Skeptical readers wonder why this strange event isn\u2019t mentioned by any extra-biblical sources. If The Night of the Living Dead really occurred in ancient Jerusalem (as one skeptical blogger has put it), why don\u2019t other ancient people record this event?<\/p>\n
Yet Matthew doesn\u2019t state that all OT saints were raised in Jerusalem. Instead, he writes that God raised \u201cmany bodies\u201d (Mt. 27:52). From this passage, we have no idea how many OT believers were raised. While we might expect to have seen thousands of people rising from the dead and walking through Jerusalem, we simply do not have an exact number given by Matthew.<\/p>\n
Moreover, while extra-biblical records do not confirm this report, we don\u2019t have records that discount it, either. We cannot demand an extra-biblical account of this event, because sources are scarce from this time. We can only use an \u201cargument from silence\u201d if we would expect to discover more from history. Yet two factors would preclude arguing for a \u201cconspicuous silence\u201d here: (1) we have limited accounts from the first-century and (2) we have no way of knowing how many OT saints were raised; thus we cannot make such an argument from silence with any level of confidence.<\/p>\n
It might seem strange that a number of people would rise from the dead. Yet if the God of the Bible exists, it would be no more difficult to raise a number of bodies from the dead, than it would be to raise one individual body (Jesus) from the dead in the next chapter. Moreover, Jesus raised Lazarus (Jn. 11:1ff) and Jairus\u2019 daughter (Mt. 5:38ff) from the dead. Surely the God of the Bible is in the business of raising the dead. In other words, Christians are not arguing that these people naturally rose from the dead. This would be impossible. But if God exists, he would be able to supernaturally raise them to life, as he will with all people at the end of human history.<\/p>\n
The Michael Licona controversy<\/strong><\/p>\n New Testament (NT) scholar Michael Licona is associate professor of theology at Houston Baptist University, and he has recently written a persuasive book called The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2010). Evangelical scholars have widely praised him for his careful thinking and exhaustive research on his defense of the resurrection of Jesus. Licona is a dedicated defender of the Christian faith, debating everyone from skeptics like Bart Ehrman and Richard Carrier to Muslim scholars like Shabir Ally and Yusuf Ismail on the evidence for the Christian faith.<\/p>\n While his commitment to Christ should not be questioned in this regard, he stirred up controversy in his book, The Resurrection of Jesus (2010), when he began to question how we interpret Matthew 27:51-53. Some scholars\u2014like Norman Geisler, Albert Mohler, and Charles Quarles\u2014argued that his views broke from an inerrant view of Scripture. His comments from his book are as follows:<\/p>\n Given the presence of phenomenological language used in a symbolic manner in both Jewish and Roman literature related to a major event such as death of an emperor\u2026 it seems to me that an understanding of the language in Matthew 27:52-53 as \u2018special effects\u2019 with eschatological Jewish texts and thought in mind is most plausible.[1] It seems best to regard this difficult text in Matthew [27:51-53] as a poetic device added to communicate that the Son of God had died.[2]<\/p>\n It can forthrightly be admitted that the data surrounding what happened to Jesus is fragmentary and could possibly be mixed with legend\u2026 We may also be reading poetic language or legend at certain points, such as Matthew\u2019s report of the raising of some dead saints at Jesus\u2019 death (Mt 27:51-54).[3]<\/p>\n There is somewhat of a consensus among contemporary scholars that the Gospels belong to the genre of Greco-Roman biography (bios). Bioi offered the ancient biography great flexibility for rearranging material and inventing speeches in order to communicate the teachings, philosophy, and political beliefs of the subject, and they often included legend. Because bios was a flexible genre, it is often difficult to determine where history ends and legend begins.[4]<\/p>\n Some embellishments are present\u2026 A possible candidate for embellishment is Jn. 18:4-6.[5]<\/p>\n Of course, \u201clegend\u201d is not an acceptable literary genre. In fact, the biblical authors explicitly reject this as a possibility. Peter writes, \u201cWe did not Even supporters of Dr. Licona\u2014like Paul Copan\u2014have stated that the genre of \u201clegend\u201d in the NT \u201cunderstandably raises red flags.