Rejection of Pascal's Wager:The Epiphanies

In this episode, Jesus took his three main apostles (Peter, James and John) to a mountain. There he was "transfigured" before them. This account is given in Mark 9:2-8 and Matthew 17:1-8. The table below give these two accounts side by side. (I have left out the portion of the episode where Peter offered to make three booths for Jesus, Moses and Elijah as it is not relevant to our discussion.)

Mark 9:2-8 NIV

Matthew 17:1-8 NIV

2. After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them.

3.His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.
4. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who was talking to Jesus.
7. Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my son, whom I love, listen to him!"

8. Suddenly when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.

1. After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
2. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light.
3. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
5...a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!".
6. When the disciples heard this, they fell with their face down to the ground, terrfied.
7. But Jesus came and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid."
8. When they looked up they saw no one except Jesus.

The Transfiguration

We will first look at the Markan account. The formula of six days, the setting of the event on a mountain and the appearance of clouds are such common Old Testament themes that the whole episode immediately gives rise to skepticism. Both Moses and Elijah are said to have received revelation from God on a mountain:

Exodus 24:15-16
And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.

In fact, an obvious question arises, how did Peter, James and John know that the two people with Jesus were Moses and Elijah? For they obviously have not seen them and would not have known how they looked like. It is easy, if this is a fictional account, to simply assume that they recognized them. But if the episode has any claims of being factual this difficulty must be satisfactorily explained by believers. It is not enough to say that perhaps Jesus introduced them as such. How do we know, if that was the case, that he was not pulling a fast one on the apostles?

The first part of the utterance of God in this episode (Mark 9:7) is also taken from an Old Testament passage:

Psalms 2:7
I will tell the decree of the Lord: He said to me, "You are my son, today I have begotten you."

If we now turn to Matthew's account we become even more convinced of its mythical and legendary nature. Matthew's additions to Mark also come from the Old Testament. In Matthew 17:2 the phrase "and his face shone like the sun" was added to the Markan account. This is obviously derived from a similar account in Exodus:

Exodus 34:29
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tables of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.

Daniel 10:7,9,12
And I, Daniel alone saw the vision...I fell on my face in a deep sleep with my face to the ground...And he said to me, "O Daniel...stand upright..."..."Fear not, Daniel..."

The Epiphanies

References