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Part 1
WASTHE
RESURRECTION
W
ouldn't it be weird ifa polit–
ical . pollster were asking a
person what he thought of
former U.S. Presiden! Harry S. Tru–
man and the person replied: "Oh, 1
thought he was such a wonderfully
warm human being-so filled with
love! Of course. his administration
never reaJiy accomplished anything.
and he did pull the wool over the
eyes of the general publ ic. But wha t
a marvelous person he was! Sure, he
was a little hypocriticat, and there
was this mountain of fraud, but
l
realJy believe in that man"?
Ridiculous? Odd? Utterly hypo–
thetical? Right!
It
should go without
saying that I don't think anyone at
any time has ever said such words
about the late Harry Truman. But
millions upon millions of human
beings have. in effect, mouthed sim–
ilar words about Jesus Christ.
Millions believe on the name of
Jesus Christ.
It
is everywhere
present. lt is part and paree! of the
Saturday-newspaper church page.
You'IJ find it painted on roadside
signs and carelessly splashed on
huge rocks. That name is contin–
ually pronounced by world-famous
evangelists and occasionalJy even by
presidents at prayer breakfasts.
Yet almost no one believes the
man Himself. People believe on the
person of Christ, but they don't be–
lieve what He plainly said - not
then, not today! Take for example
the sign of the prophet Jonah. Jesus
Christ of Nazareth predicted about
Himself: "For as Jonas was
three
days and three nights
in the whale's
[Greek. great fish's] belly; so shall
the Son of man be three days and
three nights in the heart of the
earth" (Matt. 12:40).
Wbo believes that today? And
14
A
HOAX
?
•
by
Garner Ted Armstrong
First-century Christianity was
based on a firm belief in the
death, burial and resurrection
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
The early apostles spoke as íf
the resurrection were the
most earthshaking event of
global consequence since
creation. Yet major church or–
ganizations cheerfully admit
that the resurrection of the
dead has no central part in
their doctrine-and that their
theology doesn't real/y em–
phasize it. But is it logical for
a twentieth-century Christian
to actual/y believe in the lit–
eral, bodlly resurrection of
Jesus Christ?
how can you possibly cram three
days and three nights into a period
half that time- from Friday sunset
to Sunday morning? (You might
write for a provocative booklet
which examines that question. It's
entitled
The Resurrection Was Not
on Sunday.)
Jesus staked His very Messiahship
on the fact that He would be buried
for a period of seventy-two hours.
Yet the whole of modern churchian–
ity disbelieves this sign by its annual
observance of the pagan Easter tra–
dition.
They Didn't Believe What He Said
Here is the historical record of dis–
belief. "Thcn said Jesus to those Jews
which believed on him,
l fye continue
in my word. then are ye my disciples
indeed" (John 8:31 ). But did they do
what He told them? Did they con–
tinue in His word?
As
a matteroffact,
no!
The account continues:
"1
know
tha t ye a re Abraham's seed; but ye
seek to kili me, because my word hath
no place in you ... .And beca use
1
tell
you the truth.
ye believe me not"
(verses 37. 45).
The very same people who be–
lieved on Christ, who believed on
His person, who perhaps believed
tha t, humanly. He was a wonderful
man, didn't believe what He said–
and even sought to kili Hirn
because
ofwhat He said.
Disciples Dld Not Understand
Prior to their conversion, not even
His own disciples really believed
sorne of the things Jesus said. They
were utterly incredulous about sorne
of His rnajor pronouncements.
True, they did have a rudirnen–
tary understanding of Christ's basic
Messiahship. Sirnon Peter knew. for
instance. that Jesus Christ was the
Anointed One, the Messiah, the Son
of God. He even told Jesus:
" ... Thou art the Christ" (Mark
8:29).
But Peter's cornprehension
proved defective when it carne to
really understanding Christ's death,
The
PLAIN TRUTH May 1977