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== Naturalist explanations of the resurrection of Jesus Christ: The "swoon hypothesis"==

== Naturalist explanations of the resurrection of Jesus Christ: The "swoon hypothesis"==

A philosophical naturalist who does not utterly reject the reports or testimony of the eyewitnesses'''

A philosophical naturalist who does not utterly reject the reports or testimony of the eyewitnesses to the existence of Jesus of Nazareth as a reality in time and space <ref>See Luke 1:1-2; 2 Peter 1:16-18; 1 John 1:1.</ref> as a real man who lived during the first century in the Roman province of Judea, but who accepts the [[resurrection]] of [[Jesus Christ]] as a non-scientific and non-historical but (possibly) actual event, is one who denies that his resurrection from death had a supernatural cause and proposes instead an entirely natural cause which has been "misinterpreted" as being supernatural.

<ref>See Luke 1:1-2; 2 Peter 1:16-18; 1 John 1:1.</ref>  

 

to the existence of Jesus of Nazareth as a reality in time and space, as a real man who lived during the first century in the Roman province of Judea, but who accepts the [[resurrection]] of [[Jesus Christ]] as a non-scientific and non-historical

By "non-historical", these writers mean "''not attested by independent secular historians outside of the Christian community'' (Church)". Some historians in the 19th and 20th centuries regarded Jesus as a "non-historical person" for whom there is no reliable historical record of his existence from A.D. mid-first-century in Rome or Jerusalem, but only historical evidence of the existence of the sect of the "''Christiani''" (Christians) who were perceived as making unsubstantiated and incredible claims about an obscure and unknown Jesus of Nazareth who was executed as a criminal. One possible exception is the passage in [[Josephus]]' ''Antiquities'' 18.3.3 (63), and possibly one in [[Tacitus]] in one page of his final work, ''Annals'', book 15, chapter 44 (written ''ca.'' AD 116), referring to Christ, his execution by [[Pontius Pilate]], and the existence of early Christians in Rome.  

<ref>"non-historical", meaning "''not attested by independent secular historians outside of the Christian community (Church)''". One possible exception is the passage in [[Josephus]]' ''Antiquities'' 18.3.3 (63), and possibly one in [[Tacitus]] in one page of his final work, ''Annals'', book 15, chapter 44 (written ''ca.'' AD 116), referring to Christ, his execution by [[Pontius Pilate]], and the existence of early Christians in Rome. While these are cited as historical statements made by authors roughly contemporaneous to the beginning years of Christianity, most current 21st century secular historians dismiss them as citations of unreliable reports and rumors about Jesus having no independently confirming evidence they can accept as historical fact. Some historians in the 19th and 20th centuries regarded Jesus as a "non-historical person" for whom there is no reliable historical record of his existence from A.D. mid-first-century in Rome or Jerusalem, but only historical evidence of the existence of the sect of the "''Christiani''" (Christians) who were perceived as making unsubstantiated and incredible claims about an obscure and unknown Jesus of Nazareth who was executed as a criminal. The writings of the [[New Testament]] and the [[Apostolic Fathers]] are not accepted by them as documents of reliable historicity ("''[http://www.bethinking.org/is-the-bible-reliable/the-historicity-of-the-new-testament Is the Bible reliable? The historicity of the New Testament]''").

 

:The following books support aspects of the "''Christ myth''" theory:

While these are cited as historical statements made by authors roughly contemporaneous to the beginning years of Christianity, most current 21st century secular historians dismiss them as citations of unreliable reports and rumors about Jesus having no independently confirming evidence they can accept as historical fact. The writings of the [[New Testament]] and the [[Apostolic Fathers]] are not accepted by them as documents of reliable historicity ("''[http://www.bethinking.org/is-the-bible-reliable/the-historicity-of-the-new-testament Is the Bible reliable? The historicity of the New Testament]''").<ref>The following books support aspects of the "''Christ myth''" theory:

* ''[[Anacalypsis]]: An Attempt to Draw Aside the Veil of the Saitic Isis or an Inquiry into the Origin of Languages, Nations and Religions'' by [[Godfrey Higgins]], 1836

