Replies

Eh, I'm with the Catholics on that point. Lots of stuff jammed onto a fancy chart yet "the three days and three nights" verse includes idioms/metaphors that are assumed to mean what they may not mean. The Bible comes complete with its own scholar-proofing mechanisms to keep stuff securely under wraps.

There was only ONE sign given for Jesus to prove that he was the Messiah...And that sign was that he would spend 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the earth...

If that was nothing but a metaphor, if it really didn't happen, Jesus was a fake...And the entire bible is a fake...

There aren't any metaphors there...

There are other verses pertaining to the death and resurrection. This one in particular - the only one in the NT specifying 3 days and 3 nights* - included the metaphors I noted. "Heart of the earth" is not a literal phrase. "Grave" is an interpretation. Now maybe that's a correct assumption, but the fact is that the verse does not state a literal grave.

The theory about the Wednesday crucifixion was the subject of my post, as I was referring the content of the chart Errant posted.

*To find three days and a half (which would indicate a 3 day 3 night period) mentioned in conjunction with graves, there are verses Revelation 11:9 and 11:11. So hey perhaps they - the two witnesses - are "son of man" Ezekiel and "son of man" Daniel (cf. Dan 8:17). IDK, time will tell the meaning of the vision, but they apparently irritate a wicked and evil generation...

Revelation 11

8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

Left out in a "grave" that is a place spiritually as Sodom and Egypt... Heart of the earth does paint an image of a great city that is a beehive of activity and is outwardly wealthy, but spiritually desolate.