Carolina Quotes[T]he discovery of an empty tomb would never have issued in an Easter faith. If there had been a tomb, and if that tomb had been found empty, it would have meant only that one more insult had been delivered to the leader of the tiny Jesus movement. The disciples, whoever they were, would have concluded that not even the dead body of this Jesus had been spared degradation. No Easter faith would have resulted from an empty tomb. Therefore such a tradition could not have been primary. It was but a story incorporated later into the narrative.
John Shelby Spong Carolinian
Source
p. 228 – as quoted by Keith M. Parsons in "Why I Am Not a Christian" (Freethought Press, 2000)
- work
- Resurrection: Myth or Reality? (1994)
- year
- 1994
- locator
- p. 228
Cite this record
“[T]he discovery of an empty tomb would never have issued in …” John Shelby Spong. Carolina Quotes, record CQ-F157126C6D. https://carolinaquotes.com/quote/f157126c6d
More from John Shelby Spong
There are passages in the Gospels that portray Jesus of Nazareth as narrow-minded, vindictive, and even hypocritical. Jesus exhorted people to love their enemies and to pray for their persecutors (Matt. 5:44) and never to call others by demeaning or hurtful names (Matt. 5:22), yet he called his enemies a "brood of snakes" (Matt. 12:34), "sons of vipers" (Matt. 23:33), "blind fools" (Matt. 23:17). ... How divine is the message that says for your finite failings you will be cast into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 25:30)?
What the mind cannot believe the heart can finally never adore.
Christianity is, I believe, about expanded life, heightened consciousness and achieving a new humanity. It is not about closed minds, supernatural interventions, a fallen creation, guilt, original sin or divine rescue.