Evidence For Zombies
There have been a few articles posted recently making a case for the Gospels to be compelling evidence for the Resurrection, which got me thinking - am I convinced?
Firstly, let me point out that when considering evidence as either convincing or not, the absurdity of the claim itself needs to taken into account.
So if for example someone were to tell me that they wore blue socks yesterday, their word would probably be convincing enough, because the claim itself is in no way out of the ordinary.
However, if someone were to tell me that their blue socks sang happy birthday to them, I would need a hell of a lot more evidence than just their word before I became convinced.
So lets look at the argument for the Resurrection. The main point goes something like this:
-- The Apostles were first hand witnesses to the event, and were willing to die a martyr's death to defend this claim --
OK, so what is the event in question, and how absurd is it?
What is being asserted is that a man was witnessed by many to have died, and then later to have risen from the dead and appeared to his followers. In addition, all the graves in Jerusalem are claimed to have opened up and the dead walked the streets.
Now I know that when it comes to Bible stories, people have inbuilt reality-blocking goggles, so lets relate this to something closer to home.
Lets pretend that a group of people claimed that all the graves in Cape Town had opened up and the dead walked the streets greeting their friends. This same group of people are willing to die to defend this claim.
Would you be convinced at this point?
-- personally I would have some doubts. I would probably want to go and talk to them face to face, and also do a background check to see whether they are not just a bunch of loonies. What environmental factors might be at work? Do they have any history of mental illness or delusion? Do they have any alterior motives to make such a claim? I would also like to see for myself one of the zombies and get their perspective.
Unfortunately though, these witnesses cannot be contacted directly. I am only able to read a transcript of their account. Would I be convinced at this point?
-- personally I would have some serious doubts. Are the transacripts signed originals? Am I able to gather details about the authors that I may asses their background and mental state?
Unfortunately though, there are no original documents, only ones which have been interpreted and translated over and over for thousands of years. Who exactly wrote these accounts is not certain, and a proper background check on those claimed to be the authors is impossible.
-- personally, at this point I am completely un-convinced.
I'll tell you what claim has better evidence - this guy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirsan_Ilyumzhinov ) is a multi-millionaire businessman and former president of the World Chess Federation who claims that aliens took him on a mystical tour of the galaxy in 1997. If you are prepared to regard 2000 year old interpretations of hear-say as reliable evidence for zombies, then alien abduction claims by living witnesses must blow your mind!
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