Was Jesus married? Hal Lindsey debunks ABC program as baseless speculation

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Thursday, November 6, 2003 | Hal Lindsey

[JohnHuang2]

Was Jesus married?

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Posted: November 6, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

I was stunned by the audacity of the ABC News special, "Jesus, Mary and DaVinci," which sought to build a case that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. They even went so far as to give credence to a completely unfounded myth that he had a child by her.

Using unfounded and speculative sources, they sought to build a case on assumptions to prove their suppositions. The amazing thing to me is why a major network would give primetime to such baseless speculation that is in extreme conflict with the well-established history of the Bible.

Simon Greenleaf, who was head of the Harvard Law School for nearly 30 years, is recognized as the world's greatest authority on legal evidence. His volumes, called "The Laws of Legal Evidence," are still the standard work on how to evaluate evidence in the courtrooms.

In response to a challenge, he wrote a book called "The Testimony of the Four Evangelists." He evaluated the New Testament and ancient extra-biblical history using his "Laws of Legal Evidence." He concluded that the veracity of the Four Gospels is supported by fuller and better evidence than any other documents from antiquity.

One of the arguments he presented was based on the principle that the best evidence to support a case is the witness of the opposition. In the case of Jesus Christ, that pertained to the witness and actions of the Jewish religious leaders who had every motive to disprove any statement about Jesus that was not true. They were at such enmity with Jesus that they engineered his crucifixion.

So if they could have disproved or discredited any statement the Apostles first preached and then wrote about Jesus, they had every motive to do so. Within 50 days after the Crucifixion, the disciples of Jesus proclaimed all of the things in the streets of Jerusalem, later written down in the Gospels. If they could have disproved any point, they would have destroyed the movement at its beginning. Christianity would have been destroyed before it began.

But instead, we find they had no answers. So they put them to death to silence them, which was a moot admission that they had no case against what the disciples were proclaiming from the rooftops.

The real problem this ABC program brought out is how impossible it is for a person who is not born spiritually to understand spiritual things. The Bible declares: "The man without spiritual life does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned" (I Corinthians 2:13).

This is why Jesus told a great religious leader of his time, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot perceive the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). He basically told the teacher that he couldn't talk to him about the things of God's kingdom until he was born spiritually. It is like trying to teach a man born blind what a rainbow looks like.

The natural man can only look at a man-woman relationship from a sexually based orientation. I am not saying that sex is in itself bad. In God's will, it is a wonderful gift. But there is a spiritual kind of love that God gives that is not sexual. It is a love that seeks the greatest good for the opposite sex. Jesus saw women in terms of their greater need for deliverance from sin and a relationship with God.

It is impossible for a person without God-given spiritual life to comprehend the true nature of the person of Jesus Christ and His all consuming reason for coming to Earth.

Jesus was driven by the mission for which his Father sent Him into the world. He said, "Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). And on another occasion, He said, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work" (John 4:34) and "For I have come down from Heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise Him up on the last day" (John 6:38-39).

This is the part that is so difficult for a person without spiritual life to understand. Jesus stated seven times in the Gospel of John that he came down from Heaven (John 6:33, 38, 41, 42, 50, 51, and 58). Jesus knew that He was both man and God in one person. He was truly man, but He was also the eternal second person of the Godhead who came down and took upon Himself a true human nature.

This is beautifully illustrated by His testimony to a hostile interrogation from the religious leaders. He made the statement that Abraham had foreseen His coming and rejoiced. The religious leaders challenged, "You are not yet 50 years old, and have You seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM" (John 8:57-58). Since Abraham had lived 2,000 years before this, what He was claiming is clear.

Jesus loved women, but with a kind of love that the unregenerate carnal mind cannot understand. If you would like to understand, then accept the gift of pardon for your sins that He died in your place to give you as a gift.

[JohnHuang2]

Thursday, November 6, 2003

Quote of the Day by dagnabbit

[dr_who_2]

Next Year: "Was Jesus really a female?"

The Year After Next Year: "Was Jesus really a Zoastrian priest from Syria?"

The Year After The Year After Next: "Was Jesus an alien from outer space?"

[GluteusMax]

They even went so far as to give credence to a completely unfounded myth that he had a child by her.

A claim that was made by a line of kings in Europe to lend legitimacy to their rule. (They being the purported physical descendants of Jesus of course.)

Gee, I wonder if this myth is being vetted again to set the stage for someone claiming to be a descendant of Jesus to assume power?

