Maggie's Farm

Concerning the topic in the post above, Paul does not mention an empty tomb. Paul does not say 'on the third day, they found the tomb empty.'

The word 'appeared' is often used in connection with apparitions, a kind of vision. He included himself in a list of people to whom Jesus 'appeared'. His experience on the Damascus road in Acts9, 22, and 26 was described as a vision. The folks with him were not granted a full part of his vision.

1 Corinthians 15--"How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?" P;aul uses an analogy of continuity and discontinuity. The body is to the resurrection body as a seed to a full grown plant.

Verse 14 "If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching has been in vain and your faith has been in vain." This is in a chapter that suggests the resurrection body is not a physical body.

"For me, the historical ground of Easter is very simple: the followers of Jesus, both then and now, continued to experience Jesus as a living reality after his death. In the early Christian community, these experiences included visions or apparitions of Jesus. I think Paul and others(including the author of the book of Revelation) had them. I think the community experienced the power of the Spirit they had known in Jesus continuing to be and to operate. I think there were experiences of the same presence they had known in Jesus during his historical lifetime. Indeed, I think such experiences were the reason they said, "Jesus is still here, but in a radically new way." Continuity and discontinuity are both affirmed.

Thus I see the post-Easter Jesus as an experiential reality."

above taken from Marcus Borg, in "The Meaning of Jesus; Two Visions" by Borg, and N.T. Wright

Marcus says you couldn't capture it on a video tape, N.T. Wright seems to be saying you could, in this book. These two fellows toured the country giving talks together, both Christians, differing understandings of what happened. Good read. Marcus represents the majority opinion today among writers on the topic, I think.

"If the Shroud is not authentic, then our preaching has been in vain, and your faith has been in vain.' That's the problem with investing heavily in the Shroud, interesting as it surely is.