What Have You Chosen To Believe? by Dan Nelson

Have you heard some of the crazy stories that people have come up with about Jesus? People can be pretty creative when it comes to reasons not to believe the biblical version of the Savior. Here are a few confusions that swirl in conversations today regarding the resurrection of Christ.

Some have conjured up what is known as the “Hallucination Theory” believe1where those who saw Jesus alive again after his death on the cross merely hallucinated due to their shock and emotional grief over the tragedy. This concept would require that James, Paul, and a whole lot of others had the same hallucination; which precludes this from being rational.

There is the “Existential Resurrection Theory” which would say that Jesus didn’t physically and literally rise from the dead but only in our hearts. But in reality, there are few more verifiable ancient historical events than the account that hundreds of people at that time held the conviction that they personally verified his physical resurrection.

Some have said that the disciples of Jesus actually stole his body and claimed that he had resurrected. Others have conjured that local authorities hid the body. In addition to the eyewitness testimonies that contradict these ideas, this does not explain why so many of these same individuals chose death via Roman torture to uphold this single truth.

From time to time I will still hear a version of the “Swoon Theory” that became popular decades ago. This idea postulates that Jesus never really died but merely fainted on the cross and they presumed he was dead. The cold air in the tomb and the medicinal value of the burial spices resuscitated him. He then finds a way to unwrap himself, gets up, removes the stone, and overpowers the Roman guards, and makes his way back to the disciples while convincing them of a miracle.

Then there is the “Passover Plot” where Jesus and a couple of coconspirators had planned to fulfill the Old Testament prophesies as the suffering servant and ruling king through a literal crucifixion but mock death and resurrection which was foiled when the guard shoved the spear into Jesus’ side and he died. The plan was completed by one of his partners who posed as the resurrected Jesus to all of his friends.

One of my favorites is the “Jesus Was an Alien” theory. These proponents theorize that with all of the science fiction movie ideas that we have created over the last few decades, it is imaginable that Jesus is merely from another universe with powers over life and death and other advanced technologies from his civilization. The reason I like this one is that while it sounds zany at first glance, it is the only one that employs genuine logic. Further, it is the closest to the biblical account which states that Jesus was not merely human but devine, that he had powers that are supernatural, and that his real home and kingdom are not of this world. Therefore, according to the dictionary description, Jesus was an alien.

One doesn’t have to look hard to find crazy stories about Jesus. I am convinced he likes it that way so that you and I can make a choice regarding what we believe based on what is inside of us. Please make no mistake, at this very moment, you and I are both choosing what it is we believe.