Why Would They Lie?

My apologies for the lack of posts in a the last week. Things have been a bit crazy around the Gerelds' house. I wanted to bring things towards a close in my journey to a coherent, consistent, worldview, that accounts for the world as we experience it. The topic today will be to investigate the motivations for “making up” the Christian religion, or the evidence to support that its formation was based on historical facts that occurred in a real place, in real time, with and through real people.


The road to follow Jesus was not paved with gold on this side of eternity. As a matter of fact, Jesus Himself, told the disciples to expect trouble in this world (John 16:33) The aim of following Christ was to be transformed to be made more like Jesus until going on to join Him at home in Heaven. For the twelve disciples who'd followed Christ in His ministry years, or immediately after His resurrection, the commitment to following the carpenter turned itinerant rabbi wasn't met with fame and fortune. Rather, it was primarily met with scorn, derision, hatred, anger, and rejection. Ultimately, for all but one, and maybe two, of the disciples, their belief and resulting commitment to sharing the story of Christ and how He reconciled man to God led to their martyrdom. Various sources reveal how Jesus' disciples left this world.

1. Peter—crucified in Rome, upside down.
2. Andrew—crucified in Greece by Aegeates, the Roman proconsul who'd tried to get him to deny the truth of Christianity. Crucifixion followed a scourging and then used ropes instead of nails to prolong the suffering. It is said that Andrew preached to passerby's while hanging on the cross (for two days).
3. James, son of Zebedee, aka—James the Greater—killed by sword. Herod Agrippa ordered him executed as a way of trying to win favor with the Romans (persecuting the sect known as Christians). Supposedly, while on the way to the place of execution, his accuser was moved by his courage and conviction and repented and was converted on the spot. He asked to be executed alongside James and apparently the executioners obliged and beheaded both men.
4. John—is allegedly the only disciple to not die a violent death. He was tortured many times in ways that seem to have been capable of killing him. Yet, he lived on and was exiled to the island of Patmos where he died sometime around 100A.D.
5. Philip—Was scourged, imprisoned, and ultimately crucified in Heliopolis, a city in Egypt.
6. Bartholomew—preached in many countries including India before either being beaten and crucified, or being skinned and beheaded. Neither outcome was pleasant, but there is some question about how he was martyred.
7. Thomas—preached in India and Greece before being run through with a spear.
8. Matthew—stabbed in the back by a swordsman in Ethiopia sent by the king because Matthew had criticized his morals.
9. James, son of Alphaeus, aka, James the Less—was head of the church in Jerusalem. He lived to be an old man before enemies stoned him, beat him, and then clubbed him to death.
10. Thaddaeus, Judas, or Jude—crucified in the city of Edessa in 72AD. Not sure if the Turkish or Grecian town of that name.
11. Simon the Zealot—preached on the west coast of Africa before going to England to share the Truth. He was crucified in England in 74AD.
12. Judas Iscariot—killed himself shortly after betraying Jesus. The Gospel accounts say that he hung himself and at some point, whether the rope broke, or the branch of the tree snapped, he fell headlong (the rest of the story is pretty gross).

So, all Christ's disciples other than John were documented to have died soley because of their belief in and commitment to Jesus. At any time, if there was any wavering as to whether they believed that Jesus was someone other than the Son of God, as they saw their friends being killed one after another, doesn't it seem likely that someone would recant? If the primary explanation for the empty tomb was that the disciples had stolen the body, wouldn't one of them give it up if it meant it would save his life? I will explore this further in the next entry, but, do you really think that the disciples would have written the gospel accounts as they did if the story weren't true? They didn't exactly paint themselves out to be heroes. They abandoned their friend at His biggest moment of need. We'll explore this further next time.
What do you think? Let me know. Comments and questions are welcome!
TG
I borrowed the causes of death for the disciples from a National Geographic Article.  I also learned these in my Church History class from seminary.
​http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/killing-jesus/articles/how-did-the-apostles-die/