\u201d[7] Since publishing in 2010, Dr. Licona clarified that Matthew\u2019s language was not poetic, but apocalyptic. Yet to the best of this author\u2019s knowledge, he has yet to recant his statement about the NT incorporating legendary material\u2014though if he wished to recant his use of Matthew using the genre of poetry, then he probably recanted Matthew\u2019s use of legend as well.<\/p>\n Is Matthew 27:51-53 a case of the \u201capocalyptic genre\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n Some scholars (like Dr. Licona) understand that Matthew 27:51-53 was written in the apocalyptic genre. This means that the events should not be interpreted as literal history, rather these are symbolic events for how Jesus\u2019 death impacted humanity. In support of seeing this section as apocalyptic, these scholars argue that Matthew uses four common apocalyptic symbols including (1) darkness, (2) earthquakes, (3) opening of tombs, and (4) resurrected bodies. Yet there are serious problems with following this line of thinking:<\/p>\n First, all of these supposed apocalyptic signifiers are also associated with Jesus\u2019 death and resurrection. For instance, (1) darkness accompanied Jesus\u2019 death (Mt. 27:45), (2) an earthquake accompanied his resurrection (Mt. 28:2), (3) angels opened Jesus\u2019 tomb (Mt. 27:60, 28:8), and (4) Jesus rose physically from the dead (Mt. 28:7). If we take the resurrection of the OT saints as non-historical events, then the same hermeneutical case could be made for denying Jesus\u2019 resurrection as historical. Consider the similarities between the resurrection of the OT saints and the resurrection of Jesus:<\/p>\n Second, the account of the resurrected OT saints is a single sentence in Greek. While it\u2019s difficult to imagine Matthew changing literary genres in between verses, what about in between sentences? This entire pericope (vv.51-53) is one long sentence in the Greek. Quarles states, \u201cIn the Greek text, vv. 51-53 form a single sentence in which the description of each portent is connected to the description of the previous portent by the Greek conjunction kai. Thus, the \u2018special effects\u2019 interpretation requires a shift in genre from historical narrative to apocalyptic in the middle of a single sentence, then back to historical narrative in the next sentence. If a writer flows so quickly and freely from historical narrative to apocalyptic, one could hardly ever know the author\u2019s intention.\u201d[8]<\/p>\n Third, the formula of death, resurrection, and appearances occurs for both the OT saints and Jesus\u2019 resurrection. Matthew records that the tombs were opened (v.52), the saints were raised (v.52), and they appeared to many witnesses (v.53). Likewise, Paul records that Jesus was buried, risen, and appeared to many witnesses (1 Cor. 15:4-8).<\/p>\n How does Dr. Licona account for a slippery slope in his hermeneutic?<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr. Licona acknowledges the difficulty of taking this section as non-historical. He writes, \u201cIf some or all of the phenomena reported at Jesus\u2019 death are poetic devices, we may rightly ask whether Jesus\u2019 resurrection is not more of the same.\u201d[9] Good question! Yet how does he answer this difficulty? He offers two arguments: (1) the early Christians didn\u2019t interpret Jesus\u2019 resurrection as poetic, and (2) Christian opponents didn\u2019t interpret the Christian claim of the resurrection as poetic either.[10]<\/p>\n The problem with this explanation is this: Both Christians and skeptics are interpreting Jesus\u2019 resurrection as symbolic today! That is, liberal Christian commentators and atheistic skeptics of the resurrection both make the claim today that the disciples believed in a figurative, spiritual, or metaphorical resurrection\u2014not a literal and historical one. Moreover, Quarles notes that this sword cuts both ways: \u201cThese arguments do not fully satisfy, however, since neither is there evidence that early Christians regarded Matt 27:52-53 as metaphorical nor that ancient opponents argued along those lines.\u201d[11]<\/p>\n Assessment of Dr. Licona\u2019s view<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr. Michael Licona is an extraordinary scholar and avid defender of the Christian faith. We\u2019re blessed to have such a strong mind in the Body of Christ, who gave us such a remarkable resource for the resurrection in his 2010 book The Resurrection of Jesus. While Paul calls us not to judge motives (1 Cor. 4:5), if I had to, I would think that Dr. Licona is not trying to undermine the authority of Scripture. Yet I can\u2019t base my judgments on motives, but rather, on what he wrote. Based on his comments in his recent work, I find that his view breaks from the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy and Hermeneutics.