion: The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is more than a theological truth. It is also a historical truth. Even setting aside theological considerations – from a purely historical point of view – the Resurrection is not only the best explanation from the evidence – it is the only explanation.
Ian McCoy
Ian McCoy (www.ianmccoy.com) is a master magician and mentalist, a motivational speaker and teacher, a published author, a musician, singer/songwriter and a writer/journalist.For over a decade he was one of California's top magical acts and performed all around the world for blue chip companies, Hollywood celebrities, a cruise line, Las Vegas hotels and thousands of private individuals. . He also set up magic classes and camps teaching children of all ages throughout the Bay Area of San Francisco. He relocated back to the UK seven years ago and has performed around Britain and on TV.Ian is also a credentialed high school and junior college teacher in both the UK and USA. He has degrees in history and politics and post graduate degrees in education and theology. He is the published author of the book Magic in the Center : God Consciousness and You a work in Philosophy that examines the concept of the Soul. He has also developed an online environmental news and information service with his brother and sister called just4theplanet . Ian is lead writer.Ian's keynote speech Magical Values is a call for people to be their best. It is truly inspirational and incorporates entertaining magic and mentalism to illustrate some perennial wisdom and motivate his audience.In his Kindle books on the art of Mentalism and Mindreading, How to be a Mentalist , How to be a Mentalist II, How to be a Mentalist: Time Flies and In Mind, Ian takes his 35 years study and experience to teach this fascinating art. Every technique and performance has a video link. So as well as reading, the student gets to see both performances and live explanations.His related book Memory teaches incredible techniques to develop your mind to it's full potential.Ian has also published two books on the art of card magic under the title McCoy's Miracle's: World Class Card Magic and one book on mentalism with cards: McCoy's Miracles: World Class Mentaism with Playing Cards. As with his other work - they all have video links to performance and explanation.Ian's book Angels: An insight into their Existence, taps his academic insights from theology, science, philosophy and history. It is a fascinating study.Ian has two publications on the person of Jesus Christ.The Historical Reality of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ examines just that and argues that historians while agreeing with the historicity of Christ's life and death - have been blinded from the historical truth of the Resurrection by a philosophical stance that can not be justified. His other work Jesus Christ: Magic Man? examines the ministry of Jesus through his miracles.In his book the Atheism Myth Ian gives a robust defence of Theism - as a response to the militant atheists led by Richard Dawkins.Ian's largest and most ambitious project The True Magic: God, Mind, Consciousness and You is an all embracing piece drawing on all disciplines in defence of Theism.
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Reviews for The Historical Reality of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
4 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5If you expect a serious history book, forget about it! It is a bok written for the convinced, who don't care for serious history. Here is a historian that affirms that the life of Jesus was witnessed by many, but does not provide any references, except the bible. This is a circular demonstration, particularly given that the bible was not a witness account, but was written almost 90 years after it was supposed to have happened. Many serious historians have shown that are no unbiased historians contemporary to when Jesus lived who even recorded that Jesus lived. A more robust demonstration by McCoy would have been good. Very weak argument.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5this was a very good read. i really loved it
Book preview
The Historical Reality of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ - Ian McCoy
The Historical Reality of the Resurrection Of Jesus ChrisT
Ian McCoy
Copyright 2012 Ian McCoy
Smashwords Edition
Table of contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 Miracles
Chapter 2 Science and Religion
Chapter 3 Is the New Testament reliable ?
Chapter 4 The Biblical Record
Chapter 5 The Empty Tomb
Chapter 6 The Appearances of Jesus
Chapter 7 The Resurrection and the early Church
Chapter 8 Gods Dying and Rising: Carl Jung and the Collective Unconscious
Chapter 9 Islam, Hindu, Buddhist beliefs and the strange case of Ghulam Ahmad
Chapter 10 Was the Resurrection purely Spiritual?
Conclusion
Post script
About the Author
The Historical Reality of the Resurrection of jesus christ
Introduction
According to the Gospels and early New Testament accounts something outrageous happened about 2000 years ago. A man named Jesus, who was by any named criteria dead, came to life on the first Easter Day (the Sunday after the Friday on which he died) in such a condition as to appear and disappear at will. In subsequent weeks, His disciples claimed that God had raised Him from the dead and that He appeared to them various times before ascending into heaven.
From that foundation, Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire and has continued to exert great influence down through the centuries.
………………………….
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is either one of the most wicked, vicious hoaxes ever foisted on the minds of human beings--or it is the most remarkable fact of history. It is the contention of this book that it was the latter. Examining all the available evidence Mr McCoy makes a compelling case arguing that many authors in the past and present have ignored the overwhelming evidence for philosophical reasons rather than sound historical ones.
Mr McCoy takes us on a journey to the first days of the Christian Faith. It starts with an empty tomb. Where is the body? Even critics admit that there was a missing body. People have come up with various hypotheses – one of the oldest being the swoon theory
– that Jesus in fact did not die. Of course some fictional authors have taken advantage of this – even to the extent that some people now believe Christ had offspring which we can trace in Europe!
He also examines the various appearances of Christ to his followers. Where they visions of a psychological nature? Where they hallucinations? Where they fabrications from a bunch of fanatics? Christ also appeared to some opponents. How do we explain that? Why is it significant that Jesus first appeared to women?
Next he examines the affect these experiences had on the disciples of Jesus who in a very short time were transformed from disillusioned, trembling wrecks into confident, inspiring founders of a new Church. It has been said that without the Resurrection – the rise of the church would be a greater miracle than the Resurrection itself!
The ancient concept of dying and rising gods is examined. Is Christ just another in a long line of myths
? Is the Jungian concept of a collective unconscious
applicable in explaining the Resurrection?
Next he looks at the beliefs of Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Did another man who looked like Jesus actually die on the cross? What about the idea that Jesus really lived until 120 and his grave can still be seen in Kashmir, India?
Finally he examines the case that the Resurrection while real was a purely spiritual
event. Many Theists and Christians believe this – as do many in the so called new age
movement. Mr McCoy argues that far from being new age
– these erroneous beliefs stretch right back to the beginning of Church history.
His case is strong. All the evidence points to one conclusion: The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is more than a theological truth. It is also a historical truth. Even setting aside theological considerations – from a purely historical point of view – the Resurrection is not only the best explanation from the evidence – it is the only explanation.
Chapter 1
Miracles
If one makes the assumption that miracles (that is the intervention of something outside of nature [God] to affect or change the laws of nature
) – are an impossibility, then this would make any claims of Resurrection problematic to say the least. If it did happen it is the greatest of miracles
. But here lies the nub of the problem: If one takes the philosophical stance that miracles absolutely do not happen – then any evidence presented is irrelevant – your mind is already made up. This unfortunately has been the case with many – their philosophical stance has made them blind to the evidence.
Many have described the Resurrection in these terms. People at the time did not have our scientific knowledge of the world. They were credulous about magical and supernatural happenings. They could easily fall pray to reports of a risen Jesus, because resurrection from the dead was possible. Jesus’ followers were heart broken when he was executed. Since they believed him to be the Messiah, they might have begun to sense that he was still with them, guiding them, living on in their hearts in spirit. Some may have felt that they had visions of him speaking to them. Over the decades