From: epowers@mccoy (POWERS)
Subject: Re: Easter whodunnit
Organization: New Mexico State University
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 09:21:36 GMT

In article <1k25hhINNs6q@MINERVA.CIS.YALE.EDU> starr-daniel@yale.edu  
(Daniel Starr) writes:
> >The idea that guards were present is too easily verifiable from  
> >local records, and the locals themselves.  It would be easy to lie to  
you  
> >and me, certainly, but how easy would it be to lie about a thing like  
that  
> >in the same city where the events occurred?  Lying in this situation  
about  
> >something so easily checked out would be beyond dense.
> >					Erik Powers
> 
> Speaking of beyond dense:
> 
> There is an obvious contradiction in the claim that:
> 
> A) the soldiers said they fell asleep at their post  and
> B) they couldn't have been telling the truth because if they had they  
would
>    have been put to death.
> 
> When the soldiers were (as the NT says) making up an explanation, why on
> earth would they make one up that would open them up to execution?  THAT
> is a ridiculous piece of nonsense to swallow.

	I definitely wouldn't, at least not without my butt well covered.   
The one way to do this is to hang some greater threat over the person who  
would order me killed.
  
> 
> Aside from the fact that I have never seen any evidence for this claim  
about
> Roman military practice, nor yet any evidence that this regulation was  
kept
> in the historically utterly messed-up situation in Judea,

	I've seen citations that was such a rule, and that it was enforced  
in other places, but I know of no evidence that it was enforced in Judea.   
I also know of no evidence that it wasn't.  Both are speculation.

 the very fact
> that the NT offers "we were asleep on the job" as the soldiers' story  
should
> establish that it was reasonable that such a story would be made up by
> the soldiers, which in turn means that were have in fact no reason to 
> believe they weren't telling the truth.  Along the way, this debunks the
> notion that there was no ready way to move the stone in front of the 
> sepulcher, etc.

	Interesting that you mention this point.  I've always wondered why  
some people make such a big deal out of the idea that the stone would have  
been incredibly difficult to move.  I figure if they got it there, surely  
it wouldn't be any harder to move it away again (except for the presence  
of the soldiers, I mean).

> 
> To put it another way, if you assume that the NT is telling the truth  
and
> that the guards made up this explanation, you have to assume that they
> made up the explanation that best covered their posteriors.  This means
> NOT using an explanation that leaves them open to the death sentence...
> ergo, there was no [realistically expected] death sentence for falling  
asleep
> on the job... ergo, the guards could very well have been sleeping on the  
job
> .... ergo, there's no reason to believe something mysterious happened:
> they just fell asleep on the job.
> -- 
	
	Anyway, I will now attempt to answer your question about why the  
guards would make up a story that could get them killed.  The NT does give  
details that would make a good explanation.  First, the guards didn't just  
make the story up out of the blue.  Romans weren't bright, but they  
weren't that stupid.  They went to the people who had a political hold on  
their boss.  
	Years before, Pilate had done something very culturally  
insensitive.  In the eyes of the Jews, he had attempted to set up foreign  
gods in Jerusalem by force, and it sparked off some riots and a few things  
like that.  Another blowup, and Pilate could be called back to Rome to  
answer for his lack of control over things.  This seems to me to be a  
reasonable explanation also for why Pilate ordered Jesus crucified even  
though he was so reluctant.  The Roman guards would have known who held  
any influence over Pilate, especially after being assigned to guard some  
stupid tomb on the urging of these very same people.
	Okay, the guards know the Jewish leaders can save their lives, but  
why would they want to?  Romans weren't the most popular guys in the area.   
There's only one reason that I can think of, and that is, why kill off  
your star witnesses?  The Jewish leaders could put pressure on Pilate to  
simply pull his head in and ignore the whole thing, but they needed  
someone to spread the story as well.  The guards were the perfect ones for  
the job.  So give them some cash (pay in the Roman army was miserable), a  
story to spread, and everything should be just fine.  Maybe they even  
believed the story themselves, who knows?
	In spite of my bantering tone, does this answer your objections?
						Erik Powers 


 
> * Daniel Starr