<\/p>\n The Chicago Statement of Biblical Hermeneutics (CSBH) does affirm \u201cawareness of the literary categories\u201d and values \u201cgenre criticism as one of the many disciplines of biblical study.\u201d Yet it goes on to say that we cannot import \u201cgeneric categories which negate historicity\u201d particularly those \u201cwhich present themselves as factual\u201d (Article 13). This article directly contradicts Dr. Licona importing a \u201cpoetic device,\u201d[12] \u201clegend,\u201d[13] and the concept of Greco-Roman biography (bios) which gives license for including \u201clegends.\u201d[14] The CSBH states, \u201cWe deny that any such event, discourse or saying reported in Scripture was invented by the biblical writers\u201d (Article 14). This would directly contradict Dr. Licona\u2019s statement that \u201csome embellishments are present\u201d[15] in John 18 and the genre of bios could allow for \u201cinventing speeches.\u201d[16]<\/p>\n I believe Dr. Licona has seen the inherent contradictions with his views and the Chicago Statement, so he has begun to question the validity of appealing to the Chicago Statement as our definition of inerrancy. He recently wrote, \u201cCSBI and the doctrine of biblical inerrancy are not the same. CSBI is neither Scripture nor is it the product of a Church council. It is not authoritative. And with the exception of the faculty members at a few seminaries, evangelicals are not bound by it. One can hold to the inerrancy of Scripture without embracing CSBI.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Licona denies that Matthew is making an error.[17] Instead he claims that Matthew is utilizing a non-historical genre in these three verses. Thus to him, this is an interpretive question\u2014not a question of inerrancy. Yet if interpreters can import genres into a passage of Scripture\u2014without sufficient justification\u2014they could effectively purge the truth of any biblical text. The case against a poetic, legendary, or apocalyptic genre is so strong that if we import one here\u2014without justification\u2014I fear that we could import one anywhere for any difficult historical passage.<\/p>\n Critics of my view will no doubt charge me with committing the \u201cslippery slope\u201d fallacy. This is committed when an individual states that a small issue can lead to bigger ones down the road without causal justification. For instance, some Christians commit this fallacy when they say that all drinking is immoral, because drinking can lead to drunkenness. But this is not so. Drinking is not a sin, rather drunkenness is a sin (see comments on 1 Tim. 5:23). Thus this would commit the \u201cslippery slope\u201d fallacy.<\/p>\n Yet my case for Dr. Licona breaking from inerrancy is different: Denying the word of God\u2014not matter how big or small\u2014is a serious moral issue with large ramifications. This was the first sin in the Garden, when the Serpent asked the question, \u201cDid God really say?\u201d (Gen. 3:1 NIV) This small question led to massive problems to say the least! While drinking alcohol is not a sin, denying God\u2019s word is a sin. Thus these two cases are disanalogous.<\/p>\n I could accept Dr. Licona\u2019s approach if he was making this case in the realm of apologetics, but instead, he\u2019s making these statements in the realm of theology. To clarify, if Dr. Licona was saying, \u201cWe can still make a case for Jesus\u2019 resurrection even if Matthew 27:52-53 is an error or embellishment of Matthew,\u201d then I would surely agree. The historical case for Jesus\u2019 resurrection is still strong even if we take the NT as non-inspired and sometimes errant documents. Yet once we make a case for Jesus\u2019 authority, we need to ask what his view of the Bible was. And when we read through the words of Jesus, we discover that he believed in an inerrant Bible (see \u201cA Case for Verbal Plenary Inspiration\u201d). I pray, therefore, for this good Christian brother to reconsider his view on inerrancy. This is a time in the church where we need great minds like Dr. Licona\u2019s to support the inerrancy of Scripture.<\/p>\n Appendix A: How do other interpreters understand this passage?<\/strong><\/p>\n D.A. Carson (historical): \u201cMatthew is telling us, among other things, that the resurrection of people who lived before Jesus Messiah is as dependent on Jesus\u2019 triumph as the resurrection of those who come after him. The idea is not fanciful, given Matthew\u2019s grasp of prophecy and fulfillment.