I'm a pretty skeptical guy nowadays but I didn't always used to be that way. Growing up, I was intrigued by ghosts, UFOs, bigfoot, etc. I loved the paranormal, the unknown, the mythical.
Over the years though, that changed. It's not that those things aren't interesting to me. I'll admit, I've been known to sneak a listen into Coast to Coast AM a few times. It's at least good for a laugh. And don't worry, I wore my tinfoil hat just in case while listening.
All joking aside though, throughout my life, I've become more and more skeptical. Now, you should grow smarter and wiser as you age and I think that's part of it. I also credit a big part of my skepticism shows like Ghost Hunters. When the show first started out, their goal was to disprove hauntings. This was a totally new concept to me. Disprove instead of trying to prove. Something clicked. After years of buying into whatever I read, saw or was taught, I started thinking critically.
Sadly, it took me getting away from college to finalize full movement into critical thinking. Colleges pretend to teach students to think critically but really they just want regurgitation. Profs want you to believe what they believe. If you think outside of that, they flunk you or give you bad grades. Thankfully, I escaped with a degree and finally the freedom to think for myself. That's not to say I didn't learn anything worthwhile...or that all of my profs were terrible. Some of mine were pretty great.
One actually made a documentary on bigfoot. It was interesting. It was funny. They at one point thought they were being chased by a bigfoot. Looking back, that in itself is pretty funny. I remember the colorful language about how they needed to drop the apples or bigfoot would get them. Just wow.
When it comes to bigfoot, I'm agnostic. I'm very skeptical. I used to believe 100%. Now, not so much. Cheesy bigfoot shows make me want to believe even less. I think it's possible something big and undiscovered is out there but I think for the most part, it's hoaxes and misidentifications that drive the myth. Those television shows on bigfoot only reinforce my suspicions. I've been all over the wilderness here. Heck, I live in the wilderness. I've seen plenty of bears, elk, moose, and even the extremely scarce wolverine...but I've never seen bigfoot. I've never even seen a shred of evidence for one. I've seen and heard weird things but nothing that would lead me to believe it was bigfoot. Sure, there is plenty of supposed bigfoot footage but it can be so easily faked and most are crappy fakes at that.
So what would make me believe without a doubt? Only a body would do that. You bring me a body and that would settle all doubts. Still, after years and years of searching, there's never been a body found and studied. I think for most, if you produce a real body, people will believe. Discussion over.
For those of you thinking this article would end there, bad news. It continues! This article isn't actually about bigfoot. It's about Jesus! Surprise! Before you write me emails, I'm not saying Jesus is just a myth. Quite the contrary. To prove Jesus and the Bible wrong, all you would have to do is produce a body. Certainly, there have been many who have tried and searched but after 2000 years, nobody has done that yet. No one has ever found a body.
Sure, that's a pretty tough task in today's day and age. But think back 2000 years ago. Think back just after Jesus died and news started spreading that He had resurrected. The claim was that the tomb was empty and Jesus was walking amongst the living again. People were seeing Him. There were sightings. And people were converting like never before.
The pharisees, the guys who hated Jesus so much that they had Him killed to stop His movement...how did they feel to see thousands still converting? The same anger that killed Jesus still burned in their hearts. They were furious so they had more and more people who had been spreading the news of Jesus killed.
But why go that route? Why keep killing when there was such an easier way to end it all, to put a stop to the movement? Produce a body. That's all they had to do. "Look, your leader is still dead. Here is the proof." Just go down to the tomb and pull the body out. Easy as that. It's not like they didn't know where the tomb was. It was accessible.
Christianity hinges on the resurrection and if there is no resurrection, Christianity is dead. If Jesus is still in the tomb, Christianity is dead. The only reason the pharisees didn't offer His body as proof is because they like everyone else knew that the tomb was indeed empty. There was no body in there to produce. Some would say that the body was stolen but a whole lot of Roman guards guarding the tomb. How do you sneak past, at the time, the best trained soldiers in the world? How do you roll a huge stone away from a tomb and steal a body without anyone hearing? Who would even steal it? The disciples? The disciples didn't really even understand that Jesus was coming back until He actually came back. And it doesn't make sense to risk stealing it for some hoax. People don't really risk death to keep a known lie alive.
The pharisees couldn't explain it at all either. That's why their first thought was to keep killing. Dead people don't ask questions. Dead people can't talk to spread movements. Eventually though, there was a little voice of reason amongst the pharisees for a moment.
"34 But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. 35 And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming
to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He
was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to
nothing. 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice, 40 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus." Acts 5: 34-42 ESV
That day, all the had to do was produce a body. It would have stopped the movement cold in it's tracks. Clearly, there were some doubts by this point even amongst the pharisees. You don't go along with the guy claiming God just might be with those preaching Jesus if there wasn't some doubt. There was a creeping suspicion that there might be something to this Jesus thing. But these are the guys who had just had Jesus crucified. Most of them were so sure then. They knew they had killed Him but something was fishy, pun intended. What evidence or lack thereof had caused the group to start doubting? Maybe it started with them not having a body to cling to. They could not prove the apostles wrong. In the end, they lacked a body of evidence to move forward and kill off Christianity in its infancy.
Sorry pharisees...and bigfoot enthusiasts. No body, no proof.
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