Every Christian must answer the big question in their own mind: what if none of it is real?" Absolute faith is incredibly difficult. I believe no one who professes faith can navigate this life without ever facing the possibility that it was all wrong.
Let's consider Occam's razor. Paul and the other apostles say Jesus came back from the dead and made eternal life possible for all of us. Historians and politicians contemporary to Paul said the followers of Jesus stole the body to keep their movement alive after the death of their founder. Which opinion is more reasonable? Which is more logical?
Nikos Kazantzakis, the author of Zorba The Greek, faced these issues in his novel The Last Temptation of Christ. In it, he faces the problematic issues of the Jesus story by presuming every fantastical and miraculous element of the story is very real but explores the possibility that Christ falters and accepts Satan's last temptation and uses his powers to come down from the cross and live like an ordinary man.
As you might imagine, this proposition didn't sit well with many Christian readers. In 1988, Martin Scorsese struck out to make a film adaptation of Kazantzakis' book, with the result being one of my most loved films, both as a cinephile and as a Christian.
In it, he cast Harry Dean Stanton as Paul. Stanton plays Paul much as I imagine he was in real life: a charismatic evangelist trying to share this fantastic story with the people trying to survive the sometimes difficult path of the first century.
Jesus, in his post-crucifixion life, confronts Paul during one of his sermons. "None of what you're saying is true! I'm alive. I didn't die!" I cannot write Paul's reply nearly as well as Stanton portrays it in the film. Please take a moment to consider what he says:
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