\u201d[18]<\/p>\n Donald Hagner (historical with apocalyptic motifs): \u201cThe passage contains obviously symbolic and apocalyptic motifs yet continues in the genre of historical narrative.\u201d[19]<\/p>\n Craig Keener (historical): \u201cTo both pagan and Jewish audiences these signs would indicate divine approval of Jesus and disapproval of his executioners\u2026 The raising of dead persons at Jesus\u2019 death (vv. 52\u201353) reminds us that by refusing to save himself, Jesus did save others (v. 42).\u201d[20]<\/p>\n R.T. France (uncertain): \u201cIts character as \u2018sober history\u2019 (i.e. what a cinecamera might have recorded) can only be, in the absence of corroborative evidence, a matter of faith, not of objective demonstration. It was, in any case, a unique occurrence and is not to be judged by the canons of \u2018normal\u2019 experience.\u201d[21]<\/p>\n David Turner (historical): \u201cThere are many difficulties concerning the nature and sequence of events in this extremely unusual pericope (Hagner 1995a: 849\u201352), but it is not helpful to take it as a nonhistorical literary-theological creation. If this resurrection is intended to preview the ultimate resurrection of humanity (Gundry 1994: 577), it is important that it be as genuine as that of Jesus.\u201d[22]<\/p>\n Robert Mounce (historical): \u201cOut of the graves came holy ones of old who, after the resurrection of Jesus, appeared openly in Jerusalem.\u201d[23]<\/p>\n Michael Green (apocalyptic\u2014not historical): \u201cDoes Matthew mean us to take this literally? Does he mean that the tombs were broken open, and that the bodies were somehow clothed with flesh and brought to life, as in Ezekiel\u2019s vision? (Ezek. 37) It is possible but unlikely that this is how Matthew intended us to read it\u2026 The rending of the tombs is powerful symbolism for the victory over death which Jesus achieved.\u201d[24]<\/p>\n Appendix B: Further arguments of genre considered Matthew 27:51-53 is apocalyptic because it is similar to Peter\u2019s citation of Joel 2:28ff in Acts 2:16-21 While I disagree with Dr. Licona\u2019s interpretation of Acts 2 (see Acts 2:16-21), it is surely possible to understand Acts 2 as apocalyptically fulfilled in Jesus. Surely such an interpretation does not break from inerrancy.<\/p>\n Yet this passage is not analogous with Matthew 27:52-53. Matthew says nothing of fulfilling OT prophecy in his passage (as is his custom throughout his gospel), while Peter directly cites his source (Joel 2:28ff). Thus this isn\u2019t a fair comparison. Acts 2 has a direct citation, while Matthew\u2019s would be inferred at best. Moreover, throughout Matthew\u2019s gospel, he states that Jesus was a historical and literal fulfillment of OT passages which may or may not be apocalyptic. However we understand Matthew\u2019s use of prophecy and fulfillment (of which there are many interpretations), Matthew surely believed that Jesus was the historical fulfillment of these predicted events, as I\u2019m sure Dr. Licona would agree.<\/p>\n To believe that Matthew 27 is similar to Acts 2, we need to assert that (1) Jesus is fulfilling a prophecy Matthew doesn\u2019t cite, (2) Matthew believed non-literal events could fulfill OT prophecy\u2014even though this isn\u2019t his consistent pattern through his gospel, and (3) something in the text would signify an apocalyptic genre being used\u2014even though (as we\u2019ve already seen) no hermeneutical warrant justifies this. In fact, the same supposed apocalyptic signifiers are also used of Jesus\u2019 death and resurrection in the same context.\u00a0More important than the use of an apocalyptic genre here, of course, is Dr. Licona\u2019s use of language like \u201clegend\u201d and \u201cembellishment\u201d in his book, which are strictly out of bounds with inerrancy.<\/p>\n Further Reading Norman Geisler, \u201cAn Open Letter to Mike Licona on his View of the Resurrected Saints in Matthew 27:52-53.\u201d August 2011<\/p>\n Norman Geisler, \u201cA Second Open Letter to Mike Licona on the Resurrection of the Saints of Matthew 27.\u201d August 2011<\/p>\n Michael Licona, \u201cPress Release: Michael Licona Response to Norm Geisler.\u201d September 8, 2011.<\/p>\n Michael Licona, \u201cWhen the Saints Go Marching In (Matthew 27:52-53): Historicity, Apocalyptic Symbol, and Biblical Inerrancy.\u201d Paper for Evangelical Philosophical Society. 2011.<\/p>\n Albert Mohler, \u201cThe Devil is in the Details: Biblical Inerrancy and the Licona Controversy.\u201d September 14, 2011.<\/p>\n William Lane Craig, \u201cQUESTION #69: Qualms about the Resurrection of Jesus.\u201d August 11, 2008.<\/p>\n Danny Akin, Craig Blomberg, Paul Copan, Michael Kruger, Michael Licona, and Charles Quarles. \u201cA Roundtable Discussion with Michael Licona on The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach.