Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD, Chief Editor of the Muslim Times

A recent poll in UK showed that at least 25% of the Christians do not believe in resurrection any more.

We, in the Muslim Times, wish our two billion Christian brethren and sisters a very happy and peaceful Easter, as I update this article on Good Friday.

But, I would also like them to consider the following, some insights from the celebrated physicist Albert Einstein.

The Christian historians, philosopher and theologians, quibble about scant historical details from 2000 years ago, but, fail to see a simple little detail, a four lettered equation, which turns out to be a bombshell, E = MC2.

One of Einstein’s great insights was to realize that matter and energy are really different forms of the same thing. Matter can be turned into energy, and energy into matter. For example, consider a simple hydrogen atom, basically composed of a single proton. This subatomic particle has a mass of 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001 672 kg. This is a tiny mass indeed. But in everyday quantities of matter there are a lot of atoms! For instance, in one kilogram of pure water, the mass of hydrogen atoms amounts to just slightly more than 111 grams, or 0.111 kg.

Einstein’s formula tells us the amount of energy this mass would be equivalent to, if it were to all of a sudden turn into energy. It says that to find the energy, you multiply the mass by the square of the speed of light, this number being 300,000,000 meters per second (a very large number):

= 0.111 x 300,000,000 x 300,000,000
= 10,000,000,000,000,000 Joules

This is an incredible amount of energy! A Joule is not a large unit of energy … one Joule is about the energy released when you drop a textbook to the floor. But the amount of energy in 30 grams of hydrogen atoms is equivalent to burning hundreds of thousands of gallons of gasoline![1]

Watch the debate below, between Professor Gary Habermas and Antony Flew, as the Christian apologist, Habermas takes refuge in his petty historical or philosophical details, for example, whether Paul saw Jesus physically or spiritually and how many years after the attempted crucifixion:

If we believe our science and do not get confused by contradictory historical details  and do not rule out our physics, chemistry and biology, then if we find that a 60 kg Jesus, may peace be on him, disappears and his tomb is empty, then we calculate how many Joules of energy, his physical body is worth. The average recommended weight these days for grown up adults is 70 kg, but, assuming that Jesus was smaller than the modern standards, I am going to choose a weight of 60 kg.

Here is a simple calculation.  We noted above that 0.11 Kg is equal to 10 trillion Joules.  So, sixty kg is equal to 5455 trillion Joules.  To put this into perspective, let us convert Joules into Kilotons, for this I used a calculator available on the web and the answer is 1300 kilotons.  This gives us 86 atomic bombs of the kind thrown on Hiroshima.  This brings me to a quote about Hiroshima from Encyclopedia Britannica:

Hiroshima, city and capital of Hiroshima ken (prefecture), southwestern Honshu, Japan, on Hiroshima Bay of the Inland Sea. The city is situated on the delta of the Ōta River, whose six channels divide it into several islets. Hiroshima, whose name means “Broad Island,” was founded as a castle town by the feudal lord Mōri Terumoto in the 16th century. From 1868 onward it was a military centre, and on Aug. 6, 1945, it became the first city in the world to be struck by an atomic bomb, which was dropped by a B-29 bomber of the U.S. Air Forces. Most of the city was destroyed, and estimates of the number killed outright or shortly after the blast have ranged upward from 70,000. Deaths from radiation injury have mounted through the years.[2]

For physical details of the atomic bomb, let me again borrow some details from Encyclopedia Britannica:

Nuclear weapons produce enormous explosive energy. Their significance may best be appreciated by the coining of the words kiloton (1,000 tons) and megaton (1,000,000 tons) to describe their blast energy in equivalent weights of the conventional chemical explosive TNT. For example, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945, containing only about 64 kg (140 pounds) of highly enriched uranium, released energy equaling about 15 kilotons of chemical explosive. That blast immediately produced a strong shock wave, enormous amounts of heat, and lethal ionizing radiation. Convection currents created by the explosion drew dust and other debris into the air, creating the mushroom-shaped cloud that has since become the virtual signature of a nuclear explosion. In addition, radioactive debris was carried by winds high into the atmosphere, later to settle to Earth as radioactive fallout. The enormous toll in destruction, death, injury, and sickness produced by the explosions at Hiroshima and, three days later, at Nagasaki was on a scale never before produced by any single weapon.[3]

These 86 atomic bombs, which would be the equivalent of 60 kg of mass of Jesus, or his missing body, would have destroyed Jerusalem if not the whole of the Middle East, for a rational person, who believes in science and realizes that laws of nature are constant and not whimsical.  However, these Joules or kilotons are no concern to the Christian apologists, as they simply ignore what they do not like, not once or twice but as a principle and a routine.  If Adam and Eve were not the first human couple, no problem, we can still believe in our Original Sin, which is inherited and everyone has it.  If a literal son cannot be co-eternal with his Father philosophically and logically, never mind, we can still believe in our Trinity.  Likewise, the apologists have simply ignored that Paul had told his followers that Jesus will return during their life time and it is 2017 CE and we are still waiting according to the Christian doctrine.  They have ignored countless contradictory beliefs in their tradition, whether Jesus rose in a physical body or in a spiritual, sometimes it is physical and sometimes it is spiritual.  In the above debate the Christian apologist, Professor Gary Habermas is claiming that Paul met physical Jesus.  While on this subject please also review the following post:

Did Jesus rise in a physical body or a spiritual one?

The list of contradictions is endless and over time I will add a few more here.

All the historical facts mentioned in this debate or other debates on the topic of resurrection are best explained by swoon hypothesis, first presented by the Messiah, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani, the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.  The swoon hypothesis is that Jesus did not die on the cross and only went into a coma or swoon and was later resuscitated.  What is of fundamental importance about swoon hypothesis is that, unlike the standard Christian explanation, it does not violate chemistry, biology, physics or E=mC2.   The swoon hypothesis satisfies history, philosophy and science, all faculties of human investigation and as such represents the best theology.  In other words it is clear reason to be an Ahmadi Muslim rather than a Christian or an atheist.  I have linked additional information about swoon hypothesis below:

William Lane Craig makes false claims about swoon hypothesis!

Jesus did not die on the cross!

Before introducing Islam, let me first say something about the big picture, Christian apologists want to make a case for Christianity based on laws of nature and science, by showing that there ought to be a Transcendent Creator of our universe. They make this case, in one breath, and in the very next, deny all of science, by insisting on Eucharist, man-God of Jesus, who is not Transcendent, resurrection and miracles that violate laws of nature.

Atheists are right in exposing the irrationality of the Christian dogma. However, the Christians are right in as far as their claim that there needs to be a Creator of this universe, Who employed natural means to do His work. However, both parties in their self-conceit are not listening to how Islam resolves their conflict; Islam as understood by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

In a trilateral discussion between atheists, Christians and Muslims, I believe we can appreciate reality better and come up with better theology, especially if the discussion not only involves the Creator and purpose of the universe, but, also His complete Transcendence, Original Sin and evolution of life on our planet, Trinity and Eucharist.

You are invited to scores of articles about Christianity, atheism and  comparative religions in our new website, Islam for the West.

1. http://www.worsleyschool.net/science/files/emc2/emc2.html

2. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/266824/Hiroshima

3. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/421827/nuclear-weapon

Christianity: A Journey from Facts to Fiction

http://www.unitconversion.org/energy/joules-to-kilotons-conversion.html

Did Jesus Rise From The Dead: Prof. Bart Ehrman Vs William Lane Craig

Converting Prof. William Lane Craig to Islam

The Pope Benedict’s account of resurrection and the hearsay rule!