thegoodfellas/blogset-br huggingface dataset:
the seal. Jesus' disciples displayed signs of cowardice when they hid themselves. Peter, one of these disciples, went out and denied Christ three times. FACT #2: EMPTY TOMB As we have already discussed, another obvious fact after the resurrection was the empty tomb. The disciples of Christ did not go off to Athens or Rome to preach that Christ was raised from the dead. Rather, they went right back to the city of Jerusalem, where, if what they were teaching was false, the falsity would be evident. The empty tomb was "too notorious to be denied." Paul Althaus states that the resurrection "could have not been maintained in Jerusalem for a single day, for a single hour, if the emptiness of the tomb had not been established as a fact for all concerned." Both Jewish and Roman sources and traditions admit an empty tomb. Those resources range from Josephus to a compilation of fifth-century Jewish writings called the "Toledoth Jeshu." Dr. Paul Maier calls this "positive evidence from a hostile source, which is the strongest kind of historical evidence. In essence, this means that if a source admits a fact decidedly not in its favor, then that fact is genuine." Gamaliel, who was a member of the Jewish high court, the Sanhedrin, put forth the suggestion that the rise of the Christian movement was God's doing; he could not have done that if the tomb were still occupied, or if the Sanhedrin knew the whereabouts of Christ's body. Paul Maier observes that " . . . if all the evidence is weighed carefully and fairly, it is indeed justifiable, according to the canons of historical research, to conclude that the sepulcher of Joseph of Arimathea, in which Jesus was buried, was actually empty on the morning of the first Easter. And no shred of evidence has yet been discovered in literary sources, epigraphy, or archaeology that would disprove this statement." FACT #3: LARGE STONE MOVED On that Sunday morning the first thing that impressed the people who approached the tomb was the unusual position of the one and a half to two ton stone that had been lodged in front of the doorway. All the Gospel writers mention it. There exists no document from the ancient world, witnessed by so excellent a set of textual and historical testimonies . . . Skepticism regarding the historical credentials of Christianity is based upon an irrational bias. Clark Pinnock Mcmaster University Those who observed the stone after the resurrection describe its position as having been rolled up a slope away not just from the entrance of the tomb, but from the entire massive sepulcher. It was in such a position that it looked as if it had been picked up and carried away. Now, I ask you, if the disciples had wanted to come in, tiptoe around the sleeping guards, and then roll the stone over and steal Jesus' body, how could they have done that without the guards' awareness? FACT #4: ROMAN GUARD GOES AWOL The Roman guards fled. They left their place of
responsibility. How can their attrition he explained, when Roman military discipline was so exceptional? Justin, in Digest #49, mentions all the offenses that required the death penalty. The fear of their superiors' wrath and the possibility of death meant that they paid close attention to the minutest details of their jobs. One way a guard was put to death was by being stripped of his clothes and then burned alive in a fire started with his garments. If it was not apparent which soldier had failed in his duty, then lots were drawn to see which one would be punished with death for the guard unit's failure. Certainly the entire unit would not have fallen asleep with that kind of threat over their heads. Dr. George Currie, a student of Roman military discipline, wrote that fear of punishment "produced flawless attention to duty, especially in the night watches." FACT #5: GRAVECLOTHES TELL A TALE In a literal sense, against all statements to the contrary, the tomb was not totally empty--because of an amazing phenomenon. John, a disciple of Jesus, looked over to the place where the body of Jesus had lain, and there were the grave clothes, in the form of the body, slightly caved in and empty--like the empty chrysalis of a caterpillar's cocoon. That's enough to make a believer out of anybody. John never did get over it. The first thing that stuck in the minds of the disciples was not the empty tomb, but rather the empty grave clothes--undisturbed in form and position. FACT #6: JESUS' APPEARANCES CONFIRMED Christ appeared alive on several occasions after the cataclysmic events of that first Easter . When studying an event in history, it is important to know whether enough people who were participants or eyewitnesses to the event were alive when the facts about the event were published. To know this is obviously helpful in ascertaining the accuracy of the published report. If the number of eyewitnesses is substantial, the event can he regarded as fairly well established. For instance, if we all witness a murder, and a later police report turns out to he a fabrication of lies, we as eyewitnesses can refute it.OVER 500 WITNESSES Several very important factors arc often overlooked when considering Christ's post-resurrection appearances to individuals. The first is the large number of witnesses of Christ after that resurrection morning. One of the earliest records of Christ's appearing after the resurrection is by Paul. The apostle appealed to his audience's knowledge of the fact that Christ had been seen by more than 500 people at one time. Paul reminded them that the majority of those people were still alive and could be questioned. Dr. Edwin M. Yamauchi, associate professor of history at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, emphasizes: "What gives a special authority to the list (of witnesses) as historical evidence is the reference to most of the five hundred brethren being still alive. St. Paul says in effect, 'If you do not believe me, you can ask them.' Such a statement in an admittedly genuine letter