\u201d Southern Theological Review. 3\/1 (Summer 2012).<\/p>\n Charles L. Quarles, \u201cReview of Michael R. Licona, The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2010),\u201d JETS 54 (2011): 839-44.<\/p>\n [1] Licona, Michael.\u00a0The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2010. 306.<\/p>\n [2] Licona, Michael.\u00a0The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2010. 306.<\/p>\n [3] Licona, Michael.\u00a0The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2010. 185-186.<\/p>\n [4] Licona, Michael.\u00a0The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2010. 34.<\/p>\n [5] Licona, Michael.\u00a0The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2010. 306.<\/p>\n [6] Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 660). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.<\/p>\n [7] Danny Akin, Craig Blomberg, Paul Copan, Michael Kruger, Michael Licona, and Charles Quarles. \u201cA Roundtable Discussion with Michael Licona on The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach.\u201d Southern Theological Review. 3\/1 (Summer 2012). 79.<\/p>\n [8] Danny Akin, Craig Blomberg, Paul Copan, Michael Kruger, Michael Licona, and Charles Quarles. \u201cA Roundtable Discussion with Michael Licona on The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach.\u201d Southern Theological Review. 3\/1 (Summer 2012). 76.<\/p>\n [9] Licona, Michael.\u00a0The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2010. 553.<\/p>\n [10] Licona, Michael.\u00a0The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2010. 553.<\/p>\n [11] Charles L. Quarles, \u201cReview of Michael R. Licona, The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2010),\u201d JETS 54 (2011): 842.<\/p>\n [12] Licona, Michael.\u00a0The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2010. 306.<\/p>\n [13] Licona, Michael.\u00a0The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2010. 185-186.<\/p>\n [14] Licona, Michael.\u00a0The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2010. 34.<\/p>\n [15] Licona, Michael.\u00a0The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2010. 306.<\/p>\n [16] Licona, Michael.\u00a0The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2010. 34.<\/p>\n [17] Licona stated, \u201cI would only be denying the inerrancy of the text if I knew that Matthew meant for his readers to understand the raised saints in a literal-historical sense but was interpreting them as an apocalyptic symbol anyway. So, this is a matter of hermeneutics rather than inerrancy.\u201d Danny Akin, Craig Blomberg, Paul Copan, Michael Kruger, Michael Licona, and Charles Quarles. \u201cA Roundtable Discussion with Michael Licona on The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach.\u201d Southern Theological Review. 3\/1 (Summer 2012). 79.<\/p>\n [18] Carson, D. A. Matthew. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor\u2019s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke (Vol. 8). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House. 1984. 582.<\/p>\n [19] Hagner, Donald. Matthew 14\u201328 (Vol. 33B). Dallas: Word, Incorporated. 1998. 848.<\/p>\n [20] Keener, Craig. Matthew (Vol. 1). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. 1997. In location.<\/p>\n [21] France, R. T. (1985). Matthew: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 1, p. 407). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.<\/p>\n [22] Turner, D. L. (2008). Matthew (p. 670). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.<\/p>\n [23] Mounce, Robert. Matthew. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books. 2011. 260.<\/p>\n [24] Green, Michael. The message of Matthew: the kingdom of heaven (pp. 302\u2013303). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. 2001. 302-303.<\/p>\n [25] Charles L. Quarles, \u201cReview of Michael R. Licona, The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2010),\u201d JETS 54 (2011): 842.<\/p>\n [26] Charles L. Quarles, \u201cReview of Michael R. Licona, The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2010),\u201d JETS 54 (2011): 843.<\/p>\n [27] Danny Akin, Craig Blomberg, Paul Copan, Michael Kruger, Michael Licona, and Charles Quarles. \u201cA Roundtable Discussion with Michael Licona on The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach.\u201d Southern Theological Review. 3\/1 (Summer 2012). 74.<\/p>\n [28] Danny Akin, Craig Blomberg, Paul Copan, Michael Kruger, Michael Licona, and Charles Quarles. \u201cA Roundtable Discussion with Michael Licona on The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach.