God is not a man!
–Numbers 23:19a
The sole supernatural option offered by Christian apologists in support of Jesus’ resurrection is deceptive; in reality, it presents a false dilemma. Alternative supernatural and natural alternatives exist, even if some of them may appear absurd at first sight. Yet, Christian apologists rarely make known these options. Once people entertain one supernatural option, they must be open to every supernatural option.
Is it possible that through supernatural means, the disciples, Paul, and later believers were deceived? Their deceptions included believing that Jesus had been raised from the dead; that he appeared many times after his death; that he ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God; that he was the Messiah and even God. Multiple citations from the Hebrew Scriptures and Christian Scriptures quoted in this book lend credence to this speculation.
An alternative supernatural explanation for the Resurrection Belief: Suppose that Satan had a devious objective. He wanted the people of the world to accept Jesus as a false Messiah or even as a false God in order to keep humans separated from the true and only God Almighty, Yahweh, the God of Abraham, the God of the Jewish people.
If Christian apologists do not accept this hypothesis, an explanation is required.
I the Lord do not change.
–Malachi 3:6a
–Michael Alter, Jewish counter-apologist, in his book The Resurrection and Its Apologetics: Jesus’ Death and Burial, Volume 1, 250-251
Gary: Only someone who is ignorant of Jewish Scriptures (the “unlearned” disciples) or someone who is mentally deranged (Paul) could believe that a human being is the invisible, bodiless Creator God of the Jewish Scriptures.
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End of post.
Escaping Christian Fundamentalism 
re: “Only someone who is ignorant of Jewish Scriptures (the “unlearned” disciples) or someone who is mentally deranged (Paul) could believe that a human being is the invisible, bodiless Creator God of the Jewish Scriptures.”
I myself have never, ever figured out why some Christians say “Jesus IS God”.
Obviously, “Jesus” – a very visible, physical being – could NOT be “invisible” – and yet, God is invisible.
I always thought this was some kind of “massive disconnect” going on. And, I *still* think that’s exactly what it is.
It all has to do with the Trinitarian insistence on “personifying” things that simply don’t need to be “personified” at all – namely, The Logos and The Holy Spirit.
But, here’s the deal: I don’t think the earliest resurrection claimants believed for a moment that “Jesus IS God”. They may well have believed that “the fullness of God dwelt bodily in [Jesus]”, but that is a far cry different than saying “Jesus IS God”.
Jesus was a person, and like all people, had both a body and a spirit (according to standard Jewish understanding), and the combination of those two things creates a “living soul”. Jesus would have been no different – he was a person with a body and a spirit. The DIFFERENCE may (maybe? perhaps?) have been that the spirit that empowered Jesus’ body WAS “the spirit of the Lord”. It wasn’t a “created spirit” that a human normally has, but rather, was the spirit of the creator.
But, even if this is correct, it’s still a long way away from saying “Jesus IS God”.
In other words – I actually agree with you that “Jesus” is NOT “Yahweh”.
What I really can’t figure out is this: I went through a major “deconstruction” many, many years ago (about 30 years) which resulted in me no longer being a Trinitarian, no longer believing “Jesus IS God”, no longer believing the Gospels are historically reliable, no longer believing in the “penal substitution” atonement theory, no longer believing in “eternal punishment in Hell”, and so on and so on – and yet, in the process, I became *convinced* that Jesus was, in fact, bodily raised from the dead.
You’ve seen what I’m talking about in the many conversations we’ve had, and, it’s exactly why you can’t really discuss “fundamentalist” things with me: You stayed a fundamentalist, but i didn’t.
What do you suppose happened there that you and I turned out so differently?
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Well, you saw “the light” sooner than I did. You used reason to evaluate and deconstruct irrational ancient supernatural claims. But for some reason you are unwilling to answer why you maintain belief in the supernatural. Hopefully one day you will let go of that last little bit of irrationality too .
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re: “But for some reason you are unwilling to answer you maintain belief in the supernatural.”
Well, I don’t actually “maintain” belief in the supernatural, per se.
What I mean is this: My current belief in the supernatural is a RESULT of my having come to the conclusion that Jesus was bodily raised from the dead. That is, I concluded that “the thing that really happened, and which led to some first century Jews making the claim that ‘Jesus was raised from the dead'” was that Jesus WAS bodily raised from the dead. But, I realized that the only way that could have occurred DID require an “act of God” – ie, “the supernatural”.
So, it’s not really that I “maintain” belief in the supernatural. Rather, i believe in the supernatural BECAUSE I became convinced that Jesus had been bodily raised from the dead.
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Should I bother to ask you for the evidence that convinced you of the resurrection?
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