Welcome to answers from an apostolic faith.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.
So, this is the third part on the evidence of the resurrection series that we are currently doing, where we will refute the third and fourth theories. So, the third theory is the theory of hallucination. And hallucination means someone thinks that he's seeing an object, but that object is actually not there. So, he's hallucinating. He's having some sort of a vision. So, people are saying, in that theory, that the post-resurrection appearances the disciples saw were not true. They were hallucinations. But again, can this theory really stand? So, let's see...
The first problem is that when people hallucinate, they are in a specific state where they are very, highly imaginative. And they are very nervous and they're very tired. But the disciples weren't in that state. Mary Magdalene was weeping, Peter was remorseful, Thomas was sceptic, etc. So, every one of them was in a different state.
The next point is that to hallucinate, we have to understand that hallucinations are very subjective and very individualistic, meaning because we are going and stepping into the imaginary realm, the level of evils has no end. So, it's very, very rare, if not impossible, that two people can imagine the same thing at the same time. But again, we have the twelve disciples seeing Christ (or the eleven at the time). They saw Christ at the same time. The two disciples of Emmaus, the Marys... again, all of them are seeing the sight, Christ appearing, while they are together. And St. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15, says the following. In verse 6, he says:
'' 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.'' (1 Corinthians 15:6)
St. Paul here is saying that over 500 people have seen Him at the same time. That is impossible that all of them were hallucinating at the same time.
Now, is St. Paul saying the truth? 'Cause truly, some people might lie. But we have to understand that Christ said that He is the truth. And Christ was preaching truth throughout His Gospel. And now St. Paul is preaching the truth of Christ. So, truth for St. Paul is very foundational to what he's doing. It is impossible for him to lie in such a letter that is going to the city and the people of Corinth.
So, let me give you an example. Let's say you are travelling to a country where nobody knows you and you want to invent stories about yourself, because you want people to think that you're something great, right? So, you're saying all these stories and people believe you. However, if you had one person that knows you very well present with you, you would not dare to say one of these stories, because you would be caught in an instant. St. Paul here is saying that the greater part of these people remained to the present. It is impossible for him to lie, since the truth is foundational to the Gospel that St. Paul is trying to preach.
Again, another point is that the five senses are very important when it comes to hallucination. It can prove or disprove the hallucinations. Now, when I think that I see something, if I come to grab it, it disappears: I realize that it's a vision. But we have here, in many parts of the Gospels... you have the Marys touching and holding on the feet of Christ in Matthew 28. You have St. Thomas that comes and put his hand on the side of Christ. So, they're touching Him. And therefore, it cannot be a hallucination.
Also hallucinations... when people hallucinate, they are usually in a specific place where they used to stay with this person that passed away, for example, for a long time. So, they're reminiscing on what had happened. And now, bit by bit, they start seeing or imagining, I should say, the people next to them. But again, looking at the Gospel, that's not what happens. You find, when we research on your own, you will find that every person that saw Christ was in a very different place, not the same as the others.
And lastly, usually, hallucinations increase, their frequency increases to the point that the person has a crisis or the hallucinations decrease until the person is healed. But historically, it has been demonstrated that these hallucinations stopped all of a sudden (which is not normal), but all of a sudden for everybody, about six weeks after the resurrection, because this was the time of the Ascension of Christ. So, as He ascended, everybody stopped seeing Him at the same time. Therefore, it is obvious that this is not true. Actually, experts have said that everything about the theory of hallucination has completely failed, and therefore, this one also does not stand.
So, the fourth theory is the theory of the mistaken tomb, which says that the women, because they were in a state of shock because of what happened on the Friday night, when they went on Sunday morning, they made a mistake and went to the wrong tomb. That tomb was empty, and therefore, they proclaimed the resurrection. Now, this is by far the weakest of the theories. And if you understood the evidence that we have seen in this video and the last one, you're already making ideas of how you can to disprove this one.
But let's see. First of all, in Luke 23, it does mention that the women did observe the tomb, so they know where it is located. Secondly, Peter and John also went to the tomb. Did they also make a mistake? Now, we have to understand also that Christ was not buried in a public cemetery. Christ was buried in a very specific tomb that was privately owned. So, it's very hard to mistake that tomb. Also, the Roman seal was on the tomb. Not all tombs have the Roman
seal on them. Because Christ was truly a very important man and He was a public figure. And they wanted to make sure that He will remain dead, so they put the Roman seal on it.
Now let's say all these people made a mistake. Now, can the Roman guards make a mistake and not know where the tomb was, the tomb that they were guarding? Now, let's say they also make a mistake. Can Joseph of Arimathea, the one that owns the tomb, not know where his own tomb is? Let's say he also makes a mistake. Can the Jews, the ones that really wanna make sure that Christ is dead and buried and that He will not be raised again, mistake the location of the tomb?
Now, remember: they know that He said that He was gonna be raised from the dead. And as they see Christianity, that cult, according to them, is propagating in the world, they would immediately locate the tomb for everybody to see. And they would declare: you guys are liars: the tomb is not empty and here is His body; here is His body! But nobody could give out or demonstrate or show where the body was, because He was truly raised from the dead.
So, in these last two videos, we emphasized very much on speaking to the mind on the evidence of the resurrection. But we all know that true Christianity is not about here only, but about here as well. We need to know and we need to live. Now, Mary Magdalene, in John 20, she was seeking to anoint her God and she realized the tomb was empty. And Christ appeared to her, but she did not recognize Him until He said Mary.
It's as if, because she had heard that name so often from Him and they had this deep, intimate relationship, that only then her eyes were opened and she recognized Him. And then, she wanted to cling to Him. She could not let Him go anymore. She was so happy to see her risen Lord. I also ought to imitate her. As she lived Christianity, I also need to live Christianity.
I need to: Know my faith, and live my faith, and teach my faith. And glory be to God forever. Amen.