\u201d Southern Theological Review. 3\/1 (Summer 2012). 74.<\/p>\n [29] Danny Akin, Craig Blomberg, Paul Copan, Michael Kruger, Michael Licona, and Charles Quarles. \u201cA Roundtable Discussion with Michael Licona on The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach.\u201d Southern Theological Review. 3\/1 (Summer 2012). 84.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Between Matthew\u2019s account of the death and resurrection of Jesus, he explains a cataclysmic event: The resurrection of many Old Testament (OT) saints. He writes, And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs were opened, andContinue reading →<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-errors","no-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9429\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nHe later wrote that this expression (\u201cspecial effects\u201d) was meant to communicate Matthew\u2019s writing \u201con a popular level.\u201d We might not want to read too much into this statement, yet it\u2019s still odd to know what Dr. Licona means by \u201cspecial effects\u201d here. Of course, as everyone knows, directors of films use \u201cspecial effects\u201d to make it appear that events happened that really didn\u2019t occur. Thus this comment still raises questions as to its meaning. Dr. Licona also wrote:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/matt27b.webp\")
follow cleverly devised tales (muthos) when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty\u201d (2 Pet. 1:16), and Paul exhorts Timothy to \u201chave nothing to do with worldly fables (muthos)\u201d (1 Tim. 4:7; cf. 1 Tim. 1:4). Of course, both apostles use the Greek word muthos (\u201cmyth\u201d), which BDAG defines as a \u201c\u2018narrative\u2019 or \u2018story\u2019 without distinction of fact or fiction, then of fictional narrative (as opposed to logos, the truth of history) such as tale, story, legend, myth.\u201d[6]<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/matt-27.webp\")
<\/p>\n
\n1. Matthew 27:51-53 is poetry
\nIn favor of a poetic interpretation of the genre, Raymond Brown notes that this pericope contains a quatrain of two couplets, whereby Matthew uses kai plus a definite noun and verb. Yet Quarles notes that the symmetry breaks down in this section with additional \u201cgenitive modifers, participles, adjectives, prepositional phrases.\u201d[25] Moreover, he notes that other historical explanations of Jesus\u2019 life might contain hymnic arrangement\u2014but are nonetheless historical (as in 1 Pet. 3:18-19; Eph. 4:8; 1 Tim 3:16).<\/p>\n\n
\nSometimes Matthew 27:51-53 is compared with Lucian\u2019s The Passing of Peregrinus, which contains miraculous events, but should not be interpreted historically. Yet Quarles writes, \u201cThis ancient satire dates to a century and a half after the time of Christ and was a mocking polemic against both Christianity and Cynicism. In the satire, Lucian embellished the account of Peregrinus\u2019s suicide in order to \u2018thicken the plot\u2019 and to \u2018ridicule fools and dullards.\u2019 Lucian found it entertaining that a gullible elderly man further embellished the account and reported it as fact.\u201d[26]<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
\nDr. Licona writes, \u201cI observed similar phenomena in Acts 2 when Peter addressed the crowd, saying the speaking in tongues they were witnessing was in fulfillment of Joel 2. He goes on to list other phenomena mentioned by Joel, including wonders in the sky involving the sun going dark, the moon turning to blood, and signs on the earth such as blood, fire, and smoke. Joel concludes by saying that in that day everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Peter then testifies how Jesus performed wonders and signs while among them. He rose from the dead and now they should call upon His name for salvation.\u201d[27]<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n
\nDr. Licona argues, \u201cSimilar phenomenal language appears in Jesus\u2019 Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 where the sun and moon will go dark and the stars will fall out of the sky.\u201d[28] Yet as Dr. Michael Kruger has pointed out,[29] this isn\u2019t a fair analogy either, because Matthew 24 describes the future\u2014not the past. Since Jesus is clearly predicting the future in Matthew 24, this is clearly different than Matthew 27 describing historical events without any sort of signifier to the contrary (as we have in the case of Matthew 24).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\nJames Rochford, \u201cInerrancy.\u201d This article covers the definition of inerrancy and some of the reasons for holding to it.<\/p>\n