dB-Paradox Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 I've been researching Near-Death Experiences in other cultures. In doing so, I've learned that all cultures and religions experience a wide range of NDEs, and that these NDEs may reflect a person's state of mind just prior to death, as well as their cultural religious beliefs. This also seems to apply to atheists, who have also experienced visions of both heaven and hell. During the research, a few names stood out. One of which is Daniel Ekechukwu. You can Google him. It wasn't his NDE that intrigued me, but the fact that he was reported dead for over two days before coming back to life. His story goes back to 2001 and already has embellishments or contradictions, such as whether or not embalming fluid was injected into his body and the fact that people could smell the embalming fluid on him for weeks after his resurrection. My personal opinion is that he didn't die, but was erroneously pronounced dead. That, or the whole story was a grossly elaborate hoax generated by many people, including Daniel himself. I'm actually currently thinking the presumed dead theory. This is supported by the fact that people have been accidentally buried alive. See Snopes. This got me thinking about the most famous resurrection of all. I wonder if there is any merit to the story, but it picked up many embellishments along the way. Daniel's story is only 9 years old, and already there are discrepancies and elements in it which seem to indicate myth (like his body was placed between two other corpses...sound familiar?). The overall story is the same, but the details differ on a number of levels. Plus the details that do match up don't seem to fit with what we know of a corpse which has been dead for as long as Daniel is said to have been dead for, like why wasn't Daniel's abdomen swollen and his body smelling? Anyway, I'm getting a bit off topic. Do you think this might explain a "risen" Jesus who over the course of 35 or 40 years picked up a myth status? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eugene39 Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 It certainly is possible. One on the "Jesus books" that I borrowed from the library put forth another theory. According to the Gospels, Jesus was taken down within hours. Some people who were crucified would hang on their cross for days before expiring. Occasionally, people were taken back down before dying, and a relative few did recover from their injuries. The author wondered if Jesus possibly was in that category. If you're interested, I can try to find out which book it was, as I don't remember. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overcame Faith Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 I begin with this premise: no one who is truly dead (meaning brain dead) will ever rise again. Death is not reversible. I think the term NDE is actually an appropriate term to be used - these are "near" death experiences. They are not actual death experiences. Therefore, if this Jesus character actually appeared dead but "rose" again, he was never brain dead in the first place. So, therefore, your hypothesis is plausible. It is far more plausible than the resurrection hypothesis which lacks any plausibility at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VacuumFlux Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 I've read a lot of interesting stories about how difficult it was to know for sure if someone was dead before some of our modern instruments. Some examples off the top of my head: Wakes - the presumed dead person is laying in the middle of the room while family/friends hang around, almost having a party. This gives the "dead" guy time to recover in case he wasn't really dead. Scratches up coffins - some people, presumed to be vampires or something, had their coffins dug up, and they found scratch marks on the inside. The poor buried person was probably buried alive, and freaked out and clawed at the coffin before suffocating. Bells on mausoleums - not sure the whole context for this one, but there was something about having a bell pull available in case the "dead" person woke up and wanted out. The argument I'd always heard for why this didn't happen to Jesus was that the Romans were adept at killing people and his body would have been too beat up to recover. But Eugene39's comment is interesting; I'd never heard that before. That does make the "swoon" hypothesis more reasonable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dB-Paradox Posted January 2, 2011 Author Share Posted January 2, 2011 Eugene, it would be interesting to know what book you were reading...even if for the entertainment of us interested. And Overcame, I agree that the resurrection lacks any plausibility. I still try and give the NT accounts of Jesus' life some credibility, however, I am unwilling to suspend reality to do so. It is, therefore, possible that Jesus was a first century wonder worker who either "died" twice -- the first time having a NDE (thus convincing himself that he had seen both heaven and hell, propelling himself into a three year ministry), and the second time on the cross, and the two accounts were blended together -- or he died only once and the stories of resurrection were entirely made up by his followers. Either way, myth was incorporated which eventually grew to our modern-day Christianity. I realize that the "two-death" scenario seems unlikely, but it has been documented where a person has had TWO NDE's, in a sense dying THREE times! And since NDE's often account for a person's sudden change in character (or lease on life), it might explain both Jesus "resurrection" as well as his passion for ministry. ***EDIT*** I just read your comment, Vacuum, and I have heard of these, too. It's both fascinating and frightening! I want my family to be SURE I'm dead before I get sealed up! I put little stock into the swoon theory, which is why I put forth the "two-death" theory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eugene39 Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 It would be interesting to know what book you were reading...even if for the entertainment of us interested. "The Jesus Mystery" by Lena Einhorn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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