> If someone could, positively, prove that Jesus did not rise from the
> dead, Christianity would be worse than a false religion, it would be
> a mockery of truth. Until then, the presence of the empty tomb is
> undisputable proof that Christianity is THE only true relationship
> with an eternal God.
>
> I await someone to challenge me on this.
The last statement is certainly open to debate. Consider the
book by the Orthodox Jew Pinchas Lapide, _The Resurrection of Jesus_
(Augsburg, 1983). He believes that God raised the Israelite Jesus from
the dead, saying "I accept the resurrection of Easter Sunday not as an
invention of the community of disciples, but as a historical event."
But he does not believe that Jesus is the Messiah - let alone Son of God
- essentially because the Kingdom of God has not come in its fullness.
He believes that Jesus and his resurrection can be understood as part of
God's "preparation for the Messiah" within the framework of Judaism.
George Murphy