written within thirty years of the event is almost as strong evidence as one could hope to get for something that happened nearly two thousand years ago." Let's take the more than 500 witnesses who saw Jesus alive after His death and burial, and place them in a courtroom. Do you realize that if each of those 500 people were to testify for only six minutes, including cross-examination, you would have an amazing 50 hours of firsthand testimony? Add to this the testimony of many other eyewitnesses and you would well have the largest and most lopsided trial in history.HOSTILE WITNESSES Another factor crucial to interpreting Christ's appearances is that He also appeared to those who were hostile or unconvinced.Over and over again, I have read or heard people comment that Jesus was seen alive after His death and burial only by His friends and followers. Using that argument, they attempt to water down the overwhelming impact of the multiple eyewitness accounts. But that line of reasoning is so pathetic it hardly deserves comment. No author or informed individual would regard Saul of Tarsus as being a follower of Christ. The facts show the exact opposite. Saul despised Christ and persecuted Christ's followers. It was a life-shattering experience when Christ appeared to him. Although he was at the time not a disciple, he later became the apostle Paul, one of the greatest witnesses for the truth of the resurrection.If the New Testament were a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond all doubt. F. F. Bruce Manchester University The argument that Christ's appearances were only to followers is an argument for the most part from silence, and arguments from silence can be dangerous. It is equally possible that all to whom Jesus appeared became followers. No one acquainted with the facts can accurately say that Jesus appeared to just "an insignificant few."Christians believe that Jesus was bodily resurrected in time and space by the supernatural power of God. The difficulties of belief may be great, but the problems inherent in unbelief present even greater difficulties.The theories advanced to explain the resurrection by "natural causes" are weak; they actually help to build confidence in the truth of the resurrection.THE WRONG TOMB? A theory propounded by Kirsopp Lake assumes that the women who reported that the body was missing had mistakenly gone to the wrong tomb. If so, then the disciples who went to check up on the women's statement must have also gone to the wrong tomb. We may be certain, however, that Jewish authorities, who asked for a Roman guard to be stationed at the tomb to prevent Jesus' body from being stolen, would not have been mistaken about the location. Nor would the Roman guards, for they were there!If the resurrection-claim was merely because of a geographical mistake, the Jewish authorities would have lost no time in producing the body from the proper tomb, thus effectively quenching for all time any rumor resurrection.HALLUCINATIONS? Another attempted explanation claims that the appearances of Jesus after the resurrection were
either illusions or hallucinations. Unsupported by the psychological principles governing the appearances of hallucinations, this theory also does not coincide with the historical situation. Again, where was the actual body, and why wasn't it produced?DID JESUS SWOON? Another theory, popularized by Venturini several centuries ago, is often quoted today. This is the swoon theory, which says that Jesus didn't die; he merely fainted from exhaustion and loss of blood. Everyone thought Him dead, but later He resuscitated and the disciples thought it to be a resurrection. Skeptic David Friedrich Strauss--certainly no believer in the resurrection--gave the deathblow to any thought that Jesus revived from a swoon: "It is impossible that a being who had stolen half-dead out of the sepulchre, who crept about weak and ill, wanting medical treatment, who required bandaging, strengthening and indulgence, and who still at last yielded to His sufferings, could have given to the disciples the impression that He was a Conqueror over death and the grave, the Prince of Life,For the New Testament of Acts, the confirmation of historicity is overwhelming. Any attempt to reject its basic historicity, even in matters of detail, must now appear absurd. Roman historians have long taken it for granted. A. N. Sherwin-White Classical Roman Historian an impression which lay at the bottom of their future ministry. Such a resuscitation could only have weakened the impression which He had made upon them in life and in death, at the most could only have given it an elegiac voice, but could by no possibility have changed their sorrow into enthusiasm, have elevated their reverence into worship."THE BODY STOLEN? Then consider the theory that the body was stolen by the disciples while the guards slept. The depression and cowardice of the disciples provide a hard-hitting argument against their suddenly becoming so brave and daring as to face a detachment of soldiers at the tomb and steal the body. They were in no mood to attempt anything like that.The theory that the Jewish or Roman authorities moved Christ's body is no more reasonable an explanation for the empty tomb than theft by the disciples. If the authorities had the body in their possession or knew where it was, why, when the disciples were preaching the resurrection in Jerusalem, didn't they explain: "Wait! We moved the body, see, He didn't rise from the grave"?And if such a rebuttal failed, why didn't they explain exactly where Jesus' body lay? If this failed, why didn't they recover the corpse, put it on a cart, and wheel it through the center of Jerusalem? Such an action would have destroyed Christianity--not in the cradle, but in the womb!THE RESURRECTION IS A FACT Professor Thomas Arnold, for 14 years a headmaster of Rugby, author of the famous, History of Rome, and appointed to the chair of modern history at Oxford, was well acquainted with the value of evidence in determining historical facts. This great scholar said: "I have been used for many years to study the histories of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who
