# *****Jesus' Resurrection

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Posted by Bibleman [Bibleman] on November 13, 1999 at 11:17:06 {OA5YBxH8IAf9UnUPxURUslyACFuF8c}:

In Reply to: ****Jesus' Resurrection posted by felix a on November 13, 1999 at 09:30:24:

Forget it.

What you don't realize is that I DON'T HAVE TO PROVIDE ANY FACTS.

This is language translation. This is not SCIENCE.

That's why I can turn the tables on you and claim you're biased in thinking that Mary Magdalenes were rare in Judea during those days and thus this must be the same woman.

Where are your facts?

Give me some extra-Biblical proof!

So this is all a matter of "interpretation".

You're interpreting these accounts as being in conflict because you PRESUME that there is just one Mary Magdalene.

I'm interpreting these accounts as harmonized since I'm accepting the contextual inference that there must have been more than one Mary Magdalene.

I don't have to PROVE IT.

It's just my opinion that the gospel writers "style" was not to be overly explanatory. The only thing that is missing is the Greek-cultural need to have something totally explained to them and repeated five times before they can accept anything. The Jewish culture is just the opposite. They don't like "stating the obvious."

So as far as the gospel writers are concerned, they figure if they give you three separate times and three obviously separate incidences of Mary Magdalenes coming to the tomb, you'd be intelligent enough to figure out they are talking about there different women by virtue of those details. Why? Because they didn't think people would think they were total morons in the absence of them explaining somewhere that there were actually three Mary Magdalene subjects they were referring too.

You can imagine them being here telling us: "What? Are you idiots? Can't you see these are three different women coming to the tomb at three different times with three different sets of people? One with Peter and John, one with another Mary, and one with Jesus' aunt and other women? At three totally different times? One when it was dark, one when it was getting light, and one after the sun rose? What are you? Totally IGNORANT?"

No. Sorry, gospels writers. We have some cultural bias here these days. They think you fellas are incompetents and that you're too dumb to get a simple story straight. So they prefer to think that these are just errors rather than you guys know what you're doing.

And that's really at the heart of this. Cultural and Biblical bias. You WANT this not to work out.
It gives you glee that you've found an error in the "sacred writings", etc.

But in fact, that's just not the case. You're not considering the gospel style and allowing yourself to see this from another perspective, giving them the benefit of the doubt.

So it boils down to, well, maybe there is some doubt as to whether there were three Mary Magdalenes or not. But if understanding there were in fact three different Mary Magdalenes being referred here allows these writers to have a harmonious record, it's our responsiblity to give them that benefit of the doubt. Especially as professional translators and interpreters.

It's our responsibility if we see something that looks like an error to make sure we consider all the possibilities in style, language, idiomatic structure, cultural background, etc. All that, BEFORE, we just decide because it doesn't work out in English it must be wrong.

So I'm on very firm ground just on the standpoint of finding scenarios to harmonize the text. My view is not biased. Or if it is it is biased in the direction of the writers which it should be!
We're suppose to look at this from their standpoint, not superimpose our own pre-conceived ideas and prejudices.

But bottom line, it's just as prejudiced to say there was just one Mary Magdalene as it is to say there were three.

This is just an instance where the gospel writers expect persons of minimal intelligence to read between the lines.

So, excuse me.

Oh, did I mention you were simply WRONG?

You're simply WRONG.

Know this.

Cheers,
Bibleman

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