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Basis for and inadequacy of the swoon theory of the events of Easter day

The evidence that Jesus was alive after the crucifixion is overwhelming, and scholars hardly ever argue otherwise. Jesus was seen in many different places and at different times after the crucifixion (John 20, 1 Cor. 15, Mark 16.7, etc.) Some people attempt to explain this by arguing that Jesus never died in the first place, and therefore never really resurrected as Christians claim. This theory is know as the Swoon Theory or the Resuscitation Theory, and was put forth by the German rationalist Venturini sometime in the eighteenth century. Even though there are presently an infinite amount of variations to this theory, they all basically hold that instead of dying, Jesus merely fainted or “swooned” from exhaustion. Jesus then resuscitated thanks to the effects of the cool damp grave he was placed in, and was finally able to present himself before His disciples as a “risen king”. In this essay I will explain the basis for the concoction of such a theory and the evidence that m...

Posted by: Margaret Rowden

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