have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than the great sign which God hath given us that Christ died and rose again from the dead." Brooke Foss Westcott, an English scholar, said: "raking all the evidence together, it is not too much to say that there is no historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Christ. Nothing but the antecedent assumption that it must be false could have suggested the idea of deficiency in the proof of it." REAL PROOF: THE DISCIPLES' LIVES But the most telling testimony of all must be the lives of those early Christians. We must ask ourselves: What caused them to go everywhere telling the message of the risen Christ?Had there been any visible benefits accrued to them from their efforts--prestige, wealth, increased social status or material benefits--we might logically attempt to account for their actions, for their whole-hearted and total allegiance to this "risen Christ ."As a reward for their efforts, however, those early Christians were beaten, stoned to death, thrown to the lions, tortured and crucified. Every conceivable method was used to stop them from talking.Yet, they laid down their lives as the ultimate proof of their complete confidence in the truth of their message.WHERE DO YOU STAND? How do you evaluate this overwhelming historical evidence? What is your decision about the fact of Christ's empty tomb? What do you think of Christ?When I was confronted with the overwhelming evidence for Christ's resurrection, I had to ask the logical question: "What difference does all this evidence make to me? What difference does it make whether or not I believe Christ rose again and died on the cross for my sins!' The answer is put best by something Jesus said to a man who doubted--Thomas. Jesus told him: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me" (John 14:6). On the basis of all the evidence for Christ's resurrection, and considering the fact that Jesus offers forgiveness of sin and an eternal relationship with God, who would be so foolhardy as to reject Him? Christ is alive! He is living today.You can trust God right now by faith through prayer. Prayer is talking with God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. If you have never trusted Christ, you can do so right now.The prayer I prayed is: "Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and trust You as my Savior. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be. Thank You that I can trust You."Josh McDowell, according to a recent survey, is one of the most popular speakers among university students
Kyle Voissem, Chicago Man, Allegedly Dumped Boiling Water On His Dog Acidentes de trabalho Spiritual Warfare, Deliverance Weapon And Tactics First, you have to gain some level of control, awareness, or inventory of the thoughts and ideas that are in your head. If you have an atom smasher mind that is totally chaotic with all sorts of different discordant thoughts running back and forth, your mind is literally ripe to becoming a demonic playpen. Not only that, but a person having such a mind will find it very difficult to be productive in many areas of his or her life: for instance such a person will have a hard time starting projects, finishing them, keeping appointments, etc. Such a person will either not pay much attention to detail, or pay entirely too much attention and lose perspective.While in some respects a chaotic mind can seem familiar, calming, and even highly entertaining to people (especially if they allow themselves to get caught up into violent and/or sexual fantasies that resemble the music, video games, magazines, movies, TV shows, Internet content, etc. that they consume) in reality you are putting a lot of stress on your mind (and your body), and the result is burnout. Remember: Gods way is order, Satans way is chaos. So, if you are struggling with an out of control mind (as I once did) you MUST subdue it so that it will be suitable for God to be master of it. Yes, one of the things that people who have problems in this area must do is A) take on fewer activities e get more rest and limit external influences. B) Quit working and socializing yourself to death.Getting into a light exercise routine helps too it releases stress from your body and your mind C). Reduce your TV, radio, and Internet time and increase your reading time. When you do consume TV, radio, and Internet, limit your activity to things that are soothing and edifying. Classical music, home improvement TV shows, why not? Similar, your reading should be less oriented towards popular magazines and the newspaper, but the Bible, EDIFYING novels and such. One of the things that you should realize is that TV, Internet, video games, newspapers, and magazines have created minds that have short attention spans (which increases the chaos) and that are too lazy and untrained to exert the effort required to control it. But any Christian that is going to have any sort of real prayer life and Bible study habits, and who is going to have discernment is going to need to have control over his own mind. Also, please realize that if YOU do not control your mind, OTHERS WILL. Right now it may be the government and corporate influences that bombard your mind through the media and culture, and the evil spirits that they empower. But make no mistake, in the future it WILL be the beast, the anti Christ. And I know that Scientology, Buddhism, Hinduism, New Age, and even some strands of Christianity offer techniques for you to control your
