At the request of Christian relatives I take at look at "Miraculous Mission," a DVD presentation that promises, on the box cover, to pick up where the story of Jesus leaves off and show me the story of the twelve apostles, "using 21st century technology" so that "faith and science collide." (I'm not sure if they mean that faith and science get into a fight in the video or if they come together in peace. Guess I'll see.) Here goes!
The first thing I notice is, there is no expectation that this will be watched by anyone using critical thinking skills. Statements are made that are patently false, but who's going to question them? An example in the introduction: "According to ancient eyewitness accounts, on the third day, Jesus rose from the dead." The truth is there are no eyewitness accounts of Jesus' resurrection. No one knows who wrote the so called gospels, they are completely anonymous and were written decades after the events they purport to describe.
From there the narrator tells the story from the point of view of someone who has already decided that the Bible is all true. Jesus dis this, the apostles did that, whatever it says in the Bible, blah blah blah. I thought they were going to prove this stuff. OK, I'll keep watching.
They seem very hyped up on how these ordinary men could have so changed the course of human history. That seems to be very impressive, proof of the truth of their claims, and even miraculous to these folks. I guess the inventor of Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, not to mention general relativity and Coca Cola, must also have been miracle workers.
Hmm, he's saying now that neither the biblical nor historical accounts tell us much about the apostles. So from whence will we get our information for the rest of the video? I can't wait to find out!
OK, they're hinting that science can now assist us in finding out about these guys.
They're trotting out a couple of professors of New Testament and History who don't really say anything about proof that these men even existed, then they go back to some regular folks talking about the "almost supernatural" aspect to the way these ordinary men changed the world. There must be some real scientific proof coming soon.
Nothing yet. A cute girl in a soccer outfit is asking me how these ordinary men could have overcome all the forces against them (Rome, Jewish leaders) to spread the message around the world. Not proof of anything, but I'm still hopeful.
More stuff from the Bible accepted as fact. Then a guy with his kid telling me how amazed he is that these apostles gave up everything to follow Jesus. First, there's nothing amazing about that whatsoever. Just ask your Aunt Marge, who last week sent another ten grand to her boyfriend in Nigeria, whom she's never met in person, who lost his wallet and can't get home. Second, just because it says it in a book doesn't make it true!
OK, now we're talking. They show an ancient inscription that proves Pontius Pilate really existed. Then the James Ossuary, a stone box used to house human bones, with the Aramaic words "Ya'akov bar-Yosef akhui diYeshua," or "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus," comes up, although the narrator admits there's controversy surround its authenticity. In fact, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) declared it to be a forgery in 2003. Google it. Is that it? They're moving on, but this proves nothing!
More proof of the existence of Jesus in the writings of people in the "2nd through the 5th centuries." But what did those people rely on for the information? The same anonymous, decades out of date writings that we have today.
Another professor telling me that "Matthew tells us that Jesus..." blah blah. I know this guy must know that we have no idea who wrote the book of Matthew! He goes on: "Time after time, he demonstrated his miraculous power," healing diseases, etc., etc.
I can't do this anymore. A waste of time. This video was put together by and for people who have already decided, on blind faith, that the Bible is true, and who will grasp at the most insubstantial so-called proof they can scrape together to bolster that faith.
Now I have to figure out what to tell my relatives. Any ideas?
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