Hi Philsworld,
Much earlier in this thread, I asked one of these regular posters here who tends to present themself as an amateur Bible scholar, to help me with something Biblical, but that poster just refused to help me. I've seen many of your posts, and I can see that you have wide and deep knowledge of the Scriptures, and that you are a man possessing great courage, so I thought you might be able and willing to help me.
I'm going to pose that same question to you now Philsworld, and I hope you can give me some helpful answers, or point me to some place I can get those answers.
A while ago, someone pointed me to a youtube video (about fourteen minutes long), posted by a person named "Rabbi Tovia Singer", which can be seen at this following link:
"Jesus’ empty-tomb story could not have occurred – Rabbi Tovia Singer responds to caller" Rabbi Tovia Singer, who resides in Jerusalem, says that the Biblical story of the women taking spices to the tomb of Jesus on Sunday morning in the Gospels of "Mark" and "Luke" is totally false and ridiculous, as there would be no reason in the world for those women to extract the dead body of Jesus from the tomb, and put spices on it. He says the only reason they would use spices, was to mask the decaying smell prior to burial, not to comply with or fulfill any Jewish commandment or directive, as no such commands or directives existed, in Jewish law, or in Jewish tradition. Once the body was buried, there would be no more reason to put smell-masking spices on the decaying body.
The Rabbi also says that it would be outrageously scandalous and shameful for women in that culture to touch the body of a dead man for ANY reason (or for men to touch the body of a dead woman). He says it would never have been done in their Jewish culture. He claims that was just a phony story plot device used by the writers of those two Gospels, (with the author of "Luke" actually copying the story directly from the author of "Mark"), as a way to get someone to somehow discover the empty tomb on Sunday morning, and he says that the later Gospel of "John" completely changes that story of the body spices, (having two males -- Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea -- doing that spicing and body preparation in the proper Jewish way of the time, prior to burial or placing the body in the tomb, in accordance with the actual Jewish smell-masking customs of the time). He says the author of the much later Gospel of "John" changed that account in order to clean up that prior fictitious "female post-burial body-spicing effort" account.
In his short video, the Rabbi provides evidence from the Scriptures, as well as from history, and from Jewish culture and tradition, to argue his points. I am trying to find a good and honest Christian way to be able to understand and respond to that Rabbi's claims in his video.
I'm asking you (if and when you get a chance) to watch the Rabbi's video, and see his points for yourself, and to let me know how you would respond to that Rabbi. (The previous poster I asked to do that, simply refused to watch the video in order to see the evidence that the Rabbi presented, and essentially gave me a big "nothing" response.)
If you also do not care to listen to the Rabbi's video, I'll understand, and try to find someone else who might be able to help me.
Thanks very much, Philsworld. I have to say goodnight now, but I'll check back at some point to see if you've responded. Take care, and Happy Thanksgiving!