* ''[[Anacalypsis]]: An Attempt to Draw Aside the Veil of the Saitic Isis or an Inquiry into the Origin of Languages, Nations and Religions'' by [[Godfrey Higgins]], 1836

* ''[[The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors]]'' (or ''Christianity Before Christ'') by [[Kersey Graves]], 1875

* ''[[The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors]]'' (or ''Christianity Before Christ'') by [[Kersey Graves]], 1875

* ''[[The Jesus Puzzle]]'' by [[Earl Doherty]], 2005

* ''[[The Jesus Puzzle]]'' by [[Earl Doherty]], 2005

* ''[[God Is Not Great]]: How Religion Poisons Everything'' (or ''God Is Not Great: The Case Against Religion'') by [[Christopher Hitchens]], 2007

* ''[[God Is Not Great]]: How Religion Poisons Everything'' (or ''God Is Not Great: The Case Against Religion'') by [[Christopher Hitchens]], 2007

* "Nailed: 10 Christian Myths That Show Jesus Never Existed At All" by [[David Fitzgerald (author)|David Fitzgerald]]

* "Nailed: 10 Christian Myths That Show Jesus Never Existed At All" by [[David Fitzgerald (author)|David Fitzgerald]]</ref> However, many 21st century professional historians including prominent nonbelievers do accept the factual [[historicity of Jesus]] for valid evidentiary reasons.<ref>The following resources demonstrate the fact that many 21st century professional historians including prominent nonbelievers do accept the factual historicity of Jesus for valid evidentiary reasons:

The following resources demonstrate the fact that many 21st century professional historians including prominent nonbelievers do accept the factual historicity of Jesus for valid evidentiary reasons:

*[http://www.reasonablefaith.org/the-evidence-for-jesus The Evidence for Jesus (reasonablefaith.org)]

*[http://www.reasonablefaith.org/the-evidence-for-jesus The Evidence for Jesus (reasonablefaith.org)]

*[http://www.jesustheevidence.com/ Jesus: The Evidence]

*[http://www.jesustheevidence.com/ Jesus: The Evidence]

*[[Catholic Answers]] online

*[[Catholic Answers]] online

*Conservapedia article [[Christian apologetics]]

*Conservapedia article [[Christian apologetics]]

*P.E. Easterling, E. J. Kenney (general editors), ''The Cambridge History of Latin Literature'', page 892 (Cambridge University Press, 1982, reprinted 1996). ISBN 0-521-21043-7</ref> Among the doubting historical skeptics are those [[liberal]]ist Christian participants in the ''[[Jesus Seminar]]'', and the number of 20th century critics who dismiss Jesus' resurrection by proposing the "[[swoon theory]]" in which they suggest that the Lord did not actually die on the cross, but lapsed into a [[Coma (Medical condition)|comatose]] or [[catatonic]] state like [[catalepsy]] which resembles death, and then revived. This 200-year-old hypothesis is generally rejected by Christians, who cite St. Paul:  

<ref>P.E. Easterling, E. J. Kenney (general editors), ''The Cambridge History of Latin Literature'', page 892 (Cambridge University Press, 1982, reprinted 1996). ISBN 0-521-21043-7</ref>  

but (possibly) actual event is one who denies that his resurrection from death had a supernatural cause and proposes instead an entirely natural cause which has been "misinterpreted" as being supernatural. Among them are those [[liberal]]ist Christian participants in the ''[[Jesus Seminar]]'', and the number of 20th century critics who dismiss Jesus' resurrection by proposing the "[[swoon theory]]" in which they suggest that the Lord did not actually die on the cross, but lapsed into a [[Coma (Medical condition)|comatose]] or [[catatonic]] state like [[catalepsy]] which resembles death, and then revived. This 200-year-old hypothesis is generally rejected by Christians, who cite St. Paul:  

<blockquote>"If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied." 1 Corinthians 15:17-19 (RSVCE).</blockquote>

<blockquote>"If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied." 1 Corinthians 15:17-19 (RSVCE).</blockquote>