mind: auditing, mind exercises, contemplative prayer, meditation, chanting, yoga, etc. What you are actually doing with these is giving full control over your mind to evil spirits that allow you to THINK that you are in control when the truth is that THEY are calling the shots. Instead of messing around with witchcraft and finding yourself bewitched, just obey what the Bible says. Find a quiet place. Get into Gods rest. and rest your mind and body. After your mind is under control (or while you are learning how to control it) then you will have to learn discernment. Out of all the thoughts, voices, and images in your mind, you will have to learn which ones were put there by you, which ones were put there by God, and which ones are demonic. So telling your own thoughts from demonic thoughts is useful in learning the depths of your own depravity; to what extent that you are still being ruled by your flesh. That does two things 1) It lets you know the doors that you are opening to allow demons to enter and afflict you. 2) It lets you know how much your mind needs to be renewed by the workings of the Holy Spirit (please know that you cannot renew your mind on your own with works; only faith in and submission to God will accomplish this). Also, if the thought is your own, spiritual deliverance will not work, but rather will not only be an unproductive waste of time but will also confuse and discourage you when it does not work. While you are still learning how to spiritually monitor your own thoughts, an easy test can be applied: Does this thought violate the Ten Commandments? (In order for this to work, you must memorize the Ten Commandments, which a shocking percentage of Christians have not done.) There are other obvious things, such as whether it is a violent or sexual fantasy or thoughts of plotting harm or revenge to someone, but the Ten Commandments are more than good enough to start off until ones knowledge of scripture is strong enough. And once you are fully aware that a voice or image inside your head is NOT from God and NOT from you, then the only other option is demons. Even memories: demons have the ability to dredge up stuff to tempt or torment you. As a matter of fact, there is even a type of demon called a memory recall demon. So, you CANNOT entertain the thoughts or the demons that send them. You CANNOT try to justify, rationalize, figure out, etc. the thoughts. You MUST IMMEDIATELY RESIST THE DEMONS AND TELL THEM TO LEAVE YOUR MIND USING THE NAME AND POWER OF JESUS CHRIST. Now realize this: only people who have made Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior have this power. If you have not, take care of it right now so that you can begin reclaiming your mind.You must speak to the demons out loud, even if only in a whisper (which helps if you
are around other people). Say something after the effect of Evil spirit, I know thats you, and that you are nothing but a liar and a corrupter with no power, and no right to my mind because it is owned, protected, and covered by the One True God. In the Name of Jesus Christ, I command you to go from my mind, and in the Name of Jesus Christ I bind you from returning! Now you do not have to repeat exactly that every single time. As a matter of fact, if you repeat something from memory, it will only be ritualistic legalism, not spiritually warring from your heart to make it real, and will block the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, coming up with something new and unique each time can be confusing, tiring, and time consuming. So just remember these five points: 1) tell the demon that you know that it is there 2) tell the demon that it has no right to be there 3) tell the demon to leave 4) forbid it from coming back 5) back your command (it is not bargaining, a request, or demand but a COMMAND, as demons are to have no choice or say in the matter) with the Name, Blood, Power, and Authority of Jesus Christ. This is how you resist demons that are attacking your mind, and the Bible says resist the devil and he will flee from you. Now do not be surprised if the demons (and the attacks on your mind) do not go away immediately. As a matter of fact, when you first start doing this they will fight back very hard in order to convince you that demons are not real, spiritual warfare is not real, and that you are grasping at straws following false doctrine. Further, some demons that attack your mind are quite powerful (and those are the ones that come your way to hinder you from doing something that God wants you to do, from receiving a message from the Lord, or from being able to concentrate and comprehend when you are trying to read your Bible), and some are quite simply stubborn. So, you will have to keep saying it until they are gone. It also helps to quote scripture from memory, or read scripture until they are gone.Now this point is often used as an accusatory point by Christians who do not believe in overt spiritual warfare, and teach you that at the moment of salvation you are forever freed from all evil spirits and demonic attack. Their point is that this and other techniques commonly used by charismatic Christians in spiritual warfare is highly repetitious, which not only is sinful but a way of dealing in witchcraft and evil spirits in and of itself. In a sense, they are actually correct, because a great many strands of false Christianity teach you to chant things (including the Name of Jesus Christ or some Bible verse) over and over again until you achieve some desired effect, including