When believing Christians look at any information with the assumption that Jesus died for their sins on the cross and rose from the dead on the third day, then regardless of the information, they bend it to their ends, as they are looking through the colored lenses of their biases and preconceived ideas. However, if they look at any new information with an open mind and new possibilities then they may come up with more enlightened conclusions. Read on, and in the words of Sir Francis Bacon’s advice, “Read not to contradict … but to weigh and consider.”
Billions of humans have lived on the planet earth over the centuries and the world population is almost 7 billion at present and none are alleged to be candidate for bodily resurrection on our planet, other than Jesus of Nazareth. If with these prior probabilities we create the possibility that may be Jesus did not resurrect, then the empty tomb and the missing ending of the Gospel of Mark, brings new light to the reader.
One of the most dramatic facts highlighting human interpolation in the Bible is that the conclusion of the gospel of Mark, full 12 verses, are a later addition. This vulnerability is broadly acknowledged now in the Christian circles, see the New International Version of the Bible as an example. It has recently been acknowledged by the Pope Benedict XVI himself as well!
Did the writer of Mark leave it open ended because Jesus had not died on the cross and had been resuscitated, and there was no resurrection?
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