The only evidence today of Matthew 27:52 is the testimony of Scripture.
It wouldn’t make much sense to include this in the writing if it weren’t true, would it ?
I mean, who would believe it ?
How have people continued to believe the Bible is all true, after thousands of years of scholarship ?
Matthew’s testimony is easy to believe for true believers.
But those who are not among the God’s elect can not have true faith in God. To them, Scripture must seem like a giant conspiracy to “control the masses”.
Frequently, people who are most opposed to God’s Word, at some point in their lives, by grace through faith, they are saved.
Romans 8:29-30 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
We humans are not able to set up a planet; we think we know how things work, but we know so precious little.
Proverbs 3:19 “The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.”
Job 26:7 “He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.”
Humans can’t possibly understand the mind of God, nor can we fully understand the world around us. Those whom God wills are counted among God’s elect children; all others are hopeless in eternity. Having no excuse for rejecting God’s Word, in the end, they will get exactly what they asked for, eternal separation from God.
Ecclesiastes 9
“1 For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.
2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.
3 This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.
8 Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.
9 Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.
10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.
13 This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:
14 There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:
15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.
16 Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
17 The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.”
Oh come on. Where's the fun in that? Most Christians I talk to in person have never heard of it. My guess is that it's not something that is broadcast from the pulpit much any more, since it's so phantastical and a little ridiculous.
It wouldn’t make much sense to include this in the writing if it weren’t true, would it ?
It would if Matthew were a parable, a morality tale, or embellished to get the point across.
The point was, that Heaven rejoiced and the dead on Earth rose for a time to join in the celebration. If it's a constructive myth, then it makes sense.
How have people continued to believe the Bible is all true, after thousands of years of scholarship ?
Probably because for the first few thousand years the repercussions for NOT believing it were dire, and ranged from being a social outcast to death. I'd say there are many Christians now who don't believe everything to be literally true, including many that I know, although I also know a lot of Christians consider that "unchristian".
I'll leave it to the believers to figure out who the "real Christians" are though.
I had a friend who had a severe crisis of faith and ended up being against total Biblical literalism because he truly worried about his Hindu friends being flayed in Hell for all of eternity. He was close to having a Jerusalem Syndrome episode; drove him nuts. Another reason I'm glad I'm free of it. The burden that true believers put on themselves is fascinating and depressing.
Having no excuse for rejecting God’s Word, in the end, they will get exactly what they asked for, eternal separation from God.
If eternal separation from God means I return to the same state that I was in before I was born, then I would choose that most likely. If Heaven is a place where your family is irrelevant, and you live for trillions of years constantly and repeatedly praising the Creator, then I wouldn't want to go. It's sounds like going to church and never being able to leave.
No thanks. I'll take going back to where I was prior to birth. The lack in Christianity of a third option for eternity makes me feel like it's a racket.
It must be divine intervention, because I was THIS CLOSE to posting Ecclesiastes 9:11 in my response to the other guy who mentioned random chance:
...but time and chance happeneth to them all.
Maybe time and chance aren't that unbiblical after all.