[metalboy]

I know this Puerto Rican guy, Jesus Ramirez who`s married. Do that count? You see he got her knocked up when she was 16 and they had to get married and the family said Santa Maria over and over especially Jesus` mamma, but now they married and he works in a car wash and they now on her 8th childs although she gained 400 pounds.

[weegee]

I don't know about that but muslims have been using it (together with stories that Jesus was not killed) to disuade people from Christianity.

[Consort]

Does it matter?

[per loin]

Dunno whether or not he was married, but the person to his right in the Da Vinci painting looks like a female to me.

[dfwgator]

Sam Kinison was right. There is no way Jesus could have been married because what wife would allow her husband to spend an entire weekend with 12 of his best buddies?

[AdmSmith]

Do you know of any old king that not claim divine heritage? German tribal kings claim to be descendants of Wotan, the Celts had their blood line to gods. Roman emperors claimed they were gods etc.

Some years ago it was a normal thing to do.

If you are not elected you have to find another way to show legitimacy.

[Terridan]

They think, if ya keep telling the same lie, it will be believed. Don't be shocked... here, Christmas represents a Santa or an ornament, (Star of David on Chanuka though) on our school calenders, and Easter is represented by a bunny. Nowhere are there Christian symbols or holidays. Now, trashing Christ is the new campaign over the networks. Funny, but the kids out here believe it all. There is no God, no Christ and everything on TV is real. It is not easy being a Christian, as now our churches are being infiltrated by gays. We can only hope to keep the few traditionalist churches we have, but it is a battle we will continue to support.

[Khurkris]

for the complete, foot-noted and annotated story see - "HOLY BLOOD, HOLY GRAIL." A pretty good read.

[quietolong]

So What!
If he followed the Bible He probably was. May even have had kids.
So what does that change?

[Cronos]

Correct. The show's supposition is just that, a supposition. I could guess that Winston Churchill was actually a Zulu warrior who killed the real Wnston Churchill and then took on his identity using voodoo. Funny? Silly? H**** yeah. Anyone can make guesses and try to potray them as facts. That's why I will not watch that show and I will not watch ABC. Hit 'em where it hurts, in their ratings.

[Cronos]

In fact, the slims have a book which they teach their youngsters the 'truth' about us, where they state that Xtians are really polytheists as they worship 3 gods, God, Jesus and Mary (?!!?) Ask a Mossie you know about the book. And don't get too bugged, because it contains similar lies about every other religion as well. This is sheer propaganda, and our Western lib media provides fuel and the ECUSA provides HIGH OCTANE fuel. Shame on the anglican kirk

[wafflehouse]

french kings, the Merovengians

[Hootowl]

The problem with Holy Blood, Holy Grail, is that the most important footnotes pertain to documents that have disappeared or were "stolen." Nonetheless, the idea that Jesus was married does no harm to Christianity. It would have been more surprising, given Jewish customs and traditions of the time, if He had NOT been betrothed as a child and subsequently married.

[Just mythoughts]

Hal was doing just fine until his John 3:3 Now if he is going to quote the Bible then he should quote what it says.

The born "again" is not accurate. That word "again" should be "from above".

[MississippiMan]

It would change everything. Christ's bride is His church, the body of believers. It's this relationship that our marriages--the cornerstone of human society--are based on.

This stuff is pure hokum. It's been around forever, and now it's getting a bunch of attention again because of a novel, and of course the media are more than happy to jump on ANY bandwagon that attempts to tear down Christ.

Another novel that caused immense damage, BTW, is SILENT SPRING.

MM

[Khurkris]

HB, HG was a very interesting book indeed. And one (possibly 2) of the authors have followed the chain with another book or two in continued research of a few of the churches in the southern France area. Quite interesting. Who knows....?

[Elsie]

Yes, Jesus IS married!

Why do you think the Scriptures refer to Him as the Groom and Believers as the Bride of Christ??

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Yes, He's married to ME and to YOU as well, if you trust in Him and rely on what HE has done for your Salvation.

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Matthew 9:14-15
 14.  Then John's disciples came and asked him, "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"
 15.  Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

 

 

Matthew 25:1
 "At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

 

 

John 3:28-29
 28.  You yourselves can testify that I said, `I am not the Christ  but am sent ahead of him.'
 29.  The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.

 

 

Revelation 19:6-10
 6.  Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
 7.  Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.
 8.  Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)
 9.  Then the angel said to me, "Write: `Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!'" And he added, "These are the true words of God."
 10.  At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

 

 

Revelation 21:2
 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

 

 

Revelation 21:9
 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."

 

 

Revelation 22:17
  The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.